Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps

Trumpism is over. The Republican coalition is in tatters.
What’s next?
Democrats have a massive new congressional majority, including in deeply Republican areas. The last time they got this large a share of the popular vote for House candidates (in any election, midterm or otherwise) was after Watergate, half a century ago. Kansas has elected a Democratic senator for the first time since 1932.
But what, exactly, are voters demanding? Can Democrats provide it? And what do such large swings tell us about the responsiveness of the political system... and the stability of society as a whole?
Josh wasn’t going to opine on the midterms but the size of the swing, and the triumphalist coverage from the legacy media, nudged him into this thought-provoking editorial. It was delivered live on Substack on Wednesday evening, U.S.-time. Grab a brandy and a cigar, and enjoy.

As the US midterms unfold, take a moment to reflect on the bigger picture. While voters protest data centres and politicians quibble about A.I. regulations, you and I are left with a few questions.
What rules can constrain A.I.? What are the real risks? What's wrong with the black-&-white thinking of A.I. doomerism vs A.I. utopianism? Could a face-eating-zombie analogy help?
This editorial was delivered as a Substack Livestream at 7pm ET on election day, to help you focus a little less on the horse race and a little more on what matters. Let Josh take your hand for an enlivening stroll through the lush gardens of A.I. risk.

Is independent thinking sustainable for humans? Or will people always collapse into tribes, mandating beliefs and excommunicating heretics?
Is Josh a delusional optimist for believing in humanism, liberalism, pluralism and reason? Is it inevitable that people will sort themselves into comforting groups that increase polarization and cultural warfare? Is MAGA a cult? Is gender ideology? Is Zionism? Is multiculturalism?
Andrew Gold is one of Britain's most popular podcasters and YouTubers. A former mainstream journalist whose documentaries aired on HBO and the BBC, his work dried up in the late 2010s and early 2020s. He blames that era's insistence on diversity (another cult?), when it became almost impossible for a straight white male to successfully pitch a new show.
He now hosts Heretics, a wildly popular online TV show that's proudly heterodox and frequently anti-woke. Andrew was kind enough to invite Josh to his studios in North London to discuss groupthink, the culture wars, whether Britain is unravelling, and whether liberalism itself is contradictory.

Noam Dworman is the owner of comedy’s most revered venue, the Comedy Cellar, sometimes referred to as the "Harvard” of comedy clubs. He transformed it from a single 1980s room in Greenwich Village into a five-venue behemoth.
The stars who made their name on Dworman’s stage are a who’s who: Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Amy Schumer, Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K.
Why does Noam still do it? What has he learned about how to lead a good life? Is it harder to get ahead as a small business owner these days? And why is he getting fined for other people’s sidewalk trash?
Josh visits Noam at his studio above the Cellar to discuss how to give the benefit of the doubt to people who are wrong—from border-town voters, to Trump officials. They wrestle with free speech, ICE, bureaucracy, and why cancel culture’s “consequences” might be harsher than we think.

As we hold our breath to find out whether Israelis will finally spurn Netanyahuism, Yael Bar Tur joins Josh to definitely NOT discuss the Israeli election.
Yael majored in counterterrorism in Israel and has a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. As the NYPD’s head of digital, she was on the front lines of the official response to the defund-the-police movement of the 2010s.
Josh and Yael dug into the Israeli electoral system, the American banking system, policing, and, randomly but inevitably, the new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes.