Really appreciate the frequent voices of Christine and Sam; it seems like they actually keep to the idea of getting at "first principles" rather than wading into dollar store political philosophy. On the whole it seems like there needs to be some better organization of topics and discussion. More listening and asking questions. Some episodes, I feel like I'm walking in a "DC Bro" dive bar near the Hill. If this podcast is backed by Aspen, I wish they'd push for better clarity.

Very intelligent conversation about morality, politics, culture, the world, and much more. A great dive into the challenge of being intellectually honest and politically effective.

One gets the impression that the hosts aren’t so much skeptical of the possibility of sweeping change as they are totally averse to it.

Shadi and Damir have the most interesting, curious, engaging conversations that I’ve found on the internet. If you want to explore more perspectives or confront more biases, this is the podcast to listen to.

When the hosts address topics they have researched and/or have personal knowledge of the pod is good. When they get out of their lane it is frustrating. The Rittenhouse episode is an example of the hosts just winging it.

Really appreciate this show for its conversational tone and perspective. Neither host are trying to sell you on something and I always learn new things or consider a situation from a viewpoint that is sometimes different from my own. Refreshing!

I’m a paid subscriber, somewhat regretfully. I’ll keep listening because sometimes I hear something novel and thought provoking. The pod sometimes has substance, mainly when there are guests. Damir and Shadi took a whole month off from pod’ing, despite taking the subscriber money. I dunno, that’s their right I guess, but I didn’t think that was very cool.

Truly a great pod.

Great guests and interesting hosts

The live episode, the revolution may not be televised, couldn’t help focusing on Shadi’s biceps since he kept mentioning them in previous episode 😆

Great podcast!

First and most importantly they talk about interesting things.The dialogue is easy going and not at all contrived. I just think it’s really good.

Shadi and Damir are fascinating and they are touching on some of the most important subjects that are often not well served by other politics podcasts, but they could use a little more structure so the conversation doesn’t turn into generic banter.

Love everything they have to say; except when they talk about Obama’s legacy on the middle east.

Love this podcast. If it’s good enough for Pomerantsev, it’s good enough for me

I listened to the episode where they talked about the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. I have liked stuff both Shadi and Damir have written. I found the conversation to be really unfocused and uninteresting. Apparently the worst thing about the two shootings was how it was annoying on Twitter in the aftermath. They talked around the El Paso shooter’s manifesto and dismissed the threat of white terrorism about which even the FBI is sounding the alarm. It was just a completely unserious discussion about the growing problem of violent anti-immigrant and anti-woman rhetoric being acted on by disturbed young men with easy access to guns.

This podcast is worht subscribing and listening to. Shadi and Damir are two interesting and intriguing voices within American public and political discourse. They don't subscribe to conventional thinking about pertinent topics, and push back against typical impulses, reactions and responses that so many unfortunately have today.