Afleveringen
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Justin Trudeau's political career will end this weekend when his replacement is elected as the Canadian Liberal leader.
This happens at a moment of extraordinary uncertainty for Canadians. As the U.S. launches a painful trade war, Canadians are being forced to rethink their economic and strategic future.
What's going on up there? Who are the candidates you need to know? How do they perceive the Trump tariffs?
Jen Gerson is a writer who worked for the Economist, Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. She's now the co-founder of The Line, a Canadian Substack commentary website and podcast. Here, she gives you everything you need to know about the Great White North.
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Perhaps the most dangerous idea is what to do about dangerous ideas.
A spate of anti-semitic attacks has led to new laws that will punish Australians for "hate speech". But are hate-speech laws a band-aid over deeper problems like ethnic bigotry, religious conservatism, historical ignorance, social media, migrant integration, university bias, and Islamism - problems which may have been addressed if we'd spoken more openly about them in the first place?
That's the argument of Professor Alan Davison, the incoming president of Australia's Free Speech Union. He and Josh discuss free speech, diversity, journalistic integrity, critical thinking, and who gets to speak for minority groups.
Is it time to speak more fearlessly, not less? Or is the free-speech position just an excuse for more division and hate?
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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How should medium-sized countries respond when they're bullied by a superpower? The question applies as much to Canada dealing with President Trump as to Australia reacting to China.
Last Friday, the pilot of a Virgin Australia flight from Australia to New Zealand noticed a flash of weapons from a Chinese warship just a few hundred miles off the coast of Sydney. Other passenger planes suddenly got mid-air warnings to divert course. The Australian government scrambled to reassure citizens that nothing was amiss.
But this is the first time China has sent naval assets so far south down the Australian coast. It's the first time they've conducted live-fire exercises so close to Australia, inside its exclusive economic zone, in a busy flight corridor linking the region's only two Western democracies.
What's going on? How should we react? Is a China-U.S. war in the 21st century inevitable?
Sam Roggeveen is a former intelligence officer and a foreign policy analyst who now heads the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute, Australia's preeminent international policy think tank.
He and Josh discuss China's belligerence, the Australia-U.S. alliance, Trumpist isolationism, Taiwan, NATO, and immigration. His book is The Echidna Strategy, an argument for developing an independent security strategy.
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Imagine posing as a drug dealer and going undercover into a Chinese drug lab. That's what Ben Westhoff did to report on how fentanyl -- which kills about 75,000 Americans every year -- gets made.
Will Trump's crackdowns at the Mexican border stanch the flow? Why are other rich countries less affected by opioids? How did fentanyl cause the worst drug crisis in American history. Is the problem getting any better?
Ben is a best-selling investigative journalist who's written about the fentanyl crisis for The New York Times, The Atlantic and the Los Angeles Times. His book is "Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Created the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic" and his story of heading to China to meet fentanyl's manufacturers is unmissable.
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Varied are the ways in which political parties, media moguls and corporations screw you. One man who stands up to them all -- or who at least makes funny, informative, viral videos explaining their shenanigans -- is the phenomenon known as "Punters Politics". Millions of Aussies devour his Instagram and YouTube videos to learn how the system is ripping us off.
Why is there a revolving door between politicians and the industries they regulate? What does Norway do that we should, too? And what does it mean to “pass the pub test?”
From Rupert Murdoch to mining taxes, from government lobbyists to the beauty of the mullet, Konrad and Josh gleefully explore what, exactly, ails democracy... and how to fix it.
There’s a lot more terrific stuff over at the Substack page. Don’t miss it at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
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Productivity tips. Life hacks. Calendar apps. Magic mornings. Brain supplements.
None of it will free you from the sense that there's more to do than you possibly can. That's because you're finite. Your time is finite, your focus is finite, and you're going to die. No productivity hack can change that.
It's a liberating idea, if you look at it the way Oliver Burkeman does. Oliver was the second-ever guest on this podcast, at the height of the Covid pandemic, to discuss how to ignore the news. He returned in 2021 to discuss his profound book, "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" (four thousand being the number of weeks in an eighty-year life).
Oliver was a columnist for The Guardian in New York before decamping to the English countryside from where he writes his marvellous blog, The Imperfectionist. Today, Oliver and Josh discuss ambition, anxiety, the hedonic treadmill, self-help, Elon Musk, distractedness, boredom, and snorkelling in Yorkshire.
