Givers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society · Jeremy Beer

From the Archive: Jonathan Haidt & fostering resilience in the age of anxiety

·50 min·3 clips

White liberal women ages 18 to 30 show the highest self-reported mental disorder rate, at 54%.

Jeremy Beer opens with biography, introducing Jonathan Haidt as a social psychologist at New York University's Stern School of Business, after earlier teaching tied to the University of Virginia. The conversation is polite, structured, and quickly serious. Beer places Haidt's work in questions about moral intuitions, public disagreement, and the untruths that make people split when they do not have to. Haidt begins with social progress. He argues that American society has become fairer over time, pointing to civil rights, LGBT rights, falling poverty, and broader improvement. He does not make it sunny all the way through. He names global warming as an exception, while still arguing that many conditions have improved. Then the sharper part arrives. Haidt worries that some young people are taught to read society mainly through power structures and white supremacy. That story, he says, can land emotionally. If someone is told that power structures hate them, depression can start to feel almost expected. Beer pushes on that point. He asks whether reported mental disorder reflects a real rise, or a culture where victimization brings prestige and status. Haidt accepts the distinction and turns to psychology and clinical psychology research on labels becoming self-fulfilling. The excerpt keeps its balance. Neither speaker treats anxiety as fake, but both look closely at the incentives around victimization and public status. The wage-gap example gives the argument something concrete to chew on. Haidt challenges the raw 78-cents-for-every-dollar claim, saying it changes once hours worked and occupation enter the picture. The closing moves back to projects. Haidt directs listeners to Heterodox Academy and Open Mind Platform as philanthropic responses to these problems. Beer closes warmly and formally. The conversation leaves anxiety tied less to slogans than to careful claims, better evidence, and people trying to build something useful in response.

As heard by us

A focused discussion of moral intuitions, social division, and civil society.

The episode pairs Jeremy Beer with Jonathan Haidt for a focused discussion of the moral intuitions and untruths that separate people and the condition of American civil society.

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Why you'd press play

For a steady, serious take on anxiety, grievance, and civil society, press play.

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