Rising Antisemitism and Choosing Freedom
This weekend at Columbia and Yale, student demonstrators told Jewish students to “go back to Poland.” A Jewish woman at Yale was assaulted with a Palestinian flag. And an Orthodox rabbi at…
Podcasts
Nicole Avant on Tragedy, Forgiveness, and Thinking Free
It was November 30, 2021, when Nicole Avant got a call in the middle of the night from her husband. The unthinkable had happened. Her otherwise healthy mom, Jacqueline Avant, was in…
Iran Attacked Israel. What Comes Next?
In the late hours of Saturday night 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles barreled toward Israel. It was a direct and unprecedented strike on Israel from Iran. Extraordinarily, Israel…
NPR Editor Speaks Out: How National Public Radio Lost Americans' Trust
Uri Berliner is a senior business editor at NPR. In his 25 years with NPR, his work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, an Edward R. Murrow…
How the Working Class Became America’s Second Class
On Election Night 2016, many of us thought we knew who would be the next president of the United States. We were blindsided when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Legacy media…
The Story of Someone Who Changed His Mind
If the First Industrial Revolution used water and steam to fundamentally change the nature of work, the current industrial revolution—the disruption of automation, information, the internet, and now AI—is transforming…
Smartphones Rewired Childhood. Here's How to Fix It.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has been explaining the human condition to us better than anyone else. He first did it with his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by…
The Free Press in Israel Part 3: The Gathering Storm
Today, we close out the Israel series with a conversation with the journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, who is one of the most important and insightful writers of our time on Israel and…
The Free Press in Israel Part 2: Shattered Illusions
When we went to Israel, we tried tirelessly to get into Gaza but Israel’s counteroffensive made it impossible for us to go to the strip during those days. Instead, we spent…
The Free Press in Israel Part 1: Running Toward Fire
What happens when a country has to ask its citizens the unthinkable: What are you willing to die for? It’s a question that feels so outside the current American experience. When…
Trailer: The Free Press in Israel
A few weeks ago, a team of Free Press producers and reporters arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. The energy was somber and still, almost like the country and its…
Why the Kids Aren't Alright
American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the saddest, most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record. Nearly a third of teen girls say…
Two Years Later: Should America Continue to Aid Ukraine? A Debate.
Two years ago, on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The costs of this war have been unbelievably high. Half a million Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been either killed or wounded…
Alexei Navalny Died for the Truth. Tucker Carlson Fell for the Lie.
Last week, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny joined a long line of ordinary and noble people who were and are the victims of Stalinist tyranny and now Russian authoritarianism. Just 10 days…
Special Episode! Suzy Weiss on Dating While Problematic
Today, we’re thrilled to bring you not Honestly with Bari Weiss, but maybe something even better: Blocked and Reported with Suzy Weiss! If you haven’t heard of Blocked and Reported…
Economist Roland Fryer on Adversity, Race, and Refusing to Conform
A little over two years ago, in the pages of The Free Press, Pano Kanelos announced that he was starting a new university in Austin dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth…
Andrew Sullivan on What He Got Wrong About Trump
For this week’s Honestly, we’re sharing a favorite episode from a favorite podcast, one you may not have heard of: UnHerd with Freddie Sayers. UnHerd’s mission is similar to…
The Real Team America
There’s increasing concern that as scary as this period feels—between Russia’s two-year war in Ukraine and Hamas’s ongoing war with Israel—that all of this will come…
The Right Way to Fight Illiberalism: Christopher Rufo and Yascha Mounk Debate
Today, Yascha Mounk and Christopher Rufo debate the origins of DEI and the right way to fight the illiberal orthodoxy that has consumed our schools and institutions. Christopher is a senior fellow…
Why We Still Need to Talk About America's Covid Failures
It’s been four years since the first American death from the coronavirus. Four years since we were told that wearing masks—even cloth masks—were essential to keeping us safe. The…
The Silence of the Feminists
One hundred days ago, the world changed. October 7 has proven to be many things: the opening salvo in a brutal war between Israel and Hamas; an attack that could precipitate a…
Can Dean Phillips Pull Off the Impossible: Defeat Joe Biden?
