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)

Blake Scholl on Supersonic Flight and Fixing Broken Infrastructure - Live at the Progress Conference

Blake Scholl on Supersonic Flight and Fixing Broken Infrastructure - Live at the Progress Conference

Blake Scholl is one of the leading figures working to bring back civilian supersonic flight. As the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, he's building a new generation of supersonic aircraft and pushin...

19 Nov 202537min

Donald S. Lopez Jr. on Buddhism

Donald S. Lopez Jr. on Buddhism

Register for the Austin listener meetup Donald S. Lopez Jr. is among the foremost scholars of Buddhism, whose work consistently distinguishes Buddhist reality from Western fantasy. A professor at the...

12 Nov 202557min

Sam Altman on Trust, Persuasion, and the Future of Intelligence - Live at the Progress Conference

Sam Altman on Trust, Persuasion, and the Future of Intelligence - Live at the Progress Conference

Register for the Austin listener meetup Sam Altman makes his second appearance on the show to discuss how he's managing OpenAI's explosive growth, what he's learned about hiring hardware people, what ...

5 Nov 202554min

Jonny Steinberg on South African Crime and Punishment, the Mandelas' Marriage, and the Post-Apartheid Era

Jonny Steinberg on South African Crime and Punishment, the Mandelas' Marriage, and the Post-Apartheid Era

Tyler considers Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage one of the best books of the last decade, and its author Jonny Steinberg one of the most underrated writers and thinkers—in North America, at ...

28 Okt 202552min

George Selgin on the New Deal, Regime Uncertainty, and What Really Ended the Great Depression

George Selgin on the New Deal, Regime Uncertainty, and What Really Ended the Great Depression

George Selgin has spent over four decades thinking about money, banking, and economic history, and Tyler has known him for nearly all of it. Selgin's new book False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise ...

15 Okt 20251h 8min

John Amaechi on Leadership, the NBA, and Being Gay in Professional Sports

John Amaechi on Leadership, the NBA, and Being Gay in Professional Sports

John Amaechi is a former NBA forward/center who became a chartered scientist, professor of leadership at Exeter Business School, and New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, It's Not Magic:...

1 Okt 202559min

Steven Pinker on Coordination, Common Knowledge, and the Retreat of Liberal Enlightenment

Steven Pinker on Coordination, Common Knowledge, and the Retreat of Liberal Enlightenment

Steven Pinker returns to Conversations with Tyler with an argument that common knowledge—those infinite loops of "I know that you know that I know"—is the hidden infrastructure that enables human coor...

24 Sep 202545min

David Commins on Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and the Future of the Gulf States

David Commins on Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and the Future of the Gulf States

David Commins, author of the new book Saudi Arabia: A Modern History, brings decades of scholarship and firsthand experience to explain the kingdom's unlikely rise. Tyler and David discuss why Wahhab...

17 Sep 202551min

Populært innen Fakta

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