City Journal Audio Podcast — Episode Summary
Podcast: City Journal Audio
Episode: Who We Are: On Western Values
Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Raphael Mengwa
Guest: Douglas Murray
Episode Overview
In this intellectually vibrant conversation, host Raphael Mengwa and his guest, renowned author and commentator Douglas Murray, explore the current state and future of Western civilization. Framed within City Journal’s ongoing “Who We Are” series, the discussion ranges from the philosophical foundations of Western values to pressing contemporary debates about freedom, immigration, antisemitism, and the persistent internal critiques of Western institutions. Murray offers insights into why the West requires defending, the incoherences in its critics' coalitions, the self-abnegation prevalent in British culture, and offers advice for those seeking to champion the West today.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Becoming a “Defender of the West” (01:29-04:16)
- Douglas Murray’s Path: Murray reflects on how he stumbled into his public role, expressing surprise that the West even needs defending.
- “It would be with some amazement still that the West sort of needs defending or explaining or justifying or anything like that.” (01:46, Douglas Murray)
- Attack from Within: He notes that core Western values—once taken for granted—are now under attack, mostly by Western intellectuals, often with transformative, even destructive intent.
- Criticism vs. Destruction: Murray distinguishes between critics who want to “improve” the West and those who want to “take the whole vehicle apart and often replace it with something far, far less desirable.”
2. Coalitions of Contradiction: The Modern Left (04:31-12:54)
- Anecdote on Contradictory Alliances: Raphael recounts a Federalist Society event, observing overt alliances between disparate groups (e.g., Muslim activists and LGBTQ campaigners) despite conflicting interests.
- Motivation of Oppositional Movements: Murray asserts coherence is lacking; such coalitions are united mainly by opposition to the mainstream or “core culture.”
- “They are able to portray themselves as opposed to the core culture, opposed to the founding culture, and therefore they meet as bedfellows. There doesn't have to be any real coherence in it. It's just to be opposed to.” (12:39, Douglas Murray)
- Superficial Utopianism: He labels much of this thinking “magical utopian thinking.”
3. Recurring Temptations of Radical Experimentation (13:08-22:29)
- Historical Amnesia: Murray compares contemporary leftist experimentalism (e.g., seizing property, abolishing the police) to failed historical precedents in Maoist China and the Soviet Union.
- Double Standards in Excusing Extremism: There’s greater tolerance for “one more try” with left-wing radicalism than with right-wing, despite historical atrocities.
- “For some reason with the left there's always this permission that it hasn't been tried enough or it was done slightly wrong...” (17:34, Douglas Murray)
- Western Success Overlooked: Mengwa points out the lack of appreciation for the successes of Western models, such as New York’s economic and cultural vibrancy, which are fragile and easily undermined by radical “reimaginings.”
4. Freedom, Order, and Educational Lessons (22:29-30:13)
- Freedom’s Limits: Murray recounts Robert Bork’s criticism about viewing freedom as an “unalloyed good” and the necessity of order as a precondition for real freedom.
- “You don't get freedom without order.” (23:22, Douglas Murray)
- Classical Analogies: Mengwa references Odysseus and the Sirens as a metaphor for self-imposed restraints (order) that keep a society on course.
- “We need restrictions, we need restraints on liberty in order to keep us on a course.” (26:23, Raphael Mengwa)
- The Danger of Overindulging Emotional Validation: Murray warns of the siren song of being constantly “seen” or “heard,” as it can ultimately derail a society or individual.
5. Writing for the Masses vs. Elites (31:13-35:14)
- Accessible Communication as a Civilizational Duty: Murray defends writing for broad audiences and laments the elitism in journalism that values obscurity over clarity.
- “A much greater skill as a writer is to be able to write clearly...to communicate an idea as clearly as possible.” (32:47, Douglas Murray)
6. Self-Abnegation in Britain and the Anglosphere (36:01-43:26)
- Culture of Self-Loathing: Britain’s institutions have adopted a “culture of self abnegation”—devaluing or even scapegoating national history and identity.
- “Everything is good as long as it's not ours and anything that is ours is not good.” (37:34, Douglas Murray)
- Comedic Absurdity: Murray points to government reports accusing the British countryside of being “racist” for lack of diversity.
- “The hills and the fields...deeply, deeply racist.” (39:51, Douglas Murray)
- Institutionalized Guilt: Even the Church of England is funneling resources into reparations for historical wrongs instead of supporting present needs.
