The Curious Middle cover art

The Curious Middle

The Curious Middle

By: Polina & Yelena
Listen for free

We're two San Francisco moms who got tired of pretending the obvious isn't obvious. Top 1.5% of podcasts globally not because we play it safe. We ask the questions people are thinking but won't say out loud, on the topics that actually shape how we live: media, politics, culture, parenting, careers and what it means to defend common sense in a state that often ignores reality. We're two women who've earned our opinions through life, careers, raising kids and educating ourselves, Expect ideas that challenge what you think you know. Conversations that don't wrap up neatly. And the occasional moment where one of us changes our mind on air, because that's what actually curious people do. Being "in the middle" isn't about being passive. It's about being grounded enough to question everything, open enough to learn from anywhere, and brave enough to push beyond comfortable assumptions. Expect conversations that challenge, entertain, and push you toward a more thoughtful, and wildly better life. Follow us on Instagram @thecuriousmiddlepod or reach out at thecuriousmiddlepod@gmail.com Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Oikophobia: Why Successful Societies Turn Against Themselves with Benedict Beckeld, philosopher and author of Western Self-Contempt

    Oikophobia: Why Successful Societies Turn Against Themselves with Benedict Beckeld, philosopher and author of Western Self-Contempt
    Jun 15 2026

    What if you could name the thing tearing America apart? Benedict Beckeld joined us to trace a pattern that has played out in every great civilization in history: ancient Greece, Rome, Enlightenment France, Britain, and now America. The more successful a society becomes, the more its own people turn against it. Wealth, safety, and open intellectual space create the exact conditions for a culture to start eating itself alive.

    Benedict is a writer and philosopher whose work spans contemporary culture, political philosophy, and the philosophy of history. He holds a master's in ancient Greek, Latin, and German, and a PhD in philosophy. His book Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia and the Decline of Civilizations is the only full-length study of the subject, and the work that brought the term into mainstream conversation.

    We get into all of it: why universities are ground zero, why intellectuals are the most susceptible, what October 7th has to do with it, whether religion is the antidote, and the uncomfortable historical truth about whether oikophobia has ever actually been reversed.

    The good news, America is different. The bad news, the odd are not good. Uderstanding what we're up against is the first step to fighting back.

    https://www.benedictbeckeld.com/

    Key Quotes

    • "The fact that we until recently only had a word for hating foreigners is itself a sign of oikophobia — it means it's only the hatred of the foreign that we consider worthy of condemning."
      — Benedict Beckeld
    • "There is nothing so human as taking a good idea too far. We take the potential positive of self-criticism and it becomes a competition about who can be the most self-hating."
      — Benedict Beckeld
    • "Historically, it has never been reversed. Which is not to say we shouldn't try — and I mean this, because America is unique."
      — Benedict Beckeld
    • "Imagine if you were sick and didn't know what was going on — you'd be panicked. But if a doctor gave you a diagnosis, you'd say: okay, I know what this is, this is how I treat it. Before this, we were very sick and had no word for it. Now we do."
      — Polina Rubin
    • "There is a spirit of freedom in America that is unmatched in the world. You say an idea in Europe and people say, are you sure that's wise? You say the same thing here and people say, that's amazing, what can I do to help?"
      — Benedict Beckeld

    More Podcasts on Culture:

    • Alll the News that's Fit to Spin with Ashley Rindsberg
    • From Foster Care to Yale with Rob Henderson
    • From America is Evil to American Exceptionalism with Lucy Biggers
    • Why so Many Gen Z's Cant Take a Joke or a Different Opinion

    • Follow @thecuriousmiddlepod
    • Contact us: thecuriousmiddlepod@gmail.com
    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
  • Why Antizionism Is a War on Jewish Existence | Adam Louis Klein

    Why Antizionism Is a War on Jewish Existence | Adam Louis Klein
    May 12 2026

    Adam Louis Klein is a PhD student in anthropology at McGill who became one of the leading voices against antizionism after October 7. He was in the Amazon jungle doing fieldwork when the attacks happened. When he returned and refused to stay silent, he was immediately labeled a Zionist and told he had no future in his field. Instead of backing down, he built a movement.

    In this episode, Adam explains why antizionism is its own category of bigotry, distinct from antisemitism but equally harmful, and why naming it matters more than debunking individual claims. He lays out a practical framework for how to respond when you're hit with terms like "colonial," "apartheid," or "genocide," and why the key is boundary-setting rather than fact-checking.