We're less than two weeks out from the first Democratic Primary in New Hampshire, and the mood among Democrats is grim. Joe Biden is polling behind Trump in almost every national…
What to Expect in 2024: Predictions from Niall Ferguson, Tyler Cowen, Peter Attia, John McWhorter and More
Last year was certainly eventful. It brought spy balloons, Donald Trump’s indictments, the coronation of a king, the fall of a crypto prince, and no shortage of chaos in Washington, from…
Wisdom from a Teen and a Grandfather—60 Years Apart
Over the last six months, we’ve run two essay contests in The Free Press. The first was for high schoolers; we asked them to write about a problem facing American society…
The Case of Kate Cox—and the Trouble with the Abortion Debate
Over the last month, America has been witnessing one of the biggest abortion battles in the country since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Today, Bari shares her thoughts on the case…
Miracle in Hell: The Baby Twins Who Survived a Massacre
On October 7, Hamas terrorists stormed into the home of Hadar and Itay Berdichevsky in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the Israeli communities along the Gaza border. Hadar and Itay— both 30…
A Congressional Hearing, A Resignation, and Why DEI Must End For Good
How did the congressional hearing on antisemitism last week go so awry? Was the resignation of University of Pennsylvania’s president just another cancellation, only this time on the other side of…
Why Half of American Babies are Born to Unmarried Mothers
One of the words that’s become utterly void of meaning in the last few years because of its overuse and misuse is privilege. White privilege, male privilege, able-bodied privilege, gender…
Where Have All the Democrats Gone?
In the past few decades, the Democratic Party has undergone a seismic shift. Kitchen table issues like the economy and public safety have been overshadowed by more elitist topics like identity politics…
David Sedaris: Punching Down
It’s Thanksgiving week, which for many of us means eating too much turkey and pumpkin pie. For others, it means getting into arguments with your Gen Z cousin who, in a…
Priests, Porn Stars and Public Intellectuals All Agree: Debate is Back.
When The Free Press decided to rent a theater with 1,600 seats for our first-ever live debate a few months ago, most people looked at us with a mixture of…
You Are the Last Line of Defense
Months ago, I was asked to give a lecture at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention. It was a surprising invitation for a number of reasons. First, I am not a…
Sam Harris: The Bright Line Between Good and Evil
For today’s episode, we’re thrilled to share the most recent episode of our friend Sam Harris’s podcast, Making Sense. Moral confusion is plaguing this moment like never before. It…
Does Elon Musk Have Too Much Power?
For the longest time, when you thought about the most powerful person in the world, the person who probably came to mind was the president of the United States, the leader of…
A World Spinning Out of Control
There are a lot of experts that you may have heard on the news in the past few weeks. People who know a great deal about Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran or…
How Hamas Executed a Massacre, and How One Israeli with Nine Bullets Fought Back
It’s been almost three weeks since Hamas attacked Israel. And there are three questions that, despite having reported on it so much over the last 20 days, many people are still…
The Stories—and Stakes—of War in Israel
If you’ve been following our coverage at The Free Press, you’ve noticed that we’ve been covering the war in Israel nonstop since it began. We’ve never produced this…
The New Axis of Evil: Condoleezza Rice on War in Israel and a Changed World
In the early hours of Saturday morning on October 7, Israel was invaded by Hamas terrorists by land, air, and sea, which The Free Press has been covering all week in detail…
Bring Back My Children: An Israeli Mother's Plea
Listen now (29 mins) | Two boys taken from their home by Hamas terrorists.
War in Israel: Michael Oren Explains How ‘Evil’ Infiltrated the Country
On October 7, Hamas terrorists streamed across the border in pickup trucks, on foot, by motorcycle, and even on paragliders. Once inside Israel, they abducted and murdered Israelis. They shot people in…
James Carville Says Wokeness “Is Over,” 2024 Will Be “Dangerous”—and Much More from the Democratic Political Icon
James Carville, America’s best-known Democratic political consultant, has been on the scene for a very long time and has worked on just about a thousand campaigns—he’s almost 80…
We're All "a Little Bit Dumber": A Night Among GOP Hopefuls
On Wednesday night, Fox Business and Rumble hosted the second Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in beautiful Simi Valley, California. Bari Weiss and The Free Press’s very…
Is Biden Too Old to Be President? Frank Foer Isn't Sure.
As we tumble toward 2024, anxiety among Democrats is beginning to simmer. It’s easy to understand why. Just look at what happened last week: Biden was giving a press conference in…
Replay: Why Leonard Cohen Ran Toward War
In 1973, Leonard Cohen announced he was done with music for good. The same year, in October, war broke out in Israel. The Yom Kippur War would become the bloodiest in Israel…
What We're Listening To: Does Anyone Have a Right To Sex?
