In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by journalist Helen Lewis to discuss her new BBC series The New Gurus. We discuss the rise of advice-giving gurus online, whether social justice is a new religion, her confrontational interview with Jordan Peterson, how online cancelation radicalizes people, and much more.
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In this episode of Sacred Tension, I speak with scholar and author Helen Pluckrose about her book Cynical Theories. We discuss where she believes modern social justice went wrong, whether technology is the primary explanation for online dysfunction, the limiting of LGBT identities, and much more. Find her organization Counterweight here: https://counterweightsupport.com/
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There is one particular section in Jaron Lanier’s book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now that keeps me up at night. He describes the trajectory of online social justice movements. First, they experience a honeymoon phase of progress, but because of the invisible business model of social media, these social movements are algorithmically catalogued, manipulated, and studied for profit in a way that leads to greater social unrest, bigotry, and inequality. Lanier calls this process “Arc Burn,” in reference to MLK Jr’s moral ark quote.
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In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to Reverend Lori Walke: a badass lady preacher, public theologian, and social activist who is prominently featured in the new documentary American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel.
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In this episode of Sacred Tension I talk to multi-faith activist Tahil Sharma about white supremacy, the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, and overcoming oppression.
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In this episode of Sacred Tension I talk to Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, PhD about the process of dismantling toxic power within our culture. We talk about my gradual journey of understanding what, exactly, racism and sexism are, and the process of overcoming them. Robyn ultimately advocates for radical courage and imagination, and I found this conversation deeply moving.
Continue reading “Dismantling Supremacy Culture”
Stephen Bradford Long 