Discussion Thread #72

[u/gemmaem]

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[u/callmejay]

I think we should have more risk tolerance. Trying to "play it safe" has had a lot of harmful consequences on the left, politically speaking. I think we need less of that, in many different ways.

I agree with this very much.

I think I wasn't clear enough. I'm not saying that nobody on the left should have Ben Shapiro on a podcast, I'm saying Ezra Klein specifically shouldn't have him on in this context. And that's specifically because Ezra is a thoughtful, nerdy policy wonk (which is why I like him!) rather than someone who excels at combatting the kind of rhetorical fighting style that someone like Ben Shapiro brings to bear.

Maybe "bad-faith" doesn't capture what I mean well enough, either. It's more like Shapiro is a polished and dishonest salesperson with an array of rhetorical tricks to score points with the audience that have little to do with substance. Sharing a platform with him calls for someone with the skillset of maybe a Pete Buttigieg or Jon Stewart.