In Episode 321 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with bestselling author, renowned historian, economist, and theorist of generational change, Neil Howe.
Twenty-five years ago, Neil and his late co-author William Strauss put forward a provocative new theory of American history. Looking back over the last 500 years, they’d uncovered a distinct pattern: modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting roughly 80 to 100 years, with each composed of four eras—or “turnings”—that always arrive in the same order and each last about 25 years.
The last of these eras is always the most perilous. It’s a period of civic upheaval and national mobilization as traumatic and transformative as the New Deal and World War II, the Civil War, or the American Revolution. The authors called it the Fourth Turning, and Neil joins us today to explain why he thinks that the fourth turning has finally arrived, what it means for those of us living during this period, and how his theory of generational change can help us navigate it with courage, competency, and a new-found sense of resiliency that may seem unimaginable to us today.
Howe and Kofinas spend the first hour of their conversation laying the foundation for his theory, discussing the four different seasons of the saecula, as well as the four different generations that propel it forward.
They spend the second hour applying that framework to the Fourth Turning itself, discussing what it would take to consolidate our society, what an existential threat to our nation’s survival will look and feel like, and what we can do to prepare ourselves for this great national challenge that will draw all other problems into it and require the extraordinary mobilization of most Americans.
You can subscribe to our premium content and gain access to our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports (or Key Takeaways) at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces genius community, which includes Q&A calls with guests, access to special research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners, you can also do that on our subscriber page. If you still have questions, feel free to email info@hiddenforces.io, and Demetri or someone else from our team will get right back to you.
If you enjoyed listening to today’s episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | CastBox | RSS Feed
Write us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify
Subscribe to our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://hiddenforces.io
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas
Episode Recorded on 07/24/2023
The Price of Time in a World Without Interest | Edward Chancellor
Why Global Liquidity Matters Now More Than Ever | Michael Howell
How to Prepare for the Next Taiwan Strait Crisis | Dmitri Alperovitch, Elbridge Colby, & Jamil N. Jaffer
A Recession, More Inflation, or Both? | Eric Basmajian
Global Macro in an Age of Great Power Conflict | Demetri Kofinas
American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict | Elbridge Colby
What’s Driving the Price of Oil? A Supply-Side Story | Rory Johnston
Turkish-Greek Relations & Battle Over the Eastern Mediterranean | Ryan Gingeras
Rise of Shadow Banking & Risks of a Financial Crisis | Lev Menand
Energy Geopolitics & the Remaking of the Modern World | Helen Thompson
Value Investing & How to Have “Soul in the Game" | Vitaliy Katsenelson
The Power of Crisis & How to Fight a Geopolitical Recession | Ian Bremmer
How to Trade Market Sentiment & Why Inflation Is Coming Down | Jared Dillian
The Path Towards Self-Actualization & How to Overcome Your Fears | Demetri Kofinas
The Revenge of Risk Rates & the Return of Dividend Investing | Daniel Peris
How to Trade the Great Rotation From Big Tech to Commodities | Tony Greer
Revenge of the Dollar & the Meltdown in Global Markets | Brent Johnson
The Collapse of LUNA & UST and the Vulnerability in Crypto | Nathaniel Whittemore
The New Era of Great Power Competition | John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt
Revenge of the Old Economy & How to Invest in the Commodity Supercycle | Jeff Currie
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money