Julian Casablancas Brings “Democracy Plus” to Oxford Union

In April, Julian Casablancas told *SubwayTakes* that American Zionists enjoy “the benefits of white privileged people but talk like they are Black people during slavery.” The clip ricocheted. Now, a speech at the Oxford Union, recorded in May and released this week, finds the Strokes frontman stepping back—not away from the heat, but into a broader argument about how language is weaponized.

“The key words we use to talk politics are essentially meaningless and keep our discussions going in these endless ragebait circles,” Casablancas says in the video. He singles out “freedom.” Democracy, too, he argues, has never truly been tried. The larger the group, the more deception and exploitation take hold. His answer is “democracy plus”—a framework requiring, among other things, a vow of poverty from leadership, objective labeling of media outlets and their ownership, and multi-day debates with time for fact-checking.

The address doesn’t dwell on his earlier remarks beyond acknowledging the backlash. Instead, Casablancas frames the entire system as broken: corporate power has supplanted representation, and words have been hollowed out to keep people circling. The speech ends with a call to “get that Corporate Power Reset movement going to finally try democracy and actually be free.” It’s an odd mix of DIY politics and rock-star idealism, but it lands somewhere between a late-night dorm debate and a genuine plea for structural change.

He was already in the neighborhood—shooting a video for “Going Shopping” with Walton Goggins in the Canary Islands—so he dropped by. Casablancas writes on Instagram that a previous Oxford talk years ago was pulled by a “right wing administration.” This one sticks. Whatever you make of the message, the messenger is dead serious.