The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 사유의 용기| Thinking in an Age of Distrust: On Anti-Intellectualism and Other Stories — The One with Mr. Gbane Okolo | Episode 36 (2025)
This episode asks something quietly radical in our moment: what if the real crisis isn’t ignorance, but the steady erosion of how we relate to knowledge, to one another, and to responsibility?
In my conversation with Mr. Gbane Okolo, we talk about what it’s like to think deeply in a world that often feels impatient with nuance, how curiosity can start to feel risky, how expertise can be misunderstood. How simply asking careful questions can come with social and emotional costs. Gbane reflects on anti-intellectualism not as a buzzword, but as something people quietly bump into every day.
We also make room for the pressures people don’t always say out loud, especially financial stress. Not the dramatic, headline kind, but the quieter strain of living “in between”: planning a future while your footing still feels temporary, carrying responsibility before stability fully arrives, trying to stay hopeful while the timeline keeps stretching. It’s a reality many students, immigrants, and early-career professionals recognize immediately, even if they rarely hear it named with tenderness.
From there, our conversation moves through faith, science, and intellectual humility; through technology, AI, and the strange way modern tools can mirror our fears as much as our progress. Gbane shares why he believes a shift is coming—a growing hunger for authentic connection, critical thinking, and human presence in a world that’s becoming increasingly automated.
At its heart, this episode is about staying curious when it would be easier not to. About thinking carefully, living honestly, and giving ourselves permission to ask better questions, even when the world seems uncomfortable with depth.
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