Bright Lights, Bad City

As a young man, Jonah left his heart in San Francisco. But after today’s conversation ...

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As a young man, Jonah left his heart in San Francisco. But after today’s conversation with Remnant first-timer Michael Shellenberger, he probably won’t be going back for it any time soon. Michael joins the show for an exceedingly wonky discussion of his new book, San Fransicko, which explores how progressive policies are enabling an addiction and mental health crisis in America’s cities. Together, they explore the causes of urban decay and what conservatives can do to reverse the trend in places like New York and San Francisco. Tune in for ruminations on nuclear power, Nietzschean philosophy, and criminology, but stick around to hear Jonah and Michael compare notes on what it’s really like to be mugged by reality.

Show Notes:

– Michael’s Substack on cities, energy, and the environment

– Michael’s new book, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities

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  1. Dave Pattie

    I'm behind a bit and just listened to this podcast. I'm enthralled with the concept of leftism as a religion and have a thought experiment that I would love to hear Jonah address...

    Pick your favorite person who practices "religious leftism." Now imagine that the IPCC released a report saying that it had recalculated its data and, in fact, human activity is NOT warming the earth and the earth will be fine. What will be our religious lefty's reaction? Is this good news?

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    Michelle O

    I don't particularly agree with the disease model of addiction and the subsequent excuse that drug addicts don't make a choice to be on the street. But aside from that quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Thanks for letting the guest talk for an extended period of time about nuclear energy and policy, that was great.

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    David Burke

    The kid says “like” way too much. Waaaayy too much, it, like, takes away from an otherwise intelligent conversation

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    Marc Frischhertz

    The far left and far right are very similar in viewing certain people as victims, and as such absolving them of responsibility for their crimes.

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  5. John Busch

    I've listened to every Remnant episode and this is definitely one of my favorites for multiple reasons:
    1) Progressive policies in major cities (where I live) still do not get enough attention and I'm glad this is being discussed by traditional liberals now - I predict the left will schism cleanly in two in the upcoming years
    2) Nuclear energy is finally having its moment in the spotlight and may be a win-win solution for everyone
    3) Jonah - these are exactly the types of guests you need to bring to The Remnant more often!

    You often talk about just speaking about democratic, liberal capitalism to the small, remaining base of listeners, but you can actually make a lot of progress by expanding this ideological base by bringing on thinkers like Shellenberger who are not traditionally conservative, but take conservative approaches to specific areas of society. These types of people and ideas add legitimacy to the rest of the conservative movement and you need to bring more of these non-traditional guests on. I'd also recommend Luke Burgis, Coleman Hughes, Douglas Murray, and Balaji Srinivasan.

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  6. Tony Reiter

    This was a great guest. I really liked the part about nuclear power at the end. even with it's downsides it's way more viable than many other options.

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  7. Scott Mc

    anyone getting the innovation pod broadcast on Apple?

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    Justin Perry-Naw Dawg Doctrine

    His comparison to the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients is such an apt comparison. I can't believe I never made that association. Probably the most thought-provoking interview I've heard in some time. Bravo.

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    PaulH

    Shellenberger was absolutely correct in stating that there is a desperate need to view various groups as victims.

    For example, in San Francisco, the drug dealing in the Tenderloin is largely controlled by Honduran gangs. As you might imagine, most of them are not in the country legally. Under SF's sanctuary policy, the police can't turn them over to ICE after merely arresting them. However, if they are convicted of a felony, they would be subject to deportation. So the DA is has made it clear that he doesn't want to prosecute any street level dealers lest they be deported. Of course, these dealers are complicit in hundreds of overdose deaths every year. Whatever one thinks of sanctuary policies, it is really difficult to come up with any sort of argument that these people should be protected. So the DA has taken to claiming that the dealers are victims of human trafficking and therefore it would wrong to deport them. He hasn't actually provided the any evidence of this and the police say there is none.

    But, by claiming that the dealers are victims (and not criminals culpable in the deaths of hundreds), he can avoid violating his ideological driven dogma against deportation.

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  10. Janet Christensen-Lewis

    Excellent interview. Looking forward to reading San Fransicko, already finished Apocalypse Never and look forward to the 3rd in the trilogy when published. Thoughtful human and writer.

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