Preview: Why Is David Rieff a Cultural Pessimist about Blue America?

Preview: Why Is David Rieff a Cultural Pessimist about Blue America?

April 28, 2026 · 8 min · Season 2 · Episode 13

About this episode

The episode features a discussion with David Rieff on his views as a cultural pessimist regarding Blue America.

This is a free preview of our latest Patreon-only episode of Blue City Blues, with writer David Rieff, a war correspondent, an essayist, and a leading cultural critic. David, the son of sociologist Philip Rieff, author of The Triumph of the Therapeutic, and author Susan Sontag, one of the greatest public intellectuals of the 20th century, is a formidable intellectual and critic in his own right. He is also a self-described cultural pessimist, who argues in his 2024 collection of essays, Desir...

People in this episode

Hosts: David Hyde, Sandeep Kaushik

Guest: David Rieff

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Triumph of the Therapeutic, Desire

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Blue City Blues podcast page.