Frames of Space

Elizabeth Bruenig on the Agony and Beauty of Faith

Elizabeth Bruenig is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. She is one of the rare journalists today whose work moves seamlessly between politics, theology, and ethics, and grief—without flattening any of them. There’s a line of hers I keep coming back to: Beauty tells you where to look. That's how she writes. And it's how she sees the world.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about the pain and divinity that come from a forgiving attitude, the rightward turn of modern American Christianity, and how she wants others to remember her.
Show Notes
On Human Slaughter by Elizabeth Bruenig

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Francis Fukuyama on Liberal Democracy at a Crossroads

Francis Fukuyama is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is known for his book The End of History and the Last Man, which argued that liberal democracy represented the endpoint of humanity's ideological evolution.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about whether his end of history thesis holds up by modern standards, the nature of democratic backsliding in the United States, and the main contributing factors behind the decline in social trust within the country.
Show Notes
The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama
"It’s the Internet, Stupid" by Francis Fukuyama, Persuasion
"Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?" by Dan Williams, Conspicuous Cognition

Marshall Kosloff on Why Liberalism Needs New Stories

Marshall Kosloff is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center and the host of the podcast The Realignment. His work covers the nature of coalitional change in American politics since the rise of Donald Trump, and how Democrats can accomplish the policies of the Abundance agenda at the state level.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about his journey from the center-right to the center-left, the dearth of compelling stories in center-left discourse, and why it's so important for liberal communicators to emphasize the destination instead of just the vehicle for that destination.
Show Notes
"Ezra Klein Is Worried — but Not About a Radicalized Left" from Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
"Danielle Lee Tomson: The Story & Authenticity Gap - Why the Center-Left Keeps Losing the Plot" from The Realignment
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Steve Teles on the Promise of Abundance in America

Steve Teles is a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University, and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center. He is one of the main advocates of the abundance agenda, which champions supply-side solutions to many of the problems of modern economies, including housing unaffordability, clean energy, public infrastructure, and more.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about how the abundance movement has grown in recent months, the level of bureaucratic autonomy that he wants government administrators to have, and whether or not government deregulation would make authoritarianism more efficient.
Show Notes
Varieties of Abundance by Steve Teles, Niskanen Center
Cascadian Abundance Substack
Cost Disease Socialism: How Subsidizing Costs While Restricting Supply Drives America’s Fiscal Imbalance by Samuel Hammond and Daniel Takash, Niskanen Center
What libertarianism has become and will become — State Capacity Libertarianism by Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution
What State Housing Policies Do Voters Want? Evidence from a Platform-Choice Experiment from now Publishers

Allie Volpe on Why You Should Talk to Strangers

Allie Volpe is a correspondent at Vox. She writes extensively about the science of human connection—friendship, conversation, community, and the invisible threads that tie our well-being to the relationships around us. And let me tell you, these connections are vital.
Take loneliness, for instance. Loneliness isn’t just a feeling; it’s a state of being that affects us both psychologically and physically. When we’re lonely, we feel more tired, more pessimistic, more hopeless, and more unmotivated. And if social media isn’t the antidote to that loneliness (spoiler alert, it’s not), then we need to find other avenues.
So in this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why she enjoys talking to strangers, how social trust has changed over time, and the extent to which it is useful for people to see threats and danger everywhere.
Show Notes
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"Talking to strangers" by Gillian M. Sandstrom

David French on Understanding the Rise of MAGA

David French is an opinion columnist for The New York Times. Formerly a senior editor at The Dispatch and staff writer at National Review, David is known by many for his understanding of mainstream conservatism, and how Republican culture has changed significantly over the past decade.
In this episode, I spoke with him about the history of populism within Evangelical America, the ways that Evangelical culture led to the rise of the MAGA movement, and how the current Trump administration is weaponizing the apathy and fatigue of American citizens.

Jeremiah Johnson on Liberalism and How Social Media Shapes Us

Jeremiah Johnson is the co-founder of The Center for New Liberalism, host of The New Liberal Podcast, and the writer behind the Substack Infinite Scroll.
His writing lives at the strange intersection of serious policy and unserious online discourse—and he’s one of the few people I’ve come across who is willing to take both seriously. One day he’s writing about marginal tax rates or housing vouchers; the next he’s explaining how fan drama in a K-pop subreddit is more predictive of future political radicalization than anything you’ll hear from a campaign manager. It sounds absurd, until you realize: he might be right.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about why he considers himself a liberal, why social media conversations tend to be both toxic and important, and why it's better to create things than to consume things.
Show Notes
"You don't care about politics. You have a politics hobby." by Jeremiah Johnson, Infinite Scroll
"Politics Is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change" by Eitan Hersh
"On Consumption vs Production" by Jeremiah Johnson, Infinite Scroll

Bret Devereaux on the Norms of the US Military

Bret Devereaux is a military historian and a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. He writes the blog "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry," which covers Roman history, the nature of power and violence in society, and the best sci-fi/fantasy stories.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about how George Washington prevented a military coup, the unwritten rules governing the US military, and the tension between critiquing institutions and defending their existence.
Show Notes
"Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship" by Bret Devereaux, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry

Karin Tamerius on Why Our Brains Struggle with Modern Politics

Karin Tamerius is a psychiatrist, a political psychologist, and the founder of Smart Politics. She writes the Substack "The Smart Politics Way," which has quietly become one of the most thoughtful guides to how we talk about—and think about—politics.
The truth is, we’re living in a time where the news cycle is relentless. It’s not just a daily onslaught of information; it’s a constant barrage of developments, policies, and crises that seem to demand our immediate attention. And while it’s natural to feel concerned about the state of the world, I can’t help but wonder: are we handling this in the best possible way? What Karin argues is something deceptively simple: our brains were never built for politics.
In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why the human brain is not hardwired to deal with politics in a productive way, how empathy shapes peoples' political beliefs, and the kinds of discipline that people can engender within themselves to deal with the news cycle.
Show Notes
"Your Brain Isn't Built for Politics—Here's What to Do About It" by Karin Tamerius, The Smart Politics Way
"Talking with Trump Voters Seems Hopeless—But It's Not" by Karin Tamerius, The Smart Politics Way