I stopped and wrote down Ezra’s quote “achievement oriented, but risk averse” when taking about the generation entering the workforce. I teach in a graduate healthcare professional program and this hits the nail on the head for me. My students want the outcome, but not the learning process. They want the big title with letters after their name, but they are terrified to make any small mistake while getting there.
Another podcaster I follow, Lisa Woodruff, has a saying, “I am not a perfectionist; I am a person of excellence.” And her goal for her listeners is to “embrace progress over perfection to make a lasting functional difference” in your home. I heard echoes of that in this conversation and think it would be so interesting if we could adopt that ethos in the U.S. in our politics and institutions. I think it ties into Sarah’s comment that society these days has an air of, “You owe me perfection and I owe you sh*t.” If we could all reframe to striving for excellence instead of perfection, what could we accomplish?
One of my favorite things when you host conversations with national media figures like Klein is noticing when they start to figure out in real time who they are talking to and seeing them grok how insightful and different you are than other podcasters.
Such a thoughtful conversation! I would so love a deeper conversation about birth rates and natalism. My reaction to the declining birth rate was a feeling of relief! We constantly hear about limited resources - housing, energy, land. As a land use planner, I am irked by sprawling subdivision after sprawling subdivision. To me, a lower birth rate means less stress on our limited resources. And an opportunity to grow the economy in new ways. There’s so much more to discuss here about sustainability - I’d love to hear your thoughtful takes!
I agree! I very much have a "good, let's figure that out" mindset around a lower birthrate because at some point we will have to. And the noticeable green space (and the species that inhabit them) that has disappeared just in my lifetime ... THAT worries me way more.
Beth, your description of your dad made me tear up. You can tell he’s a gift to both you personally and his community. My second takeaway was while listening to the part about algorithmic media, my brain popped in with the house always wins. Since I loathe gambling, that connection stopped me in my tracks. Now it keeps coming to mind when I am scrolling too long!
I loved how President Obama’s failure to be a uniting figure was treated as “aw shucks, circumstances” when the reality is that his political opposition pulled out all the stops to cast him as a divider. The Republican Party saw a charismatic talented person with the potential to take us beyond the kind of politics we all hated, and chose immediately to destroy him. They will never allow unity under Democratic Party leadership, that’s why it sounds naive. Their entire project — convincing regular people to vote for tax cuts and lax regulation for the rich, based on fear and cultural grievance — is inherently reliant on separating us. We can’t solve this problem until we see it clearly.
It’s funny because I have a vivid memory of Ezra calling the GOP a “machine that takes cultural grievance as its input and then outputs tax cuts” and separately arguing that elites are naturally skeptical of democracy and spend most of their efforts ensuring the bottom 60% don’t vote themselves the money of the top 5% or 1%. It shaped my thinking immensely, but I guess we treat these things as a force of nature rather than choices made by human beings with agency and the capacity to choose differently.
Regarding virtue, my religious tradition teaches that, yes, our freedom is for something, in this case to love, know, and serve God in the context and contours of our own particular life. Even when we come from different religious traditions, or have set religion aside, perhaps we are getting closer to recognizing that total freedom isn't really freedom at all. Or perhaps this is a lesson we need to learn over and over again.
You all talked about a point Pete B. has made. That we cannot and should not just put things back the way they were. As awful as DOGE was, it’s an opportunity to fix some things. Beth made this point about Dept. of Education and Ezra on 2028 Dem candidates. I’m definitely looking for this type of candidate.
Ok ok ok ok Ezra is on Pantsuit Politics *AND* Ezra’s guest on his own show today is Bryan Stevenson from Equal Justice Initiative?????? Our cups runneth over.
I stopped and wrote down Ezra’s quote “achievement oriented, but risk averse” when taking about the generation entering the workforce. I teach in a graduate healthcare professional program and this hits the nail on the head for me. My students want the outcome, but not the learning process. They want the big title with letters after their name, but they are terrified to make any small mistake while getting there.
