This episode is a recording of a live event that I did with Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff, and Rikki Schlott. Jonathan Haidt is a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. He is also the co-founder of Heterodox Academy, which I once wrote a blog post for back when I was probably 21 years old. Jonathan is the author of many books including "The Happiness Hypothesis", "The Righteous Mind", and "The Coddling of the American Mind" with his co-author Gregory Lukianoff. Greg Lukianoff is the pre...
May 27, 2022•38 min•Ep. 17
My guest today is Yascha Mounk. Yascha is a political scientist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University. He's also the founder of "Persuasion", which is a great online magazine I really recommend you all read. He is also the host of "The Good Fight" podcast. Yascha has a new book out called "The Great Experiment", which is what we'll be discussing in today's episode. We talk about group psychology and tribalism, their origin, and human nature. We discuss the difference between nation...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 16
This podcast is actually a recording of a live event I did at TED in Vancouver with Tim Urban. Tim Urban is the author of the blog "Wait But Why?" and also of the upcoming book "The Story of Us". My thanks to the TED team for inviting me to have this conversation. Tim and I talked about procrastination, the shortness of life, artificial intelligence, political polarisation, and much more. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to film this event, so this will be an audio-only episode. I hope you...
May 14, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 15
My guest today is Frances Haugen. Frances is a data engineer, scientist, product manager, and whistleblower. In this episode, we discuss the psychological effects of Instagram on teenagers, the subculture of Tumblr, the cross-check system at Facebook, Facebook's policy toward misinformation, and much more. I really enjoyed this episode and I hope you do too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 07, 2022•41 min•Ep. 14
My guest today is Richard Dawkins. I assume most of you know who he is, but in case you've been living under a rock; Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus fellow at Oxford University. If I listed all the awards he's received in his lifetime, this description will not end. His books include The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion, Unweaving the Rainbow, and many others. His latest book is called "Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Des...
Apr 30, 2022•48 min•Ep. 13
My guest today is Andrew Yang. Andrew Yang is a businessman, attorney and author. He is known for his presidential bid in 2020 and his bid for New York City mayor in 2021. This podcast was recorded at Andrew's studio and jointly released on his podcast which is called "Forward". In this episode, we discuss my upbringing and background in music, how philosophy is taught, why race shouldn't matter, the democrats use of identity politics, office culture, the future of work, automation, and AI. I ho...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 33 min
My guest today is David Chalmers. David is a professor of philosophy and neuroscience at NYU and the co-director of NYU Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness. David just released a new book called "Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy", which we discuss in this episode. We also discuss whether we're living in a simulation, the progress that's been made in virtual reality, whether virtual worlds count as real, whether people would and should choose to live in a virtual world...
Apr 24, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 12
My guest today is Jacob Mchangama. Jacob is a lawyer and writer based in Denmark. He's the founder of Justitia, a think tank focused on human rights and freedom of speech. Jacob is also the producer and narrator of the excellent podcast called Clear and Present Danger. Jacob and I discuss his brilliant new book: Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. We talk about the Danish cartoon controversy and Charlie Hebdo. We also discuss the so-called "Milton's curse"; which is the habit o...
Apr 16, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 11
My guest today is Briahna Joy Gray. Briahna was the national press secretary for Bernie Sanders and his 2020 campaign. Before that, she was a columnist and Senior Politics Editor at The Intercept. Her work has also appeared in many other outlets like Rolling Stone magazine, Current Affairs, New York Magazine, and The Guardian. Briahna currently hosts the Bad Faith Podcast, which I hope to go on soon. We talk about how Briahna's international childhood influenced her worldview. We discuss America...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 10
My guest today is Cathy Young. Cathy is one of my favorite journalists around today. She is a writer at The Bulwark and also a cultural studies fellow at the Cato Institute, a columnist for Newsday, and a contributing editor to Reason. Cathy, who was born in Moscow and came to the United States with her family in 1980, is also the author of the books; Growing Up in Moscow: Memories of a Soviet Girlhood, Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality. This episode is all ...
Apr 02, 2022•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 9
My guest today is Matthew Yglesias. As many of you may know, Matt was the co-founder of Vox, along with Ezra Klein, who I had on the show last year. Matt is also a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and writes The Slow Boring blog and newsletter on substack. In this episode, Matt talks about why he left Vox for substack and we discuss Matt's book "One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger", in which Matt argues that America should increase its population by means of increasing the native ...
Mar 26, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 8
My guest today is Ashley Rindsberg. Ashley is an American novelist and journalist now based in Israel. His book is The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times's Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History. We discuss the little-known history of major errors made by the New York Times. We also talk about the concept of authority, what makes the times different from other papers, the idea of objective truth, and the many problems with the 1619 project. We finally go on to s...
Mar 18, 2022•58 min•Ep. 7
My guest today is Jeffrey Maurer. Jeffrey has been a comedy writer, a speechwriter, and a stand-up comic. He was the senior writer for John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight. Jeffrey is now a substack writer and his substack is called I might be wrong. In this episode, we talk about the rise of political comedy in America, how political polarisation has changed American television, the problem of preachiness in comedy both on the right and the left, and the fine line between funny and offensive. W...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 6
My guest today is Dr. Zubin Damania aka ZDoggMD. Zubin is a USCF Stanford-trained internal medicine doctor and founder of Turntable Health, an innovative primary care clinic. He was also a hospitalist for many years and now hosts the podcast "The ZDoggMD Show" Zubin and I talk about the differences between mainstream western medicine and alternative medicines, the politicization of COVID information, the misinformation around the mRNA vaccines, the hatred directed at the unvaccinated, and the ab...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 5
My guest today is Matt Taibbi. Matt is a writer, journalist, and podcaster. He's a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and co-host of the "Useful Idiots" Podcast. He won the National Magazine Award in 2008 and is the author of many books, including The Great Derangement, Griftopia, and Hate Inc. In this episode, Matt and I talk about the Substack revolution, the paternalism in public health messaging, why Trump won in 2016, and the perception that people like Matt and myself are right-wing. We ...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 4
My guest today is Renee DiResta. Renee is the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. She led a multi-year investigation into the IRA, Russia's fake news factory, and she's advised Congress. She's also an ideas contributor at Wired and The Atlantic. In this episode, we talk about the difference between misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. We talk about public health messaging, hashtags, and trending topics and the effect they can have on the real world, the in...
Feb 19, 2022•56 min•Ep. 3
My guest today is Rob Reich. Rob is a political science and philosophy professor at Stanford University. He is the Director of Stanford's McCoy Centre for Ethics and Society and Associate Director of Stanford's Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. Rob is also the author of "Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better", and the co-author of "System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot", "Digital Technology and Democratic Theory", "...
Feb 11, 2022•46 min•Ep. 2
My guest today is Emily Oster. Emily is a Professor of Economics at Brown University and the author of "Expecting Better", "Crib Sheet" and "The Family Firm". She has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard and prior to teaching at Brown, she was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. This episode is all about children and families. We discuss the surprising truth about whether women can drink caffeine and alcohol during pregnancy, the difference between randomized trial...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 1
As we step into Season 3 of Conversations with Coleman, here’s a retrospective look into some of the big themes from 2021 and some of my favorite episodes from the last season of the show, while also sharing some thoughts for the upcoming season. Canadian Myocarditis study: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.02.21267156v1.full.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 29, 2022•22 min•Ep. 79
My guest today is Tim Flannery. Tim Flannery is a monologist and paleontologist. He was the chief commissioner of the Australian Climate Commission and Chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council. He was named Australian Humanist of the year in 2005 and Australian of the Year in 2007. He is currently a fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. Tim is also the author of his new book "The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19"...
