The world has never been more connected. Yet never more divided. We yell at each other from inside our echo chambers. But change doesn’t happen inside an echo chamber. It’s time to get out, to stretch our legs, to step on some land mines. It's time to have an uncomfortable conversation with Josh Szeps.
A DM Podcast
What are your non-negotiable travel essentials? What catch phrase would you put on a billboard? What are your most left-wing and right-wing views? From deep and insightful to low-brow and fun - the audience asks Josh... anything.
Shadi Hamid is a Muslim-American writer and professor whose latest book is “The Problem of Democracy”. In his new Substack, Wisdom of Crowds, he makes the case against consensus… and in favour of polarisation. Josh wants to figure out what the hell he means.
As Josh comes to the end of his trip to West Africa. He sits down with his travel companion Dan to share their summary of the adventure.
After a dramatic youth that included a forced marriage to an Al-Qaeda operative, Yasmine became an activist for women’s rights in the Muslim world. Her charity, Free Hearts, Free Minds, helps ex-Muslims escape Muslim theocracies. Ironically, some of her toughest adversaries are western progressives, too timid to criticise Islam.
He’s a one-man wellness, publishing and podcasting empire. Rich Roll started getting fit in middle age and is now a world-renowned vegan ultra-endurance athlete.
Dick Cavett is one of the greatest television talk show hosts of all time. After being a writer on the original NBC Tonight Show (first with Jack Parr, then with Johnny Carson), Cavett got his own show in 1968. It ran for nearly 40 years and cemented him as a titan of American broadcasting, hosting seminal political debates as well as Hollywood’s biggest stars. A few years ago, Cavett appeared on Josh’s TV show. This is the audio of that encounter.
“The Mooch” was a wildly successful investment banker when he joined Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He became the White House Communications Director in 2017. Anthony tells Josh about his time in the White House, his relationship with Trump, and what kind of a guy he really is.
Josh is backpacking around West Africa. As you do. What’s it like? He’s here to tell you, recorded live from the road (or the dusty track, as the case may be). Sign up below on our FREE Substack tier to hear the whole thing. https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
Universities are now dominated by diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, says the philosopher Peter Boghossian… and the result is a stultifying climate of intellectual conformism. In this all-new instalment of Permission to Think, our collaboration with the UTS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Josh and Peter debate how universities, and our culture at large, can reclaim true intellectual freedom.
If you're a greenie, you're supposed to be anti-nuclear. That was true of the former Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Zion Lights... until she became one of Britain's most prominent advocates for nuclear power. But do her claims stand up to Josh's scrutiny?
Josh walked into a bar in Brooklyn and, in front of a packed crowd of drunks, argued about the news with some of the funniest, smartest people in New York. This is that event.
Jamie Kirchick knows everything about the secret, spooky, saucy, seedy side of Washington DC. Hear him hold forth on the secret history of gay spies, trans activists and, of course, the never-not-impending arrest of Donald J Trump. To hear the full episode for FREE, sign up to the free tier on Josh's Substack at: https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
In this brand new venture, Josh addresses some of life's deepest questions as posed by his friend and work colleague Robbie Armfield. In this first episode, Robbie has anxiety about generating sounds and aromas in the office toilet cubicle. Robbie has questions. Josh has the answers. You can find more from Robbie on his podcasts "Welcome to Meet You" and "Robbie's Modern Life".
The brilliant Coleman Hughes is an American writer, podcaster and musician. He burst onto the intellectual scene at a young age with his ruthlessly well-articulated opinions on race and public policy issues. He joins Josh this week with his giga-brained thoughts on race, equity and inclusion.
You probably know Zach Cregger from comedy shows like Wrecked and Whitest Kids U'Know. He also wrote and directed Barbarian, one of the horror films of 2022. This chat from the #WeThePeople LIVE archive is a conversation Josh and Zach had in Puerto Rico in 2016 where they spoke about the process of making good comedy, procrastination and how social media kills creativity.
