Persuasion | Yascha Mounk | Substack

Text Is (Still) King

Why the written word will never die.

20 hrs ago • Adam Mastroianni

The American People Fact-Checked Their Government

The response to the killing of Alex Pretti shows the internet at its best.

Jan 28 • Jacob Mchangama

You Should Read Colleen Hoover

Jan 27 • Elizabeth Kaye Cook and Melanie Jennings

America Is Now a Family Business

Trump is transforming the constitutional republic into a patrimonial regime before our eyes.

Jan 26 • Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein

They Keep Lying To Us

Two dead Americans, federal agents running amok, and an impending constitutional crisis.

Jan 25 • Sam Kahn

Most Popular

Elon Musk and the Decline of Western Civilization

Jan 13, 2025 • Francis Fukuyama

It’s the Internet, Stupid

Oct 2, 2025 • Francis Fukuyama

A Letter From An Iranian

Jun 21, 2025

How Art Lost Its Way

Jan 6, 2025 • William Deresiewicz

A free society is worth fighting for. Subscribe to get all our content directly in your inbox.

Frankly Fukuyama

Trump chickened out. Now Europe needs to press its advantage.

Jan 24 • Francis Fukuyama

Don’t Back Down, Europe

Trump’s tariff threats against allies should be the last straw.

Jan 18 • Francis Fukuyama

The Problem With America’s Venezuela Policy

Trump isn’t trying to install democracy. But nor is he succeeding with nation building-lite.

Jan 11 • Francis Fukuyama

Newsletters

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

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.

Podcast: The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk

1:22:10

Atul Gawande on Medicine and Mortality

Yascha Mounk and Atul Gawande discuss how a simple system can improve patient outcomes.

Jan 27 • Yascha Mounk

1:17:34

Gašper Beguš on Why Language Doesn’t Make Humans Special

Yascha Mounk and Gašper Beguš also talk about what whale communication and the recent progress on AI tell us about the human brain.

Jan 24 • Yascha Mounk

1:16:16

Damon Linker on Why Trump 2.0 Is More Destructive Than Anyone Expected

Yascha Mounk and Damon Linker explore how this administration has surpassed even the pessimists’ predictions.

Jan 20 • Yascha Mounk

Podcasts

The Good Fight

Atul Gawande on Medicine and Mortality

Frankly Fukuyama

After Davos

Bookstack

Episode 179: Georgios Varouxakis on the West

American Purpose

When Ambiguity is No Longer Strategic

Once, this approach prevented conflict between two world heavyweights. No longer.

Jan 28 • Shahn Louis

Lincoln Would Reject “Heritage America”

He’d ask us to remember what truly makes us American.

Jan 26 • Dhriti Jagadish

Abundance, Hope, Homelessness

Jan 23 • Brian Levy

The Democratic Socialists of America Are Rejecting Democracy

DSA members are choosing to stand with a dictator instead of the Venezuelan people.

Jan 22 • Carlos Egaña

Why Human Rights Depend on the Nation State

A law professor defends civic nationalism.

Jan 16 • Dustin Sharp

Bookstack

26:21

Episode 179: Georgios Varouxakis on the West

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

Jan 18 • Richard Aldous

28:17

Episode 178: Geoffrey Ward on the American Revolution

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

Jan 4 • Richard Aldous

26:00

Episode 177: Kori Schake on the State and the Soldier

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

Dec 14, 2025 • Richard Aldous

30:40

Episode 176: Shadi Hamid on American Power

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

Nov 30, 2025 • Richard Aldous

Recent posts

Trump chickened out. Now Europe needs to press its advantage.

Jan 24 • Francis Fukuyama

Why I'm Rooting Against My Own Country

When America bullies its allies, patriotism means supporting those who still defend liberal values.

Jan 23 • Matt Johnson

Britain Has Forgotten How to Be Free

The country that gave the world liberalism now treats free speech as a dangerous luxury.

Jan 22 • Leonora Barclay

Another Reminder That Biology Matters in Elite Sports

On the pointlessness of non-binary marathon divisions.

Jan 21 • James Smoliga, DVM, PhD

The Morality of a Mafia Boss

Trump wants the freedom to act how he pleases. We’re already seeing the results.

Jan 18 • Francis Fukuyama

The latest from

Leonora Barclay

This Week At Persuasion

Yascha Mounk

Atul Gawande on Medicine and Mortality

Sam Kahn

They Keep Lying To Us

Francis Fukuyama

After Davos

Richard Aldous

Episode 179: Georgios Varouxakis on the West

Luke Hallam

Trump Once Again Failed the Decency Test

Quico Toro

Venezuela’s New President Is No Moderate

David Hamburger

A Letter From An Israeli Shelter

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

Deregulation for Me, Regulation for Thee

Trump hasn’t actually reduced the burden of the administrative state—he’s just shifted it onto all of us.

Oct 20, 2025 • Matthew Wollin

What Wednesday Taught Us About Trump’s Attitude to the Federal Bureaucracy

As if we needed any more reminders.

Oct 17, 2025 • Don Kettl

Armageddon in the Civil Service

Under cover of the government shutdown, Trump is stretching presidential powers even further by firing thousands of workers.

Oct 15, 2025 • Don Kettl

From Retribution to Regulatory Regime

The Trump administration has learned from earlier mistakes in its education policies.

Sep 15, 2025 • R. Shep Melnick

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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