#184 - Helen Pluckrose - Liberalism, Free Speech & the Authoritarian Turn

June 17
1h 26m

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Episode Description

Helen Pluckrose joins me to discuss how liberalism was lost and why free speech, individual liberty and viewpoint diversity need to be defended from both the authoritarian left and the authoritarian right.


Helen explains why liberalism does not mean “left wing”, why it is better understood as the opposite of authoritarianism, and how critical social justice, identity politics and language policing have changed the way people think, speak and behave. We discuss woke ideology, DEI, equality vs equity, trans rights, queer theory, free speech, institutional capture and why suppressing ideas usually makes them more powerful.


We also get into whether Britain needs a liberal revolution, how the anti-woke movement can become authoritarian itself, and why the future may depend on liberals on the left and right defending freedom within their own tribes.


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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 - What Liberalism Really Means

00:00:48 - How Did We Lose the 90s?

00:03:13 - Phones, Algorithms and Anxiety

00:08:11 - What Has Changed?

00:11:16 - Woke and Language Policing

00:13:57 - Liberalism vs Authoritarianism

00:20:57 - How Liberalism Was Lost

00:23:39 - Why Freedom Must Be Maintained

00:25:33 - Can Institutions Stay Liberal?

00:28:43 - Who Represents Liberalism Today?

00:31:28 - DEI and Discrimination

00:35:10 - Equality vs Equity

00:39:29 - Is Pro-Trans Misogynistic?

00:41:38 - Reality, Safety and Liberalism

00:46:03 - Queer Theory and Biological Reality

00:49:26 - How Civil Rights Became Language Policing

00:55:06 - A Radical Defence of Freedom

00:58:51 - Woke Corporatism

01:03:21 - The Problem With Anti-Woke

01:10:48 - Why Suppressing Speech Backfires

01:13:37 - Do We Need a Liberal Revolution?

01:18:03 - Can Sanity Return?

01:21:00 - The Liberal Case on Immigration

01:24:17 - Liberalism as the Higher Value


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CONTACT PETE

› Website – http://petermccormack.com

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CONNECT WITH HELEN PLUCKROSE

› Website – https://hpluckrose.com/

› X/Twitter – https://x.com/HPluckrose


SPONSORS

› IREN - https://www.iren.com/

› LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter


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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR

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EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK

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