Dr. James Lindsay and Helen Pluckrose first came to international prominence for their role in the 2018 'Grievance Studies Affair', where they and a colleague sought to expose corruption in academic “grievance studies,” by submitting bogus papers to reputable academic journals, some of which were published, and many of which were seriously considered. In this interview, John, James and Helen discuss the danger posed by the postmodernist movement to liberal freedoms, the rise of 'wokeness', identity politics and cultural Marxism. James Lindsay is an American author, mathematician and political commentator, holding degrees in physics and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Tennessee. He is the author of six books covering a wide range of topics, including postmodernism, the philosophy of science and religion. Helen Pluckrose is a British academic and author. She writes extensively on cultural and political matters, and serves as the editor-in-chief of Aero magazine. In 2020, Lindsay and Pluckrose released the highly-acclaimed book 'Cynical Theories', which tracks the evolution of postmodernist ideas from the fringes of the academy to the front page of Twitter. #wokeness #politicalcorrectness #identitypolitics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Lindsay: https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames Helen Pluckrose: https://twitter.com/HPluckrose 'Cynical Theories', their co-authored book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Cynical-Theories-Scholarship-Everything-Identity/dp/1634312023