Welcome back to the Ten Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal.

On today's special episode, we're bringing you a live recording from a recent Manhattan Institute event featuring

our own Douglas Murray in conversation with Lionel Schrever about her powerful new novel, A Better

Life. In this wide-ranging discussion, Murray and Shriver explore the novel's themes,

Western self-doubt, the psychology of suicidal empathy,

and the tension between moral aspiration and reality,

while also reflecting on the cultural and political climate

that makes stories like this so resonant.

Here's that conversation.

At Manhattan Institute, we work to make America in its great cities

prosperous, safe, and free.

We believe these are more than just policy goals.

They are the foundations of a civilized society.

But those foundations cannot rest on laws and policy alone.

They require what surely Letwin called the vigorous virtues.

Prosperity requires more than just capital.

It requires a spirit of enterprise and adventure, a restless drive to improve

one's circumstances, and a willingness to take risks. Safety requires more than just effective

policing. It requires uprightness, a sense of honor and decency, and a shared commitment to

civility and to the rule of law. And freedom requires more than just the absence of restraint.

It requires a citizenry that prises self-sufficiency and robustness,

the mental toughness to withstand hardship without looking for someone else to blame.

...