- “All of our cultural and other institutions have ordered the black cap to be passed to them in order that they can pass sentence, really, before hearing any evidence in our own defense.” (41:19, Douglas Murray)
7. The Decline of Freedom and the Power of State Institutions (43:26-47:12)
- American vs. British Freedoms: Mengwa contrasts the US’s historical prioritization of individual rights with Britain’s slide into emotional coddling and censorship.
- “The death of America, like the death of the west, is not going to come from an invading army. It's going to come from our own abrogation of our duty to maintain what makes us us.” (44:44, Raphael Mengwa)
- Selective Sensitivity: Murray highlights how emotional injury is selectively policed, always to the detriment of core/traditional groups.
- “Somehow it's always one direction.” (47:09, Douglas Murray)
8. Immigration and the Future of the West (48:14-54:00)
- Challenges of Mass Immigration: Western countries are a global minority, yet remain the most attractive to immigrants, prompting both practical and identity crises.
- “We all massively underestimate the number of people globally who want to come to countries like this...and we massively overestimate our capability to integrate the people in question.” (50:49, Douglas Murray)
- Vacuum on Principled Debate: By avoiding honest discussions, mainstream society leaves openings for both radical victimhood narratives and toxic reactions on the far right.
9. The Resurgence of Antisemitism and Victim Narratives (54:00-63:17)
- Parallels Between Left and Right Victimhood: Mengwa notes, “It's like a sort of Mad Libs where you can kind of just fill in the blank.”
- Antisemitism as Projection: Murray describes antisemitism as a recurring outlet for personal frustration and ignorance.
- “Antisemitism is effectively a form of projection. People project their unhappinesses and their poor life choices...onto the Jewish people.” (57:36, Douglas Murray)
- Importance of Open Debate: Both guests lament the decline of public, live debate and the dangers of refusing to contest toxic ideas openly.
10. Advice for Today’s Defenders of the West (64:28-end)
- Practical Counsel: Murray encourages proactive cultural engagement, forming strong personal and intellectual networks, and courage in stating both unpopular truths and “popular but disdained” opinions.
- “Find good friends, good mentors, living and dead, preferably living...not to be afraid of saying things that are unpopular but true...not to be afraid of saying things that are popular, but disdained by a tiny class of people whose good opinion you might not want anyway.” (65:22, Douglas Murray)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “We haven't really in the West been dealing with the sort of fair-minded, legitimate sort of critics who want to sort of...mend something in the car in order to improve it, but rather people who want to take the whole vehicle apart.” (03:49, Douglas Murray)
- “What unites that movement...they’re just against the thing. They’re against everything else.” (08:34, Douglas Murray)
- “We all massively underestimate the number of people globally who want to come to countries like this one...and we massively overestimate our capability to integrate the people in question.” (50:39, Douglas Murray)
- “Antisemitism is effectively a form of projection...they pour [unhappiness] onto the Jewish people, Jews individually or collectively, as being the reason for their unhappiness with things.” (57:36, Douglas Murray)
- “If you want to live in a vibrant, thriving culture, you’ve got to do culture." (64:32, Douglas Murray)
Key Timestamps
- 01:29 — Douglas Murray on how he became a defender of the West
- 07:08 — On contradictory left-wing coalitions
- 13:08 — The dangers of “magical thinking” in extremist politics
- 22:29 — The relationship between freedom and order
- 26:39 — Odysseus, the Sirens, and the metaphor of self-restraint
- 31:13 — The art of writing for broad audiences vs. elite snobbery
- 37:23 — Britain’s culture of self-abnegation
- 43:26 — US vs. UK on freedom, and threats from within
- 48:14 — The West’s immigration dilemma and identity crisis
- 54:00 — The persistence of antisemitism and destructive victim narratives
- 64:28 — Douglas Murray’s advice for Western defenders
Tone & Language:
Throughout, the conversation balances rigorous critique with humor and reflection. Murray’s style is analytic but accessible, while Mengwa’s questions encourage deep dives, often bookended by anecdotes and literary references.
Summary Value:
This episode offers a thoughtful, wide-ranging overview of the challenges and responsibilities facing defenders of Western values today. It balances critique of current trends with practical, hopeful advice, making it essential listening (or reading) for anyone concerned about the trajectory of Western civilization.