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Conversations with Coleman

Lionel Shriver on the Immigration Taboo

Conversations with Coleman

The Free Press

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.82K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2026

⏱️ 90 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Acclaimed novelist and cultural critic Lionel Shriver joins the show to discuss her provocative new book A Better Life. We talk about why immigration has become one of the most morally charged topics in public life; how good intentions collide with human nature; and why cultural change is treated as a legitimate concern for some groups but as taboo for others. We also explore the differing immigration challenges between America and Europe, the hypocrisy of open-border politics, and why fiction may be better suited than policy debates to expose the hard truths about border enforcement, assimilation, and today’s political orthodoxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

If you love epic stories of myth and legend, listen up.

0:03.2

Before Camelot and before the crown,

0:05.8

the Penn Dragon cycle Rise of the Merlin tells the origin story of the legend that shaped Britain

0:11.6

in a seven-episode cinematic epic years in the making.

0:15.6

This is not a retelling of the King Arthur story.

0:18.1

It's the rise of the world that made Arthur possible. The Penn

0:22.1

Dragon cycle Rise of the Merlin is available now on Daily Wire Plus. Shot across multiple

0:28.1

international locations, this series brings myth to life with serious production value, full-scale

0:33.5

battles, and a sweeping original orchestral score. At its core, this is a return to classic

0:39.1

epic storytelling, where faith, prophecy, and sacrifice truly matter. Stream the Pendragon

0:45.1

cycle Rise of the Merlin only on Daily Wire Plus. Welcome to another episode of conversations

0:51.8

with Coleman. There is a contradiction at the heart of how progressives think about immigration.

0:57.3

If a black resident of Harlem bemoans the fact that mostly white college students are coming in and changing the character of his neighborhood, very few people would call that person a bigot.

1:07.8

But if a white person living in San Diego complains that Mexican immigrants are changing

1:12.9

the character of his city, that immediately marks that person as a racist. My own opinion is that

1:19.8

America has benefited on net from immigration, and we certainly wouldn't want to trade places

1:25.0

with the zero immigration population collapse countries

1:28.2

like Japan and South Korea. But I also think it's important to keep a consistent set of books.

1:34.8

Is it necessarily racist to resist cultural change, or is it just human nature? On the other hand,

1:41.4

is it realistic to resist change? After all, before it was a black neighborhood, Harlem was an Italian and Jewish neighborhood.

1:48.6

I'm sure they didn't love it when black people started moving in.

1:51.9

As the Buddhists say, the only constant in life is change.

...

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