    We cover:

    • Real-time role play: what to say when someone claims Israel is colonial, genocidal, or apartheid
    • Why calling something antisemitism often backfires and what to say instead
    • How antizonism functions as a moral identity, not just a political position
    • What Jewish antizionism actually is and where it comes from
    • The role of legacy institutions, philanthropy, and academia in changing the narrative

    Adam's movement, MAAZ Action (mazaction.org), offers free trainings — 1 to 2 hours — that communities, synagogues, and corporations can access right now.

    Know someone who needs to hear this? Send it. Share it in your community. Especially with people who think you can be anti-Zionist and still be a friend to the Jewish people.

    https://www.movementagainstantizionism.org

    About Adam Louis Klein

    Follow Adam on IG
    Show More Show Less
    46 mins
  • What Your Relationship With Money Says About Your Character With Rabbi Daniel Lapin

    What Your Relationship With Money Says About Your Character With Rabbi Daniel Lapin
    Apr 28 2026
    What if pursuing wealth isn't greedy, it's morally good? Rabbi Daniel Lapin has spent decades making that case, and in this conversation he makes it clearly. He's the bestselling author of Thou Shall Prosper, founder of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians, and one of the most practical thinkers on money, character, and how to live well. We get into his Five F's framework: Family, Finance, Friendship, Fitness, and Faith, and why these five areas, arranged in a circle, are the clearest measure of whether someone has their life together. Rabbi Lapin breaks down which F matters most at different life stages, why your relationship with money says more about your character than almost anything else, and how ancient biblical wisdom maps directly onto the way the world actually works. We also talk about why socialism keeps spreading, what the fall of empires has to do with America right now, and why AI is being overhyped in exactly the same way the internet and the automobile were. 90% of Rabbi Lapin's listeners are not Jewish. These are universal principles — and this is one of those conversations you'll want to share. A few of our favorite lines from this episode. It's full of transformative life advice, but you'll have to listen for the rest: "I ask people on planes: what do you do for your fellow human beings? Not what do you do for a living, that's a very self-centered way of looking at it." "Empires end not because of outside invasion — but because of internal collapse. The breaking apart of a common moral shared outlook." If this episode made you think of someone , that's your sign. Stop and share it with them! Follow us on Instagram at @thecuriousmiddlepodFollow our SubstackEmail us thecuriousmiddlepod@gmail.com Timestamps: 0:00 — Intro: why Polina and Yelena are obsessed with Rabbi Lapin and what to expect 3:43 — The Five F's introduced: Family, Finance, Friendship, Fitness, Faith 6:03 — Family defined: all relationships that flow from male-female connection 7:30 — Finance defined: money, ownership, and your professional relationships 8:29 — Faith explained: anything that can't be measured in a lab — including why you paid $64 for jeans 10:43 — Why the Five F's live on a circle, not a ranked list 11:50 — Which F matters most by life stage — counterintuitive advice for men and women 13:45 — Why society is conditioned to see wealth as greedy — and why that's wrong 15:17 — What a man's relationship with money reveals about his character 19:46 — Jewish tradition views the pursuit of profit as morally good 20:45 — Why socialism spreads and why it's dangerous 22:04 — Freedom vs. equality: you can't have both 24:25 — The 250-year empire cycle — and America turns 250 this year 28:43 — Money and God: gold is the eighth thing God calls "good" in Genesis 31:01 — Why half the guests at a Jewish wedding are business connections, not family 33:11 — Yelena's personal question: how do you measure worth when you've stepped away from a career? 35:20 — Why having children above 2.1 is one of the most important contributions to society 37:44 — Abundance vs. scarcity mindset — and why you can't will money into existence 40:05 — The Screw Magazine story: why everyone needs to believe they're doing something of lasting value 42:26 — Whale oil, copper wire, and the pattern of false scarcity throughout history 43:45 — AI is being overhyped — same pattern as the internet and the automobile 47:02 — People need people: why AI won't replace human connection 49:27 — How media has brainwashed us to see business as villainous 51:00 — Perspective check: 1930, 1941 — things have been worse and we got through it 53:45 — What to actually do right now: build your Five F's 56:16 — Closing: happiness is a decision
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet