How does the moist grey meat between your ears create the kaleidoscope of sensations you experience as your life? How do other animals experience the world? And will A.I. ever feel like something? Joel Pearson is a psychologist and neuroscientist who runs the Future Minds Lab at the University of New South Wales and is in charge of Innovation & Enterprise in their school of psychology. His new book is "The Intuition Toolkit: The New Science of Knowing What without Knowing Why." Join Joel as ...
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep 199•Transcript available on Metacast The doomsayers are out in force, with plenty of gloomy prognostications for 2024. In this solo episode (also available on YouTube if you want to behold Josh’s staggeringly beautiful hair), Josh explains why — on climate, economics and politics — 2024 will be a helluva lot better than you think. Josh Szeps 𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X Instagram (@joshszeps) Josh Szeps on TikTok...
Feb 03, 2024•37 min•Ep 197•Transcript available on Metacast Josh had a tradition on his radio show. Each Friday, he’d banter with two celebrities about the news. Well, behold this first-ever inaugural grand honorary opening maiden extravaganza lollapalooza: The Uncomfortable Conversations Panel. This week, our guests are the two most interesting people in the world: Sarah Wilson and Jessie Stephens. Sarah’s podcast is Wild, which you should listen to. She’s also a multi-New York Times best-selling author, social philosopher and keynote speaker. Jessie’s ...
Feb 02, 2024•26 min•Ep 198•Transcript available on Metacast Should swastikas be banned? Should you be allowed to chant “Palestinians are terrorists”? What about “trans women aren’t women”? Or “Covid was a hoax”? In an era of misinformation and hate speech, universities, governments and journalists are wrestling with whether to control what gets said. Should there be any limits? You’ve seen James Kirchick on Bill Maher’s show. He’s a big free-speecher; a writer, columnist, and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He and ...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep 197•Transcript available on Metacast Today, January 26th, is Australia's national day. It's hugely controversial, being the anniversary of the British Empire's arrival on indigenous land. On the morning of Australia Day, Josh reflects on race relations and the ongoing Australia-Day controversy. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed. Hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe Josh Szeps 𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X Instagram (@joshszeps) Josh Szeps on TikTok...
Jan 26, 2024•41 min•Ep 196•Transcript available on Metacast Elie Honig used to prosecute the mafia in New York City. Now he’s CNN’s senior Legal analyst. As a seasoned prosecutor of organised crime, he helps Josh wrestle through Trump’s legal problems and their likely outcomes. Elie’s new book is “Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away with It”. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed. Hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe Josh Szeps 𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X Instagram (@joshszeps) Josh Szep...
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep 195•Transcript available on Metacast Meg made an astonishing documentary about Guantanamo terrorists who were released into a de-radicalisation program in Saudi Arabia. Then her film, The UnRedacted (Jihad Rehab), was cancelled… and so was she. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed. Hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe *CORRECTION: The UnRedacted (Jihad Rehab) is not yet available to watch at JihadRehab.com but Meg is working on it and it will be ready in the very near future. Fol...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep 194•Transcript available on Metacast When we accuse a country of being a "coloniser", it's meant as a bad thing. But what if colonialism is okay? What if the British Empire was, on balance... good? That's the position of @NigelBiggar, a Professor Emeritus at Oxford University whose new book, “Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning”, is making heads explode all over Britain. Join Josh as he tries to wrestle with the ethics of the Raj, indigenous rights, racism, and one of the greatest crimes – or greatest virtues? – in political history. To...
Jan 09, 2024•51 min•Ep 193•Transcript available on Metacast Are Jews a minority? Do they deserve the same social-justice protections as other identity groups? Or are they white—perhaps even the “whitest” of white privileged elites? David Baddiel is a comedian and writer. He helped turn comedy into ‘the New Rock’n’Roll’ when he created the hit TV shows ‘The Mary Whitehouse Experience’ and ‘Newman & Baddiel in Pieces’. He’s appeared on the UK’s biggest comedy shows including ‘Little Britain’, ‘Skins’, ‘8 Out of 10 Cats’, and ‘QI’, and he performed to 1...
Jan 02, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep 193•Transcript available on Metacast How long can ham sit on the Christmas table before you shouldn’t eat it? Can fried rice kill you? Can you store butter out of the fridge? Why did Josh start spewing chunks just twenty minutes after eating a chimichanga? Gary Kennedy is a world expert in food safety and the managing director of Correct Food Systems. To help you survive your impending holiday feast (and every Chinese takeaway you’ll ever have), don’t miss this quirky, compelling, uncomfortable Christmas special.
Dec 21, 2023•16 min•Ep 192•Transcript available on Metacast How would your life change if you found out, beyond all doubt, that you're a robot? What if nothing you’ve ever done was your own free choice? What if your brain just tricks you into feeling like you’re choosing things it already planned? Josh can't believe that. But the Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky, one of the world’s leading free-will sceptics, does. His latest book is “Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will”. Prepare to have your mind blown. If you have one. To subscribe to Jos...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 191•Transcript available on Metacast Today, over 3,200 of Josh’s arts-industry colleagues are engaging in a Palestinian Day of Action, wearing Palestinian scarves during performances nationwide. Josh, you’ll be shocked to learn, has some thoughts.
Dec 13, 2023•2 hr 43 min•Ep 190•Transcript available on Metacast In a future of digital spying, inflationary economies, incompetent central banks and petty authoritarians, could Bitcoin be the guarantee of all your other freedoms? Josh was on Peter’s blockbuster podcast, What Bitcoin Did, and now Peter stops by the Uncomfy Convos studio on a recent trip to Sydney. He’s a super smart thinker about the role of the individual, the state… and your wallet. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.subs...
Dec 12, 2023•2 hr 30 min•Ep 189•Transcript available on Metacast David Pakman is a progressive American political commentator who hosts one of the world’s most popular left-wing talk shows, with over 1.8 million subscribers. Josh picks his brain about the state of the media, of the Left… and of America. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep 188•Transcript available on Metacast There's a LOT going on in the Uncomfy Convo world. You probably have a lot of questions. I'm here to answer them.
Dec 04, 2023•9 min•Ep 187•Transcript available on Metacast What's wrong with empathy? Is effective altruism better? How did you develop your sense of right and wrong? Is suffering necessary for pleasure? These are the questions the psychologist Paul Bloom wrestles with. Enjoy the ride.
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 186•Transcript available on Metacast Yippee-ki-yay, Josh has quit his ABC Radio show to double down on Uncomfortable Conversations. Starting in the new year, you'll get additional free episodes, a YouTube channel, a live tour and more. Before embarking on his adventure, Josh wanted to speak with the most successful person who has recently pulled it off. Bari Weiss was an opinion writer and editor at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. She walked away to do her own thing at The Free Press. Now more than ever, we need you...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep 185•Transcript available on Metacast Brian Dunning is an expert on critical thinking, science and skepticism. His weekly podcast, Skeptoid, debunks conspiracy theories, and his new film is “The UFO Movie THEY Don't Want You to See”. Here, Josh tries to get to the bottom of what’s really going on with UFOs. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe...
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr•Ep 184•Transcript available on Metacast Can you work at a corporation or university and openly contradict elite opinion? Can you freel y suggest that gender is binary, land acknowledgments are silly, that there are biological reasons why more men become CEOs, or that racial diversity quotas are patronising? Not without being punished, according to a tsunami of cases being catalogued by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Its CEO, Greg Lukianoff, who co-wrote the bestseller “The Coddling of the American Mind” , has a n...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep 183•Transcript available on Metacast What does it take to sustain a career in the performing arts? Julia Zemiro is one of Australia’s most beloved perfomers. An actor, improv comic and TV host, she has hosted the official New Year's Eve telecast from Sydney Harbour, the music quiz show “RocKwiz”, and her own beloved television interview show “Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery”, I sit down with her to muse on what it takes to make it in a tough biz. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortab...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 182•Transcript available on Metacast Josh shares fresh thoughts on Gaza, Palestine and Israel in this special bonus episode. To subscribe to the premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
Oct 26, 2023•29 min•Ep 181•Transcript available on Metacast Eli Lake is the former senior national security correspondent for The Daily Beast and Newsweek. He’s a contributing editor to Commentary Magazine and the host of the Re-Education Podcast. He was a syndicated columnist for Bloomberg between 2014 and 2022 and a former reporter at the New York Sun, the Daily Beast and the Washington Times. He and Josh debate Israel’s responsibility for the current crisis in Gaza. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfor...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep 180•Transcript available on Metacast How are you feeling about the war in Ukraine? We may be at a fork in the road and about to blow it. The Wall Street Journal's Marcus Walker recently returned from Ukraine. He shares with you everything from the fascinating little details to the bracing geopolitics. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 179•Transcript available on Metacast I’ve been asked many times about my thoughts on situation in Israel and Gaza…. So here they are.
Oct 17, 2023•19 min•Ep 178•Transcript available on Metacast On October 14th, Australians will vote about whether to recognise the country’s First Peoples in the Constitution by establishing a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Jack Latimore is a Birpai man and the Indigenous affairs journalist for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He joins the show to explain it all. You can read Jack’s work at the link below. https://www.theage.com.au/by/jack-latimore-p4ywbz To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack pag...
Oct 08, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep 177•Transcript available on Metacast Josh is in New York, where he just stopped by the studios of one of America’s greatest podcasts, The Fifth Column, to record this special crossover pod. Find Michael Moynihan, Kmele Foster and Matt Welch at https://wethefifth.com and https://wethefifth.substack.com . To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe Grab your Exclusive NordVPN Deal by going to nordvpn.com/Conversations to get a Huge Discount off your N...
Oct 03, 2023•2 hr 46 min•Ep 176•Transcript available on Metacast A long, long time ago, The Gays couldn’t marry. What was it like in that mediaeval nightmare? The world’s most popular sex advice columnist, Dan Savage, joined Josh in New York on the set of his television talk show in 2013. Enjoy this fascinating time portal, unavailable anywhere else on earth, except on the premium podcast feed at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe
Oct 01, 2023•14 min•Ep 175•Transcript available on Metacast Are there biological differences between male and female brains? How much of what you do is dictated by evolution? As a part of our Permission To Think collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, evolutionary psychologist Professor Steve Stewart-Williams describes how you came to be an ape who understands the universe. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 174•Transcript available on Metacast Australians are about to vote on whether to change the constitution to create a special advisory body for Indigenous Australians. Is it an overdue forum for justice? Or a risky, undemocratic game of identity politics? It’s the listener question Josh gets the most. Here, he tries to inject some sanity into an increasingly toxic debate. To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe...
Sep 25, 2023•27 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast Yascha Mounk is one of the world’s most interesting thinkers about diversity, liberalism and democracy. His new book, The Identity Trap , is an ambitious account of the origins, consequences, and limitations of “wokeness”. How did a relatively marginal set of ideas – postmodernism, postcolonialism, critical race theory – come to rule the world? To subscribe to Josh’s premium podcast feed, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe Grab your Exclusive NordV...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep 173•Transcript available on Metacast 
