The Free Press
Honestly with Bari Weiss
What We're Listening To: Does Anyone Have a Right To Sex?
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What We're Listening To: Does Anyone Have a Right To Sex?
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This week, while our audio team is on summer break, we’re featuring an episode from one of our favorite podcasts: Conversations with Tyler, hosted by the wonderful Tyler Cowen. It’s a conversation with philosopher Amia Srinivasan about her book, The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century. They debate questions such as: do we have a “right” to be desired? How are our sexual desires shaped by the society around us? Is consent sufficient for a sexual relationship? How should we address falling fertility rates? What did women learn about egalitarianism during the pandemic? Why, according to her, progress requires regress. And much, much more. . . 

The episode received a lot of attention and reactions, for reasons you’ll understand when you listen to it. Most importantly, it’s contentious yet respectful in a way that I think is increasingly rare in public life. As Tyler wrote at the time, on his blog Marginal Revolution, about the conversation: “You have to learn to learn from people who bother, annoy, or frustrate you. If you do, they will not in fact bother, annoy, or frustrate you.”

I couldn’t agree more. In fact, this conversation between Tyler and Amia was a big inspiration for our first-ever Free Press live debate, which is happening next week in L.A. The proposition: has the sexual revolution failed? If this conversation inspires you too, please consider buying a ticket to the event: Wednesday, September 13, at the Ace Theatre in downtown L.A.

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This interview pretty much lines up with my aggregate experience with feminists in the real world.

This individual comes off more psychopath than philosopher. And by psychopath, I mean:

“Psychopathy is a mental health condition characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.”

Her quarter-million dollar education has developed her into a Marxist-feminist utopian seeking anti humanist. The issue I run into when listening to her, is being able to understand where that worldview is both:

a.) Attainable

and

b.) Desirable for all, or rather more desirable than our current model of society

Look I’ve only got a public school and university education so I know I’m missing something here, but it just seems to me like she came off as the epitome of an intellectual snob in this interview. Am I being too judgmental?

Tyler Cowan, bless his heart, does an exceptional job in staying on his line of questioning, defending his ideas, and making insightful inquiries. His guest, on the other hand, seems to wear her ideals on her sleeve and take umbrage with almost every thing he asks. Feels like she’s not acting in good faith because she doesn’t believe he is either (though I would venture that his tone, diction, and general demeanor would suggest that he is not a threat).

But then again, what do I know?

So now I ask you, TFP Comments Section:

In answering Bari’s call to listen to someone I disagree with, and coming out more opposed to her ideals than when I began, have I misunderstood the assignment? Do I lack the empathy I criticized this philosopher of lacking and in fact hold the same narcissism she does? Am I just the mirror of her?

Bari. Send help. I’ve gone existential.

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Honestly is one of my favorite podcasts. I've also heard and very much enjoyed Tyler Cowen's precision of thought before. Amia is not a proper subject for debate because of her bad faith attitude to the discussion, her inability to answer simple questions without a disdainful tone, and an almost painful hyper-academic way of speaking that uses 10,000 words to describe one simple, and usually bad, idea. To be clear, it's not just because I don't like her ideas (when they made sense at all at least) but because she seems fundamentally incapable of a productive, interesting, grounded, and enriching conversation. Debates can be "difficult" in different ways and I like it when it's the result of new ideas that are challenging me to grow in new ways, but this kind of difficult was like having to bear an annoying sitcom character. In short, I think Honestly can do better, and I'd love to hear Tyler paired up with someone else to talk about these issues. Thank you.

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