Chloé Valdary is a paragon of paradox — an identity she relishes in. She gained notoriety for creating The Theory of Enchantment (originally a curriculum for young students, now an alternative to corporate Anti-Racism trainings) and for her heroic (yes, heroic!) ability to maintain nuance and compassion on Twitter (yes, it is possible). Chloé tells Adaam and Vanessa how she pivoted her company in the wake of George Floyd's murder this summer, describes her complicated relationship to critical race theory, and tries to convince Adaam that the human spirit will, indeed, endure this dumpster fire of a moment.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and Stitcher. Follow @UncertainPod on your social media of choice.
For more sanity, follow Chloé on Twitter: @CValdary. If you’re interested in diving into the human condition, consider enrolling in The Theory of Enchantment, or visit her homepage to learn more.
On the agenda:
Born and raised in a state of paradox [7:10]
The Enlightenment and its promise [12:01]
Disenchantment v. Enchantment [15:17]
The pivot to anti-racism training (and becoming oppositional to critical race theory) [21:09]
Power corrupts, twitter power corrupts absolutely [45:39']
When Biden won, the conversation changed [56:10]
On empathy [1:06:50]
The inevitable ends of CRT and cancel culture [1:14:57]
Israel through the American lens [1:27:21]
Massive convergence [1:33:30]
Uncertain Things is hosted and produced by Adaam James Levin-Areddy and Vanessa M. Quirk. For more doomsday thoughts, subscribe to: uncertain.substack.com
Why Anti-Racism Trainings Fail (w/ Chloé Valdary)