Reconsider

In response to a listener question about who is and isn’t part of the “tribes” in American politics, Erik does an episode himself on political polarization, pulling directly from his Sound Education talk on political polarization.Head to our YouTube channel for the slide show version!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we link up with the venerable Chris Martin of Heterodox Academy, and host of Half Hour of Heterodoxy. We spend 45 minutes discussing heterodoxy, because we are long-winded. We ask tough questions such as:-Is it even possible to not do the thinking for you?-How do we discuss tribalism without evoking false equivalence?-What does heterodoxy even mean in a bi-polar political society?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You might feel pretty strongly about trade and immigration policy--either very happy or very cranky with the way things are currently being done. But you might be surprised to learn that your tribe might have felt very differently about it just a few years ago.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Xander and Erik are crazy-busy, and we're very sorry about that. In lieu of this fortnight's episode, here is our Halloween Special from Agoraphobia 2018: "WE DO THE THINKING FOR YOU." Yes it's silly, but it's of course meant to get us thinking about how we frame the behavior of our tribe and our enemy tribe in ways that makes it impossible to be introspective.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

“Congressman Erik: just say no.”Erik’s on the warpath over that darned image we got for the listener Q&A, so Xander and Erik are going to talk about how the US government actually spends its money. Prepare to be surprised!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So hey Thanksgiving is coming up; time for an emergency prep episode! If your Thanksgiving turns into fighting, and you don’t want it to, we can help! Challenge yourself to have a great political conversation rather than a brutal slugfest.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we do a big listener Q&A! We’ve gathered a few questions over the past few months and we decided to run with the juiciest ones. We’ll do this again, keep sending questions in! Here’s what we cover:YemenSocial SecurityKashoggiSports in diplomacySweden, immigration, and sexual crime  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Post technical difficulties, we’re back! More Jake, more great questions about the global economic market.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So much has gone down over the last year that we needed some proper professional econ help to sort it out. So we called Jake Meyer to come back to join us--luckily for us, he did!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Don’t wait until a week before midterms to start your research! Get a leg up on where to get accurate information on your (many) voting choices with ReConsider’s guide to the election this year.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

China's history is long. Like, really long. Its memory is, too. Want to understand how China sees the world today? You need to understand how it sees its place over the last 3600 years.We're lucky enough to welcome Chris Stewart of The History of China Podcast to help us scratch the surface. But really, if you want to dive in, go check out _his_ podcast: http://www.thehistoryofchina.wordpress.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since the founding of the United States, in every generation, in every field of business, politics, sports and society, we’ve watched in shock as corruption, deceit and desire bring down heroes, titans and those we thought we could trust.In the aftermath, we’re left with too many questions, how did this happen? Who is to blame?Subscribe to American Scandal today. www.wondery.fm/scandal  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Trade war’s on, baby. Why is it happening? What’s at stake? How does free trade even work?Are tariffs against China The Art of the Deal, or the tantrums of a madman? Is China a trade cheater or is Trump just pandering to the base?Time to get some context.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is the Chinese economy a powerhouse, or a house of cards ready to fall down? Is it going to overtake the US, or crash terribly and burn?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Like geopolitics and economics, technology shapes our world and our choices--as individuals and as nations. American Innovations by Wondery dives into some of the world-changing innovations that came through the United States. It looks not just at the science, but the story, the drama, and the ah-ha! moments behind each great innovation. In this preview, you'll learn about America's first hack at AI... by getting a computer to play chess.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Trump just reimposed the sanctions on Iran that had been previously lifted by the nuclear deal--the deal is dead. Trump wants a new deal. Rouhani is under pressure and claiming he wants a fight. Is scrapping the deal a good idea or a bad idea? What does it mean for Iran and the Middle East?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're having a trade war! How exciting. So China is... our friend? Enemy? FRENEMY? They... want to take over Asia? Taiwan? The US? THE WORLD? Are they a fair trading partner or a cheater? A reasonable place or a dictatorship?There are many conceptions and misconceptions about China. Let's start taking them on.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nationalism gets a pretty bad rap these days. And not for bad reason. But it’s a complicated topic and has a lot of history… some of it very good. ReConsidering how we understand nationalism will help us grapple with how to maybe even use it for good.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since we've been talking about economics for 6 months, a lot has happened throughout the world! And people have wanted to know about it. So today we're covering interesting events in South Africa, North Korea, Iran, and Turkey. All great opportunities to ReConsider.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we answer some listener questions about the national debt! Namely:-How big is it?-How much does China/etc own and what does that mean?-But seriously guys are we in trouble here?Learn all of this and more on today's episode!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.