Donate NowThe free and open societies of the West are under threat – not from a foreign invader, but from illiberalism within. The retreat to offence-free safe spaces, the censorship from cancel culture, the ignorance of echo chambers, and the toxicity of identity politics are all symptoms of a siege on liberalism. Young people, in particular, hold increasingly illiberal views.
Konstantin Kisin is a British-Russian political commentator and comedian who co-hosts the TRIGGERnometry @triggerpod podcast. He is author of An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West. Last year, he addressed the Oxford Union with a speech on Woke Culture, and recently spoke at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London. Konstantin represents a new genre of public intellectual: he is virtually ignored by the mainstream media, yet he is overwhelmingly popular on various social media platforms. His podcast, TRIGGERnometry, has almost 850,000 subscribers and he is a considerable presence on X.
Glenn Fahey is director of education at the Centre for Independent Studies, where his research covers all areas of education policy and practice. Glenn is a regular writer on education for the Australian Financial Review and commentator across all major news media. Prior to joining CIS, Glenn has held research and policy positions at the Centre for Education Research and Innovation (OECD), Institute for Public Policy and Governance (UTS), and Australian Treasury.
Q1 – What does it mean to be politically non-binary?
Q2 – Why is it that left and right labels don’t mean what they used to mean?
Q3 – Does the right have as much to blame as the progressives?
Q4 – Are we all doing democracy wrong?
Q5 – New media is thriving, but will old mainstream media die out?
Q6 – What about that SOAS ‘behavioural agreement’?
Q7 – Why is it that in Western Civilisation we have so much trouble with Nationhood?
Q8 – Have we in The West had it too good for too long?
Q9 – Can we grow from the challenges that Western Civilisation is facing?
Q10 – How do we successfully maintain multiculturalism and high levels of migration?
Q11 – What do we take from the election of George Galloway?
Q12 – How do we combat anti-semetic hate that’s being seen in Western Civilisations?
Q13 – We often reference ‘Woke’ and ‘Wokeness’, what does it mean?
Q14 – Why choose language as a weapon and change the meaning of words?
Q15 – Should Douglas Murray be cancelled in Australia?
Q16 – Cancel culture is not new, is a degree of cancelling acceptable?
Q17 – Alexei Navalny, what does his death mean for the future of discourse and democracy in Russia?
Q18 – How do we make institutions trustworthy again?
Q19 – Why is there such irrationality and paradox in the way in which young people approach their lives?
Q20 – Energy transition, climate emergency, innovation, what’s the solution?
Q21 – What lessons can Australia take for combating all these issues?
Q22 – What advice can you give to people to stand up against these absurdities and excesses of ideologies?
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