An Intro to Unmuted's Political Pulse
Hi there! The Unmuted Pulse is our next iteration of a newsletter - events, podcasts, and occasional thoughts on America.
Ed Manzi here- I run Unmuted, an offline hub for intelligent people to discuss the issues of our time without judgment. We’re starting our next iteration of a newsletter to keep you informed of upcoming events (including ours!). We’ll describe one upcoming Unmuted event a week, and we’ll highlight a number of other organization events that I find interesting across the political spectrum. In addition, every month we will publish one piece of thoughtful, Founding Member content. We’re open to feedback, so let us know what you like and want to improve!\
Our highlighted Unmuted event
The Tuition is Too D*mn High
Nearly everyone agrees that college costs too much, with questionable ROI to justify it. But many don’t agree on the solution - should the federal government stop guaranteeing loans? Should schools be held accountable for outcomes? Should we forgive the debt for a generation of students? These are not easy questions, and we have two DC - based thought leaders meeting to discuss and debate
Come for the drinks, stay for the ideas and entertainment. Meet new people who also deeply care about the issues, and learning with nuance.
Friday, October 17, 6:30 - 9 PM at Fabrik Tribeca - tickets here
6:30 PM Doors Open and Drinks Served
7 PM Debate (Moderated + Q&A)
Debater 1: Preston Cooper, Senior Fellow, AEI
Debater 2: Wisdom Cole, Senior National Director of Advocacy, NAACP
Moderator: Ed Manzi, Founder of Unmuted
8 PM Audience discussions on the debate and provided hypotheticals
This Week
Events of the Week
The events I’ve got my eye on this week across the spectrum. China, Italians, Police Brutality, and SCOTUS!
🗓 Monday, October 6
• 6:30 PM – SCOTUS PREVIEW: 2025–2026 (🟥 Center Right, Legal)
Where: Midtown Manhattan
Who: Manhattan Institute, The Federalist Society
What: Top conservative judges and scholars discuss the upcoming Supreme Court case docket.
• 6:30 PM – NYC Charter Revision Commission (🟦 Left, NYC Politics)
Where: Slattery’s Midtown Pub
Who: New Liberals NYC
What: Exec Director of NYC Charter Revision commission discusses proposed ballot initiatives for 2025.
🗓 Tuesday, October 7 • 6:30 PM – Are U.S.-China Relations at the End of the Line? (⚪ Foreign Policy, China)
Where: Asia Society
Who: Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Asia Society
What: Former US Ambassador to China Winston Lord (‘85-89) discusses the history of US-China relations since Nixon, and his assessment of where the two nations are headed.
• 6:30 PM – NYC Charter Revision Commission (🟦 Left, NYC Politics)
Where: Slattery’s Midtown Pub
Who: New Liberals NYC
What: Exec Director of NYC Charter Revision commission discusses proposed ballot initiatives for 2025.
🗓 Wednesday, October 8
• 7:00 PM – Holy Cannoli (🟥 Right, Italian American)
Where: Little Italy
Who: New York Young Republicans
What: The NYYRC Italian American Caucus meet to eat cannolis and listen to Italian American music .
• 8:00 PM – The Future of Truth (⚪ Non-political, AI and Culture) Where: Kaufmann Concert Hall
Who: 92NY
What: Werner Herzog discusses truth in an era of AI deepfakes and limited fact-checking. Also pushes against political nihilism of the times.
🗓 Thursday, Oct 9
• 6:30 PM – Trigger Warning by Jacinda Townsend (🟦 Left, Books)
Where: P&T Knitwear
Who: P&T Knitwear
What: Jacinda Townsend discusses her new novel on enduring police brutality with Nadia Owusu, followed by a book signing.
• 7:00 PM – Public Advocate Debate (⚪ Bipartisan, NYC Politics)
Where: Virtual (ugh) on NY1
Who: NYC
What: The first general election debate for NYC’s next Public Advocate
• 7:00 PM – Back from the Brink (🟥 Right, Public Safety)
Where: Harvard Club of New York
Who: Harvard Club of New York Program Committee
What: A discussion on “Back from the Brink” Peter Mosko’s unofficial NYPD history spanning three decades of crime fighting. Email me if interested, limited guest spots.
🗓 Friday, Oct 10
• 7:00 PM – Is Free Will an Illusion? (⚪ Philosophy, Religion)
Where: St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village
Who: Thomistic Institute
What: A lecture by Prof. Joshua Hochschild (Mount St. Mary’s University) on the subject of Free Will.
🗓 Saturday, Oct 11
• 6:00 PM – Building Solidarity, Building Power (🟦 Socialist, Politics)
Where: 401 State Street Brooklyn, NY 11217
Who: Democracy at Work
What: An Intersectional Movement Gathering on Making the Solidarity Economy Real…that is the description from the event. I have no idea what that means but I want to find out!
• 6:00 PM – 81st Columbus Celebration Gala (🟥 Likely Right, Historic)
Where: Cipriani
Who: Columbus Citizens Foundation
What: A black tie event with a cocktail hour and dinner. Very fancy! Celebrating Italian American heritage.
🗓 Sunday, Oct 12
• 1:00 PM – Reparations Salon (🟦 Left, Religious + Civil Rights?)
Where: Middle Collegiate Church
Who: Middle Collegiate Church
What: Frankly, I have no idea. This seems to be a Christian church event that also wants to discuss reparation. Consider me fascinated.
That’s it for this week.
Show up, think deeper, and as always, stay Unmuted!
The Unmuted Team