Persuasion | Yascha Mounk | Substack

Don’t Panic, Trump Is Flagging

The president has done exceptional damage over the past year. Now he's losing steam.

Dec 17 • Francis Fukuyama

A Holiday Plea From Frank and Yascha

Donate today to help us fight for the values of a free society in 2026!

Dec 23 • Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama

Don't Jawbone AI Companies

How to fight back against government censorship of chatbots.

Dec 22 • Jacob Mchangama

How The New Yorker Became Irrelevant

On the decline of America's premier magazine.

Dec 19 • Sam Kahn

Ukraine’s Impossible Dilemma

Zelenskyy has made the concessions he can, but that may not be enough.

Dec 18 • Michał Kranz

Most Popular

Elon Musk and the Decline of Western Civilization

Jan 13 • Francis Fukuyama

It’s the Internet, Stupid

Oct 2 • Francis Fukuyama

A Letter From An Iranian

Jun 21

How Art Lost Its Way

Jan 6 • William Deresiewicz

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

Frankly Fukuyama

42:30

Alex Stamos on the Real Threat Posed By AI

Alex Stamos was formerly head of security at Facebook/Meta and is a leading expert on computer security.

Dec 11 • Francis Fukuyama

45:56

Laura K. Field on the New Right

Francis Fukuyama and Laura K.

Dec 4 • Francis Fukuyama

32:55

Jim Fishkin on Deliberation and Democracy

Francis Fukuyama interviews Jim Fishkin, author of Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy?, about why democracies need deliberation, the role of…

Nov 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

The Quiet Scandal of Affirmative Action for Men

Colleges systematically disadvantage female applicants.

Dec 11 • Yascha Mounk

Colleges Are Surrendering to AI

Here’s a better strategy for equipping students for the age of artificial intelligence.

Nov 14 • Yascha Mounk

When They Go Low, We Go... Low

To combat Trumpism, Democrats play the imitation game.

Nov 5 • Yascha Mounk

Recommendations

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Podcast: The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk

1:13:00

Francis Fukuyama on 2025 (With Transcript)

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama look back at this year—and make predictions for 2026.

Dec 20 • Yascha Mounk

1:12:55

Kelly Born on All the Ways AI Is Changing Politics

Yascha Mounk and Kelly Born discuss the socioeconomic impact of artificial intelligence.

Dec 16 • Yascha Mounk

1:03:36

The Good Fight Club: Can Europe Control Its Fate?

Timothy Garton Ash, Sabina Ćudić, and Nathalie Tocci join Yascha Mounk to assess the state of Europe today.

Dec 13 • Yascha Mounk

Podcasts

The Good Fight

Francis Fukuyama on 2025 (With Transcript)

Frankly Fukuyama

Alex Stamos on the Real Threat Posed By AI

Bookstack

Episode 177: Kori Schake on the State and the Soldier

American Purpose

Trump vs the Kennedy Center

What appreciation of the arts tells us about national identity.

Dec 18 • joseph horowitz

The Separation of Powers Is (Almost) Dead

Congress is no longer a safeguard of American democracy.

Dec 16 • Don Kettl

Deliberation Can Save Democracy

Why conversation is the cure for what ails America.

Dec 12 • James Fishkin

Europe Needs A New Union

It’s time for a “North-Eastern federation” as a bulwark against Russia.

Dec 8 • Dalibor Rohac

Columbus Day, Wounded Knee, and the Lessons of Pine Ridge

What the Lakota Music Project says about the United States.

Dec 5 • joseph horowitz

Bookstack

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 • 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 • Richard Aldous

26:01

Episode 175: Sven Beckert on Capitalism

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

Nov 23 • Richard Aldous

25:30

Episode 174: Vanessa Williamson on the Price of Democracy

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

Nov 16 • Richard Aldous

Recent posts

Our Parties Have Trapped Us

Here’s one change that will break their hold.

Dec 16 • Danielle Allen

What Rob Reiner Was Telling Us

Whimsy, humor, a high-trust society. With the news of the past days, it all feels so distant.

Dec 15 • Sam Kahn

The Bondi Beach Massacre

Murderous ideology does not stop at borders.

Dec 15 • Claire Lehmann

Trump Wants to Dominate Venezuela, Not Liberate It

Maduro destroyed my country. What comes next could be worse.

Dec 12 • Quico Toro

The Good Fight Club: Can Europe Control Its Fate?

Timothy Garton Ash, Sabina Ćudić, and Nathalie Tocci join Yascha Mounk to assess the state of Europe today.

Dec 13 • Yascha Mounk

1:03:36

The latest from

Yascha Mounk

A Holiday Plea From Frank and Yascha

Francis Fukuyama

A Holiday Plea From Frank and Yascha

Sam Kahn

How The New Yorker Became Irrelevant

Leonora Barclay

This Week At Persuasion

Richard Aldous

Episode 177: Kori Schake on the State and the Soldier

Quico Toro

Trump Wants to Dominate Venezuela, Not Liberate It

Luke Hallam

The Pentagon vs Mark Kelly

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 • Alexandre Lefebvre

An Open Society Requires Constant Vigilance

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

Sep 10 • Roger Partridge

Bringing Human Nature Back In

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

Aug 13 • Francis Fukuyama

The Woke Right Stands At the Door

Whence comes this uncanniest of all guests?

Aug 6 • Jonathan Rauch

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

On Darwin, abuse, and Costanza politics.

Jul 30 • 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 • Matthew Wollin

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

As if we needed any more reminders.

Oct 17 • 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 • Don Kettl

From Retribution to Regulatory Regime

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

Sep 15 • 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 • 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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