Ross Douthat on Decadence and Dynamism

Ross Douthat on Decadence and Dynamism

For Ross Douthat, decadence isn't necessarily a moral judgement, but a technical label for a state that societies tend to enter—and one that is perhaps much more normal than the dynamism Americans have come to take for granted. In his new book, he outlines the cultural, economic, political, and demographic trends that threaten to leave us to wallow in a state of civilizational stagnation for years to come, and fuel further discontent and derangement with it.

On his second appearance on Conversations with Tyler, Ross joined Tyler to discuss why he sees Kanye as a force for anti-decadence, the innovative antiquarianism of the late Sir Roger Scruton, the mediocrity of modern architecture, why it's no coincidence that Michel Houellebecq comes from France, his predictions for the future trajectory of American decadence – and what could throw us off of it, the question of men's role in modernity, why he feels Christianity must embrace a kind of futurist optimism, what he sees as the influence of the "Thielian ethos" on conservatism, the plausibility of ghosts and alien UFOs, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded February 25th, 2020

Other ways to connect

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(288)

Lazarus Lake on Endurance, Uncertainty, and Reaching One's Potential

Lazarus Lake on Endurance, Uncertainty, and Reaching One's Potential

Lazarus Lake is a renowned ultramarathon runner and designer. His most famous creation (along with his friend Raw Dog) is the Barkley Marathons, an absurdly difficult 100-mile race through the Tenness...

20 Sep 202351min

Jerusalem Demsas on The Dispossessed, Gulliver's Travels, and Of Boys and Men

Jerusalem Demsas on The Dispossessed, Gulliver's Travels, and Of Boys and Men

In this special episode, Tyler sat down with Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer at The Atlantic, to discuss three books: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and Of...

6 Sep 20231h 3min

Vishy Anand on Staying in the Game

Vishy Anand on Staying in the Game

A five-time World Chess Champion, Vishy became India's first grandmaster at age 18, spurring a chess revolution in the country. Now 53, he is still a world top ten player and has been India's number o...

30 Aug 202354min

Celebrating Marginal Revolution's 20th Anniversary

Celebrating Marginal Revolution's 20th Anniversary

When Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen launched Marginal Revolution in August of 2003, they saw attracting a few thousand academic-minded readers as a runaway success. To their astonishment, the blog soon...

23 Aug 202358min

Paul Graham on Ambition, Art, and Evaluating Talent

Paul Graham on Ambition, Art, and Evaluating Talent

Tyler and Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham sat down at his home in the English countryside to discuss what areas of talent judgment his co-founder and wife Jessica Livingston is better at, whether ...

9 Aug 202355min

Noam Dworman on Stand-Up Comedy and Staying Open-Minded

Noam Dworman on Stand-Up Comedy and Staying Open-Minded

Tyler sat down at Comedy Cellar with owner Noam Dworman to talk about the ever-changing stand-up comedy scene, including the perfect room temperature for stand-up, whether comedy can still shock us, t...

26 Jul 202359min

David Bentley Hart on Reason, Faith, and Diversity in Religious Thought

David Bentley Hart on Reason, Faith, and Diversity in Religious Thought

David Bentley Hart is an American writer, philosopher, religious scholar, critic, and theologian who has authored over 1,000 essays and 19 books, including a very well-known translation of the New Tes...

12 Jul 202355min

Reid Hoffman on the Possibilities of AI

Reid Hoffman on the Possibilities of AI

In his second appearance, Reid Hoffman joined Tyler to talk everything AI: the optimal liability regime for LLMs, whether there'll be autonomous money-making bots, which agency should regulate AI, how...

28 Jun 20231h 1min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
rss-bisarr-historie
foreldreradet
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-kunsten-a-leve
rss-sunn-okonomi
jakt-og-fiskepodden
sinnsyn
hverdagspsyken
mikkels-paskenotter
rss-sarbar-med-lotte-erik
gravid-uke-for-uke
rss-bak-luftfarten
rss-impressions-2
rss-kull
rss-mind-body-podden
fryktlos