344 | Adam Gurri on Liberal Democracy and How to Fight For It
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Sean Carroll
4.7 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 83 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's possible to look at the course of history over the past few centuries and discern a movement toward increasing democracy, freedom, and individual rights -- "liberalism," in the political-philosophy sense of the term. But such movement isn't inevitable or irreversible, and in very recent times there have been both intellectual arguments explicitly pushing back against the liberal consensus, and political movements that are more openly nativist and authoritarian. I talk with Adam Gurri, the editor-in-chief of Liberal Currents, a web site that "publishes writers of diverse perspectives who share an unflinching commitment to freedom, pluralism, and democracy, in opposition to authoritarianism at home and around the world."
Go to https://surfshark.com/mindscape or use code MINDSCAPE at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/02/16/344-adam-gurri-on-liberal-democracy-and-how-to-fight-for-it/
Support Mindscape on Patreon.
Adam Gurri received an M.A. in Economics from George Mason University. He is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Liberal Currents.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | These days, surfing the internet is like living in a house with glass walls. |
| 0:05.0 | If you don't put up curtains, everyone can see what's going on inside. |
| 0:08.0 | Surf Shark is a VPN, a virtual private network, that protects your internet use from prying eyes. |
| 0:14.0 | It allows you to virtually travel the world, browse privately by encrypting your internet activity, |
| 0:19.0 | blocking ads and malware that get in your way, and more. |
| 0:22.4 | I use Surfshark whenever I'm using a public Wi-Fi network. |
| 0:25.7 | I want to be able to surf the web without anyone looking in on my data. |
| 0:29.3 | Using a VPN means that your activity is encrypted and private. |
| 0:32.9 | It's hidden from trackers, snoopers, and data brokers. |
| 0:35.6 | And you can virtually change your location, |
| 0:38.1 | letting you avoid price discrimination based on where you happen to be. Find cheaper prices |
| 0:42.8 | on flights, hotels, and digital goods. Surfshark VPN stands out for features and for ease of use. |
| 0:49.0 | They do not log your web visits, meaning your browsing history stays locked down. Plus, you can |
| 0:54.1 | easily secure all of your devices simultaneously with just one account. |
| 0:57.9 | I serve from my laptop, tablet, or my phone, and Surfshark covers them all. |
| 1:02.5 | And with the alternative ID feature, you can generate a secondary email to sign up for services |
| 1:07.8 | and newsletters without flooding your real inbox with spam or risking your data. |
| 1:12.4 | So secure your privacy with Surfshark. |
| 1:14.1 | It's completely risk-free with their 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| 1:18.0 | Right now, go to surfshark.com slash mindscape and use code Minescape to get an exclusive deal plus four extra months at checkout. |
| 1:25.9 | That's surfshark.com slash mindscape. |
| 1:30.0 | Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Mindscape podcast. I'm your host, Sean Carroll. I'm guessing |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sean Carroll, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sean Carroll and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.