The Realignment: Reacting to Jan. 6/SF DA, Audience Feedback, and Supercast Exclusives Next Week
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We’ve wrapped the second month of our Supercast launch, meaning that we can actively shift from soft launch to the real deal.
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Response to Ian Bremmer/Alex Epstein Audience Pushback
I’m wrapping my move to Austin today, so the Substack will shorter this week.
Still, I wanted to share an anecdote. A lot of listeners were unhappy with my episode with Ian Bremmer. Ian’s perspective is a little more center-left/mainstream than this show typically offers, and the majority of feedback essentially came down to: “Ian made all sort of assertions and didn’t back them up with evidence.” A lot of listeners on the other end of the ideological spectrum had the same critique about my episode with Alex Epstein last week.
After the episode with Ian wrapped though, we kept talking and HE went on to call me out, saying, “I felt like you thought a lot of what I was saying was BS. You should push back more.”
Message received. When a guest knows you can do better as an interviewer when it comes to arguing against them, the writing’s on the wall. The show’s at the point where I have the credibility and the track-record to push guests, and I shouldn’t be afraid of being impolite when doing so.
I’ve always felt two things as an interviewer:
The podcast is the equivalent of my house. When I invite someone over, I’m reticent to argue with them, as one would hate doing that in real life.
I still too often feel that guests are doing me an outright favor by coming on the show and have an urge to pull my punches accordingly.
I can still think of the podcast has my home while also respectively driving the conversation, as guest like Ian are clearly open to. And when it comes to guests as “favors,” considering how many books you all purchase, everyone’s benefiting from the episode.
TLDR: Thank you for the critical feedback. The show’s budget hasn’t quite reached the point where we’ve got a full-time producer, so the audience’s a great substitute. If this were a PBS show like back in my Firing Line days, whenever I dropped the ball on asking a question, a voice in my ear piece would tell me to get on it. Hopefully someday…
Next Week’s Episodes
Monday: Our monthly Supercast subscriber bonus episode. Marshall speaks with return Realignment guest Peter Bergen about the recent paperback release of his book: The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.
Tuesday: Peter Zeihan joins Marshall and Saagar for an interview about his new book: The End of the World Is Just the Beginning, available for pre-order at our Bookshop.
Wednesday: Our monthly Supercast subscriber Q&A/AMA segment where Marshall and Saagar answer paying-members’s questions and book/listening recommendations.
Thursday: Marshall speaks with Andrew Rice about his recently released book: The Year That Broke America: An Immigration Crisis, a Terrorist Conspiracy, the Summer of Survivor, a Ridiculous Fake Billionaire, a Fight for Florida, and the 537 Votes That Changed Everything.
Friday: Marshall and Saagar’s weekly discussion episode. Let us know what topics/themes we should hit.
This Week’s Episodes
254 | Saagar & Marshall: Jan. 6 Committee, SF DA Recall, and Celebs in Politics.
252 | Realignment Double-Header: Is a U.S. Conflict with China Inevitable?
(AUDIO)
253 | Ian Bremmer: Pandemics, Climate Change, and Disruption. Do Crises Equal Opportunity?
The Realignment Bookshop
As a reminder, we’ve created a Realignment Bookshop affiliate store showcasing books by guests, what we’re actively reading this year, and deeper dives into the featured topic of an episode.
If you purchase a book using our link, the show gets a 10% commission, a local, independent bookseller gets support, and you get an awesome book!
We’re reorganizing our book lists over the next few weeks, so for now, check out our primary one:
Let us know what you think about this or any other week’s episodes. Please share The Realignment with anyone who’d enjoy the podcast.