This week, while our audio team is on summer break, we’re featuring an episode from one of our favorite podcasts: Conversations with Tyler, hosted by the wonderful Tyler Cowen. It’s…
What We're Listening To: Richard Dawkins on UnHerd
The team’s on vacation, so for this week’s Honestly, we’re sharing a favorite episode from a favorite podcast, one you may not have heard of: UnHerd with Freddie Sayers…
The First GOP Debate and The Elephant Not In The Room
On Wednesday night, Fox News and the streaming platform Rumble hosted the first Republican presidential debate with the eight GOP hopefuls who made the cut: North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, former governor…
Meet Will Hurd: The Ex-CIA, Anti-Trump Republican Who Wants To Be President
If you’ve been listening to this show for the past few months, maybe even since the 2022 midterms, you probably think I sound like something of a broken record when it…
How to Live After Profound Loss
Colin Campbell says that the way our society treats grief—and people in grief—is cruel and backward, and it needs a radical reimagining. He, of all people, would know. Four years…
Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Wants a Second American Revolution
Vivek Ramaswamy, at 37 years old, is the first ever millennial Republican presidential candidate. He graduated from Harvard, then Yale Law School, and worked as a partner at a hedge fund before…
Are We In A Pre-War Era?
Recently, Walter Russell Mead wrote an outstanding article in Tablet titled “You Are Not Destined to Live in Quiet Times.” It’s about the paradox—and great dangers—of technological progress: “Human…
Rethinking Higher Ed with Harvard’s Former President
Last week I found myself in Sun Valley, Idaho, at a conference with a lot of big wigs. Among them was Larry Summers—an economist, the Secretary of the Treasury under Bill…
Are We Living Through 'End Times'?
Peter Turchin is not like most historians. For starters, he has an unusual background as an evolutionary biologist studying lemmings and mice. He says that analyzing the complexities of the natural world…
When Ideology Corrupts Medicine—and How One Reporter Exposed It
Last month, Britain’s National Health Service made major news when they announced that they were banning the use of puberty blockers for children, except for those enrolled in a tightly regulated…
Affirmative Action, Gay Rights, and Free Speech: What The Supreme Court's Rulings Mean for America
Last week, the Supreme Court handed down, as they usually do as the term comes to an end, a flurry of highly anticipated major decisions. Two of them made a lot of…
Chris Christie Endorsed Trump Twice. Now He Wants To Eliminate Him.
In 2016, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was one of 17 Republicans in a crowded field trying to beat Donald Trump. We know how that movie ended. One of the hard…
RFK Jr. Is Striking a Nerve. He Explains Why.
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. is the rare Kennedy who hasn’t yet joined the family business. But at age 69—after a long career as an environmental lawyer and activist, and many…
How To Dad in 2023: A Roundtable With Our Favorite Fathers
Happy Father's Day! For today's episode, a conversation about fatherhood with three dads who have thought a lot about parenthood, masculinity and being a dad in a world stripped of…
What Jordan Neely’s Death Tells Us About Mental Illness and Vigilantism
On May 1, 2023, a 30-year-old homeless man named Jordan Neely boarded the F train in New York City. Neely appeared to be in the midst of some kind of…
How to Live Longer and Healthier with Dr. Peter Attia
It’s almost hard to believe, but in the 1950s doctors were frequently portrayed in TV commercials for. . . cigarettes. That’s because smoking wasn’t just seen as cool and glamorous, but…
Get To Know Tim Scott: The GOP’s Newest Presidential Hopeful
Earlier today, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott entered the race for President. That makes him the sixth Republican candidate to get into the race, in a crowded attempt to beat the current…
Israel at 75: Miracles and Madness
Seventy-five years ago this week, the Jewish community of Palestine (known as the yishuv) gathered in the art museum of Tel Aviv—then a city of less than 200,000 inhabitants…
America Needs a Self-Help Book. Tim Urban's Got One.
A few years ago, writer and cartoonist Tim Urban started becoming troubled by what he saw going on in the world around him. He noticed that while technology was progressing in unbelievable…
Peter Thiel Says America Has Bigger Problems Than Wokeness
Peter Thiel doesn’t shy away from taking big bets. From Facebook (he was the company’s first outside investor) to Gawker (he successfully conspired to put the website out of business…
AI With Sam Altman: The End of The World? Or The Dawn of a New One?
