The Curious Middle

Liza Libes is defending literature like it's under siege, and after this conversation, you will understand why. Liza went to Columbia wanting to study Tolstoy and came out having read more Edward Said and Sartre she signed up for. We got into how her English degree turned into a theory degree overnight, why Anna Karenina isn't the feminist manifesto her professors taught it as, and why so much of...

What if you could name the thing tearing America apart?   Benedict Beckeld joined us to  trace a pattern that has played out in every great civilization in history: ancient Greece, Rome, Enlightenment France, Britain, and now America. The more successful a society becomes, the more its own people turn against it. Wealth, safety, and open intellectual space create the exact conditions for a culture...

Adam Louis Klein is a PhD student in anthropology at McGill who became one of the leading voices against antizionism after October 7. He was in the Amazon jungle doing fieldwork when the attacks happened. When he returned and refused to stay silent, he was immediately labeled a Zionist and told he had no future in his field. Instead of backing down, he built a movement. In this episode, Adam expla...

What if pursuing wealth isn't greedy,  it's morally good? Rabbi Daniel Lapin has spent decades making that case, and in this conversation he makes it clearly. He's the bestselling author of Thou Shall Prosper , founder of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians, and one of the most practical thinkers on money, character, and how to live well. We get into his Five F's framework: Family, Financ...

How much power does The New York Times really have , and what happens when that power is used to shape narrative instead of pursue truth? In this episode of The Curious Middle , we speak with Ashley Rindsberg , author of The Gray Lady Winked , about the Times' reporting on some of the most important stories of the last century: the Nazi invasion of Poland, Stalin's Soviet Union, the Holocaust, Isr...

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Jonathan Harounoff , British-Iranian journalist and author of Unveiled: Inside Iran's Woman, Life, Freedom Revolt . Jonathan takes us inside the Woman, Life, Freedom movement —how it began, why it refuses to die, and why the regime continues to answer peaceful protest with barbaric force. Drawing on years of reporting and deeply personal conversations wit...

We spreak with   Marissa Streit , CEO of P ragerU    a bout education, civics, and parenting in a time of cultural chaos. Marissa shares the moment that inspired her to "enlist" through education, explains why activism can show up even in math and literacy, and calls on parents to stop outsourcing values to institutions. Our discussion also explores he crisis facing young women today—marriage, mea...

Rob Henderson , known for coining the term "luxury beliefs," joins us to discuss his memoir  Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class . Rob shares his extraordinary path—from homelessness and the LA foster care system, to adoption in rural Northern California, to enlisting in the Air Force at 17, and eventually studying at Yale and Cambridge . Rob shares research that shows how...

Former Michelle Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz joins us to explore the world of Jewish wisdom she discovered beyond ethnic jokes, bagels, and a vague sense of guilt. She shares how her culturally Jewish upbringing transformed into a deeply learned, joyful identity—and why real Jewish study is essential if we want to withstand modern antisemitism. We trace how 2,000 years of Christian anti-Judais...

Monica Harris is the Executive Director of FAIR For All ,  a Harvard Law graduate, former Hollywood executive, and author of The Illusion of Division . Monica explains how her experience as a  gay Black woman in Hollywood and then in "flyover country" shattered many elite narratives about America. She describes why she believes much of our current polarization is manufactured by media and politica...

In this episode, we speak with Lucy Biggers, head of social media at The Free Press a nd a former climate activist who has completely rethought the story she was telling the world and herself. Lucy shares how she went from a left-wing digital newsroom steeped in oppressor–oppressed ideology and climate doomsday content to slowly "re-educating" herself, especially after COVID lockdowns made her que...

Leland Vittert , NewsNation's chief Washington anchor and author of the memoir   Born Lucky , joins us to talk about his childhood, his career, and all the unexpected ways he truly  was  born lucky. Despite years of bullying and difficulty navigating school as an autistic kid, Leland had one enormous blessing: parents who never gave up on him, never lowered the bar, and never stopped believing he...

