In this conversation, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos reflects on surviving Nazi-occupied Hungary, the trauma of the Holocaust, and why he believes Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. Kapos describes the terrifying atmosphere of Budapest in 1944, the yellow star houses, the deportations to Auschwitz, and his family’s connection to the infamous Kastner rescue train, one of the most morally controversial episodes of the Holocaust. Together, we unpack the legacy of Rudolf Kastner, the neg...
May 15, 2026•1 hr 33 min
Philosopher Justin Smith-Ruiu joins me for a deep conversation on Metaphysics, Consciousness, Philosophy of Science, Anthropology of Mind. Psychedelics, Ritual, Religion, Phenomenology, and the limits of modern materialism, centered around his new book ON DRUGS. Drawing on thinkers like Plato, Heidegger, Husserl, Descartes, Leibniz, Huxley, McKenna, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, Smith explores whether psychedelic experiences merely distort reality or instead reveal hidden dimensions of consciousness ...
May 12, 2026•1 hr 56 min
How do we know what is real anymore?In this conversation with Professor Siwei Lyu of the University at Buffalo, one of the leading researchers in AI generated imagery and deepfake detection, we explore the unsettling world of synthetic images, cloned voices, fake influencers, and manipulated video. From AI girlfriends and scam artists to political propaganda and fake breaking news, we are entering a world where seeing is no longer believing.We talk about why “AI detectors” may be the wrong solut...
Apr 30, 2026•1 hr 19 min
What is “Muskism”? In this conversation, I sit down with Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian to unpack the political and moral philosophy behind Elon Musk—not just the man, but the ideology forming around him. Instead of another biography, we explore Musk as a symbol of a broader Silicon Valley worldview shared by figures like Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and the Palantir elite: a fusion of techno-utopianism, libertarian rhetoric, state power, surveillance, and anti-democratic ambition.We discuss Musk’s ...
Apr 28, 2026•1 hr 26 min
In this long-form conversation, I sit down with Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro—one of the most outspoken anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox rabbis—to explore one of the most misunderstood questions in modern politics: what is the relationship between Judaism and Zionism? Raised in suburban American Conservative Judaism with Israeli flags on the bimah, Hebrew school, bar mitzvahs, and an unspoken expectation to support Israel, I wanted to understand what exactly I inherited—and whether it had anything to do with ...
Apr 22, 2026•2 hr
The attitudes in American on Israel and Palestine have flipped, we can't ignore the fact that violence may have "worked."There’s a deeply uncomfortable question at the center of political history: is violence ever justified—or even necessary—in the pursuit of freedom? In a widely shared debate, Steven Pinker argues that nonviolent movements are not only more moral, but more effective, citing a dataset from Harvard’s Kennedy School as empirical proof. But when you actually examine that data, the ...
Apr 22, 2026•37 min
I went into this conversation knowing almost nothing about the Roma. Which, as it turns out, is kind of an intentional result.Margareta Matache is a historian, author, and one of the leading voices on Roma history and anti-Roma racism. In this conversation, she walks me through a story that most of us were never taught—one that spans centuries of exclusion, slavery, and persecution across Europe.We talk about:Who the Roma actually are (and why that’s a harder question than it sounds)The long his...
Apr 08, 2026•1 hr 17 min
This conversation with Emily Jashinsky dives into one of the strangest political moments in recent memory — where parts of the left and right are beginning to sound eerily similar. From “America First” to anti-war sentiment, distrust of institutions, and critiques of empire, we explore whether this convergence is real… or just a temporary alignment before everything snaps back.We get into the deeper philosophical divide driving politics today: how history should relate to the present. Is the Uni...
Apr 06, 2026•1 hr 17 min
This conversation started with hesitation — both from my audience and from me. Professor Jiang has become a rapidly growing and deeply controversial figure online, with many warning me not to platform him at all. Accusations, clips, and labels were sent my way before we even spoke. So I went into this discussion with an open mind, but also with a responsibility to ask direct questions — about his views on the Holocaust, his use of language, and the frameworks he relies on to interpret the world....
Apr 01, 2026•1 hr 40 min
I sat down again with Peter Beinart to talk through what feels like a rapidly escalating and confusing moment — not just politically, but inside Judaism itself. We start with a question I’ve been asking a lot of people lately: how to talk about the Jeffrey Epstein files honestly, without dodging it, but also without feeding into something darker. That opens into a broader conversation about antisemitism, where the line is now, and whether that line has been blurred beyond recognition.From there ...
Mar 29, 2026•1 hr 2 min
As tensions escalate between Iran, Israel, and the United States, the question of nuclear war no longer feels abstract—it feels immediate. With ongoing strikes, threats to critical infrastructure, and fears of further escalation across the region, the possibility of a nuclear weapon being used is no longer confined to history books. Ward Wilson joins me at a moment where the stakes are not theoretical: governments are actively making decisions that could shape whether this conflict stays convent...
