Edgelords, Profanity, & Taming the Tongue w/ Matthew Schmitz

Dec 16, 2025

For the past century or more, the left has put a high value on
moral provocation, deliberately transgressing what they see as
society’s hypocritical or puritanical moral norms, whether in
religion, sexuality, or public decorum in general. Now the right,
too, is getting in on the fun, performatively violating the speech
norms held sacred by liberals – which is sometimes good, but
sometimes itself violates traditional morality, not just leftist
ideology.

Matthew Schmitz joins the podcast to discuss his First
Things article “Taming the Tongue”, about the psychology of
edginess, the problem with widespread profanity, and the need for
restraint in speech.

Links

“Taming the Tongue” https://firstthings.com/taming-the-tongue/

Against the Grain podcast https://www.patreon.com/againstthepod

Compact Magazine https://www.compactmag.com/

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