Author and journalist Bari Weiss stops by the Braver Angels Podcast to talk about her upbringing in Pittsburgh, how the Tree of Life massacre and her Jewish roots informed her journalistic mission, the ideological capturing of mainstream media, and the reasons she resigned from The New York Times.
Hosts Ciaran O’Connor and John Wood, Jr. chat with Bari about the need for diversity in the editorial room, The 1619 Project, the role of conservative media in polarization, and more in this episode of the Braver Angels Podcast.
Visit Bari’s website (www.bariweiss.com) to find a hub of her past articles and learn more about her book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism. Or subscribe to her Substack to receive newsletter updates in your inbox (bariweiss.substack.com).
Twitter: @braverangels, @bariweiss, @JohnRWoodJr, @ciaranjoconnor
2 thoughts on “The Odyssey of Bari Weiss | with John Wood, Jr. & Ciaran O’Connor”
I thought this was one of your best interviews and podcasts yet. Wonderful combination of personal observations and deep, intellectually stimulating discussion. This is exactly what dialogue should be. Thank you.
I think Ciaran’s statement that racism is central to the the American experience is one of the fallacies in the 1619 Project that people are reacting negatively to. As an immigrant myself from a country where bigotry is not as simple as skin color but nonetheless pervasive, the centrality of the desire to leave the comforts of a known environment is on the great aspirations and steps taken by the founders at that time to create a country different from any other.
Bari makes the same mistake in her statement that America was built on the economic foundations of racism. Perhaps she has not read the analyses of many economists on the principal conditions that led to economic development of the country.
What their errors show is that people view of and education on history is very myopic. As the 1776 Report correctly points out, racism goes back to the history of mankind. Bigotry exists beyond skin color and every culture can be accused of majority privilege simply because culture is the organic process that conserves what has moved that specific culture towards progress.
I try to comeback to Braver Angles because of its aspirations but I always get disappointed. Just like the ongoing American experiment, it is a first step that continues to move the discussion forward.