Just six months ago, few outside of Silicon Valley had heard of OpenAI, the company that makes the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. Now, this application is used daily by over 100 million…
‘My Friend’s Descent into Madness and Bloodshed’: An American Tragedy
Jonathan Rosen has spent the last few years trying to understand the story of his closest childhood friend, Michael Laudor. Michael Laudor was, by all accounts, a genius. Maybe even a prodigy…
Our Favorite Passover Conversation
The Exodus—the story of the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery 3,000 years ago—is the ultimate story of freedom. And not just for Jews. But for people seeking liberation from…
New York City Mayor Eric Adams
New York City has had a rough few years. It lost nearly four percent of its population during the pandemic. There was a historic crime surge, particularly violent crime. Buildings were empty…
Rick Rubin Says Trust Your Gut, Not Your Audience
People don’t usually think about Adele in the same breath as Johnny Cash. The Beastie Boys in the same breath as Jay-Z. Justin Bieber and Slayer. Neil Young and Lady…
Bank Runs, Crypto Scams and World-Transforming AI with Tyler Cowen
The last time economist Tyler Cowen was on Honestly about a year ago, inflation was the highest it had been in 40 years, gas prices were nearly $7 a gallon in many…
Why Men Seek Danger
When most people think about war, they think about senseless killing, brutality, violence and horror. But when journalist Sebastian Junger thinks about war — even though he has witnessed firsthand how war is…
Honestly Presents: The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling
Honestly presents Chapter 1 of The Witch Trails of J.K. Rowling Host Megan Phelps-Roper writes a letter to J.K. Rowling—and receives a surprising invitation in reply: the opportunity…
Why Nikki Haley Is Running for President
Last month, Nikki Haley announced she is running for President. Haley is someone who has consistently proven doubters wrong: she was the first female governor of South Carolina, she has never lost…
A Gen Z Religious Revival: 250 Hours of Worship in Kentucky
For the past two weeks, tens of thousands of people, most of them college students, poured into a small chapel at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Some drove from South Carolina and…
Will Ozempic Solve Obesity in America? A Debate
Ozempic, the brand name drug for a medication called semaglutide, is one of the most popular drugs on the market right now. Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, the injectable drug…
Why 65% of Fourth Graders Can't Really Read
For many parents, the last few years have been eye-opening, as they saw the education system in America crumble under the weight of the pandemic. School closures that went on far…
A Golden Age of Gurus
Over the last decade, the internet has devolved into a playground for influencers who sell and show off anything and everything you could ever imagine. But my guest today, Helen Lewis, says…
America's Role in the Holocaust: Ken Burns on The Most Important Film He Will Ever Make
Ken Burns is the most famous documentary filmmaker in America. He has made 35 films over the past 5 decades on historical and cultural subjects like the Civil War (which is the…
America’s Broken Immigration System: An Honest Debate
The debate about immigration brings out some of the deepest anxieties and biggest disagreements in America. And right now, all of it feels like it’s coming to a head. In 2022…
Raw & Unclassified: A Friday Roundtable
From Biden getting on board the classified documents train to the raw milk revolutionaries who are skeptical of Big Dairy, today we bring you a roundtable to discuss, debate and pull apart…
Bad Moms with Emily Oster
When my wife Nellie was pregnant last year, we became obsessed with Economist Emily Oster’s book, Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong–and What You Really Need to…
A Holiday Treat with David Sedaris!
David Sedaris is a humorist and author of many best selling books: Calypso, Theft By Finding, Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, Holidays On Ice, Barrel…
The Twitter Files and the Future of the Democratic Party With Silicon Valley's Congressman
Ro Khanna is a progressive congressman representing California's 17th District, the wealthiest Congressional district in the U.S. He's the Silicon Valley congressman, and his constituents are the coastal elites…
The State of the Black-Jewish Relationship in America: A Roundtable
For the last month, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been all over the internet with his conspiratorial, antisemitic tirades. Most recently, he went on Alex Jones’ InfoWars show with White…
Bibi Netanyahu: Israel's New Prime Minister. Again.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a polarizing figure. For some, he's the ultimate defender of the State of Israel, willing to do whatever he thinks it takes to protect the one…
A Better Way to Disagree
A few months ago, I had writer Freddie deBoer on the podcast for an episode we called, “Does Glorifying Sickness Deter Healing?” We talked about his experience living with severe bipolar disorder…
Nuclear War Games with HR McMaster
Last week, Ukraine recaptured the city of Kherson from the Russians. It was one of the most stunning victories for Ukraine since the war began eight months ago. And yet, the road…
The Midterms No One Saw Coming: A Postmortem
With inflation soaring, the worst crime wave in decades, and Biden’s approval rating at a pitiful 41%, everyone predicted last night’s midterm elections would be a bloodbath. It wasn’t…
Who Do Voters Hate More? A Midterm Roundtable.
