How Empathy Is Destroying Western Civilization (with Gad Saad)

How Empathy Is Destroying Western Civilization (with Gad Saad)

Author: Paul Ollinger July 23, 2026 Duration: 1:10:26

In this episode of Reasonably Happy, I sit down with Dr. Gad Saad, an evolutionary behavioral scientist, longtime professor, and author of the New York Times bestseller Suicidal Empathy: Dying to be Kind. Gad lays out why empathy, when it hyper-fires at the wrong targets, becomes a form of civilizational self-disembowelment. We cover open-border immigration, cultural relativism, the UK grooming gang scandal, DEI and the anti-meritocracy push, his move to Ole Miss, and what a real prescription for the West actually looks like.

Timestamps

00:00:00 Trailer

00:01:28 Intro

00:01:40 From marketing professor to cultural critic

00:03:20 Born Jewish in Lebanon during the civil war

00:05:03 Defining suicidal empathy

00:08:29 Civilizations die by suicide, not murder

00:13:47 How open-border immigration became the flagship case

00:14:29 Cultural relativism and the parasitic mind

00:22:12 UK grooming gangs and the fear of Islamophobia

00:28:13 One-way tolerance and the parasite analogy

00:34:10 Anti-meritocracy, DEI and attribution bias

00:40:16 The career cost of speaking honestly in academia

00:43:34 Why he chose Ole Miss over the Ivy League

00:49:09 Hope through the Southern freedom centers

00:52:10 The prescription: an inverted U-curve for empathy

00:57:36 Outro

Follow Gad

Instagram: @doctorgadsaad

X: @GadSaad

Follow Me

Instagram: @paul_ollinger

X: @Paul_Ollinger



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Paul Ollinger has worn a few different hats-stand-up comedian, tech executive, and now, the curious host of Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger. This isn't a lecture series or a dry self-help guide. Instead, it feels more like pulling up a chair for a series of genuinely engaging talks that wander into the places where our daily lives, careers, and inner worlds collide. The conversations, which feature authors, thinkers, and various creatives, are refreshingly candid. They dig into the practical and philosophical questions about what it actually means to build a life that feels both successful and satisfying. You'll find that each episode of this podcast approaches big themes-money, purpose, and the pursuit of contentment-with a blend of wit and thoughtful depth. The underlying idea isn't about finding a perfect, Instagram-ready version of happiness, but something more grounded and attainable. It's for anyone who's ever wondered if there's a smarter, more meaningful way to navigate the pressures of business and culture without losing sight of what matters. Tuning in, you get the sense that Paul is figuring it out alongside his guests, making the insights feel earned and relatable. The result is a consistently interesting exploration of how we can all aim for a life that feels reasonably, and authentically, well-lived.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger
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