5,000 Subscribers; Being English; Appearing On Another Podcast
Here we are on another Sunday, Classmates. I hope it’s been a restful one for you. At the time of writing I’m c. 15 subscribers away from hitting 5,000 subscribers on YouTube. It’s small fry compared to podcast heavyweights like Modern Wisdom, TRIGGERnometry and the like, however, given that I was at fewer than 2,900 subscribers before Christmas, this feels like an achievement. I don’t pay for clicks, so this rapid growth feels like a vote of confidence in the quality of conversation my guests bring. Whilst I am aware you are reading this on Substack, and you may well prefer the written word, if you do occasionally like vegging out to a YouTube video, then subscribe to the channel here.
As ever, I’m sharing some recommended reading, listening, and watching, which includes my appearance on
’s and ’s YouTube show and Podcast, Deprogrammed, with the New Culture Forum.This was my maiden appearance on someone else’s show and it was made all the better because it was an in-person recording. In the episode, Harrison, Connor and I discuss why, when polled, Gen-Z strongly believe that democracy isn’t working. I also give some biographical details, describing my entry into the Professional Managerial Class and the causes behind my own ‘deprogramming’ from the universalist, liberal metropolitan worldview.
Incidentally, I think it complements
’ description of the managerial class’s political worldview - his interview with Freddie Sayers at UnHerd can be watched here. Note: my interview was recorded three weeks prior to this so it is no bastardisation.This week’s podcast
The latest episode of the podcast was with Dr. Anthony Daniels a.k.a. Theodore Dalrymple. Theodore is an English cultural critic, prison physician and psychiatrist and so understands the dark side of human nature better than most. This was a highly interesting conversation about why the spread of non-judgmentalism as the dominant moral view in our society has caused so much damage. You can listen to it on Substack or watch it here:
There is also an exclusive paid subscriber Q&A which you can find here.
Recommended links
Climate policy
How China exploits the West’s climate anxiety | Ian Williams in The Spectator
To China, however, climate cooperation was and is nothing more than a bargaining chip. As the Global Times, another CCP-controlled newspaper, has put it: ‘ China has already announced its own climate road map and will stick to its own pace’.
China has no intention of being a good global citizen, whatever the massed ranks of western climate change activists might think. It will happily pocket concessions and carry on regardless.
Ian appeared on Thinking Class last year to talk about why Chinese dominance is far from certain. Listen to the episode on Substack or watch it on YouTube.
On the question of being English
There has been a lot of talk generated by an exchange on
between and about what it means to be English, specifically centred on whether Rishi Sunak can be considered English. Fraser said yes, Konstantin said no. You can find the clip here.Here’s some commentary on it:
- on her MaidenMotherMatriarch Substack
I was brought up during a cultural moment in which using ‘English’ as a synonym for the legal category of ‘white British’ was roughly as socially acceptable as pissing in the wine carafe at a dinner party.
- on his Substack
Is Sunak English? As someone who has written on, researched and taught ethnicity and national identity for 30 years, I think I can speak authoritatively on this.
As I posted on X (yes, mea culpa, I reposted myself!), the matter seems quite simple. Sunak is English by nationality, as well as a British national.
However, he is not a member of the English ethnic majority within England, nor is he part of the 80 percent white British pan-ethnic majority of the United Kingdom.
I have been lucky enough to welcome Eric onto Thinking Class and you can listen to our conversation here, or you can watch it here.
Thinking Class tackled the question of ‘Englishness’ long before the conversation reared its head in mass media this week. In a short series on ‘Englishness’ my guests and I considered the topic from every angle - ethnic, cultural, political, religious and historical. Here are five episodes you might enjoy:
This Does Not Have To Be The End Of England | Robert Tombs | Thinking Class #057
How English Individualism Created The Modern World | Alan Macfarlane | Thinking Class #056
The Genetic & Cultural History of The British Peoples | Tom Rowsell | Thinking Class #055
We Are Suffering The Institutional Erasure Of The English | | Thinking Class #031
Coming up
This coming week you can expect another conversation with Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Cambridge, Alan Macfarlane. I will also be interviewing
, and in the coming weeks. Paid subscribers will receive posts requesting question suggestions for each guest’s exclusive Q&A. Keep an eye out.Until next time, Classmates.