Dec 17, 2021•44 min•Ep. 42
My guest today is Michelle Telfer. Michelle is an Australian Pediatrician and Head of the Gender clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. She's the lead author of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for trans children, and she is also a former Olympic gymnast. In this episode, we talk about gender dysphoria, particularly in children and adolescents. We also talk about the difference between puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery as well as the complicat...
Dec 11, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 41
My guest today needs no introduction. Joining me in today's episode is John McWhorter. John has a new book called "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America". This is an excellent book and I highly recommend you to read it. In this episode, we talk about what "wokeness" is, as John defines it, and whether the woke can be persuaded. We also talk about the progress America has made on race, the extent to which actual racism is still a problem, Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. F...
Dec 03, 2021•55 min•Ep. 40
My guest today is Nicquel Terry Ellis. Nicquel is the senior writer for CNN's Race and Equality team. Before that, she was a national correspondent for USA Today covering race inequality and activism. She has also spent six years working in local news with the Detroit News and the Asbury Park Press. I often receive the criticism that I only talk to people like John McWhorter, Sam Harris and Glenn Lowry, who agree with me about the problem of wokeness and the moral panic around racism and white s...
Nov 27, 2021•52 min•Ep. 39
My guest today is Bonnie Snyder. Bonnie is an educator with over 20 years of experience in a variety of roles including teacher, counselor, administrator, and professor in both public and private schools. She's a graduate of Harvard University with a Master's Degree in Counseling from Virginia Tech and a Doctorate in Higher education from Penn State. She is also the High school Outreach Fellow at FIRE: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Bonnie's latest book which is the topic of ...
Nov 21, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 38
My guest today needs no introduction, so I won't give him one. Today's guest is Steven Pinker, and he has a new book called "Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters." We talk about what rationality is, we talk about rationality's PR problem, whether rationality has increased or decreased over time and how to apply reason to everyday life choices. We also discuss the behavioral economics revolution and cognitive biases, what it means to be intellectually humble, why people lo...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 37
My guest today is Nicholas Christakis. Nicholas is a physician, a sociologist, and a professor at Yale University. He'll be known to some of you as the professor who kept his composure in front of a mob of students screaming about Halloween costumes back in 2015 or he may be known to you as the author of many books, including "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social networks and How they shape our lives", "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society" and "Apollo's Arrow: The Prof...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 36
My guest today is Ryan Holiday. Ryan is the best-selling author of many books, including "Trust Me, I'm Lying", "The Obstacle is the Way", "Ego is the Enemy", "The Daily Stoic" which is also the name of his podcast, and his latest book: "Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave". Ryan is also the former Head of Marketing at American Apparel. In this episode, we talk about Ryan's strange career path from marketing to becoming the modern face of stoicism. We talk about stoicism, what it is and...
Oct 29, 2021•58 min•Ep. 35
My guest today is Andy Norman. Andy is a philosopher and the director of the humanism initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the founder of CIRCE, the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative. In this episode, we discuss his new book "Mental immunity: Infectious ideas, Mind parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think." We talk about how bad ideas operate like parasites. We talk about the notion of a mental immune system. We talk about the virtues and dangers of being ope...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 34
My guest today is Kmele Foster. Kmele will be known to many of you as the co-host of The Fifth Column Podcast which is one of my favorite podcasts. He's also the co-founder of a media company called Freethink, and a former co-host of The Independents on Fox Business Network. This episode was sort of a post mortem on two other recent episodes, the one with Christopher Ruffo, and the one with David Hogg. Kmele was one of the co-authors of a New York Times op-ed, critical of the anti CRT laws that ...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 33
My guest today is Jesse Morton. Jesse has an incredibly interesting life story. He was born in America, converted to Islam as a young adult, became radicalized, and devoted his life to doing everything he could to help Al-Qaeda from America, including creating the very first English language jihadist propaganda magazine, which later famous magazines like Inspire and Dubuque would be modeled after. So after a long journey away from Islamism, he now runs an organization called Parallel Networks, w...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 32
