Livestream Roundup | October 20, 2023
Harvard, the Canceling of the American Mind, and Free Expression in Art
This week in my Conversations with Peter Boghossian series I had the pleasure of speaking with Rajiv Malhotra, Rikki Schlott, and Rosie Kay. I hope you enjoy the conversations!
Is Harvard a Critical Social Justice Madrassa? | Rajiv Malhotra
On Tuesday, October 17, 2023, I discussed anti-Semitism at Harvard and other Ivy League universities with one of India’s foremost public intellectuals, Rajiv Malhotra. We discussed Harvard’s cancellation of Hindu speakers, collaboration between leftist and Islamic radicals to undermine various civilizations they label “oppressive,” how China uses Harvard to undermine the U.S. and India, and more.
“People who want to argue from first principles are not welcome.” Rajiv Malhotra
The Canceling of the American Mind | Rikki Schlott
On Thursday, October 19, 2023, I discussed free speech, civil liberties, and youth issues from a Gen Z perspective with Rikki Schlott, a journalist and political commentator. Her new book with best-selling author Greg Lukianoff, “The Canceling of the American Mind,” is hot off the press! They co-authored this outstanding follow-up to “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg and NYU professor Jonathan Haidt. Rikki, who is a columnist at the New York Post and a regular contributor to numerous publications and television programs, was a research fellow at Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression (FIRE) and a production intern for The Megyn Kelly Show.
“Universities have somehow managed to appoint themselves as the sole gatekeepers to success in polite society… I think there is a seismic market correction that is coming down the pipeline for them that my generation is at the helm of. I think that is an overwhelmingly positive development.” Rikki Schlott
Can Art Exist without Free Expression? | Rosie Kay
Today, Friday, October 20, 2023, famed dancer Rosie Kay and I discussed what transpired in the fall of 2021 when she invited dancers from her production of “Romeo + Juliet” to her home for a dinner party. A late-night conversation about an upcoming production of Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando” revealed Rosie’s support for women-only spaces and her acknowledgment that biological sex is real.
A handful of her dancers reported this “transphobia” to the Rosie Kay Dance Company board of directors, which initiated investigations. The board wanted Rosie to be “re-educated.” Rosie resigned from the company she ran for nearly 20 years and launched a new company, K2CO. Currently, she only employs dancers who are committed to freedom of speech and artistic expression.
“In order to make really great art, you’ve got to play with the heights and depths of humanity, you’ve got to be able to say the wrong thing, you’ve got to be able to joke, you’ve got to be able to play and if you are already coming into the studio already with your identity and your views and your possessions intact then how on earth, well you are not an artist, are you, you are an activist and activism is propaganda.” Rosie Kay
Thank you, Peter and Reed, for these interviews, they contain so much to think about it is difficult to choose what to comment on. I appreciate Rajiv Malhotra comments about the relationship between Harvard and the global organizations such as the WEF. https://youtu.be/OLAYWpHKjew?t=2865 Both Kay and Malhotra are adept at following the old adage, "Follow the money". You seem understandably pessimistic during your interview with Rosie Kay with regards to the capture of institutions, which brings up a topic that I think it worthy of comment. How does one continue to take the red pill (acknowledging the problem) without taking the black pill (being overwhelmed by the problem or losing hope) in the process and continually bounce back into optimism? I like the phrase, “So what, now what?” https://www.thinkific.com/blog/what-so-what-now-what/
"There is nowhere to go, so we have to do our best."
– Rosie Kay https://youtu.be/8o8IddAdO2o?t=3584
This is How We Fight and Defeat the Woke (The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNPfiFGSmWg
Thank you for posting these interviews. Jeffery Epstein wined and dined most the scientists at Harvard. Yes, including taking them in his jet to his island. One scientists reported that if you questioned Jeffery’s science theories he pushed on the Harvard bunch - you were shamed and no longer included in his social soirées.
In the end, Jeffery wanted to turn his New Mexico ranch into a breeding ground for himself with the assistance of these Harvard boys.