Mar 29, 2026•1 hr 6 min
In this wide-ranging conversation, economist and public intellectual Jeffrey Sachs discusses the rapidly escalating conflicts shaping today’s world—from the war with Iran and the crisis in the Middle East to the ongoing confrontation in Ukraine. We explore the deeper forces driving these conflicts, including the role of ideology, religion, and power in shaping modern geopolitics. Sachs also weighs in on controversial questions surrounding Zionism, debates about the idea of “chosenness” in Judais...
Mar 17, 2026•1 hr 8 min
In this conversation, Israeli-American author and activist Miko Peled — the son of a famous Israeli general — reflects on the current political moment surrounding Israel, Gaza, and the widening regional war. We discuss the silence in Israeli society around the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, the difference between Judaism and Zionism, and why Israel appears locked in what Peled describes as a culture addicted to permanent war. We also examine Israel’s long-running obsession with Iran and the deeper str...
Mar 10, 2026•51 min
In this wide-ranging conversation, Jay Shapiro sits down with political economist Radhika Desai to unpack the war with Iran — how we got here, who is driving it, and whether we are drifting toward World War III. We examine the deeper crisis beneath the headlines: the senile phase of capitalism, the instability of a declining American empire, Israel’s regional ambitions, and the dangerous psychology of leaders who treat war as a solution to structural decline. We also discuss China’s long strateg...
Mar 05, 2026•1 hr 14 min
Is Israel entering a period of irreversible transformation?In this conversation, I sit down with Israeli historian and author Ilan Pappé to discuss his latest book, Israel on the Brink. Instead of looking backward, Pappé looks forward — imagining what the collapse of political Zionism could mean and what might replace it.We talk about the growing rift he describes as the “State of Judea” vs the “State of Israel,” the reported 270,000 Israelis who have left, the possibility of a one-democratic st...
Feb 26, 2026•58 min
After watching The Voice of Hind Rajab, I started thinking about doctrine — not religious doctrine, but cinematic doctrine. For decades, Hollywood films like True Lies and Rules of Engagement helped script a moral universe where Arab violence was irrational, Western violence was justified, and Israel existed inside an unquestioned frame of necessity. Drawing on Jack Shaheen’s work in Reel Bad Arabs, this essay argues that blockbuster filmmaking became a kind of modern scripture — more powerful t...
Feb 24, 2026•39 min
The Case of Steven Pinker and Alan Dershowitz, John Brockman and Sam Harris and a culture of "accepting" the culture...00:00 Clearing up the Brockman Point02:55 Allergic to Conspiracy05:07 Moral Questions are not Legal Questions10:40 Morality and Opportunity of Association12:50 The Case of Steven Pinker15:01 Alan Dershowitz Asks Pinker for Advice23:58 What Could Pinker Know?28:36 What Can We Do?32:00 It's Not About YOU33:11 MeToo Again?34:17 Influence, Power, Men, and SexFor more from Jay visit ...
Feb 10, 2026•39 min
My thoughts on complicity and what it means to be "in the files"00:00 Intro02:19 Going Through Circles of Complicity09:05 The Intellectual Sphere (John Brockman)18:28 Sam Harris is "in the files"25:05 Just One Playground33:16 The Gatekeepers are Gross Men with Money33:54 If Elon Musk Offered Me Money?39:19 Buying Gatekeepers and Buying Distribution Channels42:58 The Jewish Elephant in the RoomBECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0...
Feb 05, 2026•46 min
What if our most “rational,” science-minded moral frameworks are quietly justifying violence, domination, and erasure? In this video essay, I trace David Hume’s is–ought problem and follow a secular, compassionate, scientific worldview to its unsettling conclusions — from free will skepticism and utilitarian ethics to the “quarantine model” of justice, effective altruism, and systems that treat human suffering like a technical problem to be optimized. Along the way, we confront hurricanes, check...
Feb 04, 2026•31 min
Michael W. Green is a successful Wall Street strategist, a frequent Fox Business guest, and—unexpectedly—the author of one of the most viral economic essays of the year. In his Substack series Yes... I Give a Fig, Green argues that the official U.S. poverty line is so artificially low that it functions less as a measurement of hardship and more as a form of political gaslighting. People are told they’re doing fine, while privately feeling like they’re drowning.In this wide-ranging conversation, ...
Feb 04, 2026•1 hr 26 min
Robert Sapolsky makes one of the strongest cases against free will on offer today—but this conversation doesn’t stop at whether free will exists. It asks what follows. If no one could have done otherwise, what happens to morality, justice, dignity, and meaning? Hosted by Jay Shapiro, this episode begins with Sapolsky’s core argument against free will and moves quickly into its consequences: shame, pride, punishment, and the temptation to replace moral responsibility with clean, mechanistic expla...
Feb 04, 2026•1 hr 23 min
In this conversation, Jay Shapiro sits down with Rory Fanning, a former U.S. Army Ranger who served alongside Pat Tillman before becoming a war resister, educator, and outspoken critic of U.S. empire. Rory recounts his journey from elite military training and the mythology of manhood sold through recruitment. What began as a rite of passage, a test of courage and loyalty, slowly revealed itself as something else entirely.They talk about standing up to bullies, and what happens when you realize t...
Jan 07, 2026•1 hr 32 min
In this episode I speak with Melani McAlister, professor of American Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University and author of the remarkable new book Promises Then the Storm — a journal she began on October 5th, 2023.This conversation moves through her life story: • growing up an evangelical Christian in North Carolina • discovering Amnesty International, human rights work, and the Middle East in 1982 • learning Arabic in Cairo • joining Mobilization for Survival in the la...
Dec 01, 2025•1 hr 26 min
Imagine it’s Thanksgiving ten years ago. Your slightly unhinged Uncle Bob starts talking about a mysterious financier with a private island, underage trafficking, a bizarre “temple,” secret deals in Africa, ties to intelligence services, oligarch donors, and elite universities. You’d probably roll your eyes and wonder if he needed a psychiatric evaluation.Fast-forward a decade: victim testimony, court filings, FOIA dumps, leaked emails, and relentless reporting have confirmed that most of that “...
Nov 28, 2025•59 min
Zohran Mamdani’s victory didn’t just shake New York politics — it cracked open a deeper fear that’s defined Western liberal discourse for decades. Figures like Sam Harris and Bill Maher built careers on the fantasy of the “Good Muslim” — the secular, assimilated, apolitical figure who makes the West feel safe. But Zohran’s unapologetic politics, rooted in solidarity with Palestine and working-class liberation, expose the hollowness of that narrative. In this episode, we revisit Mahmood Mamdani’s...
Nov 12, 2025•35 min
The Rashomon Effect - Multiple people witnessing the same event remember it in contradictory ways, often colored by their own self-interest, trauma, or worldview.Applied to the killing of Rafaat Alareer and a Tweet by Bari Weiss00:00 The Rashomon Effect02:58 The Killing of Rafaat Alareer04:24 Perspective One - Bari Weiss, The Zionist Journalist12:42 Perspective Two - Rafaat, The Poet18:03 Perspective Three - IDF, The Killer20:20 Perspective Four - Me, The Onlooker25:01 The Exhausting Rashomon Pr...
Oct 09, 2025•28 min
Malcolm X was more than an activist or organizer. In this conversation, Michael Sawyer, author of Black Minded and the forthcoming The Door of No Return, takes Malcolm seriously as a philosopher who linked Black freedom in the United States to anti-colonial struggle in Palestine. We talk Malcolm’s trip to Gaza, his push to move the fight to the global commons and the United Nations, and why he believed moral clarity must come before politics.This episode wrestles with the hardest question, the t...
Oct 08, 2025•1 hr 23 min
Iranian scholar Hamid Dabashi goes deep on empire, Iran’s revolutionary currents, and Palestine. We cover his “two nemeses” frame—global imperialism vs domestic tyranny—and why opposing one never excuses the other. He unpacks Islamism as a (once) liberation theology and its limits, the polyfocal currents inside Islam, the 1979 revolution’s three forces (nationalism, Marxism, Islamism), sanctions and the erasure of Iran’s middle class, and why airstrikes only unify Iranians behind a garrison stat...
Oct 02, 2025•1 hr 17 min
In this conversation with sociologist Nandita Sharma, we dig into the deep contradictions of nationalism, sovereignty, and the postcolonial state. Sharma argues that the nation is not a pathway to liberation but a mechanism of ruling that reproduces inequality, exclusion, and capitalist domination. We explore her personal story of migration, the legacy of anti-colonial struggles, Palestine and Hawaii today, the meaning of indigeneity, and her call for a planetary commons beyond rulers, borders, ...
Sep 26, 2025•1 hr 25 min
A former Israel Consulate staffer for the U.S. Southeast—Brandt Burleson—breaks silence. For eight years he built church networks, wrote Bible-laced talking points, and helped run a PR machine that, in his words, “wrapped a starvation campaign in a Judeo-Christian bow.” He explains how Christian Zionist theology was leveraged to pressure politicians, how pastors were courted and choreographed, what he saw after October 7th (including raw screening sessions), why the line between “ally” and “apoc...
Sep 09, 2025•1 hr 20 min