What happens when a no-nonsense entrepreneur decides she's had enough of California's chaos? Elaine Culotti has ideas politicians won't touch. She is a fearless entrepreneur, farmer, real estate developer, and a potential candidate for governor of California. You may also know her as one of the business tycoons on  Undercover Billionaire . In this conversation, Elaine shares her frustrations with...

Our guest is  Julie Smolyansky , CEO of Lifeway Food s, the company that pioneered the kefir market in America and today produces 95% of the kefir sold in the U.S. Julie's story begins in 1976, when her parents immigrated from Kiev ( the former Soviet Union)  to Chicago. Her mother opened a deli, while her father, a mechanical engineer, missed the kefir he had back in the Soviet Union so he starte...

Brandy Shufutinsky is the newly appointed Director of the Education and National Security Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In this important conversation, we disciuss how today's ethnic studies curriculum, originally intended to promote understanding among diverse communities, i s instead fueling division, promoting an oppressor-vs-oppressed worldview, and teaching students th...

Stella Escobedo is an Emmy award winning news anchor-reporter with nearly 20 years experience,  a fearless journalist and an advocate who immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan. Stella is currently a news anchor for One American News (OAN). In this conversation, Stella shares how her upbringing shaped her values, her global perspective, and the causes of her disillusionment with mainstream media....

Karen McKinney was a prosecutor working in the gang unit when her path first crossed with Joseph Herrera, a man she would go on to prosecute for murder. Twenty years later, Karen faced Joseph when he was up for parole. Not exactly your classic "how we met" story. What no one could have predicted is that years later, the two would form an extraordinary friendship that would transform both of their...

In this episode, we talk about the value of work with David Bahnsen, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, a wealth management firm based in Newport Beach, California overseeing $4 billion in client's assets,  David is also a  thought leader, and author of Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life. David wants to challenge one of society's most accepted myths: that succ...

Ada Palmer, is a sci-fi writer, historian, and someone who sees the world with an incredibly rare, long lens. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the headlines, this episode might help. Ada believes we're not living in a uniquely apocalyptic time—just a normally apocalyptic one. "We're living in a moment we must rise to, work hard on, do well where what we do matters," she told me. "We have the abi...

Natasha Sizlo was having a terrible year. Fresh off a divorce, bankruptcy, the end of a passionate relationship, and then the news came about her beloved father's devastating terminal illness. When a friend suggested an astrology reading, Natasha's first instinct was a hard pass. But, Natasha relented, and the reading led her towards a year of magic, the kind of year that turns into a romantic com...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meant-for-you/id1036108112?i=1000661332590 Are you living a psychologically rich life? In this episode we discuss what it means to be psychologically rich and how you can generate more richness. In " Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life" , Shigehiro Oishi, Professor of Psychology at the University of C...

Filmmakers Courtney and Ted Balaker discuss their latest documentary surrounding the mental health crisis among Gen Z.  Their film based on the  book, The Coddling of the American Mind, by Jonathan Haidt   and Greg Lukianoff , was made to spark critical discussions, including conversations across college campuses. We discuss the alarming trends in Gen Z's mental health, the role of social media, a...

Yardena Shwartz, an award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer, joins us to discuss her book, Ghosts of a Holy War. Yardena's book focuses on the 1929 Hebron massacre, allowing us to see the shocking parallels between the historical events of 1929 and the October 7th massacre in Israel. Hebron, an ancient city with archeological finds going back some 5,000 years, is in the controlled ter...

When it comes to understanding our government, we often find ourselves asking, "What would Sharon say?" So we did. We invited Sharon McMahon, America's favorite government teacher and the force behind @SharonSaysS, to help us unpack why civics education in the U.S. has been defunded, sidelined, and under-taught for decades. Sharon shares eye-opening insights about a troubling reality: many student...

Like both of us (your co-hosts Polina and Yelena) Viktoria was born in the Soviet Union. VIktoria immigrated to the USA from Kiev with her family when she was 10. After getting interested in politics a few years ago, Viktoria started a highly successful Instagram page (communistsurivivor) , as a place to share her experiences and political opinions. Viktoria's childhood in the former Soviet Union...