Has Woke Taken Over Everything? - Dr Joanna Williams - #483

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Dr. Joanna Williams. She's a founder of Cio, associate editor of Spiked, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, and an author. The last few years have seen progressive ideas capture institutions, academics and headlines. But how much has this ideology actually trickled down to making an impact in the real world? Is it just a moral panic about a moral panic, or is there something to actually be concerned about? Expect to learn why police officers are being told to actively refer to themselves as woke, how three-month-old babies can be racist, why air conditioning is a tool of the patriarchy, whether the people pushing these narratives actually believe this stuff, what the future of progressive messaging has in store, and much more. I'm quite hesitant around the whole woke is taking over everything and they're coming for the real world narrative. I simply haven't seen this make much impact day to day in front of my own eyes. It seems to be a very sort of abstract headline-grabbing libs of TikTok type internet phenomenon, which doesn't seem to have many real world implications. But maybe this is just a slow march. Maybe there is something for us to be worried about. And I really enjoyed kind of getting into the weeds with Joanna today and pushing back against some of the proposals that she had. And then hearing what she had to say about some of my criticisms as well. Also, she's from Stockton-on-T. She went to the same college as me in the northeast of England. So we've got that affinity in common as well. Speaking of the northeast of England, I'm still here. I am still in the UK for another couple of days. And then I'm back to Austin this Wednesday. If you are in Austin this Thursday, me and Rob Henderson are going to do a meetup at Cosmic Coffee on South Congress. We're going to be there 6.30pm until 9.30pm. It's totally free. It's just if some friends and some people that might want to catch up with us and have a chat, we're going to be there 6.30pm until 9.30pm at Cosmic Coffee on South Congress. So if you're in Austin, feel free to come and join. In other news, this episode is brought to you by Craftd London, the number one men's jewellery brand on the planet. Necklaces, chains, pendants, rings, earrings, custom designs. They're always releasing new stuff and they're a perfect price point between sort of 50 and 30 dollars or bucks each. So they're really nice and they're so nice that you look great with them on, but they're not so unbelievably expensive that you're terrified to wear it out on a night out in case something happens. And if something does happen for any reason, if any of the pieces break, you have a lifetime guarantee. They are literally going to replace it no matter what you've done to it. Also, you can get a 15% discount of everything site-wide by going to bit.ly.cdwisdm, bit.ly.cdwisdm and the code MW15 gets you that 15% discount at checkout and they fulfill internationally. So no matter where you are, you can get this stuff direct to your door. Bit.ly.cdwisdm and MW15 at checkout. In other other news, this episode is brought to you by Wondrium. Wondrium is focused on helping you become a better version of yourself. You can explore audio and video courses on hundreds of topics taught by university professors. There's documentaries to help you learn more about the world around you. And you'll find video tutorials that teach you new hobbies like photography, cooking, crafting, and all about health and wellness. They've collaborated with some of the best documentary and course creators like The Great Courses, Magellan and Intelligence Squared to provide learning experiences that you can't get anywhere else. I just watched Overcome Your Overthinking and learned that it takes 90 seconds for the neurochemical processes in your body, like adrenaline or a racing heart, to return to normal after an emotional response. So beyond that, you're reacting to the thoughts that you've already added to the situation. So it's not about the thought, it's about the fact that you're having a reaction to the thought. If you're the sort of person that likes to spend your time just discovering more stuff about yourself and the world around you, it's a really great membership to have. Plus, you can have a free trial for 14 days, an unlimited free trial access to absolutely everything on mobile, on desktop, on your laptop. You can go and do that right now by going to wondrium.com/modernwisdom. That's an unlimited free trial for two weeks. Try it out, watch as much as you want. Plus, if you want to stick about after that, there is a 20% discount on the annual plan, but you still get that 14 day free trial with no obligation. Head to Wondrium, wondrium.com/modernwisdom.