Quillette Podcast - podcast cover

Quillette Podcast

Quillettequillette.com
The Quillette Podcast is a platform for rigorous, academic discussions rooted in common sense and free inquiry. Non-dogmatic and grounded in liberal values, the podcast serves as a beacon for thoughtful conversation on science, politics, philosophy, and culture. Quillette prides itself on intellectual honesty, avoiding ideological extremism in favor of evidence-based reasoning and progress. Hosted by leading voices in academia and journalism, past guests include evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, and journalist Douglas Murray, among others. Expect candid conversations that promote common sense and challenge anti-science and conspiratorial narratives from both the far left and right.

Episodes

When Workplace Anti-Racism Training Goes Off the Rails

Nicole Levitt tells Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay what happened when diversity consultants were hired to teach the mantras of social justice to staff at her Philadelphia-based non-profit organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 29, 202232 min

Meet the 80-Year-Old Feminist Who Got Banned From the YMCA for Protesting Male Bodies in the Women‘s Locker Room

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks to Port Townsend, WA-area swimmer Julie Jaman, the octogenarian whose efforts to keep biological men out of a changing area reserved for girls and women led to accusations of transphobia, a visit with the police, multiple town-council debates, and an ongoing Twitter campaign called #LetJulieSwim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 12, 202223 min

Canada’s Unmarked-Graves Social Panic: How Did the Media Get This Blockbuster Story So Wrong?

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to National Post reporter Terry Glavin about the blockbuster 2021 claim that hundreds of murdered Indigenous children had been found in unmarked graves, the process by which that story began to unravel in the year that followed, and what the whole spectacle tells us about Canada’s intellectual class. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 03, 202243 minSeason 1Ep. 197

Understanding Wokeness as a Make-Work Strategy for the Privileged Class

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Swedish Marxist Malcom Kyeyune, who argues that nominally progressive theories of race and gender are actually aimed at securing influence, employment, and prestige for underemployed university graduates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 19, 202230 minSeason 1Ep. 196

Richard Dawkins on the Wonders of Flight

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins about his new book on the science and mythology of life in the air—from puffins and flying squirrels to fairies and angels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 20, 202227 minSeason 1Ep. 194

Progressive Social Panic at Yale and Princeton

Reporter Aaron Sibarium talks to Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about his recent scoops concerning the campaign against anti-woke Princeton classics professor Joshua Katz, and the unsettling radicalism of student activists at Yale Law School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 23, 202246 minSeason 1Ep. 192

Shmuel Bar on the War in Ukraine, and the Failure of Western Deterrence

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to intelligence expert Shmuel Bar about why Putin bungled the war in Ukraine, why NATO didn't do enough to deter the Russians, and what happens next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 05, 202231 minSeason 1Ep. 188

Sam Harris on Islam, Dropping Acid, Joe Rogan, Vaccine Pseudoscience, the Wonders of Meditation, Collaborating with Ricky Gervais, and the Myth of Free Will

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay asks neuroscientist, philosopher, best-selling author, and celebrity podcaster Sam Harris about the key to living a fulfilling and satisfying life (and whether it‘s okay to tell your children they’re bad at sports) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 25, 20221 hr 31 minSeason 1Ep. 187

Russia's Surprising Military Blunders in Ukraine: A Strategic Analysis

Royal Military College professor Scott Maloney and Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, and consider what Vladimir Putin will do to salvage his widely denounced invasion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 09, 202231 minSeason 1Ep. 186

Chris Best on Substack's Commitment to Free Speech

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Substack's founder and CEO about empowering writers through free expression (and his company's new, foosball-table-free San Francisco offices) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 27, 202231 minSeason 1Ep. 184

Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' Protesters, in Their Own Words

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with David Paisley and Jay VanderWier, two of the many ordinary working-class Canadians who’ve assembled in Ottawa to protest restrictive government COVID policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 15, 202241 minSeason 1Ep. 183

Michael Shermer: Watching 'Scientific American' Go Woke

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to book author and Skeptic editor Michael Shermer about why scientific media, professional organizations, and academic departments are increasingly succumbing to progressive ideological fads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 17, 202251 minSeason 1Ep. 181

New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat on His Hellish Experience with Lyme Disease

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat about how his new book—which explores both his own fight against chronic Lyme disease, and the controversy surrounding the condition within the medical community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 04, 202250 minSeason 1Ep. 180

Paul Lockhart on How Guns Transformed Western Civilization

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Wright State University professor Paul Lockhart about the enormous military and political upheavals set in motion by the adoption of gunpowder-based weapons from the 13th Century onward—including the demise of the medieval castle, the empowerment of large centralized states, and the deployment of permanent standing armies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 20, 202134 minSeason 1Ep. 178

Nancy Segal on Lessons in Human Nature Revealed by Identical Twins

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with California State University professor Nancy Segal about her career spent studying twins, and her new book, Deliberately Divided. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 13, 202125 minSeason 1Ep. 175

Will Storr on Our Insatiable Appetite for Status

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with author Will Storr about his new book detailing the profound role of status-seeking in shaping human societies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 26, 202127 minSeason 1Ep. 173

Jonathan Haidt on Instagram’s Mental Health Emergency

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with NYU professor and “Coddling of the American Mind” Co-Author Jonathan Haidt about the emotionally destructive effect of social media on many young users Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 04, 202148 minSeason 1Ep. 171

Vivek Ramaswamy on the 'Woke Smoke' Blown by Corporate America

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with 36-year-old biotech entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy about how corporate elites burnish their progressive bona fides (and distract their critics) with anti-racism slogans and hashtags—instead of taking concrete steps to address real inequalities within their organizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 27, 202134 minSeason 1Ep. 170
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