For most transgender people, transitioning is one of the greatest experiences of their lives. For others, it deforms into crippling regret. KC Miller is one of them.
Dr Ball is a scientific futurist whose book is Converge: A futurist's insights into the potential of our world as technology and humanity collide." She and Josh wrestle with artificial intelligence, the future of food, radical life extension, and air fryers.
Remember a while ago Josh asked you, to ask him anything? Yep, he only answered one question - which turned into a full episode about JK Rowling... Well, there were many more tasty morsels in that cauldron of questions, so he's back to answer more!
Tim Urban’s first appearance on this show remains one of the all-time favourites. Now, this explosive thinker of cosmic, civilisation-level thoughts returns with a book: “What's Our Problem? A Self-Help Book for Societies”. He and Josh wrestle with what’s going wrong. Why is everything a mess? Why is everyone acting like a baby? When did things get so tribal? Why do humans do this stuff? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
From the #WeThePeople LIVE archives this week to a 2016 chat with the wonderful Myq Caplan. First and foremost Myq is comedian. Josh and Myq chat about what funny is, how he became funny, and the creative process he uses to stay funny. Enjoy. For the full episode sign up at uncomfortableconversations.substack.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Susan Neiman is one of the world's most respected living philosophers. She was born in America and educated at Harvard but now lives in Germany, where she's the director of the Einstein Forum and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. She's a leading expert on the Enlightenment. Her new book is Left is not Woke . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
This week, the world's biggest LGBTQI+ event, World Pride, kicks off in Sydney. Right on cue, activists are calling to boycott a new Harry Potter video game because Rowling is a famous anti-trans bigot. But... is she? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The so-called "intellectual dark web" was supposed to shine a light on issues too thorny for the mainstream media to touch. Now, it's a basket case of kooks. The journalist Ross Anderson recently wrote an amazing feature on the "red-pilling" of the gay conservative online host Dave Rubin. He's here to explain what's going wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Josh gets excited, at long last, about a realistic plan for fighting climate change while creating new jobs and a healthier environment. In short: electrify everything. For more about Saul, check out his website HERE . Subscribe to our Substack HERE . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Going back some five years to Josh's first ever chat with the now Uncomfy Convos regular, the self-help psychology sage Oliver Burkeman. On this episode we talk about happiness, drawing on his 2012 book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Helen Lewis's new BBC Radio 4 show, The New Gurus, investigates why so many of us have turned away from mainstream medicine, mainstream politics and the mainstream media to embrace the power of charismatic individuals instead. Helen went viral in 2018 with her legendary interview with Jordan Peterson. She's a brilliant interrogator and a thoughtful critic of the culture wars, wokeness, gender ideology and the far right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
This week Josh reflects, in a somewhat heated way, on the surreal injustices of the justice system. Plus: Aussie-made shoulder-launched drone guns. And sharks in Sydney harbour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sam Harris is a best-selling writer, philosopher and neuroscientist who hosts one of the world's most influential intellectual podcasts, Making Sense. Josh wants to pin down, once and for all, Sam's feelings about his former associates in the "intellectual dark web" who've gone off the rails. They also discuss Elon, Twitter, and the best flavour of cookie. To subscribe to the premium podcast feed via substack head to: https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See...
Scott Adams is the creator of the cartoon strip Dilbert. He rose to Twitter prominence ahead of the 2016 US election where he picked Trump as the winner, praising him as a master persuader. We leave Trump aside in this episode and focus on Scott's advice on creativity and success that he details in his 2014 book - How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
For this last Best Of episode we have the amazing Kurt Fearnley - paralympian, media personalist and advocate, who brings an amazing perspective on the global experience of disability. Then, the show I get the most feedback on, my diatribe about gun laws. And finally, one of the world’s foremost experts on sex differences - the historian and bioethicist Alice Dreger. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
