FAIR Perspectives fairforall.org

Konstantin kisin is a Russian-British comedian, podcaster, writer and social commentator. He made international headlines in 2018 by refusing to sign a "University Behavioral Agreement" form, which banned jokes about religion and atheism, and insisted that all humor must be respectful and kind. He is also the creator and co-host of the Triggernometry YouTube show, where two comics interview economists, political experts, journalists and social commentators about interesting, controversial and challenging subjects. In this episode, we discuss Twitter under Elon Musk's leadership, why Sam Harris left that platform, why free speech absolutism is a trap, how the western culture war affects views on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's own internal politics, Konstantin's book 'An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West', redefining words for political purposes, wokeness and comedy, the debate surrounding gender ideology and trans issues, and why the UK seems better equipped to handle this than the United States.

Our guest this week is Greg Thomas. Greg is a writer, teacher, entrepreneur, and CEO of the Jazz Leadership Project, which uses a creative methodology to frame leadership and team development through the lens of jazz. Greg has written about culture, race, and democratic life in publications ranging from the Village Voice, Integral Life, New Republic, Salon, UPTOWN, The Root, the Guardian Observer, and the New York Daily News—as jazz columnist.We discuss jazz and its ability to serve as a foundation for learning leadership and connection, the power and importance of art and storytelling in our culture, race and the idea of transcending race in our society and personal lives, Greg’s use of the term “Black American” and the tensions of trying to adopt it without racialization, whether “American” is an ethnicity, how to disentangle culture and ethnicity from race, and more.

Today we speak with David Bernstein. David is the founder of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, which supports viewpoint diversity, counters radical ideology in the Jewish community, and opposes novel forms of anti-Semitism. His recent book 'Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews' is now available on Amazon. It's a first hand account from a longtime Jewish leader about how woke ideology shuts down discourse, corrupts Jewish values and sponsors a viral and new strain of anti-Semitism. In this episode, we discuss how woke anti-Semitism differs from other forms of anti-Semitism. Jews as an identity group, the difference between identity and identity politics, the role of Israeli geopolitics in anti-Semitism, the pros and cons of tribalism, the conflict between blacks and Jews, culture as a strategy for living in the world. And what the Jewish style of cancel culture is. This episode was recorded on October 11th 2022. We also discuss in this episode Kanye West's then recent tweet about going DEFCON 3 on Jewish people. Since then a lot has developed in the story of Ye's anti-Semitism, including multiple further tweets, podcast appearances and most recently his announcement of a 2024 presidential campaign with noted anti-Semite Nick Fuentes as a staff member. We hope to have David back on the show again soon to discuss the many updates of the story and the recent spread of this style of anti-Semitism.

Today we speak with Dr. Patrick Lockwood. Patrick is a practicing clinical psychologist and professor and the author of The Fear Problem: How Technology and Culture have Hijacked our Minds and Lives. Dr. Lockwood focuses on trauma and addiction treatment. He also has a podcast on YouTube about topics related to mental health, wellness, psychology, and neuroscience called The Psychology Checkup. And in this episode, we discuss his background as a psychologist, how he treats patients with unjustified fears. The pros and cons of social media, pineapple on pizza (spoiler alert: he's anti), the oversimplification on both sides of the trans debate, the -gender distinction, the over medication of children, and the tendency for psychology to over correct.

Today we speak with Rosie Kay. Rosie is a British choreographer, best known for her shows 5 Soldiers, MK Ultra, and choreographing the handover in the 2018 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. In 2019 Rosie resigned from her dance company following an investigation after claims were made by her dancers regarding her views on gender and biological . In 2022 she launched the K2CO dance company, where company members are asked to sign a commitment to freedom of expression, the charter of creation, affirming that the workplace will be a safe space, where we will be free to express our thoughts and feelings without fear of being silenced, shut down, or canceled. In this episode, we discuss her background as a dancer and choreographer, the discourse around representation and marginalized groups in the arts, gender ideology and the importance of biological , the role of art in human connection, FAIR in the arts, and Rosie's plans for the future.

Our guest this week is Dr. Carlos Hoyt. Carlos is a teacher, author, and facilitator providing guidance beyond the false and problematic habits of mind that result in social bias. He explores race, racial identity, and related issues as a scholar, teacher, psychotherapist, parent, and racialized member of our society. In his book, The Arc of a Bad Idea: Understanding and Transcending Race, as well as his workshops and lectures, Dr. Hoyt interrogates master narratives and the dominant discourse on race with the goal of illuminating and virtuously disrupting the racial worldview.We discuss his unique views on racial identity and how he developed them, how we should approach the reality of genetic differences between human groups without using race, his background and work as a DEI facilitator, affinity groups, and his change.org petition to amend the 2030 census to improve the collection of "race" data and whether it inadvertently reinforces racial categories or actually works to dismantle them.