Episódios
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As Donald Trump returns to the White House, many American citizens are willing to tear everything down. Where did these destructive inclinations come from? Might they partly reflect the way that voters learned history back in school? How well are we teaching history through the eyes of people living then so we can learn from their experiences? To what extent are we introducing students to their culture's proud traditions so they feel inspired to defend them rather than throw everything away?
In this episode of How My View Grew, we explore these questions by hearing from someone from outside the United States. Lene Rachel Andersen is a Danish author, futurist, and economist. As a student, she knew history was important. However, when challenged by a classmate, she couldn't explain why. Lene sensed the disjointed nature of the history curriculum but couldn't pinpoint what was missing. Years later, as the result of a TV series she created that went awry, she discovered answers to both questions. Then postmodernism entered the scene, and Lene wondered: should we be teaching deconstruction to third graders—or can this wait until later?
Lene's story reveals deep lessons for avoiding authoritarianism and meeting other challenges of our time.
**Key takeaways**
8:00 A classmate's question about history stump Lene12:00 Put yourself in the shoes of people in history14:00 To avoid authoritarianism and stupid wars, understand history and humans18:00 Pitfalls of the postmodern approach to history24:00 An exciting pilot project in a Danish public school27:00 Third grade teachers shouldn't be teaching deconstruction32:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
Lene's web site"The Surprising Lesson of History"—from season one of this podcast**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In this short episode of How My View Grew, I offer an alternative to the false choice between despair and hope.
After the recent U.S presidential election, many people in my orbit are feeling despair. Their response: search for signs of hope.
But what if this is a false choice? What if we could gain access to other moods that are more constructive and powerful?
Say hello to resolve and curiosity, two moods for this moment.
**Resources**
A Cabinet of buffoons, bomb throwers, and bottom-feeders? Republican Senators get to decide. My recent Medium essay.
**Subscribe to the podcast**
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When new political leaders promote disruptive and even violent change, then people accustomed to pressing the gas pedal on change may choose instead to hit the breaks. Liberals become small "c" conservatives.
In this episode of How My View Grew, I suggest that after November 5, 2024 every liberal in the United States became a small "c" conservative. Instead of pushing for change in society, liberals now have good reason to slow it down. That's because the changes coming with the new Trump Administration threaten to destroy or disrupt many things worth preserving, from liberal gains of the past 90 years to basic Constitutional protections we've had for two and a half centuries. Much that we Americans take for granted, everything from childhood immunizations to Constitutional freedoms to the rule of law, is now at risk. Someone needs to stand up and shout, "Stop."
For decades, liberals associated this stance with Republicans, and for good reason. But today's Republican leader doesn't have a small "c" conservative bone in his body. His Administration will be about rapidly disrupting and destroying much that liberals—and all Americans—value.
So, who will fill the void of slowing down change and preserving that which we hold most dear? Liberals.
After making this case, I describe five steps liberals can take to embody such small "c" conservatism.
**Key takeaways**
2:00 The reactionary changes coming5:30 The two forms of conservatism: small "c" and big "C"8:30 Big "C" conservatism, the ideology, is whatever the Republican Party currently stands for13:30 Five steps liberals can take to conserve liberal gains and American traditions**Resources**
My recent essay, "Nine tempting but unhelpful interpretations of Mr. Trump's victory"On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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The human brain craves certainty. It convinces us we know how next week's U.S. presidential election will turn out. We don't. Things are uncertain. Yet, we can imagine different scenarios.
In this nine-minute episode of How My View Grew, I describe five scenarios for the election and its aftermath.
Then, I invite you to consider three "no-matter-what commitments." These are stands we can take no matter what happens. Making such commitments is an antidote to anxiety and despair. It reminds us of our strengths and resilience.
**Subscribe to the podcast**
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In the upcoming U.S. presidential election, democracy, many say, is on the ballot. But is democracy versus autocracy the best description of the stakes?
Not according to Stephen E. Hanson, co-author with Jeffrey Kopstein of the new book The Assault on the State. The democracy/autocracy distinction is about how people come to power. It doesn't address how leaders rule their staffs and administrations once they are in power.
In the West, we've long managed states based on professional expertise and the rule of law. It's so common that we take it for granted. Yet, in recent years a different form of rule has taken root, first in Russia, then in Eastern Europe, and now in England, the U.S., and other parts of the West. Here the method of rule resembles the mafia. It's based on loyalty to a single leader, typically a man, and characterized by attacks on professional experts and power centralized in a ruling household.
