Andrew Doyle: Trapped Between Woke Dogma and Right-Wing Populism

The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer

Dialogue, Science, Reason, Michaelshermer, Natural Sciences, Skeptic

4.4 • 921 Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2025

⏱️ 135 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What began as a call for justice has, in many cases, become an engine of conformity. In this searching conversation, Andrew Doyle (author, satirist, and cultural critic) joins Michael Shermer to unpack the trajectory of the woke movement: from its roots in anti-bigotry and awareness to its current entanglement with censorship, identitarian dogma, and ideological rigidity.

Drawing on his new book, The End of Woke Doyle traces the intellectual history of contemporary activism, explores the authoritarian impulses emerging on both the left and the right, and makes the case for a return to classical liberalism as a defense against escalating cultural tribalism.

Together, Shermer and Doyle explore themes ranging from the legacy of Shakespeare and Milton, the tension between equality and meritocracy, and the broader sociopolitical dynamics shaping public discourse.

This episode offers a sharp, historically grounded analysis of one of the defining cultural shifts of our time—and a call to revive liberal principles in the face of rising ideological orthodoxy.

Andrew Doyle is a writer, satirist and political commentator. He was formerly a Visiting Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, and a lecturer at Oxford University where he completed his doctorate in Renaissance Literature. He is the creator of satirical character Titania McGrath, under whose name he has written two books: Woke: A Guide to Social Justice and My First Little Book of Intersectional Activism, both published by Little, Brown. Titania McGrath has over half a million followers on X. His previous books include Free Speech and Why it Matters and The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World. His new book is The End of Woke: How the Culture War Went Too Far and What to Expect from the Counter-Revolution.

Transcript

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1:16.6	You're listening to The Michael Shermer Show.
1:27.0	All right, everybody, it's time for another episode of the Michael Shermer show.
1:45.0	Guess what? I have a special returning champion guest here. He is Andrew Doyle. He was on maybe two years ago, I think it was for the new Puritans, right? But let me, Andrew, give you a proper introduction here. He's a writer, satirist, and political commentator who regularly appears on television, discuss current events and affairs, and he's a panelist on the BBC's Moral Mays.
1:51.9	He's written for a number of publications, including The Telegraph, Sun, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday,
1:57.4	Standpoint, Spectator, and Sunday Times. He's the creator of the satirical character, Titania McGrath, one of my favorites,
2:05.5	under whose name he has written two books, Woke, a Guide to Social Justice,
2:10.3	and my first little book of intersectional activism, both published by Little Brown.
2:15.5	Titania McGrath has over a half a million followers on Twitter, now X.
2:19.7	Formerly, he is a visiting research fellow at Queens University of Belfast and a lecturer
2:23.9	at Oxford, university where he earned his doctorate in Renaissance literature.
2:29.0	His previous books include free speech and why it matters.
2:32.8	The New Puritans, for which he was on this show, before how the religion of social justice
	...

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