Canceling (and un-canceling) historic heroes

Jerusalem Demsas and Matt Yglesias debate which historical figures deserve to be canceled and which shouldn’t have been. With the Trump administration pushing to restore statues of figures removed during the “Great Wokening,” they ask what a statue, a holiday, or a name on a school is actually for. Jerusalem lays out her test: why we honor someone and whether their cruelty is the main thing they’re remembered for. Matt argues the bigger problem is that we undercommemorate people, and that we should want more statues, not fewer. Plus, a peer review on whether machine learning can predict who will be shot, and how much power the government should have to use that data. (0:00) Who deserves to be canceled? (1:30) Why Matt wants more statues, not fewer (3:43) Jerusalem’s test for canceling a historical figure (9:04) Should we cancel Columbus Day? (11:24) The Cesar Chavez cancellation (19:46) Robert E. Lee and the myth of the Lost Cause (28:08) Cancel Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb (39:07) Uncanceling Flannery O’Connor (48:35) Uncanceling Thomas Jefferson (59:27) Peer Review: Can AI predict who will be shot? Support the Show: Get a full transcript, show notes, and an ad-free version: TheArgumentMag.com New episodes every Thursday — subscribe so you never miss a debate! The Argument is produced by Justin Zuckerman, fact-checked by Eli Richman, with music by Breakmaster Cylinder and art by Ben Tousley.