Modern thought has been damaged by dogma and tribalistic click-bait. Social media and the fractured state of politics reward slick slogans and partisan anger while penalizing those who speak with intellectual honesty.
Our guest, feminist writer and author, Meghan Daum, says instead of following the crowd we need to think for ourselves. While very supportive of the goals of the women's movement, she is also critical of the excesses of modern feminism.
In this episode she makes the case for nuance and feeling conflicted about our own opinions. "I always say to my students, if you're not conflicted you're either lying to yourself or you're not very smart," she says.
Meghan is the author of The Problem With Everything: A Journey Through The New Culture Wars (Gallery Books, 2019). Her witty and rigorous new book is a personal account of "the conflicted and tortured state of liberalism generally and feminism in particular. But it is also a personal story of feeling existentially unmoored against the backdrop of a country falling apart."
Meghan Daum is also a contributor to Medium. Her article, "Nuance: A Love Story" is here.
Richard Davies and Jim Meigs are the host of the terrific podcast “How Do We Fix It?,” on which they talk to the world’s most creative thinkers about, well, how to fix things. Lots of things. Important ones. Highly recommended. You can find “How Do We Fix It” on Apple Podcasts.
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