John McWhorter & Ian Buruma – The Spirit of Wokeness

0:00 The protestant ethic and the spirit of wokeness 10:47 Is comparing wokeness to religion a slander on religion? 21:08 Ian: Wokeness is a distraction from real political problems 28:02 How Ian experienced his own cancelation 41:31 America’s exportation of wokeness 45:45 Has wokeness aided and abetted Trump and Brexit? 52:54 John: Enslaved people did find ways to improve their own livesRecorded August 7, 2023Links and ReadingsIan’s Harper’s piece, “Doing the Work”John’s book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black AmericaJian Ghomeshi’s 2018 NYRB piece, “Reflections from a Hashtag”Tomiwa Owolade’s book, This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain MatterDavid Brooks’s NYT oped, “What if We’re the Bad Guys Here?”John’s NYT oped, “One Sentence Does Not Define a Curriculum”The Florida Board of Education’s 2023 standards for social studiesRobert Cherry’s essay on slavery at this newsletter This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe