Ross Douthat

speaker

4,896 appearances 23 recordings 5 series first heard Jan 2026 last heard 27 Aug

Ross Douthat’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 23 in all, peaking in Feb 2026 with 6.

Appearances

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Interesting Times · Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein on the Art of Persuasion · 27 Aug 2026 podcast

I mean this is banal advice, but it's still the fundamental thing. voice-verified

It is to argue effectively, you need to understand why voice-verified

people you disagree with hold the views that they do. voice-verified

And you need to start from a version of their argument that is high-minded rather than low-minded, and that is sort of the best version of the perspective that they hold. voice-verified

And that doesn't mean that you can't think that like secretly or subconsciously they hold their opinion for bad or wicked reasons or bad voice-verified

Because they want to just destroy their enemies and salt the earth. voice-verified

Like you can believe that that exists somewhere in their mind. voice-verified

But to argue with them. voice-verified

you have to actually engage with voice-verified

The version of the argument that they themselves would put forward as their own best defense, right? voice-verified

So like the obvious examples, I'll pick one from the right and one from the left, right? voice-verified

So if you are pro-choice and you want to argue with pro-lifers, like actually argue with them, you cannot start from a description of the pro-life position that says the point of pro-life politics is to subjugate women and punish them for sexual immorality. voice-verified

You're allowed to think that that's out there and like is part of the socially conservative psyche. voice-verified

You're allowed to think whatever you want, but you're not going to get anywhere arguing unless you start with the fact that like pro-life people think uh unborn human lives are human and worthy of legal protection in terms of being human. voice-verified

That's just where you have to start, right? voice-verified

And then to take to to take an issue from the other direction. voice-verified

If you are voice-verified

a um conservative opponent of liberal views on immigration. voice-verified

You're allowed to think that liberals are politically Machiavellian cynics who are, you know, bringing in lots of illegal immigrants to vote Democratic, but you're never gonna get anywhere arguing unless you start with voice-verified

what liberals themselves would say, which is that, you know, immigration is voice-verified

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