Another podcaster I follow, Lisa Woodruff, has a saying, “I am not a perfectionist; I am a person of excellence.” And her goal for her listeners is to “embrace progress over perfection to make a lasting functional difference” in your home. I heard echoes of that in this conversation and think it would be so interesting if we could adopt that ethos in the U.S. in our politics and institutions. I think it ties into Sarah’s comment that society these days has an air of, “You owe me perfection and I owe you sh*t.” If we could all reframe to striving for excellence instead of perfection, what could we accomplish?
One of my favorite things when you host conversations with national media figures like Klein is noticing when they start to figure out in real time who they are talking to and seeing them grok how insightful and different you are than other podcasters.
Such a thoughtful conversation! I would so love a deeper conversation about birth rates and natalism. My reaction to the declining birth rate was a feeling of relief! We constantly hear about limited resources - housing, energy, land. As a land use planner, I am irked by sprawling subdivision after sprawling subdivision. To me, a lower birth rate means less stress on our limited resources. And an opportunity to grow the economy in new ways. There’s so much more to discuss here about sustainability - I’d love to hear your thoughtful takes!
I agree! I very much have a "good, let's figure that out" mindset around a lower birthrate because at some point we will have to. And the noticeable green space (and the species that inhabit them) that has disappeared just in my lifetime ... THAT worries me way more.
Beth, your description of your dad made me tear up. You can tell he’s a gift to both you personally and his community. My second takeaway was while listening to the part about algorithmic media, my brain popped in with the house always wins. Since I loathe gambling, that connection stopped me in my tracks. Now it keeps coming to mind when I am scrolling too long!
I loved how President Obama’s failure to be a uniting figure was treated as “aw shucks, circumstances” when the reality is that his political opposition pulled out all the stops to cast him as a divider. The Republican Party saw a charismatic talented person with the potential to take us beyond the kind of politics we all hated, and chose immediately to destroy him. They will never allow unity under Democratic Party leadership, that’s why it sounds naive. Their entire project — convincing regular people to vote for tax cuts and lax regulation for the rich, based on fear and cultural grievance — is inherently reliant on separating us. We can’t solve this problem until we see it clearly.
It’s funny because I have a vivid memory of Ezra calling the GOP a “machine that takes cultural grievance as its input and then outputs tax cuts” and separately arguing that elites are naturally skeptical of democracy and spend most of their efforts ensuring the bottom 60% don’t vote themselves the money of the top 5% or 1%. It shaped my thinking immensely, but I guess we treat these things as a force of nature rather than choices made by human beings with agency and the capacity to choose differently.
Regarding virtue, my religious tradition teaches that, yes, our freedom is for something, in this case to love, know, and serve God in the context and contours of our own particular life. Even when we come from different religious traditions, or have set religion aside, perhaps we are getting closer to recognizing that total freedom isn't really freedom at all. Or perhaps this is a lesson we need to learn over and over again.
Oh the lessons we learn over and over again! Reminds me of a Jules Feiffer cartoon in which he says, "Maturity is a phase; adolescence is forever."
Ugh. Let's try this freedom thing again and see if we can't do a little better.
“Your life is the sum total of things you pay attention to.” I believe this 100%.
Will the video episode be available later today?
It's up on YouTube! https://youtu.be/iau4_dWHoxs?is=h8qUWEtwTj1uQcKg
Okay wonderful. I used to find it in the Substack post. Thx!
I could be misremembering. I believe only the Spicy Live and Good Morning videos ‘sit’ in Substack.
I would love to see the thumbnail for this episode. All we see is Ezra laughing with one-half of each of your faces, Beth and Sarah.
You all talked about a point Pete B. has made. That we cannot and should not just put things back the way they were. As awful as DOGE was, it’s an opportunity to fix some things. Beth made this point about Dept. of Education and Ezra on 2028 Dem candidates. I’m definitely looking for this type of candidate.
Sing it with me: “we can never go back to before!”
This brought be joy this morning. Thank you!
Ok ok ok ok Ezra is on Pantsuit Politics *AND* Ezra’s guest on his own show today is Bryan Stevenson from Equal Justice Initiative?????? Our cups runneth over.