Oliver's latest book is "Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts".
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Natalie is a Jewish Iranian-American who grew up in New York. She was partying at the Nova Music Festival in Israel when Hamas attacked.
Today, she uses her experience to advocate for the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
She and Josh discuss Gaza, the Israeli occupation, hatred, love... and her experiences that day.
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What's it like being a promiscuous young gay guy in the 2020s? How much freedom is there in random sex from hookup apps, versus how much shame? Do social conservatives have a point when they say fidelity and monogamy are the best model for life?
The producer of "Fleabag" and "Baby Reindeer" -- both humongous British TV shows which started as one-person stage shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival -- has a new one-person stage show about a gay Brit looking for love. "Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen" was a smash hit in Edinburgh and just opened at the Sydney Opera House.
The show's writer, Marcelo Dos Santos, and its star, Samuel Barnett, swung by the Uncomfortable Conversations studio on the day of their opening night. Marcelo won Britain's Critics Circle Theatre Award last year. Samuel has been nominated for an Olivier Award and two Tony Awards, for "The History Boys" and "Twelfth Night" on Broadway.
You can also watch this entire conversation in-person here.
Samuel, Marcelo and Josh wrestle with promiscuity, grief, self-worth, mental health, cultural malaise, sex on stage, and why Aussies and Brits are so allergic to American self-help.
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President Trump says the United States should take over the Gaza Strip and relocate its two million residents to neighbouring countries while we redevelop Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East." Josh has thoughts.
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Why do Americans use shower curtains instead of glass shower stalls? How do you explain the success of The Olive Garden? And is Los Angeles really as foul as Josh claims?
David Farrier is a New Zealand documentarian living in L.A., where his whimsical podcast Flightless Bird is produced by Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert production company.
David premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with his extraordinary feature-length documentary, Tickled, and is a frequent collaborator with Flight of the Conchords' Rhys Darby.
David swung by the Uncomfortable Conversations studio on a recent visit to Sydney to muse delightfully with Josh about Los Angeles, Joe Rogan, A.I., YouTube, and the future of America.
*Note: This episode was recorded in late 2024 prior to the outbreak of the 2025 Los Angeles fires.
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How well is the legacy media covering President Trump's flurry of executive actions?
Among the first deluge of White House orders is a decree defining "sex", "gender", "male" and "female". The reporting on this order -- and on LGBT and gender issues more broadly -- tells us a lot about ideological echo chambers, newsroom diversity, and how not to have constructive conversations in an era when they're more necessary than ever.
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White, conservative, evangelical American Christians helped to bring Donald Trump to power. Their political activism is turbo-charged by populist right-wing "post-liberals" who believe traditions like civility and pluralism are passé -- people including entertainers like Tucker Carlson and Curtis Yarvin, as well as intellectuals like Sohrab Amari, Patrick Deneen and Rod Dreher.
These "post-liberals" are correct in some of their criticisms of modern America but wrong in their solutions, argues today's guest, Jonathan Rauch. And who's best-placed to defeat them? Paradoxically, this atheist Jew argues: the Evangelical Church.
Rauch has spent his life fighting for liberal values. At The Economist magazine, he pioneered its editorial embrace of gay marriage long before that was popular. His hugely influential books include "The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth", about which Josh and Sam Harris interviewed him on Sam's podcast, Making Sense, in 2024.
Today: What happens to American democracy if Christianity can no longer perform the functions on which our constitutional order depends? Josh and Jonathan wrestle it out.
Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. His new book, "Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy", is available at https://tinyurl.com/y8ejdd5zWatch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page.
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Do women police each other's behaviour more than men do? Are they likelier to be busybodies, calling each other out online? Pouncing, denouncing, hounding, unfriending? That's the experience of the legendary dissident journalist Meghan Daum, a former Los Angeles Times columnist who has created a sanctuary for independent-minded women to support each other's intellectual freedom.
Meghan lost her house in the LA fires just days after we recorded this conversation. Support her terrific podcast at www.theunspeakablepodcast.com and discover her new venture at www.theunspeakeasy.com.Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page.
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Well, it's Trump's Inauguration. Again. On our previous episode, "Inauguration Episode One", Josh interviewed a pro-Trumper. Today, expand your thinking about the best- and worst-case scenarios of Trump's second term with a searingly cogent counter-opinion.
