Yascha Mounk | Substack

The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides

What happens when elites all believe the same thing.

Mar 11 • Yascha Mounk

The Humanities Are About to Be Automated

AI can now write convincing academic papers. There’s no more room for denial.

Feb 16 • Yascha Mounk

21:47

A Very Brief Interview with Klaus Schwab

The founder of the World Economic Forum asked me for a blurb. I offered him an interview. 20 minutes in, he cut it short.

Mar 10 • Yascha Mounk

54:40

Francis Fukuyama on Trump’s War With Iran

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama examine why military strikes rarely achieve their political objectives.

Mar 1 • Yascha Mounk

My Day of Jury Duty

What a deeply ordinary day in a deeply ordinary court taught me about American democracy.

Feb 27 • Yascha Mounk

Most Popular

The World Happiness Report Is a Sham

Mar 20, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

The Humanities Are About to Be Automated

Feb 16 • Yascha Mounk

The Dems Are Lying to Themselves About Why They Lost

Sep 25, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Europe Really Is Jailing People for Online Speech

Apr 24, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Want to get all my essays and conversations straight to your inbox?

Essays

The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides

What happens when elites all believe the same thing.

Mar 11 • Yascha Mounk

My Day of Jury Duty

What a deeply ordinary day in a deeply ordinary court taught me about American democracy.

Feb 27 • Yascha Mounk

The Humanities Are About to Be Automated

AI can now write convincing academic papers. There’s no more room for denial.

Feb 16 • Yascha Mounk

Wake Up, Europe

The continent must take charge of its own fate.

Jan 30 • Yascha Mounk

The Prosecution of Jerome Powell

Forget the tasteless tweets. Powell's prosecution attacks the two democratic guardrails that matter most.

Jan 12 • Yascha Mounk

The Left’s Deafening Silence on Iran

I searched five major progressive publications for coverage of Iran's uprising. Combined results: zero.

Jan 10 • Yascha Mounk

Newsletters

The magazine for those who believe that a free society is worth fighting for. Founded and edited by Yascha Mounk.

Auf Deutsch 🇩🇪

Ambitionierte Essays zu den großen Fragen der Zeit. Analysen zu drängenden Themen in Politik und Kultur.

En Français 🇫🇷

Des essais ambitieux sur les grandes questions. Des analyses politiques sur des enjeux pressants.

The Good Fight

21:47

A Very Brief Interview with Klaus Schwab

The founder of the World Economic Forum asked me for a blurb. I offered him an interview. 20 minutes in, he cut it short.

Mar 10 • Yascha Mounk

1:34:56

Dean Ball on Who Should Control AI

Yascha Mounk and Dean Ball examine how the fight over autonomous weapons and mass surveillance reveals the impossible choices facing American AI policy.

Mar 7 • Yascha Mounk

54:40

Francis Fukuyama on Trump’s War With Iran

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama examine why military strikes rarely achieve their political objectives.

Mar 1 • Yascha Mounk

50:46

Danielle Allen on Why Technocratic Liberalism Failed

Yascha Mounk and Danielle Allen discuss democratic backsliding.

Feb 28 • Yascha Mounk

1:20:05

Janice Stein on When Being Rational Is Irrational

Yascha Mounk and Janice Stein delve into the paradoxes of decision-making in politics and international relations.

Feb 24 • Yascha Mounk

1:08:00

The Good Fight Club: Why Japan’s “Weirdo” Victory Matters, the Rise of Chinese Soft Power, and the End of Asian Stability

Yascha Mounk, Bethany Allen, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Chang Che examine how Asia is preparing for a more dangerous world.

Feb 21 • Yascha Mounk

Yascha Mounk

Yascha Mounk

Big ideas that help you think for yourself.

Help Me Understand

Help Me Understand... The New World Order

It's easy to see what's happening but hard to intuit what comes next.

Mar 2, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Help Me Understand… What Will Happen in 2025

Plus, a mid-decadal assessment of my predictions for the 2020s.

Dec 31, 2024 • Yascha Mounk

Help Me Understand… Whether Wokeness Is the Fault of Moderates or Radicals

The third installment of the occasional feature in which I pose to all of you a question to which I genuinely want to learn the answer.

Dec 1, 2024 • Yascha Mounk

Podcasts

The Good Fight

A Very Brief Interview with Klaus Schwab

Observations

18 Observations About Learning Chinese

Tones, taxi drivers, and the joy of feeling stupid.

Jun 27, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

15 Observations About Artificial Intelligence

Thoughts about DeepSeek, ChatGPT, and the future of humanity.

Jan 29, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

13 Observations about France

Reflections on an extended visit to Paris.

Jan 9, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Recommendations

Wisdom of Crowds

Wisdom of Crowds

The Bulwark

Galen Druke

Notes from the Middleground

Damon Linker

Sherman Alexie

AI

1:12:55

Kelly Born on All the Ways AI Is Changing Politics

Yascha Mounk and Kelly Born discuss the socioeconomic impact of artificial intelligence.

Dec 16, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

1:44:02

Nate Soares on Why AI Could Kill Us All

Yascha Mounk and Nate Soares discuss the risks of artificial intelligence.

Nov 25, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

1:23:14

William MacAskill on Effective Altruism

Yascha Mounk and William MacAskill also discuss artificial intelligence.

Nov 15, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

The latest from

Yascha Mounk

The Bourgeoisie Has Switched Sides

Recent posts

Dean Ball on Who Should Control AI

Yascha Mounk and Dean Ball examine how the fight over autonomous weapons and mass surveillance reveals the impossible choices facing American AI policy.

Mar 7 • Yascha Mounk

1:34:56

Danielle Allen on Why Technocratic Liberalism Failed

Yascha Mounk and Danielle Allen discuss democratic backsliding.

Feb 28 • Yascha Mounk

50:46

Janice Stein on When Being Rational Is Irrational

Yascha Mounk and Janice Stein delve into the paradoxes of decision-making in politics and international relations.

Feb 24 • Yascha Mounk

1:20:05

The Good Fight Club: Why Japan’s “Weirdo” Victory Matters, the Rise of Chinese Soft Power, and the End of Asian Stability

Yascha Mounk, Bethany Allen, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Chang Che examine how Asia is preparing for a more dangerous world.

Feb 21 • Yascha Mounk

1:08:00

Jacob Savage on the Costs of the Great Awokening

Yascha Mounk and Jacob Savage discuss how diversity initiatives materially impacted young white men’s professional prospects in media, academia, and…

Feb 17 • Yascha Mounk

58:19

Daniel Diermeier on Why Universities Are Their Own Worst Enemies

Yascha Mounk and Daniel Diermeier examine how elite institutions created the backlash that now threatens their future.

Feb 14 • Yascha Mounk

1:09:10

Top posts

The World Happiness Report Is a Sham

Mar 20, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

The Humanities Are About to Be Automated

Feb 16 • Yascha Mounk

The Dems Are Lying to Themselves About Why They Lost

Sep 25, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Europe Really Is Jailing People for Online Speech

Apr 24, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

Feb 14, 2025 • Yascha Mounk

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts