In Response...

Our Republic - #21 Michael Tomasky

Joey speaks with Michael Tomasky. Michael is the editor of The New Republic and editor-in-chief of Democracy. We discuss Trump’s war on civil society, polarization, federal programs, race, and other topics. He and his writing appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and on PBS, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News, and other media. He can be found on X @mtomasky and Bluesky @mjtoma.bsky.social.

The Soul of Civility: In Response to Rhetoric and Political Violence - #20 Alexandra Hudson

Joey speaks with Alexandra Hudson. We discuss her book The Soul of Civility and Joey’s recent speech at an anti-gay church in the context of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Alexandra is the founder of Civic Renaissance. She and her writing appeared in The Wall Street Journal, TIME, POLITICO, and on CBS, PBS, Fox News, and other media. She can be found on Instagram at alexandraohudson, on X @LexiOHudson, and on her website.

On Liberty - #19 Nick Gillespie

Joey speaks with Nick Gillespie. We discuss our takes on the state of the arts, conservative art and entertainment, the Kennedy Center, the role of the audience in media, misinformation, political prejudices and polarization, our family backgrounds, understanding the New Right, reactionary Catholicism, anti-wokeness, the Trump administration and DOGE, government spending, and other topics. Nick can be found on X @nickgillespie, Substack @ Nick Gillespie, and at Reason.com
Nick hosts the Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie podcast and is an editor-at-large at Reason magazine. The star libertarian has been with Reason since 1993. He received his Ph.D. in English literature from SUNY Buffalo. He also holds an M.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing from Temple and a BA in English and Psychology from Rutgers. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, Slate, Salon, Time, The Daily Beast, Marketplace, Suck, and numerous other publications.

Breaking Bread - #18 Bret Stephens & Chloe Valdary

Joey speaks with Bret Stephens and Chloe Valdary. We discuss DEI, prejudice on the right and left, MAGA, wokeness, social media, polarization, communicating across the aisle, intentions and misunderstandings, graciousness, human uniqueness, understanding one’s political opponents, the media and Trumpism, the crisis of meaning and connection, balancing moral clarity with compassion, antisemitism, pro-Hamas protesters, perceptions of Israel, Daryl Davis, and other topics. Bret can be found on his NYT page. Chloe can be found on Instagram @cvaldary, Substack at Chloé Valdary, and her website.
Bret is an Opinion columnist at the New York Times and Editor-in-chief of Sapir. He was previously at The Wall Street Journal, The Jerusalem Post, and Commentary. He earned a BA in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and an MA in comparative politics from the London School of Economics. He has won numerous awards, including a 2013 Pulitzer Prize.
Chloe is a writer, entrepreneur, and diversity & inclusion educator. She runs the DEI program Theory of Enchantment and her app, Dojo. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of New Orleans in 2015 with a BA in International Studies. She has also contributed to The New York Times and The Atlantic.

The Certainty Trap - #17 Ilana Redstone

Joey speaks with Ilana Redstone. We discuss her book The Certainty Trap, the state of academia, conservative media, trust in media, reaching across the aisle, polarization around Israel-Palestine, dialogue in Islam, prejudice, democracy, travel, family, Joey’s experience in college, and other topics. Ilana can be found on X @irakresh and her website.
Illana is a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also co-director of the Mill Institute at UATX. She has a joint Ph.D in demography and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She also authored Unassailable Ideas and Why We Disagree About Inequality. Her writing has appeared in Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and other outlets.

Art & Ideology - #16 Heather Mac Donald

Joey speaks with Heather Mac Donald. We discuss the state of the fine arts, the need for classical training, modern art, the state of “wokeness,” the Democratic Party, the war in Gaza (this conversation took place before the cease-fire), Western sympathy for Hamas, race politics, antisemitism, other prejudicial attitudes on the populist right, Joey’s concerns about race realism, and other topics. Heather can be found on X @HMDatMI and her MI page.
Heather is the Thomas W. Smith Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a former lawyer. She holds a B.A. in English from Yale, an M.A. in English from Cambridge, and a J.D. from Stanford. She is the author of The War on Cops, When Race Trumps Merit, The Diversity Delusion, Are Cops Racist?, The Immigration Solution, and The Burden of Bad Ideas. Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and The New Criterion.

