For the past century or more, the left has put a high value on moral provocation, deliberately transgressing what they see as society's hypocritical or puritanical moral norms, whether in religion, sexuality, or public decorum in general. Now the right, too, is getting in on the fun, performatively violating the speech norms held sacred by liberals - which is sometimes good, but sometimes itself violates traditional morality, not just leftist ideology.

Matthew Schmitz joins the podcast to discuss his First Things article "Taming the Tongue", about the psychology of edginess, the problem with widespread profanity, and the need for restraint in speech.

Links

"Taming the Tongue" https://firstthings.com/taming-the-tongue/

Against the Grain podcast https://www.patreon.com/againstthepod

Compact Magazine https://www.compactmag.com/

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