The #FourthTurning: Are We At a Great Gate in History with Neil Howe

Is time linear? Or does it move in cycles? Mark Twain purportedly said “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it likely rhymes.” Is America— and the world— in a cycle or “Fourth Turning” similar to the times of the American Revolution, the American Civil War and World War II? Neil Howe is author of “The Fourth Turning Is Here— What the Seasons of History Tell Us About How and When This Crisis Will End“ and other books on generational theory lauded by both the left and right. In this conversation, Howe and Naughton address generational cycles and the four “turnings” that occur within an 80-90 year period, or the average length of a human lifetime. They explore the current fourth turning which is marked by crisis and conflict. It delves into the cyclical nature of history and the correlation between major wars and fourth turnings throughout the United States, England, Europe and beyond. The discussion also touches on the moral equivalent of war, a concept from William James, that explores alternat