Through Hate's Looking Glass - #15 Dr. Diana Blum

Joey speaks with Dr. Diana Blum. We discuss the rise of antisemitism, the ongoing lawsuit against the Sequoia Unified School District, the Ethic Studies curriculum in California schools, Diana’s attempts to reach out to school officials, the climate at the school, the school district’s attempt to silence the film Killing America, Benny Morris and Norman Finkelstein, Abigail Shrier’s piece for The Free Press: The Kindergarten Intifada, the impact of antisemitism on societies that succumb to that infection, the war in Gaza and accusations of genocide against Israel, race-conscious policies, the Democratic party, the future of the far-left, the lurch to the right, cultural relativism, the future of Islam, and other topics. Diana can be found on LinkedIn and her website.
The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Diana is a board-certified Neurologist who, before starting her private practice, was a shareholder-physician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF). She graduated Summa Cum Laude from UC Davis, earned her MD at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, and completed her neurology residency at Stanford University. She became involved in educational and medical activism several years ago when she noticed ideological prerogatives in her daughter’s school and in the medical field.

Sex, Gender, & Politics - #14 Aaron Kimberly

Joey speaks with Aaron Kimberly. We discuss Aaron’s work as a pediatric gender nurse, the impact of trans activism on American and Canadian politics, the cultural and political attitudes of trans people, the right-wing reaction to far-left trans activism, Canadian media and LGBT, Joey’s belief that he was trans when he was a child, transgenderism and children, the reality of biological sex and intersex, cancel culture around trans issues and Aaron’s firing, Carole Hooven, the simplicity of far-left ideology, Aaron’s family, the LGBT movement, gender non-conformity, pediatric transgender medicine and the exploratory therapy model, modern childhood, disempowering the far-left, and other topics. Aaron can be found on X @Aaron_GDAC, YouTube @AGKimberly, and their website.
Aaron is a registered mental health nurse and gender diversity advocate. Aaron was born female and lesbian with a rare ovotesticular disorder, which wasn't discovered until age 19. Aaron is interested in the various reasons individuals are sex non-conforming and the cultural contexts that inform our understanding of these experiences. Aaron has held roles in clinical supervision and as a clinical instructor for the School of Psychiatric Nursing at Brandon University. Aaron has been a subject matter expert on gender dysphoria since 2019 and has advised individuals, educators, clinicians, policymakers, law firms, and faith communities.

Bridging Divides - #13 Ben Kawaller

Joey speaks with Ben Kawaller. We discuss how Ben came to bridge divides in his work at The Free Press, humor, LGBT politics, the role of the media in polarization, why Kamala Harris lost, conservative media and audience capture, election discourse, mass deportations, Trump’s norm violations, cross-partisan communication, muscular conservatism & feminine liberalism, why gay guys go to the gym, Ben’s experience with the Democratic Socialists of America, polarization around Israel & Palestine, the war in Gaza, Benny Morris, Israel’s future, antisemitism, The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and other topics. Ben can be found on X @benkawaller, Instagram @benkawaller, YouTube @benkawaller, at The Free Press, and on his website.
Ben hosts the sociopolitical interview series Ben Meets America and hosted the 2024 election series Swing State Debates for The Free Press. He holds a BA in sociology from Harvard. His writing and video reporting have also appeared in Los Angeles Magazine. Ben has contributed to The American Bystander, The Advocate, and Salon, among other publications. He is the author of the full-length plays Us and Them, which was workshopped by Los Angeles' Rogue Machine Theatre in March 2022, and The Politician, as well as various short plays. He is a current member of The Actors Studio's Play Development Unit.

In Response to Fine Arts Education V - #12 Brian T. Allen

Joey speaks with Brian T. Allen. We discuss the state of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the impact of identity politics on art history and fine art pedagogy, the Critical Identity Studies, the impact of COVID on cultural institutions, the decay of art and humanities curricula, the re-emergence of figure painting; galleries, art fairs & museums; presentism, The New Philistines by Sohrab Ahmari, “Queer” art, the Venice Biennale, the Armory Show, and other topics.
Brian is a Senior Fellow at the National Review Institute and National Review’s art critic. He has a BA from Wesleyan University, an MA in art history from Williams College, and a PhD in art history from Yale. He was the Curator of American art and Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, and Director of the Addison Gallery at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. Brian was also the Director of the Museum Division at the New York Historical Society. You can find Brian on his National Review page.