How Megan McArdle Became a Liberal-tarian

Fail Better with David Duchovny

Grace Cohen-Chen

Society & Culture

4.6 • 534 Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a columnist for the Washington Post, Megan McArdle tackles the most fraught political topics of our time. So why did we spend so much time talking about pie? It turns out, it's all connected. We discuss how the same forces that shape our nation — especially technology — have also shaped our relationship with craft. A self-described "liberal-tarian", Megan has a unique way of articulating both sides of every argument. We trace her roots as a blogging provocateur, and how she came to take a slice out of both ends of the political spectrum to create her own nuanced flavor of discourse. Plus, we analyze her approach to writing and what she would update in her book, “The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success”. Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here. Follow me on Instagram at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our YouTube channel. Stay up to date with Lemonada on X, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's morning in New York.
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1:10.1	I'm David DeKovny, and this is Fail Better, a show where failure, not success, shapes who we are.
1:17.4	Megan McArdle is a columnist for The Washington Post, where she covers economics, public policy, and societal issues, and, as we find out in this conversation, pie.
1:29.5	She's also the author of The Upside of Down, a book that takes a deep look at failure, why we fear it, why we need it, and how often
	...

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