The latest BP Podcast is up. You can listen on Libsyn, iTunes and Stitcher. Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we don’t have a regular schedule is to subscribe at one of the links above. You can also support the podcast as a patron (the primary benefit now is that you get the podcasts considerably earlier than everyone else).
This week I spoke to Josiah Neeley of the R Street Institute. A policy analyst by day, Neeley is also a host of the excellent Urbane Cowboys podcast (I’ve been a guest twice).
We talked about what it’s like to be a “Trump-friendly” intellectual on the Right in the United States, and whether being a Trump-supporter means you are of course a racist.
China seems to be a topic that comes up on this podcast often, and this was no exception. Josiah and I spoke about how we as Americans need to handle new geopolitical realities and their impact on internal politics.
We discussed the future of Republican politics and the decline of a “white Christian America”, and the rise of something new…which we don’t know yet.
Finally, the conversation ended with musings about whether America was heading toward an Idiocracy-like political system. Josiah recommended Helen Andrews’ excellent essay in First Things, Bloodless Moralism.
[…] I observe a moratarium on all electronics between dinner and bedtime but I’ve commandeered V’s laptop (with her permission) to express my profound outrage. I’m also sorry to detract attention from the excellent Episode 10. […]
Liked it a lot. I don’t think Trump matters as much as many think since his impact on deep ideology and deep policy is limited.
I would have liked more discussion of energy technology. And the issue of slow global productivity growth. How to boost the productivity of R&D, product development and process innovation spending.
How successful will Asia be in moving more high end R&D to Asia?
I favor considerably more skilled immigration (a position that perhaps both of you were open to). But how does someone reduce less skilled immigration without appearing racist?
1990s forever! Yup. Like that. But let me give a plug to 1980s forever!
I think of the 1980s like a golden age. I loved Reagan. I loved Daniel Patrick Moynihan. 1980s McCain. 1980s Jack Kemp. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. 1980s Bill Bradley. Charles Rangel was reasonable. Showtime Lakers and Celtics dominated. Star Wars and Star Trek dominated culture. Everybody loved Cosby and Sammy Junior. Michael Jackson was still cool. Many things were far better then. America had not gone of the deep end. The American left was far more patriotic, reasonable and constructive in the 1980s. The Asian Tigers roared. 1984 LA and 1988 Seoul Olympic changed the world. In particular the 1988 Olympics shocked the world by proving that dirt poor South Korea was now a developed nation. The global far left was shattered and would not come back the global 2008 great recession. Steve Jobs, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Nintendo, Sega, Atari. The world was so different back then.
1980s America loved and celebrated immigrants, including Latinos and Asians. America had far more self confidence and a deep, rich and values oriented deep culture. It was a time of great optimism.
[…] Brown Pundits BrownCast episode 10, with Josiah Neeley […]