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

Tracing the Rise of Radicalized Anti-Zionism on American Campuses

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with author Paul Berman about the lingering influence of ’Black Power’ advocate Stokely Carmichael, who once infamously claimed that ’the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 12, 202445 min

'Israel: Germany's Reason of State'

Podcast host Iona Italia talks to Gerfried Ambrosch about pro-Israel feeling on the German Left, antisemitism among Muslim immigrants and why Israel’s safety is “Germany’s reason of state.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 03, 20241 hr

The (Other) Scandal at Oberlin College

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Roya Hakakian about the rise and fall of Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a former Iranian official who’d presented himself to Oberlin as an agent of peace and ‘forgiveness.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 28, 202439 min

Bridging Divides Between Democrats and Republicans

Podcast host Iona Italia talks to John Wood, Jr. of Braver Angels about building a stronger democratic consensus in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 21, 202452 min

Should Imane Khelif be allowed to box against women?

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with University of Manchester Developmental Biologist Emma Hilton about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won the gold medal in the women's welterweight event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, despite widely reported indications that Khelif may be biologically male. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 15, 202425 min

How Gender Activists Took Over a Scottish Rape-Crisis Centre

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to writer Joan Smith about the scandals that unfolded at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre under the leadership of its male trans-identified CEO, Mridul Wadhwa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aug 08, 202436 min

'How We Form Our Political Beliefs' with Oliver Traldi

Iona Italia talked to Oliver Traldi about his recent book, Political Beliefs: A Philosophical Introduction. They discussed a number of philosophical questions with implications for everyone who is keenly interested in politics. What do we mean when we describe something as political? How do we form our political beliefs? Why do those views tend to cluster around certain anchoring beliefs? Is the marketplace of ideas a good metaphor for the way in which we arrive at political opinions? Why is pol...

Aug 02, 20241 hr 31 min

'Language vs. Reality' with Nick Enfield

Iona Italia interviews linguistic anthropologist Nick Enfield about why language is good for lawyers and bad for scientists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 24, 20241 hr 11 min

The Freedom to Blaspheme

Jonathan Kay speaks to fellow podcast host Kushal Mehra about the ‘eerie similarities’ between censorship campaigns in India and Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 17, 202433 min

'Life on Mars' with Robert Zubrin

Iona Italia talks to the president of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin, who explains the intellectual, economic, social, and ecological advantages of settling the Red Planet and how to overcome the challenges of doing so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 09, 20241 hr 21 min

Protest? Polite Pass

New York Times columnist Pamela Paul tells Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay why standing around yelling slogans isn’t her preferred way of changing the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 03, 202434 min

'Parsi Bombay Then and Now' with Nev March

Iona Italia talks to Nev March about her novel, Murder in Old Bombay, set in late 19th-century India and about the Zoroastrians of Bombay past and present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 25, 20241 hr 31 min

Supporting Trans People Without Denying the Facts of Biology

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Duke University law school professor (and former U.S. National Collegiate athletic champion) Doriane Lambelet Coleman about her new book, On Sex and Gender: A Commonsense Approach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 10, 202440 min

Technology Is Not the Problem

Quillette podcast host Iona Italia talks to Timandra Harkness about her new book on technology, micro-targeting, personalisation and narcissism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 05, 20241 hr 5 min

The (Culture) War Diaries of Nellie Bowles

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Morning After the Revolution author Nellie Bowles about her tragicomic journalistic adventures amid progressive true believers and ideological enforcers—from the offices of The New York Times to the streets of Seattle and San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 22, 202452 min

'Recovery from Rape' with Larissa Phillips

Quillette podcast host Iona Italia talks to Larissa Phillips about the best ways to prevent rape and promote victims' recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 22, 202459 min

Experiencing Autogynephilia

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to self-described 'Transsexual Apostate’ Debbie Hayton about the link between male sexual self-attraction and transgender self-identification. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 06, 202450 min

Fighting Back Against Progressive ‘Neo-Racism’

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to writer Coleman Hughes about his acclaimed new book, The End of Race: Politics Arguments for a Colorblind America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 28, 202442 min

Creating a Safe Space for ‘Problematic’ Women

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with fellow podcaster Meghan Daum about The Unspeakeasy, a “community for free-thinking women who crave honest conversations about subjects that don’t come with easy solutions.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 15, 202440 min

Is Israel Really Committing Genocide in Gaza?

University of Florida historian Norman Goda tells Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay why he isn’t persuaded by South Africa’s claims against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 21, 202446 min

Leaving MAGA

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Rich Logis, a one-time fervent Donald Trump supporter who’s now renounced his MAGA beliefs—and is trying to help others do the same. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 28, 202432 min

The Fine Line Between Denouncing ‘Settler Colonialism’ and Supporting Terrorism

Atlantic magazine writer Michael Powell talks to Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about his latest article—The Curious Rise of Settler Colonialism and Turtle Island—in which he explains how activists are weaponizing fashionable academic doctrines to delegitimize the existence of Israel, the United States, and other Western societies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 16, 202433 min

How ‘Intersectional Feminism’ Got Hijacked by Men

Veteran feminist activist, author, and pundit Julie Bindel talks to Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about the need to protect hard-won women’s rights from gender ideologues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 04, 202346 min

The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Justinian

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Cambridge University historian Peter Sarris about his new book on Justinian the Great, the lowborn sixth century Byzantine emperor who remade Roman law, suppressed Christian heresies, built architectural wonders, and reconquered lost lands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 22, 20231 hr 7 min

The October 7 Terrorist Attacks, in Historical Perspective

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to influential Israeli historian Benny Morris about Hamas’ acts of mass murder, the Israeli response, and the future of Gaza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 01, 202326 min

Eric Kaufmann’s New ‘Centre for Heterodox Social Science’

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with political scientist Eric Kaufmann about cancel culture, switching universities, and why academics need to have honest conversations about the down side of immigration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 20, 202338 min

The Extraordinary Life of Tom Nash aka DJ Hookie

Quillette editor and podcast host Iona Italia talks with speaker, DJ, and quadruple amputee Tom Nash about his new book, ‘Hook, Line, and Sinner.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 18, 20231 hr 7 minEp. 225

Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans-Identified Children

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to psychotherapist and book author Stella O’Malley, and parent “Josie A.,” about the need to heed parents’ voices before “affirming” a child’s desire for gender-transition therapies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 02, 202345 min

Tracing the Roots of the Ideological Movement (Formerly) Known as Wokeness

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Johns Hopkins University professor Yascha Mounk about the role of Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, Edward Said, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak in shaping today’s illiberal, identity-fixated political mantras—and how we can help lead progressives back to their liberal roots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sep 13, 20231 hr
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