Peter Savodnik on how to oppose the vulgar, the illiberals, the grifters, the frauds, and the partisans.
Peter Savodnik is a senior editor at The Free Press. Previously, he wrote for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, as well as publications in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, south Asia and across the United States. His book, The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union, was published by Basic Books in 2013.
This lecture occurred on October 21, 2025 at the University of Austin.
00:00 — Preview
00:44 — The rusting carcass of a city that is no longer a city
04:19 — Forgotten Americans chose Trump
08:37 — It's not about racism
10:14 — You should be politically homeless
12:21 — When did the crazy begin?
15:13 — Cognitive dissonance
17:42 — Four arguments against extreme partisanship
17:57 — The aesthetic argument
18:54 — The political argument
19:32 — The intellectual argument
26:19 — The Great Scrambling of American politics
28:20 — The moral argument for political homelessness
31:33 — Against chaos
37:24 — Decent men vs. grifters
39:34 — Q&A: Have we been disenfranchised?
41:45 — Q&A: Feelings win elections
44:13 — Q&A: Campaign finance
46:20 — Q&A: Ask more of your politicians
50:03 — Q&A: We've lost sense of anything enduring
53:45 — Q&A: Political philosophy should make us less political
56:45 — Q&A: Social decline creates political decline
59:12 — Q&A: American values
1:03:37 — Q&A: You can't really change things as a loyal party member
1:10:02 — Q&A: Mamdani is a gift to the Republican Party
1:15:37 — Q&A: The nationalization of politics
1:18:53 — Q&A: How to attack illiberalism liberally
1:21:37 — Q&A: What will satisfy conspiracy theorists?
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