Yascha Mounk's measured response to the "Great Awokening"

<p>I've interviewed Yascha Mounk about his book <em>The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time</em>, which was released this week.</p><p>"Mounk has told the story of the Great Awokening better than any other writer who has attempted to make sense of it," The Washington Post wrote in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/09/27/identity-trap-yascha-mounk-review/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a review</a>.</p><p>Yascha's book says that we can reach across our differences and understand one another, and that we need to make the effort to do so, through conversation, debate, and relationship. I was not aware of the degree to which some progressive writers and intellectuals have argued that such mutual understanding is not even possible, and so they have discouraged the pursuit.</p><p>It's hard for me to imagine a world in which we do not at least try to understand and appreciate one another, even those with whom we have profound differences. That effort is at the heart of a free and prosperous society, in my mind.</p><p><br></p><p>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.</p>