Persuasion | Yascha Mounk | Substack

What Hegel Knew About Trump

He stands in the eye of history’s storm—and may not even realize it.

1 hr ago • John B. Judis

Chile’s Hard Right Isn’t as Trumpy as It Wants to Seem

How to keep a consensus while pretending to break it.

Apr 3 • Quico Toro

Trump Betrayed His Own National Security Strategy

There is no doctrine, just whim.

Apr 2 • Francis Fukuyama

The Case for Going to the Moon

Why wonder and ambition are important.

Apr 1 • Luke Hallam

ICE Isn’t a Quick Fix for Airport Chaos

There's a deeper issue of trust.

Mar 30 • Emily Chamlee-Wright

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It’s the Internet, Stupid

Oct 2, 2025 • Francis Fukuyama

What “Western Civilization” Really Means

Mar 3 • Francis Fukuyama

A Letter From An Iranian

Jun 21, 2025 • Mitra Vand

How Art Lost Its Way

Jan 6, 2025 • William Deresiewicz

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Francis Fukuyama

Trump Betrayed His Own National Security Strategy

There is no doctrine, just whim.

Apr 2 • Francis Fukuyama

What AI Hypists Miss

These systems still struggle with implementing real world solutions.

Mar 18 • Francis Fukuyama

How Not To Do Regime Change

Nearly two weeks in, it’s clear just how ill thought-through Trump’s regional war is.

Mar 12 • Francis Fukuyama

Newsletters

Essays and conversations about big ideas from our editor-in-chief.

Francis Fukuyama

Francis Fukuyama shares some of the many things on his mind.

American Purpose

American Purpose at Persuasion is a continuation of the magazine, media project, and intellectual community chaired by Francis Fukuyama. Includes Larry Diamond's "Diamond on Democracy" column and the "Bookstack" podcast with Richard Aldous.

Yascha Mounk

A Response to "The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides"

Michael Lind on the two types of bourgeoisie.

Mar 19 • Michael Lind and Yascha Mounk

The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides

What happens when elites all believe the same thing.

Mar 11 • Yascha Mounk

My Day of Jury Duty

What a deeply ordinary day in a deeply ordinary court taught me about American democracy.

Feb 28 • Yascha Mounk

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Sebastian Mallaby on AI Safety and the Race for Superintelligence

Yascha Mounk and Sebastian Mallaby discuss why tech leaders both fear and accelerate dangerous AI development, and whether open-source models pose…

Apr 4 • Yascha Mounk

1:08:05

Ruy Teixeira on What the Liberal Patriot Closure Says About the Center Left

Yascha Mounk and Ruy Teixeira examine how the Democratic Party’s cultural evolution drove away working-class voters—and ask whether it may be too late…

Mar 31 • Yascha Mounk

1:03:12

David Autor on the Scars That Money Can’t Heal

Yascha Mounk and David Autor explore why you can’t compensate workers for lost dignity with a check—and what that means for future economic shocks.

Mar 28 • Yascha Mounk

Podcasts

The Good Fight

Sebastian Mallaby on AI Safety and the Race for Superintelligence

Bookstack

Episode 184: Frank Dikötter on How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity

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Francis Fukuyama on Trump’s War With Iran

American Purpose

Resisting the Third Wave of Democratic Backsliding

How democracy defenders can press their advantage. (Part 2 of 2.)

Apr 2 • Carl Gershman

Green Shoots Amid the Third Wave of Democratic Backsliding

What we can learn from the countries where autocracies are on the back foot. (Part 1 of 2.)

Mar 31 • Carl Gershman

If Mojtaba Khamenei Isn’t Leading Iran, Who Is?

Why the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are likely making the decisions.

Mar 28 • Saeid Golkar

A Path For Europe

The Iran War poses a diplomatic dilemma. One solution is for Europeans to aid the Gulf states directly.

Mar 26 • Ines Burrell

Unbalanced Powers

The saga of the Government Accountability Office tells the story of the Trump administration’s campaign for a unitary executive.

Mar 24 • Don Kettl

Bookstack

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Episode 184: Frank Dikötter on How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST.

21 hrs ago • Richard Aldous

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Episode 183: Steve Israel on the Einstein Conspiracy

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST.

Mar 22 • Richard Aldous

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Episode 182: Christopher Clark on A Scandal in Königsberg

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST.

Mar 8 • Richard Aldous

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Episode 181: Hélène Landemore on Politics Without Politicians

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST.

Feb 15 • Richard Aldous

Recent posts

Episode 184: Frank Dikötter on How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST.

21 hrs ago • Richard Aldous

30:32

Sebastian Mallaby on AI Safety and the Race for Superintelligence

Yascha Mounk and Sebastian Mallaby discuss why tech leaders both fear and accelerate dangerous AI development, and whether open-source models pose…

Apr 4 • Yascha Mounk

1:12:12

This Week At Persuasion

Join our upcoming book club!

Apr 3 • Leonora Barclay

Resisting the Third Wave of Democratic Backsliding

How democracy defenders can press their advantage. (Part 2 of 2.)

Apr 2 • Carl Gershman

Ruy Teixeira on What the Liberal Patriot Closure Says About the Center Left

Yascha Mounk and Ruy Teixeira examine how the Democratic Party’s cultural evolution drove away working-class voters—and ask whether it may be too late…

Mar 31 • Yascha Mounk

1:08:05

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The Case for Going to the Moon

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Persuasion

Our Events

Why Liberalism: A Series By Persuasion

Liberalism As Mob Boss

How to respond to conservative critiques of actually existing liberal societies.

Oct 30, 2025 • Alexandre Lefebvre

An Open Society Requires Constant Vigilance

Liberalism is built on paradoxes—but we have a duty to defend it.

Sep 10, 2025 • Roger Partridge

Bringing Human Nature Back In

Francis Fukuyama in the latest of our series “Why Liberalism.”

Aug 13, 2025 • Francis Fukuyama

The Woke Right Stands At the Door

Whence comes this uncanniest of all guests?

Aug 6, 2025 • Jonathan Rauch

Gradual Change is F***ing Awesome—And Liberalism Knows It

On Darwin, abuse, and Costanza politics.

Jul 30, 2025 • Wayne Karol

The "Deep State" and Its Discontents: A Series By American Purpose

Unbalanced Powers

The saga of the Government Accountability Office tells the story of the Trump administration’s campaign for a unitary executive.

Mar 24 • Don Kettl

An Efficient Government Is A Limited Government

If we want an institution to be good at what it does, we must first define its role.

Feb 23 • Emily Chamlee-Wright

Why American Governments Can’t Get Things Done

We used to build things. Today, the state is hampered by red tape and veto points.

Feb 18 • Francis Fukuyama

Houston, We Have a Problem

It's not rocket science that kept America from returning to the moon. It's state capacity.

Feb 8 • Francis Fukuyama

Universities, Liberalism and Democracy: A Series By Persuasion

A Pedagogy of the Empowered

The left-wing cancellations of yesteryear teach us how to respond to the right-wing censorship of today.

May 26, 2025 • Eboo Patel

How I Learned To Stop Criticizing Everything

There are two directions higher education can take. Here’s why I chose pluralism.

Oct 25, 2024 • Eboo Patel

The current system is broken. Here’s what truly inclusive institutions would look like.

Sep 26, 2024 • Rachel Kleinfeld

Reflections on the New Encampment Culture

There were many puzzling features of the recent protests. This coming year, universities must course correct—while protecting the right to dissent.

Sep 20, 2024 • David Bromwich

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