Some mighty high IQs were on hand for the New America Foundation’s event celebrating Chris Hayes’ new book “Twilight of the Elites” in Dupont on Tuesday evening. The party (can you call something a party if the line to buy books is three times as long as the line to the open bar?) consisted of Hayes discussing elites and social distance in American society.
Around 100 guests packed the place (including a handful of Hill staffers and literati types like the Atlantic’s Molly Ball and Slate’s Matt Yglesias) to sip wine and craft beer and listen to Hayes and New America’s Andres Martinez chat.
Sample phrases included: “the hubris of smarts;” “ceding control to technocracies;” and “There is a massive difference between the perceptual salience of a woman crying in your office because she’s about to lose her home and some PowerPoint that’s presented to you in an airless boardroom.” Heavy stuff, but the crowd loved it, particularly the Paul Krugman jokes.
