This discussion between Paul Dragos Aligica, Jeff Frank, and Clay Routledge is about the “Three City Problem” of modern life, which I first tried to articulate in this essay in WIRED Magazine in 2022. If you don’t have time to read the essay first, you’ll pick up on the theme early on in the video—Bill Gonch, the moderator, does an excellent job laying out some of the basic ideas.
(Please note that there is always a transcript attached to the videos that I publish here, but they are AI-generated through Substack… so I can’t guarantee the transcript accuracy.)
The Interlocutors
Paul Dragos Aligica, Senior Fellow at the F. A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Paul Dragos Aligica is KP.M.G Professor of Governance at the University of Bucharest, a Senior Research Fellow in the F. A.Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he teaches in the graduate program of the Economics Department, and an Affiliated Researcher with the Ed Snider Center at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He has been a consultant for the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, European Union (EU) organizations, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Jeff Frank, Professor at St. Lawrence University. Jeff Frank is a Professor of Education and the Director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Assessment at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He is the author of two books, Teaching in the Now and Being a Presence for Students: Teaching as a Lived Defense of Liberal Education.
Clay Routledge, Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute. Clay is a leading expert in existential psychology. He regularly writes for popular media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Fortune, and Harvard Business Review. He has appeared on NBC Today, BBC Reel, The Overview from NBC Peacock, Science Friday, NPR Morning Edition, Cheddar News, Cursed Films from Shudder, The Art of Manliness, The Well from Big Think, and numerous other programs and podcasts. He wrote the documentary short film Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? His forthcoming book, Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful Life, will be published December 5, 2023.
Trialogue: The Three City Problem