This Week in Disagreement - May 23
A live disagreement on Trump and the Ivy League
A weekly rundown of disagreement-worthy moments.
A Live Disagreement with Alex Grodd x Ilya Shapiro
This week, TD founder and podcast co-host Alex Grodd had a live disagreement with of the Manhattan Institute. Previously, Ilya was a guest on an earlier episode of our podcast on the wave of campus deportations carried out by the Trump Administration. Yesterday, the administration took things even further, banning Harvard from enrolling international students.
This conversation was not one of our standard disagreements. It was more free-flowing than usual, spanning anti-zionism, anti-semitism, and political differences among Jewish communities.
Shortly after we wrapped this conversation, there was a deadly shooting of two members of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. This violence is horrific and heartbreaking.
Many of you have reached out to share responses to yesterday’s conversation. We continue to welcome your comments and criticisms. We’d love to hear from you.
Live Disagreement: Trump and the Ivy League with Ilya Shapiro and Alex Grodd
In our most recent Substack Live, Alex Grodd, TD founder and podcast co-host had a live disagreement with Ilya Shapiro.
Disagreement Updates
Topics we’ve covered, recently in the news
Trans Athletes in Elite Sports
Friend of the podcast aired a follow up to our disagreement on trans women in sports with experts Doriane Coleman and Joanna Harper on his Substack . Check out our own disagreement with Doriane and Joanna.
The Birth Rate and Having Babies
Declining birth rates in the US: Which approaches would help increase birth rates in America? Viewpoints from multiple sides from ’s newsletter.
Video: What Is Absent From the Pro-Natalist Ideas Pitched to Trump? (Caroline Kitchener, NYT)
Listen to our episode on babies and whether or not to have them
Ships in the Night: The Dms Edition
I’d be super bummed to wake up to this text from a friend. shared his recent experience with this on Substack. ^ Yikes.
Later this spring, we’ll be ramping up our work on how to disagree - productively - through live coaching. We’ve got some exciting new things in store with some of the best mediators and conflict resolution experts in the world. Andrew, we’d love to have you on as a guest.
Or you, reader! If you are struggling with something similar and are interested in our “How to” work, let us know.
🤝 How To Disagree: Frenemies
Friend and expert suggests in her Substack piece “Enemy Roulette,” that when it comes to high-conflict conversations, it’s important to “step out of the dance of polarization." Read more.
A couple more suggestions from my hometown paper, the Portland Press Herald, in “How to talk to your political frenemies.”
“Reach out to your frenemies with warmth and a sincere wish to repair the relationship. Begin by searching for commonalities. Support each other’s curiosity by asking questions. Real questions, not leading ones.”
Coming Up Next on The Disagreement Podcast
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Thurs. May 29: Is College Worth It? Live from ASU+GSV with Dr. Bridget Burns and Ryan Craig
Alright, that’s all for now folks. May your disagreements be healthy and highly productive.
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“Horrific and heartbreaking” and also entirely predictable and directly related to the rot at Harvard. Nobody is “crying wolf”, Alex.
I have enjoyed the Disagreement episodes that I’ve listened to, and I appreciate the way you facilitate the conversations. I understand that this free-form discussion was different. It was revealing.
The Disagreement has gone stale faster than sourdough. Seriously, can you think of anything to disagree about that isn't completely derivative?