After Manifest 2024, I had the opportunity to visit Substack HQ to talk with Chris Best, whose work I’ve admired for a long while. It was a huge honor to chat with him. Our conversation has a few audio/video glitches since the podcast is typically remote, but I’m grateful he released it despite the glitches, since we cover a lot of ground I’m passionate about. While it works best as an overview of my work and history for those who don’t know me, I think even longtime readers will find plenty to enjoy.
I usually don’t mention each appearance on someone’s podcast as a separate post here, but since this is my first video appearance and my first in-person podcast interview, it seems appropriate. I have a blanket policy of accepting more-or-less all podcast invitations and am happy to speak with whoever thinks we have something worthwhile to discuss. At some point I may need to triage a bit more, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Particularly because I am something of a perfectionist when it comes to my essays, I appreciate chances to have conversations in part because it lets me explore a lot of ideas that I haven’t had an opportunity to nail down in a fully fleshed out essay, and in part because I find a lot of value in chatting with people on their own terms, in their own spaces. I welcome substantive criticism of what I discuss with people, but if you’re ever wondering why I would speak with someone (particularly someone who has attracted controversy at some point), the answer is “They asked if I wanted to chat.” More on that here.
It occurs to me that podcasts aren’t by default terribly discoverable when you’re not in their audience, so here are a few other podcasts I’ve appeared on recently, alongside some older ones my readers may have missed:
Embrace the Void (Aaron Rabinowitz) - Tracking in Schools: Aaron is a leftist philosophy lecturer and one of the first public figures to take a shot at bringing me on as a guest after we ran into each other on Twitter. We examined whether tracking in schools is worthwhile and explored common progressive objections to it. I particularly appreciated Aaron’s willingness to provide pushback from my left, something I don’t get enough of.
Progressively Incorrect (Zach Groshell) - Student Loan Forgiveness, Tracking, and Internet Garbage: Zach is a brilliant educator who runs several excellent education-focused podcasts. As in my episode with Aaron, we focused on several of my regular hobby-horses within education.
Subversive (Alex Kaschuta) - The burden and delight of carving your own path: In the wake of Alex Kaschuta’s frustration with how some in the online right treat women, she brought me on as part of a focus on diversifying her range of guests. We had a great conversation about my experience leaving Mormonism, my interest in building an excellence-focused coalition of the center, the tension between the populist right and the traditional right, our disagreements about surrogacy, and several other topics.
Clown Car (Richard Hanania, paywalled) - Towards a Gay Ex-Mormon Furry Centrism: This was a wide-ranging and extremely fun conversation touching on everything from my Mormon upbringing to the issue of low human capital on the right to surrogacy and the importance of a spirited defense of liberalism.
The Bailey (Yassine Meskhout) - We Say Gay: I’ve been a semi-regular guest on The Bailey for a while. This was among my favorite episodes, going on with a couple of other unusual gay guys for a candid look at different parts of gay culture and what it means to be gay. We discuss the different role of sex and intimacy in gay culture versus straight culture, the experience of a Trump-supporting gay man, what it's like not to really have a long-standing societal script in place for how one's relationship ought to work, my own Mormon background and how it's impacted my view of gay relationships, the differing philosophies between "queer liberation" and "Pete Buttigieg" (or Stonewall/Mattachine) gay people, why gay people have historically faced backlash, and why "Born that way" is more of an instrumentally useful than a fundamentally true idea.
The Bayesian Conspiracy (Eneasz Brodski & Steven Zuber) - The Social Justice Religion: The Bayesian Conspiracy is one of the longest-running rationalist podcasts. In this episode, I discuss this essay with Eneasz and Steven, examining social justice progressivism as a new religious movement.
Team Futurism (Peter Clarke) - How Tech Impacts the Culture Wars & Why the Republican Party is Doomed: While my audio was a bit muffled particularly at the start of this one, I had a great time with it. We discussed my essay The Republican Party is Doomed and my thoughts on the culture wars more broadly. This was in some ways a follow-up to a previous conversation with Dain Fitzgerald, a mutual friend, covering many of the same issues.
Based Camp (Simone & Malcolm Collins) - Perspectives on the Benefits of Mormonism: Simone and Malcolm are best known for their passionate pronatalism and their interest in secular religion. We discuss my essay Mormons and Voluntary Organization: what it’s like to grow up Mormon, the strengths I see in Mormon culture, and the sorts of people who don’t fit into that structure.
Walt Right Perspectives - Mormonism and Neopets: After Walt was a good sport when I laughed about his essay describing how he left white nationalism because the midwest was so boring and then tore into him for a while on The Bailey over his continued defense of his time in the alt right, I went onto his podcast for a less combative chat about Mormonism, the potential for an excellence-focused centrist coalition, the Neopets economy, my thoughts on “platforming” controversial figures, and more.
Blocked and Reported - Tracing Keffals: In my final episode as a producer of Blocked and Reported, Katie and Jesse brought me on for some final thoughts on my time at the podcast, my favorite moments of the podcast, and a deep dive into the contours of the dissident right. The segment in which I’m interviewed is not paywalled.
I have a few more upcoming appearances scheduled, so keep an eye out! I’ll probably include future episodes in links roundups along with my essays from elsewhere.
As ever, thanks for reading.
My Chat With Substack CEO Chris Best, and other podcast appearances