Less than a week out from election day, and more than 20 million people have already cast their votes – a record number of early voters for a midterm election. But it isn…
Has Criminal Justice Reform Made Us Less Safe? A Debate.
Over the past two years, the United States has experienced the largest crime surge in decades. Aggravated assaults went up. Shoplifting went up. Domestic violence went up. Homicides went up. In 2020…
Why We Must Save Our Boys
Let’s talk about the state of men in America: For every 100 bachelor degrees awarded to women, 74 are awarded to men; among men with only a high-school education, one…
How to Change Your Mind
In a world where the personal has become political, and politics has swallowed everything, the stakes of changing your mind can feel really high. To change your mind is to risk betrayal…
The Iranian Regime's Most Wanted Woman
Last month, a 22 year old Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic's so-called morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly. Three days…
From Racial Reckoning to Race Abolition
Today’s episode is borrowed from the feed of the great podcast The Fifth Column. Usually hosted by Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch, this episode, which aired in July of…
The Great Canadian Mass Graves Hoax
Last year, The New York Times dropped a bombshell headline: “‘Horrible History’: Mass Grave of Indigenous Children Reported in Canada.” As other outlets picked up the shocking story, marches, protests and riots…
Eating Ourselves to Death
Fifteen years ago, there was a lot of talk about the obesity epidemic. In 2008, Michelle Obama started a government program called “Let’s Move!” that sought to reduce childhood obesity. You…
Has Freedom Failed Us? A Debate
If there is a headline to the past half-decade, it’s this: liberal democracy is under threat across the West and populist movements are on the march. There’s Brexit in…
Oberlin Accused the Gibsons of Racism. Now It Owes Them $36 Million.
On November 9, 2016, the day after Trump was elected president, three students from Oberlin College were caught shoplifting wine from Gibson’s Bakery, a local staple that had been around for…
Bill Barr Calls Bullsh*t
Attorney General William Barr is only the second person in American history to lead the Justice Department twice: first under President George HW Bush and then again, three decades later, under arguably…
Larry Summers: The High Price of Getting it Right
Larry Summers is one of the most important economists in the world. He’s been the chief economist at the World Bank. He was Treasury Secretary under President Clinton. He was director…
We Ignored Salman Rushdie’s Warning
We live in a culture in which many people believe that words are violence. In this, they have much in common with Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who issued the first fatwa against…
The Senate’s Only Black Republican Says: Stop Being Pessimistic
Tim Scott is a rare bird: He is the only black Republican in the Senate. But the quality that makes him arguably more unique at the moment is his optimism. Much of…
Sex, Porn, Feminism: A Debate!
It’s hard to think of an invention that has been more transformative to women than the birth control pill. Suddenly, American women possessed a power that women never before in history…
The Eternally Radical Idea
There is no organization that’s done more to fight for freedom of speech on American campuses over the past 20 years than FIRE, The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. If…
Election Denial: A Roundtable
Denying the outcome of elections has become alarmingly popular these days. In one corner, Democrats are claiming that gerrymandering has made our elections illegitimate, that the Senate is anti-Democratic and so…
The Infamous Andrew Schulz
There’s a tried-and-true playbook for comedians who want to make it big: hit the road, get in front of as many audiences as possible, and try to grab the…
Does Glorifying Sickness Deter Healing?
