Ask A Genius 1367: What are rising social awareness and global leadership changes?
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/05/09
Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen discuss the cultural evolution of public awareness around sexual abuse, particularly within families. Rosner highlights that increased knowledge has empowered individuals and disrupted abusive patterns that were once normalized or hidden. The conversation then shifts to broader political themes, including the election of a new American pope—Pope Leo XIX—seen as a subtle global repudiation of Trumpism. Rosner critiques the MAGA movement as performative and unsustainable, while noting Trump’s rare centrist policy proposal. Jacobsen humorously suggests the Pope publish a book titled The Audacity of Pope as a cultural counterpunch to the MAGA base.
Rick Rosner is an accomplished television writer with credits on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Crank Yankers, and The Man Show. Over his career, he has earned multiple Writers Guild Award nominations—winning one—and an Emmy nomination. Rosner holds a broad academic background, graduating with the equivalent of eight majors. Based in Los Angeles, he continues to write and develop ideas while spending time with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
Rick Rosner: When it comes to fighting off sexual abuse, especially intrafamilial abuse, it is better for people to know that it is a thing that can happen.
Most people over the age of 12 today are at least aware that sexual abuse, including from relatives, is possible. That was not the case in the 1960s or even the 1970s. Back then, the idea that your dad, uncle, or even your mom could be a predator was not widely discussed. Now it is. Moreover, widespread awareness has helped reduce or disrupt some of those situations.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: That is a profound social shift.
Rosner: The new Pope is from Chicago. He is 69. He plays tennis so that we will get twenty good years out of him. Or, thanks to improvements in medicine, even twenty-five.
He is socially liberal—at least in some respects—but maybe not when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, and not when it comes to abortion. That said, we are still reading smoke signals about the guy. People are trying to determine whether he is a White Sox or Cubs fan. We’ll learn more about him in the fullness of time. People are already digging into his background.
So, here’s the bigger picture. Canada elected a Liberal government. Australia elected a Labour government, which is left-leaning in its context. And now the College of Cardinals has elected a relatively liberal Pope from America. As liberal as a pope can be, anyway. It feels like a global “screw you” to Trumpism and the broader fascist wave.
There are a lot of MAGA types who are furious. They are calling him a communist. Moreover, we can hope, really hope, that MAGAS are becoming increasingly isolated.
Honestly, nobody outside the MAGA bubble likes MAGAS. But Republicans fall in line behind them because MAGAS form a robust coalition base. So non-MAGA Republicans tolerate them, for now. But if MAGA stops looking like a winning strategy, maybe those Republicans will finally jump ship. Because at the end of the day, MAGA is a movement built on trolling.
Today, Trump appointed Judge Jeanine Pirro—yes, from Fox News—as the lead DOJ figure for Washington, D.C., a notorious MAGA figure. People have been saying for years now, “Maybe this will be the thing that finally turns the tide against Trump.” However, nothing ever does.
But there are still minor signs of hope. Trump remains a crude, bombastic figure who refuses to move toward the political center. Oddly, though, he isreportedly in favour of raising the federal income tax rate for people making over $2.5 million annually from 37% to 39.6%. That is reasonable, and it could help him court more centrist voters. So that’s… not the worst policy.
Still, we’re likely stuck with Trump for almost four more years. It’d be nice if even one or two of his policies weren’t just performative trolling.
Jacobsen: My wild take—well, not that wild. My personal belief is this: to piss off the MAGAs in classic Obama fashion, the new pope—Pope Leo XIX—should write a book and call it The Audacity of Pope. That would be incredible.
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