Can becoming a better liberal really increase your wellbeing? That is the argument made by today's guest, Alexandre Lefebvre, in his latest book: Liberalism as a Way of Life (2024). Liberalism is the hegemonic morality of our times. Rather than despairing at this fact, as many on the post-liberal right do, we should double down on our ideals and strive to become better liberals. A fairer, more playful and fun world awaits us if we do.

Lefebvre is Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Sydney. Find out more about his work here.

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Kickstarting a new era of Ideas Matter, Louis interviews Canadian-born political theorist Daniel Bell about his latest book, The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University (2023).

Bell is currently Chair Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he served as the Dean of Shandong University's Department of Political Science and Public Administration - the first non-Chinese to ever hold such a position.

Bell's academic work focusses on Confucianism and how it can be applied to contemporary Chinese politics. He makes a number of controversial but interesting claims, including that Western-style liberal democracy may not be the best way forward for China. Instead, he favours what he calls 'Confucian Political Meritocracy'.

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Sex. The Ego. Repression. Sublimation. The Death Drive. That's right, we're reading Freud. Specifically we are reading two essays by Freud, "Civilised Sexuality Morality and Modern Nervous Illness" (1908) and "Civilisation and its Discontents" (1930). These works provide a brief introduction to core Freudian concepts such as repression and sublimation. Join us for a critical reading of one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers.

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