David Frum is one of the most influential conservative "Never Trumpers". He worked in the White House as President George W Bush's speechwriter, and is now a staff writer at The Atlantic. He wrote the books Trumpocracy (2018) and Trumpocalypse (2020).
Enjoy this bracing analysis from one of the most rigorous defenders of conservatism against the tide of right-wing populism. It's a conversation you don't want to miss.
We've kept this episode free, outside the paywall, as a public service. If you appreciate it, please consider whether you really need to free-ride or if you could subscribe at the Uncomfy Convos Substack page.
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On Monday, Donald J Trump will be sworn in as president. Again. To help us understand the best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios for his second term, Josh has invited two diametrically-opposed thinkers. Today, the pro-Trump case with Batya Ungar-Sargon. On Inauguration Day, the anti-Trump case with David Frum.
Batya is the deputy opinion editor of Newsweek and one of the most articulate pro-Trump voices in America. She has a PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and promotes Trumpism from the "populist left". She has written two books, "Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy", and "Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women".
Today, Batya and Josh have a spirited debate about immigration, isolationism, NATO, the woke left, the working class, and Trump's political cronyism. It tells you a lot about our topsy-turvy politics that our pro-Trump guest is a former leftist and our anti-Trump guest is a conservative. Enjoy.Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page.
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How can we flourish in 2025 in a world gripped by tribalism on the right and left? Friend-of-the-show Stan Grant returns to reflect on community, cancellation, wokeness and faith.
Stan was CNN's Senior International Correspondent based in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Beijing, before returning to Australia as International Affairs Analyst for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He is arguably Australia's most experienced global journalist and the most famous Indigenous Australian. He resigned from the national public broadcaster last year in a national firestorm about racism.
Stan and Josh discuss racial slurs, changing norms, tribalism, the rootless global elite, and finding meaning outside religion.
P.S. Do yourself a favour and help Meghan Daum - upcoming guest, friend-of-the-show and all-round brilliant gal - to get back on her feet after losing her home in the L.A. fires. Subscribe to her Substack at www. theunspeakablepodcast.com... for her and, more importantly, for you.
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As Los Angeles burns, our thoughts are with everyone in L.A. In this special episode, Josh reflects on natural disasters, leadership, and the anniversary of the Black Summer fires in Australia.
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Artificial systems are about to revolutionise your workplace, your school, your home, your phone… and, most of all, your head.
How should we prepare for the inevitable human response?
Professor Joel Pearson is a psychologist and neuroscientist who runs the Future Minds Lab at the University of New South Wales as well as MindX, a consultancy that works with companies like Samsung, Pixar, Saatchi and Google to help tailor products to how people’s minds actually work.
Josh and Joel consider the current state of A.I., how far it came in 2024, what to expect from 2025... and how to arm yourself for the disruptions of a world grappling with new hyper-intelligent artificial systems.
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For the first show of the year, an unexpected treat. A few months ago, Josh had an amazing conversation as a guest on a colleague's podcast. We bring this to you as a nice way to reset, to recalibrate, to reaffirm your mindset as we enter a fresh year.
The show is called "A Lot to Talk About" and it's hosted by Bradley Dryburgh, a young guy whose parents were told his Cystic Fibrosis would ruin his life. Instead, he became an ultra-marathon runner, podcaster and motivational speaker.
He invited Josh on his show shortly before the U.S. election, so forgive their brief exchange about presidential politics. It's interesting as an analysis of the 24-hour media cycle and how small events can have a big impact. Mostly, Josh and Bradley focus on clear thinking, courageous conversations, the legacy media, algorithms and how to stay sane in a hectic world.
Happy 2025, humans.
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Happy new year, human. Remember the Year 2000, the turn of the millennium? Well, you're about to enter the century's second quarter. This Wednesday, we'll be closer to 2050 than to the last millennium. The final half of the twenty-first century will be nearer than the twentieth.
What might the next quarter of a century have in store? Josh argued it out with the whimsical and surprisingly youthful public speaker on futurism, Dr Ben Hamer. He's done projects at the World Economic Forum and as a visiting scholar at Yale University, and hosts The ThinkerTank Podcast. Have a happy and safe new year. Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this podcast possible in 2024.
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