Jared Diamond on Whether Leaders Make History

The Good Fight by Yascha Mounk

Sep 5, 202660:45News & Politics

Yascha Mounk and Jared Diamond discuss the age-old question of structure versus agency—and when individual leaders truly change the course of events. Jared Diamond is a professor of geography at the University of Califor...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from The Good Fight.

Jacob Weisberg on the Contagion of Cowardice

Sep 15, 2026 - 60:17

Yascha Mounk and Jacob Weisberg examine why so many powerful people and institutions capitulated to Trump...

Judith Dada on the Rise of the AfD

Sep 12, 2026 - 66:53

Yascha Mounk and Judith Dada also discuss why the tech sector is so behind in Europe—and how the continen...

Sarah Longwell on How Democrats Can Defeat Trump

Sep 8, 2026 - 47:52

Yascha Mounk and Sarah Longwell discuss why the pro-democracy coalition keeps losing the narrative war—an...

Abigail Marsh on Psychopaths (Rerun)

Aug 29, 2026 - 78:13

We’re on vacation this week, so are rerunning a fun “beach read” episode exploring if your nearest and de...

The Eras of Francis Fukuyama: Building Things

Aug 22, 2026 - 52:43

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama discuss his lifelong hobbies—from building furniture to robotics—and wh...

The Eras of Francis Fukuyama: How States Form

Aug 15, 2026 - 62:27

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama delve into 9/11, the hubris of humanitarian intervention, and the lette...

Adam Bodnar on Why Defeating Populists at the Ballot Box Isn’t Enough

Aug 11, 2026 - 85:20

Yascha Mounk and Adam Bodnar examine why Poland’s celebrated victory over illiberalism is now very much i...

The Eras of Francis Fukuyama: Human Nature

Aug 8, 2026 - 58:51

Yascha Mounk and Francis Fukuyama explore why any theory of politics must begin with an account of what m...