Invincible Ignorance

Radio Free Rhinecliff

Invincible Ignorance is hosted by David Rieff and Lee Siegel In Catholic theology, "invincible ignorance" means that you cannot be thought to have sinned if you are unaware of the precepts you are sinning against. Ignorance in this case is considered innocence, if not bliss. In our secular appropriation of the concept--we call it "II"--we plead ignorance of the self-evident truth of the various orthodoxies that plague us. Thus we cannot be blamed for affronting them. We mean well. Instead of uniform, block thinking, we will try to follow the thread of truth through dissimilarity. We want, in other words, to have high conversational fun, and this will include ideas, argument, gossip (a form of social history) and the occasional settling of a score. Later, if our luck holds, we will have guests. In the meantime, we hope that II will offer a humanly warm, playful respite, both from the solemn, all-knowing cluelessness of AI, and the roiling gloom of our startling times. David Rieff is the author of eleven books. His work has focused on migration, humanitarian aid, war, and the politics of memory. Since the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he has divided his time between New York City and Kyiv. Lee Siegel writes about politics and culture. He is a columnist for the New Statesman, the author of seven books, and a recipient of the National Magazine Award. In 2024 and 2025, he was an Open Society Foundations Ideas Workshop Fellow.

Puntate

  1. 11 H FA

    Antisemitism, MAGA, and Gaza: What's Changing in American Jewish Life?

    David Rieff and Lee Siegel discuss antisemitism and how it is surging across American politics and culture. They begin with Tucker Carlson's remarks in Turkey claiming that Israelis are persecuting Christians, arguing that such dangerous claims rely on a "kernel of truth." In this case, the small truth that enables a large lie is that church leaders in Jerusalem are taking pro-Palestinian positions, which Carlson distorts beyond recognition. The conversation turns to the mainstreaming of antisemitic sentiment on the right, with references to Nick Fuentes, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and figures such as Father Coughlin and Senator McCarthy. Rieff and Siegel consider how MAGA's coalition and Carlson's platform have expanded what gets a public hearing, with examples from interviews with Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz. They examine antisemitism and anti-Zionism on the left and at universities, the impact of October 7 and the Gaza war on public attitudes, and the difficulty of separating criticism of Israel from antisemitic tropes within "third worldist" and "settler colonial" frameworks. The hosts debate whether today's atmosphere is genuinely new or a re-emergence of long-standing currents. A major theme is the post-1945 contradiction at the heart of American Jewish identity. As assimilation deepened, Israel and the Holocaust became central communal "glue," even as younger American Jews shaped by intermarriage and shifting politics feel increasingly alienated from Israel. The hosts ask whether American Jews can meaningfully "break" from identification with Israel, and consider alternatives such as, in the late 19th century, the Russian-Jewish Bund's concept of doikayt ("hereness") versus Zionism, also touching on the cultural Zionism of Ahad Ha'am vs. the political Zionism of Theodor Herzl and the "muscular Judaism" of Max Nordau, while acknowledging that Israel is now a long-established state. comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org Executive producer Matty Rosenberg

    1 h

  2. 19 FEB

    Normalizing the Unthinkable: Scandal, Authoritarianism & Cultural Collapse

    In the debut episode of "Invincible Ignorance", hosts David Rieff and Lee Siegel introduce the podcast and explain they're recording without guests after travel plans fell through. They dive into the major stories dominating the moment, including Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, ICE raids, and the broader political climate, making the case that American culture has reached a point of exhaustion where it can normalize and commodify virtually anything, scandal and violence included. Rieff and Siegel question whether Trump is being underestimated, exploring corruption, the specter of creeping authoritarianism, and whether the country's key institutions (military, markets, media, political establishment) would push back or simply adapt should Trump undermine or suspend the midterm elections. The conversation then turns to media and culture, using the death of the Washington Post's Book World section as a symptom of a wider collapse of shared language, middlebrow culture, and literacy. They trace a line from screen-based siloing and what they call "psychic reality" to the institutionalization of loneliness, omnipresent anger, the demand for constant affirmation, the medicalization of criticism, and the reduction of politics to biology and power. AI gets a mention as "outsourcing critical thinking," and they sign off with a promise to keep recording and eventually bring on guests. Executive producer Matty Rosenberg Edited by Lee Siegel, David Rieff, and Matty Rosenberg Additional video editing by Matty Rosenberg and Esther Martel Music arrangement and performance by Matt Schreiber Email comments@radiofreerhinecliff.org or call 845-307-7446 This is a production of Radio Free Rhinecliff

    53 min
  • 2 puntate

Descrizione

Invincible Ignorance is hosted by David Rieff and Lee Siegel In Catholic theology, "invincible ignorance" means that you cannot be thought to have sinned if you are unaware of the precepts you are sinning against. Ignorance in this case is considered innocence, if not bliss. In our secular appropriation of the concept--we call it "II"--we plead ignorance of the self-evident truth of the various orthodoxies that plague us. Thus we cannot be blamed for affronting them. We mean well. Instead of uniform, block thinking, we will try to follow the thread of truth through dissimilarity. We want, in other words, to have high conversational fun, and this will include ideas, argument, gossip (a form of social history) and the occasional settling of a score. Later, if our luck holds, we will have guests. In the meantime, we hope that II will offer a humanly warm, playful respite, both from the solemn, all-knowing cluelessness of AI, and the roiling gloom of our startling times. David Rieff is the author of eleven books. His work has focused on migration, humanitarian aid, war, and the politics of memory. Since the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he has divided his time between New York City and Kyiv. Lee Siegel writes about politics and culture. He is a columnist for the New Statesman, the author of seven books, and a recipient of the National Magazine Award. In 2024 and 2025, he was an Open Society Foundations Ideas Workshop Fellow.

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