Persuasion | Yascha Mounk | Substack

How To Understand Nativism

Global abundance triggers a backlash.

20 hrs ago • Sarah Majdov

The Japanese Love Their Prime Minister. This Is Huge

An apolitical nation is genuinely excited about its new leader.

Feb 12 • Quico Toro

The Unexpected Persistence of John Rawls

We walk in the garden of his ideas.

Feb 10 • Joseph Heath

Ukraine's Winter of Discontent

When the power grid is targeted, you can't call this life. It's just survival.

Feb 9

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

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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

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Frankly Fukuyama

35:33

Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein on America as a Family Business

Francis Fukuyama is joined by Stephen E.

Feb 4 • Francis Fukuyama

Don’t Call Me Francis

A transcript of a conversation I recently had with Claude.ai.

Feb 2 • Francis Fukuyama

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

Jan 24 • 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.

Yascha Mounk

Wake Up, Europe

The continent must take charge of its own fate.

Jan 30 • Yascha Mounk

The Prosecution of Jerome Powell

Forget the tasteless tweets. Powell's prosecution attacks the two democratic guardrails that matter most.

Jan 12 • Yascha Mounk

The Left’s Deafening Silence on Iran

I searched five major progressive publications for coverage of Iran's uprising. Combined results: zero.

Jan 11 • Yascha Mounk

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Podcast: The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk

1:09:10

Daniel Diermeier on Why Universities Are Their Own Worst Enemies

Yascha Mounk and Daniel Diermeier examine how elite institutions created the backlash that now threatens their future.

3 hrs ago • Yascha Mounk

1:25:43

C. Thi Nguyen on Why Measuring Everything Ruins Everything

Yascha Mounk and C. Thi Nguyen examine what happens when life becomes a game—and the game stops being fun.

Feb 10 • Yascha Mounk

1:14:41

Jung Chang on A Personal History of China

Yascha Mounk and Jung Chang explore what individual narratives can tell us about China’s past and present.

Feb 7 • Yascha Mounk

Podcasts

The Good Fight

Daniel Diermeier on Why Universities Are Their Own Worst Enemies

Frankly Fukuyama

Stephen E. Hanson and Jeffrey S. Kopstein on America as a Family Business

Bookstack

Episode 180: Nicolas Stavros Niarchos on the Elements of Power

American Purpose

Achieving Abundance Is Harder Than It Sounds

Much of the left remains committed to scarcity. Here’s how to change the debate.

Feb 11 • michael bennon

Did Slovakia Just Switch Sides?

Robert Fico’s sudden enthusiasm for the EU shows Trump’s influence is waning.

Feb 6 • Dalibor Rohac

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

Bookstack

26:37

Episode 180: Nicolas Stavros Niarchos on the Elements of Power

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

Feb 1 • Richard Aldous

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

Recent posts

The Stakes Are Too High To Be This Cringe

A year in, the Democrats still have no plan for Trump’s second presidency.

Feb 7 • Leonora Barclay

The Real Reason Science Is Broken

AI productivity tools can’t fix bad incentives.

Feb 6 • Tim Requarth

The Epstein Files and Elite Moral Collapse

When America's ruling class operates without shame, the consequences extend far beyond individual crimes.

Feb 5 • Pratap B Mehta

Not Everything Is Corruption

Money does distort politics, but not as badly as you think.

Feb 5 • Siddhu Pachipala

Rubio Wants Democracy, Trump Wants Oil

One month on, it’s clear which approach to Venezuela is winning.

Feb 3 • Quico Toro

The latest from

Yascha Mounk

Daniel Diermeier on Why Universities Are Their Own Worst Enemies

Quico Toro

The Japanese Love Their Prime Minister. This Is Huge

Leonora Barclay

This Week At Persuasion

Francis Fukuyama

Houston, We Have a Problem

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Stand Up To Bullies!

Richard Aldous

Episode 180: Nicolas Stavros Niarchos on the Elements of Power

Luke Hallam

Trump Once Again Failed the Decency Test

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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

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

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

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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