We Are Ruled by the Worst - The Charlie Kirk Conspiracy and Other Symptoms | Richard Hanania

Get KAKISTOCRACY on Amazon: https://bit.ly/4hxg9Lh Synopsis Richard Hanania is back. His new book, Kakistocracy, argues that populism ends in rule by the worst people, and he and Noam spend an hour testing that against the news: why populism can win without being popular, whether the Iran war was worth the shot even if it fails, whether China would rather help us than fight us, and how the right built a media culture where Tucker Carlson can say Israel killed Charlie Kirk and the vice president shrugs. Then the hardest subject on the show: Nathan Cofnas and "race realism." Hanania explains why he thinks the taboo is universal and why Cofnas is wrong that breaking it defeats wokeness, and Noam tells two stories about kids the experts wrote off. Plus the Epstein email dump, diagnostic inflation, and why smart people believe in God, demons, and the supernatural. 0:00 Intro: Compliments 4:21 "Believe the media": defending the Times, what populism is, and "low human capital" 11:24 Is populism even popular? Mamdani, Trump's 30 percent, the AfD, and what populism costs 22:42 The Iran war argued with hindsight: Hormuz, the Houthis, "worth a shot," and China 35:00 Making things up: Tucker, Candace, Charlie Kirk, Ilhan Omar, and Father Coughlin 41:51 "Our guys lie less": Covid, the mulligan, gatekeepers, and what democracy is for 52:59 Race realism: Cofnas, Charles Murray, little Bernie Goetzes, and two kids the experts got wrong 68:02 Diagnostic inflation, labels, and why smart people are finding God