#388 – Robert F. Kennedy Jr: CIA, Power, Corruption, War, Freedom, and Meaning
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The following is a conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., candidate for the President of the United States, running as a Democrat. Robert is an activist, lawyer, and author who has challenged some of the world's most powerful corporations, seeking to hold them accountable for the harm they may cause. I love science and engineering. These two pursuits are, to me, the most beautiful and powerful in the history of human civilization. Science is our journey, our fight for uncovering the laws of nature and leveraging them to understand the universe and to lessen the amount of suffering in the world. Some of the greatest human beings I've ever met, including most of my good friends, are scientists and engineers.
Again, I love science. But signs cannot flourish without epistemic humility, without debate, both in the pages of academic journals and in the public square, in good faith, long-form conversations. Agree or disagree, I believe Robert's voice should be part of the debate. To call him a conspiracy theorist and arrogantly dismiss everything he says without addressing it diminishes the public's trust in the scientific process. At the same time, dogmatic skepticism of all scientific output on controversial topics like the pandemic is equally, if not more, dishonest and destructive. I recommend that people read and listen to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his arguments and his ideas. But I also recommend, as I say in this conversation, that people read and listen to Vincent Racaniello from This Week in Virology, Dan Wilson from Debunk the Funk, and the Twitter and books of Paul Offit, Eric Topol, and others who are outspoken in their disagreement with Robert.
It is disagreement, not conformity, that bends the long arc of humanity toward truth and wisdom. In this process of disagreement, everybody has a lesson to teach you, but we must have the humility to hear it and to learn from it. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got House of Macadamias for snacks, Eight Sleep for naps, Insight Tracker for biological data, and AG1 for my go-to daily multivitamin. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to work with our amazing team, we're always hiring. Go to lexfriedman.com slash hiring. And now, on to the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make these interesting, but if you must skip them, please still check out our sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will, too. This show is brought to you by House of Macadamias, a company that makes delicious, high-quality, healthy macadamia nut-based snacks. Every single person I have shared the snack with have deeply enjoyed it. And it's been quite a few people, including guests.
And they love it. And they love the variety in each individual snack. I don't think there's been a negative response to any of the snacks. Because it's whole nuts with all kinds of additions to them. Bars with all kinds of additions to them. All kinds of flavors. All of it healthy. All of it is perfectly portioned. It's just a perfect snack. Low in carbs, high in omega-7 fats. There's all kinds of super healthy aspects to this stuff, but I just enjoy it because it's an escape from the mundane. Actually, the word mundane makes it seem like it's not deeply fulfilling. But most of my diet is mundane. Most of my diet is in this place of simplicity where I enjoy the minimalism of it. But sometimes...
A little detour in a small rural town somewhere on a long road trip from New York to San Francisco. Just take a little detour and you're going to find a gas station with a weird guy who has one hell of an amazing story to tell you. That guy is a macadamia nut snack. And you can meet that guy, just like as I do, by going to houseofmacadamias.com slash flex to get a free box of their bestseller, Namibian Sea Salted Macadamia Nuts, plus 20% off your entire order. That's houseofmacadamias.com slash flex. This episode is also brought to you by Eight Sleep and its new Pod 3 mattress. It is a source of happiness for me. Naps are a source of happiness for me.
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