The Good Fight

The Dangers of Bad Science and Simple Solutions

Over the past decades, many social science studies have promised simple answers to complex problems. In his latest book, The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills, Singal describes how many of these solutions fail because the findings they are based on turn out to be wrong or misleading. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jesse Singal sit down to discuss the reproducibility crisis in social science, whether to be skeptical about implicit bias training, and how to differentiate real solutions from illusory quick fixes. A written transcript of this conversation is available on persuasion.community [https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-dangers-of-bad-science-and-simple] Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by followingthis link on your phone [https://www.persuasion.community/account/add-podcast]. Email:goodfightpod@gmail.com [goodfightpod@gmail.com] Website:http://www.persuasion.community [http://www.persuasion.community/] Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid Learn more about your ad choices. Visitmegaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Connect with us! Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nhfO2XVPsv2wZafZ5n7Hk]|Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-good-fight/id1198765424]|Google [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3RoZV9nb29kX2ZpZ2h0LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz] Twitter:@Yascha_Mounk [https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] &@joinpersuasion [https://twitter.com/JoinPersuasion] Youtube:Yascha Mounk [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtopianMagazine] LinkedIn:Persuasion Community [https://www.linkedin.com/company/71607345/admin/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

When Foreign Aid Fails

Foreign aid is meant to alleviate suffering and help poor countries develop. But according to Bill Easterly, a professor of Economics at NYU, it often does the opposite. Instead of helping countries develop, it wastes resources or makes it harder for them to make economic progress. And far from advancing democracy and human rights, it often helps autocrats to stay in power. In this week's episode of The Good Fight podcast, Yascha Mounk and Bill Easterly discuss how political considerations misdirect foreign aid, whether the “development industrial complex” ignores the human rights of the poor, and why foreign aid so often gives a lifeline to authoritarian leaders around the globe. A written transcript of this conversation is available on persuasion.community [https://www.persuasion.community/p/-when-foreign-aid-fails-democracy] Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by followingthis link on your phone [https://www.persuasion.community/account/add-podcast]. Email:goodfightpod@gmail.com [goodfightpod@gmail.com] Website:http://www.persuasion.community [http://www.persuasion.community/] Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid Learn more about your ad choices. Visitmegaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Connect with us! Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nhfO2XVPsv2wZafZ5n7Hk]|Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-good-fight/id1198765424]|Google [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3RoZV9nb29kX2ZpZ2h0LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz] Twitter:@Yascha_Mounk [https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] &@joinpersuasion [https://twitter.com/JoinPersuasion] Youtube:Yascha Mounk [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtopianMagazine] LinkedIn:Persuasion Community [https://www.linkedin.com/company/71607345/admin/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Lessons From A Pandemic

Dr. Leana Wen is fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic. She's not only taking on Covid-19, but also the rampant disinformation and political flip-flopping that turned a manageable threat into one of the worst crises in American history. An emergency physician and Washington Post columnist, Wen has emerged as one the nation's most poignant voices on America's dire need to prioritize public health. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Dr. Leana Wen sit down to discuss the failures of expert opinions, the deadly consequences of inaction, and what the West needs to do to improve public health for the decades to come. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by followingthis link on your phone [https://www.persuasion.community/account/add-podcast]. Email:goodfightpod@gmail.com [goodfightpod@gmail.com] Website:http://www.persuasion.community [http://www.persuasion.community/] Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid Learn more about your ad choices. Visitmegaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Connect with us! Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nhfO2XVPsv2wZafZ5n7Hk]|Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-good-fight/id1198765424]|Google [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3RoZV9nb29kX2ZpZ2h0LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz] Twitter:@Yascha_Mounk [https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] &@joinpersuasion [https://twitter.com/JoinPersuasion] Youtube:Yascha Mounk [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtopianMagazine] LinkedIn:Persuasion Community [https://www.linkedin.com/company/71607345/admin/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

What the West Misses About China

Most Westerners have a one-dimensional view of China, identifying it with either its economic success or its authoritarian government. Rana Mitter, a professor of modern China at Oxford University, suggests that the best way to understand contemporary China is to look at the interplay of four key characteristics: authoritarianism, consumerism, globalization, and technology. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and Rana Mitter discuss how to understand contemporary China; attempts by the Chinese government to change popular views of the country's history; and how younger Chinese citizens are likely to shape the country. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by followingthis link on your phone [https://www.persuasion.community/account/add-podcast]. Email:goodfightpod@gmail.com [goodfightpod@gmail.com] Website:http://www.persuasion.community [http://www.persuasion.community/] Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid Learn more about your ad choices. Visitmegaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Connect with us! Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nhfO2XVPsv2wZafZ5n7Hk]|Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-good-fight/id1198765424]|Google [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3RoZV9nb29kX2ZpZ2h0LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz] Twitter:@Yascha_Mounk [https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] &@joinpersuasion [https://twitter.com/JoinPersuasion] Youtube:Yascha Mounk [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtopianMagazine] LinkedIn:Persuasion Community [https://www.linkedin.com/company/71607345/admin/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How to Save the Internet

Clay Shirky has always been an optimist, believing in the potential of the internet to bring humanity together. But recent trends – from the spread of fake news to the rise in online vitriol – seem to have thrown his vision of cooperation and trust into serious doubt. Does the promise of the internet which Shirky has spent so many years touting still hold true? In this week’s episode of The Good Fight, Yascha Mounk and Clay Shirky sit down to discuss if social media might be more of a curse than a blessing, whether or not to regulate the virtual public square, and how the internet has turned the world into a “global village.” Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by followingthis link on your phone [https://www.persuasion.community/account/add-podcast]. Email:goodfightpod@gmail.com [goodfightpod@gmail.com] Website:http://www.persuasion.community [http://www.persuasion.community/] Podcast production by John T. Williams and Rebecca Rashid Learn more about your ad choices. Visitmegaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Connect with us! Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3nhfO2XVPsv2wZafZ5n7Hk]|Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-good-fight/id1198765424]|Google [https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3RoZV9nb29kX2ZpZ2h0LmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz] Twitter:@Yascha_Mounk [https://twitter.com/Yascha_Mounk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] &@joinpersuasion [https://twitter.com/JoinPersuasion] Youtube:Yascha Mounk [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUtopianMagazine] LinkedIn:Persuasion Community [https://www.linkedin.com/company/71607345/admin/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]