BUDAPEST—When I arrived at my host institution the Mathias Corvinus Collegium for an orientation lunch Monday, I had no idea that I’d be walking right past a panel featuring Peter Boghossian. Peter is an academic philosopher (among many things he’s done) who resigned from Portland State University a year ago over various cancel-culture issues. I had last seen him in Princeton in March when we were on a panel titled “Mob Rule: The Illiberal Left’s Threat to Campus Discourse.” I had vaguely heard that he’d been doing something with MCC, but didn’t realize we’d overlap in Budapest.
The next day, today, we agreed to meet at the bar at the Hotel Clark bar, where I’m staying, for a debrief. He offered to pay for my drinks, because the exchange rate is quite favorable for Americans and he was feeling ebullient. After I ordered my tokaji (the Hungarian dessert wine I acquired a taste for on my previous visit 22 years ago), we started talking about life, the universe, and everything. Peter suggested that I record the conversation for Shapiro’s Gavel.
I’d never done that before, partly out of hesitation at the “process” that might be involved, but then I threw caution to the wind, pressed the big red button on Voice Memo on my iphone, and here we are. I’ve done no editing to this, so you’re getting our full, unvarnished discussion about first (and longer) impressions of Budapest, Hungarian politics, wokeness, anti-wokeness, whether radical transgender activists are trying to transition all gay people, and much more. Take a listen.
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