ENCORE: Musa al-Gharbi on the Cultural Contradictions of Elites

As I put the finishing touches on my next book, on declining trust in the media, I wanted to bring you a few encore interviews that have helped shaped my thinking on the media — including today’s episode. The period often referred to as The Great Awokening is winding down now, and we’re starting to get a better understanding of what happened. My guest on today’s program argues that we have seen these kinds of social justice-styled movements before in American history — and that they are in fact driven by, as he puts it, “frustrated erstwhile elites condemning the social order that failed them and jockeying to secure the position they feel they deserve.” Musa al-Gharbi is an American sociologist and an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. His book is We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. Musa al-Gharbi is my guest, today on Lean Out. Transcript to come for paid subscribers. Thanks for reading Lean Out with Tara Henley! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Lean Out with Tara Henley at tarahenley.substack.com/subscribe