On episode 262, we welcome Mike McIntire to discuss American gun ownership, the Supreme Court's misinterpretation of the second amendment of the bill of rights, the proliferation of guns for both defense and conquest throughout American history, gun ownership as a symbol of responsibility and masculinity, the NRA's existential fear of gun reforms, the philosophical divide at the heart of the debate around gun ownership, how the founding fathers may have reacted to the current political climate, and the importance of popular messaging in alleviating gun violence.

Mike McIntire is an investigative reporter, author, and editor. As a member of the investigations unit at The New York Times, he shared Pulitzer Prizes in 2022 for reporting on the hidden financial incentives behind police traffic stops, and in 2017 for reporting on covert Russian interference in the US presidential election. His new book, available July 21, 2026, is called Ricochet: Guns, Greed, and the American Way of Violence.

| Mike McIntire |

► Website | https://www.mikemcintire.com

► The New York Times | https://nyti.ms/3TffsfU

► Ricochet Book | https://bit.ly/read-ricochet-book

Where you can find us:

| Seize The Moment Podcast |

► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMomentPodcast

► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast

► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemomentpodcast

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On episode 261, we welcome Ilan Stavans to discuss the historical incarnations of god, god as a symbol of both oppression and liberty, Moses's rebellion against god and how it symbolizes modern faith, god as an ineffable experience, why we continue to create god, militant atheism as a response to deep-seated hope for the existence of god, Jesus dying for the sins of Yahweh, morality without religion, and god in the age of AI.

Ilan Stavans is the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include On Borrowed Words, Spanglish, Dictionary Days, The Disappearance, and A Critic's Journey. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, Chile's Presidential Medal, the International Latino Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award. Stavans's work, translated into twenty languages, has been adapted to the stage and screen. Ilan is also the host of the NPR-affiliated podcast "In Contrast." His new book, available on June 30, 2026, is called A Nation Wrestles With God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands.

| Ilan Stavans |

► Website | https://restlessbooks.org/our-team

► Podcast | https://www.nepm.org/in-contrast-a-podcast-on-culture-in-the-making

► A Nation Wrestles With God Book | https://bit.ly/ANationWrestlesWithGod

Where you can find us:

| Seize The Moment Podcast |

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On episode 260, we welcome David Ost to discuss the philosophy of the red pill movement, the similarities and differences between red pill and fascism, why people are drawn to authoritarian figures, the rise of Trump, populism as an ideological framework for fascism, Soviet communism as the extreme end of the left's failures to improve lives, sports and worker's rights, and the New York Knicks as a symbol of class struggle.

David Ost is an emeritus professor of politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, who has written widely on eastern Europe, left and right politics, and labor and democracy. He is the author of Solidarity and the Politics of Anti-Politics, The Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe, as well as editor/author of Class After Communism, and co-editor/author of Workers After Workers' States. He has written for a wide variety of scholarly and popular publications. His new book, available now, is called Red Pill Politics: Demystifying the Far Right from Fascism to Right-Wing Populism.

| David Ost |

► Website | https://annlarsonwrites.com, https://economichardship.org/author/annlarson

► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/david.ost.10

► Red Pill Politics Book | https://amzn.to/3S5ZWm9

Where you can find us:

| Seize The Moment Podcast |

► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMomentPodcast

► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast

► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemomentpodcast

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