In an era of daily internet outrage, Dave Rubin stands out for his willingness to engage a wide spectrum of political opinions with a civil tone. His show, The Rubin Report has hosted the likes of alt-right gadfly Milo Yiannopolous, crusading atheist Sam Harris, and ex-governor-turned-conspiracy-theorist Jesse Ventura, all in a spirit of non-partisan intellectual inquiry.
Chatting with political adversaries has affected Rubin’s politics in unexpected ways. As his beliefs turned towards individualism, he broke with the progressive show The Young Turks over the issue of identity politics. Rubin explains his ideological shift in his influential video, Why I Left the Left, which has racked up 1.7 million views in just a few months.
Today, Rubin describes himself as a classical liberal. “I do believe that the state has some use,” he explains. “Now I don’t want a huge state. I firmly believe in individual liberty more than anything else. And that you have to live the life you want for yourself.” The one-time progressive even cast a vote for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson in the last presidential election.
Although his even-keeled approach to dialogue hasn’t changed much, he now sees value in the outrageous style of internet punditry. “Sometimes there is use in laying out bombs that are going to upset people, because out of the chaos of that, you can actually build some bridges, you can actually find some people waking up,” he says.
Edited by Alex Manning. Cameras by Zach Weissmueller and Austin Bragg
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