James Lindsay is the founder of New Discourses, an educational platform he launched in 2020. He holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee and spent about ten years working as a massage therapist before turning to writing about ideology full-time.
James Lindsay was originally made known for the Grievance Studies Affair. Between 2017 and 2018, Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, and Helen Pluckrose submitted twenty hoax papers to academic journals in fields such as gender studies and feminist philosophy. Seven papers were accepted and four were published before the project was exposed. One paper, examining rape culture and queer performativity at urban dog parks, was later recognised as exemplary scholarship during the journal’s 25th anniversary celebrations. The project led Lindsay and Pluckrose to co-author Cynical Theories, which examines the ideological foundations of these academic fields.
In this conversation, Lindsay traces how he went from the New Atheism movement to becoming what others called “the Rosetta Stone for woke,” someone who could translate and explain the ideology to a mainstream audience. He describes watching Boghossian face anonymous complaints at Portland State University's diversity office and thinking, "this has institutional power."
He breaks down what he means by “critical constructivism,” the worldview he believes underlies woke ideology, and how he sees it shaping education and policy, including what he argues are the ideological roots of Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Lindsay also discusses his concept of the “Woke Right,” his term for what he sees as similar patterns of identity politics and cancel culture on the political right. Using the term in late 2024 led to his cancellation from conservative spaces. He talks about his December 2024 hoax, in which he rewrote the Communist Manifesto and got it published in a Christian nationalist publication.
The episode closes with James reflecting on his friendship with Charlie Kirk and Charlie’s assassination in September 2025. That night, James published an essay titled “Catharsis or Civilization,” urging people to channel their anger into building rather than breaking.
Resources and References:
James Lindsay & New Discourses
New Discourses:
James Lindsay on X: https://x.com/conceptualjames
Grievance Studies Affair
Authors’ reveal article, Areo Magazine (2018): https://areomagazine.com/2018/10/02/academic-grievance-studies-and-the-corruption-of-scholarship/
Dog Park paper (retracted): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0966369X.2018.1513216
Joe Rogan Experience #1191:
Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay:
The Woke Right & December 2024 Hoax
James’s reveal: https://newdiscourses.com/2024/12/a-communist-manifesto-for-christian-nationalists-testing-the-woke-right/
Original hoax article, American Reformer: https://americanreformer.org/2024/11/the-liberal-consensus-and-the-new-christian-right/
Social Emotional Learning
CASEL history of SEL: https://casel.org/about-us/our-history/
Charlie Kirk
“Catharsis or Civilization” by James Lindsay: https://newdiscourses.com/2025/09/catharsis-or-civilization-a-statement-from-our-founder-on-the-life-of-charlie-kirk/
Tucker Carlson / Nick Fuentes Controversy
PBS NewsHour: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/tucker-carlsons-interview-with-antisemite-nick-fuentes-exposes-rift-among-republicans
Peter Boghossian
Resignation letter from Portland State (2021): https://peterboghossian.com/my-resignation-letter
