The Radicalist

William F. Buckley Jr. was a leading American intellectual who helped shape the modern conservative movement. He founded National Review in 1955, hosted the long-running TV show Firing Line , wrote more than 50 books, and was a profoundly influential figure in U.S. political life throughout the late 20th century. In William F. Buckley Jr.’s Guide to Friendship in a Polarized Era: Lessons in Civili...

Not even the most advanced form of artificial intelligence can ever replace man. Because there is something in human beings that is irreducible to machine knowledge: self-awareness, free will, doubt, feelings. * Federico Faggin , Tiscali notizie interview , May 2024 This week, Yevgeny Simkin and I explore the limits of human and artificial intelligence. It’s a conversation about brains, machines,...

This debate came about after I wrote an essay, “ Trans Women Are Trans Women ,” in response to Matthew Adelstein’s essay, “ Why I Think Trans Women Are Women .” I wanted to have the conversation for two reasons. First, I’m a student of philosophy and former university lecturer of logic, debate, writing, and public speaking — basically, how to think and express those thoughts — so for me, civil dis...

David Volodzko talks to former guest Kevin Ray about a disturbing experience he recently had on the New York subway, the pathology of woke activism, its influence in the arts and why things are getting worse rather than better, Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel We , his experience with compelled speech, and the effort to turn educators into activist therapists. Kevin Ray is a New York City theate...

David Volodzko speaks with Mia Hughes about the different waves of the trans movement, the DSM-V and gender dysmorphic disorder, how the trans movement operates as a cult, legal support for trans activism in U.S. states, prevalence rates, indicators of social contagion, the WPATH scam, how the Biden administration inserted itself into medical standards, autogynephilia, definitional creep of the te...

David Volodzko speaks with Ross Benes about his upcoming book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times . They discuss the political legacy of Jerry Springer and reality TV, what Beanie Babies and Pokemon can teach us about financial markets, the rise of WWE kayfabe in corporate culture, the dialectic of high and low culture, how porn drove tech adoption on VHS...

After President Trump announced “Liberation Day” on April 2, the Dow sank 350 points and the S&P 500 recorded a historic three-day loss. But never mind the regional security risks, or the fact that this should’ve been done through negotiation with our allies rather than unilateral action, what’s perhaps most remarkable about this event is the way it has been received by the MAGA faithful. This is...

David Josef Volodzko speaks with Ilya Shapiro about constitutional originalism, Supreme Court reform, political bias on the bench, DEI in our courts, Shapiro’s scandal at Georgetown Law, free speech on campus, the illiberal takeover of legal education — which is the subject of his new book Lawless — and much more. Shapiro is a constitutional scholar and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who...

David Volodzko speaks with Katherine Brodsky about her book No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage—Lessons for the Silenced Majority . Brodsky is a former guest on the pod, when she appeared to discuss civility and open discourse. She is also the author of the newsletter Random Minds and a columnist at Michael Shermer’s newsletter Skeptic . This is a public episode. If...

In response to escalating Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, President Trump ordered large-scale airstrikes this week, targeting Houthi military infrastructure in the capital city of Sanaa. These strikes are intended to protect international maritime commerce as well as send a warning shot over the bow to Iran for supporting these pirates, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio called them yeste...

David Volodzko speaks with Allin Kimbrough, who grew up in the Quiverfull movement and its famous branch the Duggar family cult, a group of independent Baptist fundamentalists whose lifestyle was celebrated on The Learning Channel show 19 Kids and Counting and who later became the topic of the grim 2023 Amazon documentary Shiny Happy People , involving the story of how their eldest son molested hi...

The White House press secretary recently called New York Time s reporter Peter Baker a “left-wing stenographer” after he questioned Trump’s decision to bar AP for not using the term “Gulf of America.” But just how biased is the NewYork Times, and in what ways? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com...

This week, David Volodzko discusses nonpartisanship and the Oval Office ambush involving President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe

David Volodzko speaks with Sarah-Jane Murray about how medieval politics changed the way people at the time told stories, how politics influence narrative structure generally, theoretical frameworks in medieval narratives, the ethics of interpretation, postmodern hermeneutics, storytelling as the foundation of civilization, the universality of story design, and more. Murray is a professor at Baylo...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theradicalist.com/subscribe

David Volodzko speaks with Alexander von Sternberg about the concept of velvet jihad , which he coined—inspired by French historian David Todd’s A Velvet Empire: French Informal Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century —to describe Islamic cultural imperialism. They also discuss the recent pogrom in Amsterdam, the influence of rhetoric on behavior, Sharia law, the myth of media-induced violence, and...

Ashley Rindsberg is senior editor at Pirate Wires and author of the books Tel Aviv Stories and The Gray Lady Winked: How The New York Times ’s Misreporting, Distortions & Fabrications Radically Alter History , which he was inspired to write after reading how the paper’s reported that Poland invaded Nazi Germany and not the other way around. In this conversation, we discuss Israel, our current medi...

Katherine Brodsky is the author of the newsletter Random Minds and has been a correspondent for Variety for over a decade. She has also contributed to publications such as The Washington Post , WIRED , The Guardian , Esquire , Newsweek , Playboy Magazine , New York Magazine's Vulture , USA Today , and many others. As a journalist, she has mostly covered film, TV, culture, business, travel, tech—an...

Part II: The debate: Notice he @’s FIRE, where I work, with claims of slander (never mind slander is spoken while libel is written), as if trying to get me in trouble or fired. This is precisely the disgusting kind of tactics we’ve all come to expect from woke activists. Respectfully brother, it only seems more clear to me now that I did not misunderstand you. But let’s break this down just in cas...

David Volodzko speaks with terrorism expert Jonathan Schanzer about terrorism funding, the efficacy of sanctions, the Iranian regime and Hamas funding, the Israel-Hamas War, the Russo-Ukraine War, China’s potential invasion of Taiwan, and more. Jonathan Schanzer ( website , X ) is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and host of the FDD Morning Brie...

David Volodzko talks with Alexander von Sternberg about Amin al-Husseini, the Nazi godfather of Palestinian nationalism, his early life, his embrace of Nazism, his efforts to send Jewish children to death camps, his legacy since then, and his place in the Palestinian movement today. Von Sternberg is the host of the historical podcast History Impossible . He’s also a writer whose essays and reviews...

David Volodzko speaks with Adam Coleman about fatherlessness in the black community, the insecurity of trans activists, white supremacist logic, the harm of victim mentality, what makes a good marriage, the psychology of happiness, the meaning of life, finding God, the search for purpose, what true empowerment looks like, the hidden value of suffering, and connecting with others. Coleman ( X ) is...

David Volodzko speaks with Jeff Booth about the nature of inflation, the inevitability of Bitcoin, why other cryptocurrencies are inferior, Bitcoin’s volatility, common criticisms of Bitcoin, global adoption, the possibility of a Bitcoin standard, the social benefits of Bitcoin, and more. Jeff Booth is a tech entrepreneur, founding partner of the Bitcoin venture fund ego death capital , co-founder...

In this episode, David Volodzko discusses some of the medical questions surrounding the controversial Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, whether Khelif is trans, and what’s ultimately missing from the debate. Near the end, David references his recent essay on the subject, Raging Bullshit , in which he argues that Khelif’s recent victory against Italian boxer Angela Carini was unjust. This is a public ep...

David Volodzko speaks with Barrington Martin II about Covid, the U.S. presidential election, President Biden’s mental state, the attempted assassination of former President Trump, the danger of political drama, racism in America, cancel culture, calming our political monkey mind, inconvenient truths about slavery, the marketplace of ideas, freedom of speech, the transition to the right of many you...