In this mind-bending episode of Metaviews, Jesse Hirsh reconnects with resident Radical American Whackadoo, Mike Oppenheim, for an unscripted exploration of belief, hope, agency, and the beautiful chaos of human connection. Together they pull at the threads of how emotions drive our actions, how messing with people’s minds can be an act of love, and why politics keeps obsessing over a mythical “centre” that doesn’t actually exist.
Taking inspiration from herds—where movement is constant and no one stays in the middle for long—Mike and Jesse challenge the framing of “extremism,” reframing it as natural diversity of agendas. They advocate for a return to bottom-up mutual respect, the kind that George Carlin might have described as both blunt and deeply compassionate.
This is a free-range conversation designed to unsettle, inspire, and maybe make you laugh at the absurdity of it all.
