E147: TED goes woke, Canada's Nazi blunder, AI adds vision, plus: who owns OpenAI?

The book explores how the ideas 'what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker,' 'always trust your feelings,' and 'life is a battle between good people and evil people' have become embedded in American culture. These 'Great Untruths' contradict basic psychological principles and ancient wisdom, leading to a culture of safetyism that interferes with young people’s social, emotional, and intellectual development. The authors investigate various social trends, including fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised play, and the impact of social media, as well as changes on college campuses and the broader context of political polarization in America.

In 'Losing Ground,' Charles A. Murray argues that the ambitious social programs of the 1960s and 1970s, intended to alleviate poverty, actually made matters worse for their supposed beneficiaries. Murray contends that increased government spending on welfare led to higher unemployment, declining education quality, increased crime, and the breakdown of families. He suggests that these programs created incentives for behaviors that were destructive in the long term and advocates for the abolition of certain welfare programs and a return to more traditional social policies.

This book, co-authored by Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and Charles V. Hamilton, is a critical analysis of racism and the political struggles faced by black communities in the United States. It defines Black Power, discusses the historical and systemic roots of racism, and critiques the failures of integration and liberal coalition-building. The authors argue for the necessity of black self-definition, political modernization, and the establishment of black political power to challenge white supremacy and achieve structural change. The book also examines specific examples of black political organizing, such as the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and independent black political parties in Lowndes County, Alabama.