For many years, Hanson, an expert on Russia and Eastern Europe, didn't think that strong mafia-like states were possible in the 21st century. And he was far from alone in this. Then, when Putin defied the odds by building one in Russia, Hanson didn't think this model of rule would spread elsewhere. And yet it has.
In this episode of How My View Grew, we explore why it made sense to bet against the rise of mafia-like states and why such bets turned out to be misguided.
**Key takeaways**
5:30 Steve's prediction that Russia wouldn't build a state after communism8:30 How Putin built a state with loyalists14:00 Why nobody thought Russia's mafia-like rule would spread17:00 An epiphany during the pandemic sparks an "aha"20:00 Three warning signs24:00 Democracies can be run like the mafia. Autocracies can be run by experts based on the rule of law28:00 The "unholy alliance" leading the assaults on the expert-run state33:00 How an assault on the state in Israel contributed to the country's lack of preparedness for Hamas's massacres on October 7, 202339:30 We only notice government when it fails41:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
The Assault on the State by Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In this five-minute episode of How My View Grew, I offer five perspectives about being a man today:
It's confusingMen and women are differentThere is no need to apologize for being a manLong live the healthy masculineIt's time for a new Bro Code**Resources**
"Men are lost. Here's a map out of the wilderness" by Christine Emba in the Washington Post."How to Be a Good Guy" by Janet Crawford and Lisa Marshall—includes a section on breaking the bro code**Subscribe to the podcast**
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Why might a liberal Democrat with progressive values hold a conservative disposition? Could it make sense to both advocate for positive change and honor traditions and the social cohesion they foster? Might this represent the twin challenges facing today's Democratic Party?
In this 30-minute episode of How My View Grew, Boston College philosophy professor David Storey explores these questions through his own personal and professional experience.
How did someone who dismissed the Republican Party as simplistic and repellent learn to recognize the virtues of the conservative disposition, even as Republicans themselves abandoned this disposition? What does this tell us about MAGA, Mr. Trump, January 6, and the the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election? Who are the "barstool conservatives," and why are they anything but conservative?
If you believe in the gains brought by liberalism and progressivism, aren't you acknowledging that these are traditions you want to conserve?
**Key takeaways**
3:00 The thick culture and Fox News habits of a childhood friend's family5:30 Discovering positive patriotism on 9/119:00 Learning from Andrew Sullivan that traditions are complex, involve pruning, and were built by people12:00 Why the Iraq War violated conservative principles and climate activism can piggyback on them17:30 The primal ethnocentric energies of George Wallace and Patrick Buchanan—also not truly conservative20:00 How these primal energies broke through to the mainstream in the form of MAGA and Mr. Trump22:30 The "barstool conservatives" who are angry they can't watch cheerleaders or call things "gay"25:00 The January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is what happens when you abandon the conservative disposition27:00 The important contributions of the Never Trumpers 28:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
David's web site, including his podcast, Wisdom@WorkThe Institute for Cultural Evolution, where David is a Senior Fellow**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In this final episode of season one, a short one, I describe how my view of history shifted after reading the memoir of Stefan Zweig, a popular early 20th century European novelist. What if the lesson of history, especially around war and other catastrophes, is precisely the opposite of what I long assumed? How might history make us humbler about our ability to predict the future? Might it help us see possibilities and perils we otherwise would ignore or dismiss? Finally, a brief riff on why, in light of this uncertainty, curiosity, resolve, and acceptance are more useful moods than despair and anxiety.
**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In a Soviet-era bunker in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier reads books by the late historian Tony Judt and wonders: Is it possible to make the world better amidst evil? Not long after, Yale historian Marci Shore, a former peacenik, finds herself pleading to the German government to send lethal weapons to Ukraine.
What's happening here? How does one historian's words support a courageous defense of democracy that, in turn, inspires another historian to step outside of her comfort zone and into a debate about war?
In this week's episode of How My View Grew, the second-to-last of season one, Marci Shore joins me to explore these questions. The story she shares is about choosing to take moral responsibility rather than ignoring evil or rationalizing it away, even if this means risking friendship, status, or your own sense of identity. Her story is also about tapping the lessons of history to see future scenarios you otherwise might miss or consider impossible. And it's about postmodernism—both the new capacities it offers and, when stretched to an extreme, the disasters it produces.
