What does it mean to be “woke”? It's become a catch-all term to smear or dismiss anything that has any vague association with progressive politics. So anytime you venture into an argument about “wokeness,” it becomes hopelessly entangled in a broader cultural battle.
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Today’s guest, journalist and professor Musa al-Gharbi, helps us untangle “wokeness” from its fraught political context. The author of the book, We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, al-Gharbi discusses what effects the movement is and isn’t having on our society.
This episode originally aired in November 2024.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling)
Guest: Musa al-Gharbi (@Musa_alGharbi)
6:11 What is wokeness?
18:48 Why George Floyd only mattered to the public after his death
20:32 How elites navigate the tension between their status and their values
28:43 How culturally significant is “wokeness”?
32:21 Do social movements produce change?
42:22 Will our politics remain polarized?
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