The Realignment: It's Time to Pour Out the Haterade and Get Positive Again
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I’m coming to you all from San Francisco, so this is coming out later than usual. A listener asked if the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Shitposting event I’m in town for is going to be livestreamed. The answer is yes. I’ll share the link in next week’s newsletter if you don’t sign up for tonight’s live stream at the link above.
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Time to Dial Back the Hate and Negativity
I recorded two different podcasts with two guys I really respect: Will Jarvis’s Narratives Podcast and Antonio García Martínez’s The Pull Request. I shared both episodes on The Realignment’s feed.
Listening back, two things stick out:
A) It is way harder to be a podcast guest than an interviewer like me would think (How long do you talk? Should you have talking points? What questions is the host going to ask? Etc…)
B) Saagar and I have become haters, lots of criticism, disinterested analysis and reaction to people in the arena making bad choices, but too little affirmative offerings. I get why it happened. We’re nearing the show’s 300th episode, and the biggest difference between the two of us now and when we started back in August 2019 is a lack of certainty about how to fix the problems we see in the world. The show’s first thesis was about left and right populism. Whether you’re aligned with either side, that take proved incorrect.
Speaking for myself, once I lacked the conviction that I or the figures and movements I put my faith in had the answers, I retreated into the podcast version of an ivory tower and spent a lot of time critiquing the plans and assumptions of others (*cough cough* Andrew Yang and AOC).
After 300 episodes, I’ve finally gotten the negativity out of my system and state “WE GET IT!” Now, my goal with the show is actually to answer the difficult question of “What should we do?” I’d appreciate it if listeners and readers could hold me accountable to this “No hating/negativity without offering something affirmative” construct.
Now that I’ve made this declaration, next week’s newsletter will focus on my (and therefore the show’s) goals, perspective, etc…
Books Mentioned in This Week’s Discussion Episode
Unfortunately, many of the books Saagar and I discussed during our discussion episode aren’t available on Bookshop, so here’s a general list if anyone’s curious:
Bush by Jean Edward Smith
The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq by Robert Draper
Realignment episode with Robert Draper on Iraq
The Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet by James Mann
Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall
Next Week’s Episodes
This week’s discussion episode ended up being entirely about Afghanistan and the War on Terror, so next week’s will zoom out and hit a broader range. Here’s what I’m interested in:
Ukraine’s new offensive
California’s energy challenges
Of course, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II (RIP)
Guest-wise, I’m speaking with an old friend of Saagar and mine, Jack Deutch of Foreign Policy to find out what’s happening in Eastern Ukraine, TNR’s Michael Tomasky on progressive economics, Steve Case on expanding tech ecosystems beyond the coasts, and Scott Galloway’s returning to a podcast for a conversation with Saagar and me about his new book.
This Week’s Episodes
286 | Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to Global Domination - Mark Bergen on How YouTube Got to Billions of Daily Views
286 | Saagar & Marshall: Was the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan Botched + 9/11 Anniversary Reflection
284 | The Realignment x The Pull Request: Antonio García Martínez on What’s Broken, How to Fix It, or Do We Just Move to Balaji’s Network State?
(AUDIO)
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I am really glad to hear you are taking this turn toward offering alternatives and not just criticism. I really love the in-depth interviews you do, but especially when you and Saagar are together it can begin to sound like an endless stream of unproductive hating. Let me give you the 1000 reasons this is a bad idea and that is a bad politician. It really is so much easier just to critique and offer nothing else, so I wish you guys a lot of luck on this new approach. I was on the fence then about becoming a paid subscriber, but if you follow through on this more positive turn, I will absolutely show my support financially.
Sorry man; I don't think you nor Saagar are haters. You're trying to hold people to account. For example, his vitriol against the 4 stars in your Afghan pullout episode was truly the only place I've heard anyone saying that the generals are full of shit. Aaand, you bookended it well thru giving historical examples from Truman & Kennedy admins.
I think I put it up on YT, but your episode w/ Antonio García Martínez was by light years the worst one. How does this clown make a living? I went from being unimpressed to actively disliking him for being such a lightweight in the course of an hour.
Now for ol' Scotty coming up...could you ask him a question for me? How is it that a guy who has famously founded several failed (and currently failing- his 'Education' company) manage to be kept on as an instructor at NYU? I mean his Algebra of Happiness segments are great; but his biz acumen is pretty spotty at best. I'm grateful I've ignored his stock picks all along.
I have zero idea how he's become as influential as he is.