Michael Lewis on why Americans distrust experts

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sean Illing talks with writer Michael Lewis about why it is that Americans are so good at producing knowledge, but so bad at identifying and utilizing that knowledge — the central issue of the new season of his podcast "Against the Rules." They discuss who counts as an expert, some fundamental impediments to disseminating knowledge, and whether or not there is a possible future where Americans regain their trust in experts, institutions, and each other. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox Guest: Michael Lewis, author References: Against the Rules with Michael Lewis podcast (Pushkin) The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton; 2021 - paperback; 2022) The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (W.W. Norton; 2018) The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium by Martin Gurri (Stripe; 2014) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Shopped Amazon for last minute gifts
0:02.5	Great deals for everyone on your list
0:05.0	Gifts for mom and gifs for dad
0:07.4	Even for your sister and your brother chat
0:10.0	Ah shoot, we didn't realize you were supposed to get a gift for our dog, what her guy
0:14.8	We almost forgot about her, that just got to occur
0:17.2	We didn't expect to get a gift from her
0:19.8	Or our cousin might forget his name
0:22.1	He got us something nice, better as it per' hate
0:24.6	For last minute deals I give so people you forgot
0:27.0	Get faster we should be at Amazon
0:57.0	at slack.com slash DHQ
1:00.5	Why don't we listen to experts?
1:06.5	I'm Sean Elling and I'm your host for Vox Conversations
1:19.6	From the forever wars to Hurricane Katrina
1:22.8	to the 2008 financial crisis
1:25.5	It seems like we're always corining into totally avoidable catastrophes
1:30.8	And in almost every case the problem is our collective inability
1:36.0	To learn what we already know and do what we know we ought to do
1:41.7	Why is that?
1:43.7	One answer is that we don't trust each other
1:46.4	Let alone our public institutions
	...

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