I saw someone say on Twitter last week that the Lex/Jared interview was a turning point for the Trump campaign in this election.
I don't regularly listen to Lex, but I did see this episode when it made the rounds a months ago. I didn't listen to it then, as my left-leaning instincts kicked — "he's probably got nothing to say that I want to hear".
But I saw this tweet after the election, and wondered: what does he have to say. So I listened.
I was extremely surprised.
First, he's extremely smart, thoughtful, coherent, well-read, enviously well-spoken. Second, I learned a ton about what diplomacy looks like behind-the-scenes, which was obviously interesting. Third, and most interestingly, it surprises me that I de facto passed on something of this calibre. I dismissed it completely, just by association.
It was all a pretty sharp reminder that there are other perspectives and that it's foolish to simply dismiss and ignore them. As hard as it may be, this moment calls for more listening, more perspectives, broader reading, not less.
If you haven't listened to this because you too thought Jared had nothing to say to you, I think you'll be as surprised as I was. You should give it a listen.