The Free Press
Honestly with Bari Weiss
Priests, Porn Stars and Public Intellectuals All Agree: Debate is Back.
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Priests, Porn Stars and Public Intellectuals All Agree: Debate is Back.
1HR 31M
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When The Free Press decided to rent a theater with 1,600 seats for our first-ever live debate a few months ago, most people looked at us with a mixture of pity and concern. We would have to fill all 1,600 seats. The theater we’d booked in L.A.—not exactly a city known for its culture of public debates—was smack in the middle of downtown, where after-hours can look a little bit like San Francisco during the day. To make matters worse, we had only managed to get the place on a Wednesday night.

We did it anyway. And we sold out every seat in the house.

People came from all over: Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Nevada, Montana. Someone drove a retrofitted school bus from SF to hold an after-party for whoever wanted to come. There were three young priests who drove many miles to see the action, and at least one porn star who took a flight.

Also in attendance: libertarian frat bros in suits; e-girls with Elf Bars; trad boys who wondered aloud if the concession popcorn had seed oil; dads who had to run out to check in with the babysitter; actors from your favorite TV shows; comedians you’ve never heard of; writers you love to hate; angry Catholics; resigned atheists; closeted Trump voters; Mormons saving themselves for marriage; young gay couples in crop tops; feminists; anti-feminists; and a whole lot of podcasters.

The point is: that night, we got a sense of how diverse this community is, and holy shit, was it exciting. We learned that The FP isn’t just a newsletter and that Honestly isn’t just a podcast. We have built a community of curious people.

And most importantly, we learned that debate isn’t dead.

So for today’s episode, we wanted to share the full debate from that evening for those of you who couldn’t be in the theater. The proposition was this: has the sexual revolution failed? 

With the hindsight that comes with half a century, four brilliant women—Sarah Haider, Grimes, Anna Khachiyan, and Louise Perry—debated whether the movement that promised women sexual equality and liberation has fulfilled its promises, or whether it has failed women. . . and maybe men too? Listen and decide for yourself.

Special and huge thanks to FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, without whom this event would never have been possible. If you care about free speech, and if you believe that it’s worth defending, FIRE is an organization that should be on your radar.

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As a listener in the grandmother generation, my main take is that anyone who thinks women don't have more agency now than they did 50 years ago is nuts. While I enjoyed listening, I do think the speakers were largely inarticulate, academic, and whiny. Too much victimhood.

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Technology, from the wheel to AI, accelerates everything we can do as humans. And what we do as humans ranges from the magnificent to the obscene. Our smartphones allow us to access the entirety of human knowledge. It also allows access to the worst depravity the human mind can comprehend. What humans have always needed is the education to access and utilize new technology and many people are lacking that education. As a result, the educated users are accelerating their achievements and prosperity with technology while the uneducated fall further and further behind. That is perfectly illustrated by the statistic from the discussion that says 85% of children born to wealthy (and presumably well educated) mothers grow up in two parent families while only 30% of low-income children have that advantage. This gap has widened considerably in the last 50 years.

The other thing humans need, really a subset of education, is a moral framework to help us control the slide into negative outcomes that are within all of us. I would suggest the accumulated wisdom of mankind includes the ideas behind the Seven Deadly Sins. We need to be taught and to understand that a tendency to gluttony or sloth is a natural thing, but not a good thing. With complete freedom to choose, one might argue why this would not be a rational choice. We need encouragement and a reason to pursue the more difficult character attributes of temperance or diligence, to name just two.

The sexual revolution freed us from old taboos and restrictions and technology has accelerated us on whichever path we choose. I would suggest the people with an education and a moral compass have gained tremendously from the sexual revolution. Those lacking those resources are sliding into a pit of despair.

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