The episode draws from Shore's book, The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution, as well as Judt's books, Thinking the Twentieth Century, written with Timothy Snyder, and Past Imperfect.
**Key takeaways**
6:00 Judt's harsh critique of French intellectuals' silence about the show trials and other Soviet terror17:00 The alternative to silence and rationalization: taking moral responsibility20:00 There is a difference between good and evil, and between truth and lies25:00 A Ukrainian soldier reading Judt's books in a bunker30:00 Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump, and the evasion of responsibility33:30 Why liberals struggle to grasp nihilism and mass murder40:00 World War I was, before it occurred, unimaginable46:00 Historians can't predict the future, but they describe what can happen50:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
"Reading Tony Judt in Wartime Ukraine," Marci Shore's essay in The New Yorker.Thinking the Twentieth Century by Tony Judt with Timothy SnyderPast Imperfect: French Intellectuals 1944-1956 by Tony JudtThe Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution**Subscribe to...
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This short episode is about asking clarifying questions, which involve far more than building rapport and trust. Clarifying questions provide powerful ways to understand what matters to others—clearly, accurately, and without illusions. Listen in as I walk through the three steps in the clarifying question (only two of which happen while you're speaking!) and when you can use this powerful conversation habit.
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Do most Palestinians want their own state in the West Bank and Gaza, one that co-exists with the state of Israel? Is the conflict between Israel and Palestinians primarily about territory and the solution therefore simply to trade territory for peace?
For many years, as an advisor to Israel's top leaders and member of its parliament, Einat Wilf thought so.
Then she started to listen deeply to what Palestinians were saying, and what she heard stunned her. What Palestinians wanted was a land to themselves so they could return to the homes their families once occupied in Israel proper. What they didn't want was a Jewish state.
This discovery, coupled with extensive research into the century-long history, left Einat with a dramatically different view of the conflict. Palestinians' dream of "return" and the world's support for this dream constituted as big an obstacle to peace as Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Engaging with this possibility may be painful, but it opens new possibilities for long-term peace in the region. If Israel and the United states take Einat's story seriously, they will approach the conflict dramatically differently than they have been doing for decades.
**Key takeaways**
4:00 Why Einat believed that the conflict was simply about territory9:39 The purpose and flaws of constructive ambiguity16:00 The shock and meaning of the Second Intifada 19:00 Listening deeply to Palestinians and taking seriously what they say they want22:30 The settlements are Israel's most wasteful project28:30 The Jews want a state. The Arabs want the Jews to not have a state31:00 What the Arabs of Gaza did and didn't do when they finally controlled the territory37:30 Why Israel's Labor Party declined40:30 When Arabs say two states, do they mean two Palestinian states?44:00 A clarifying question to a Palestinian student reveals a great deal45:00 The one question Israeli negotiators should ask before entering the room50:00 No refugees anywhere else in the world have had a "right of return"54:00 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
Einat's web siteThe War of Return, Einat's book with Adi SchwartzEinat's detailed recommendations about where to draw boundaries and which settlements to allow to witherAmiel's essay, "Seven lessons seven months after October 7"**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In this week's episode, I describe how to have difficult conversations about charged topics. It's a game called My Assessment, Your Assessment. I walk you through the eight rules of the game, how to know when the game is over, and what makes this valuable in discussing big global challenges or everyday topics.
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In this episode of How My View Grew, Palestinian Noor Awad describes an encounter with a Zionist Israeli settler that caused him to broaden his view of the conflict. This is a story of growing up within a particular narrative and learning to take seriously a very different narrative without given up one's own. What would be possible if more Palestinians—and Israelis—developed this capacity?
**Key takeaways**
3:30 Noor becomes aware of the conflict during the Second Intifada9:30 The Palestinian identity Noor was born with13:30 Noor's early-life view of Israelis and Zionism18:00 Noor discovers Israel's New Historians, who questioned the conventional Israeli narrative of 194820:45 Noor meets Hanan Schlesinger, a passionate Zionist settler, and has a life-changing experience31:00 "I'm right, they're wrong" is not the only way to see things34:30 Noor's capacity to hold two narratives is rare38:00 The devastating impact of October 7 and the war on Roots' efforts to build mutual understanding42:30 Amiel's reflections**Resources**
Roots, the organization Noor works withAmiel's essay, "Seven lessons seven months after October 7"Amiel's page of essays on Medium**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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This short episode is about giving better advice. Just as medicine containers have warning labels, I propose that all advice about being a better citizen, leader, parent, or partner come with three disclaimers:
Not for everyoneMay have side effectsDilute before usingAfter all, different folks deserve different strokes.
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In this episode of How My View Grew, educator Carlos Hoyt describes his early life experience transcending racial categories and how he discovered that the entire concept of "race" was false and unhelpful. What if the racial categories that pervade our conversations, public policy, and social science data are scientifically meaningless? What can we learn from people who have deracialized themselves and others? How might these insights improve lives and undermine racism at its roots?
**Key Takeaways**
8:00 Growing up in Boston—"Black and proud," changing school districts, mixing it up at summer camp18:00 Discovering research on other "race transcenders"22:00 The five steps in racializing people27:00 The pseudoscience of race34:00 Why "racial equality" is an oxymoron40:00 Making the U.S. Census more accurate44:00 How to adjust the way you refer to people50:00 Amiel's reflections, including the analogy of the Elvis Lives Fan Club**Resources**
Carlos's web siteCarlos's forthcoming book, Diversity Without Divisiveness**Subscribe to the podcast**
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In this short episode, I share a personal story about a time I was knocked off center by the verbal attacks of a human "bull."
When someone attacks you, what can you do to regain center and respond skillfully? Here are five tips.
**Subscribe to the podcast**
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Rachel Eryn Kalish is a peacemaker. Personally, she radiates harmony. Professionally, she has devoted decades to non-violence and was mediating conflict before the term conflict resolution existed.
Yet, today, she doesn't view non-violence as the one and only approach to global conflict. Sometimes, she has learned, force is necessary to save lives and reduce suffering. The massacre of Israelis by Hamas on October 7 is one example.
We all know the saying that violence begets violence. But are there situations in which non-violence begets violence?
This is the story of how Rachel Eryn began asking this question and listening deeply for answers.
**Key takeaways**
5:30 Facilitating conflict resolution and violence prevention in the workplace9:30 Teaching dialogue skills to mixed groups of Israelis and Palestinians amidst the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada14:15 Helping the deeply divided Bay Area Jewish community talk constructively about Israel19:00 The civil war in Sierra Leone prompts Rachel Eryn to reconsider her view of non-violence25:00 The savagery of October 7 and the need to get rid of Hamas's infrastructure31:30 Amiel's reflections: what type of humans commit barbaric violence, and what types of response can constrain them?**Resources**
Workplace Connections, Rachel Eryn's consulting firmAmiel's essays on Medium about Israel/Gaza (and other big messes)**Share the love**
Leave me a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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In this episode, I describe a conversation that is pivotal to approaching big global messes. Also useful for parenting, partnering, being a friend, and being a citizen.
The possibility conversation is about the future. It's aspirational. It doesn't include assessments of the past. It's not about coordinating action. The critic stays on the bench. Our mood is constructive.
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**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Two years ago, Ukraine stunned the world with its response to Russia's full-scale invasion. Where did its resilience come from?
Leading Ukrainian civic activist Valerii Pekar has an answer. It's a story of a nation—and a man—undergoing two major transformations after the fall of the Soviet Union. First, a shift into freedom, then an awakening of dignity and civic activism.
Why this matters to you and me: If Russia were to defeat Ukraine, its next likely targets are NATO countries the United States is bound by treaty to defend.
Here's the back story—cultural, political, economic, and personal—behind Ukraine's extraordinary response to Russian aggression.
**Key takeaways**
7:00 The many facets of freedom after the fall of the Soviet Union10:35 Ukrainians vote for independence12:30 Valerii shifts from traditional to modern worldview15:00 Moscow tries to steal an election. Ukrainians take to the streets19:00 Valerii's speech on the Maidan about Ukraine's three revolutions20:00 The progressive postmodern worldview emerges23:00 Ukrainians explore a big question: what mistakes did we make ten years ago25:30 Valerii is elected to the National Reform Council29:30 A meeting with the President, who issues an invitation31:00 Russia invades, and Ukraine's new horizontal networks activate34:30 My reflections**Resources**
Valerii's essays in the journal New Eastern Europe**Share the love**
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A short episode in which I explore: why would any of us want to shift our perspective on a big complex issue like climate change, democracy, the Middle East, or political polarization? Doing this isn't easy and can affect our status and relationships, so why bother?
The answer is a quick primer on how as adults we grow our span of care.
**Share the love**
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**Subscribe to the podcast**
To hear the origin stories of more big ideas, subscribe to How My View Grew on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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