In Bari’s view, Freddie deBoer is one of the best writers in the country. It’s not because she always agrees with him. Hardly. Freddie is a self-described Marxist. What…
The New Founders America Needs
There are nearly 4000 universities in the U.S.. Many of them have billions of dollars in endowments and histories that go back to well before the country's founding. So you…
The Holy Anarchy of Fun
No writer stokes more consistent envy among Common Sense editors than Walter Kirn. Two of his essays from last year—The Bullshit and The Power and the Silence—got our vote for…
Power and Politics with Mike Pompeo
With everything going on here at home you can be forgiven for not focusing on what’s going on in Mariupol or Hong Kong. But what’s going on in those faraway…
America After Roe: A Roundtable
Few decisions could inspire so much anger and sadness in one group of Americans—and so much joy and relief in another—than last week’s decision by the Supreme Court to…
Is Crypto Over? A Debate!
If you watched the Super Bowl this year, it was hard not to notice that cryptocurrency had fully arrived. Even Larry David was hawking crypto. But over the past several weeks, the…
TGIF! Inflation, Drag Queens & DA's
If you read Common Sense, you know that the best day of the week is Friday, when Nellie Bowles delivers us all the news from the week that was. This Friday, we…
The Case for American Seriousness
We live in a culture that is driven by nay-saying. In one corner, people insist that the individual stands no chance against structural and systemic maladies. From the other, people say…
What To Do About Guns
Tulsa. Buffalo. Uvalde. Philadelphia. Chicago. And that’s just the past few weeks. If you’re like me, you’ve had too many despairing conversations about the epidemic of gun violence in…
Marianne Williamson on America’s ‘Dark Psychic Force’
When Marianne Williamson stood on the presidential debate stage in 2020 and spoke about the “dark psychic force” unleashed in America, she became an instant meme. But these days—with our epidemic…
The Battle for the American Right
We are living through a seismic political realignment. The parties and the political movements that fuel them are being dramatically redefined—and are up for grabs in ways that would have been…
What’s the Best Way to Raise Good People? A Debate
There is no subject—not Trump, not abortion, not immigration, not taxes-–that is more contentious than the one we tackle today: parenting. This subject has particular urgency because my wife is…
The Yale Law Professor Who Is Anti-Roe, But Pro-Choice
Akhil Reed Amar is the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale university, where he’s been teaching constitutional law since the ripe old age of 26. He is the…
TGIF: Welcome Back to Both 1973 and 1984
If you read Common Sense, you know that the best day of the week is Friday, when Nellie Bowles delivers us all the news from the week that was. Today, we bring…
Why This Gay Rights Pioneer Opposes Gender Ideology
In 1989, Andrew Sullivan wrote “Here Comes The Groom,” an essay making the conservative case for gay marriage. Less than four decades later, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in Obergefell v…
Your Attention Didn't Collapse. It Was Stolen.
The average American adult spends over three hours a day staring into their phone. If you’re a teenager it’s even worse – seven hours. What’s really troubling is that in…
TGIF! Libs of TikTok, CNN+ and Much More
If you read Common Sense, you know that the best day of the week is Friday, when Nellie Bowles delivers us all the news from the week that was. This Friday, we…
The Inflation Economy: What You Need to Know
If you’re confused about what is happening with the economy right now, so are we. Why is inflation up 8.5%? Who’s to blame? Is it the Democrats? Or everyone…
The Story That Made—and Saved—America
The Exodus—the story of the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery 3,000 years ago—is the ultimate story of freedom. And not just for Jews. But for people seeking liberation from…
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the thing we call “social media'' is deeply antisocial—the thing that promised to unite us has done precisely the opposite. A lot of people have tried…
TGIF! The Week That Was With Nellie Bowles and Katie Herzog
If you read Common Sense, you know that the best day of the week is Friday, when Nellie Bowles delivers us all the news from the week that was. This Friday, we…
Who By Fire: Why Leonard Cohen Ran Toward War
In 1973, Leonard Cohen announced he was done with music for good. The same year, in October, war broke out in Israel. The Yom Kippur War would become the bloodiest in Israel…
How Big Tech Is Strangling Your Freedom
David Sacks is a paradox. The entrepreneur and venture capitalist helped lay the foundations of the digital world we now live in: He was one of the members of what's known…
Leaving the Mainstream to Build Media Without Fear
Today we are republishing Bari’s appearance on Hoover Institute’s Uncommon Knowledge Podcast, hosted by Peter Robinson. Peter Robinson is probably best known as a speech-writer for President Ronald Regan…
“The Fight Against Evil”: Three Reporters in Ukraine
It’s been a month since Russia invaded Ukraine. About a fourth of Ukraine’s population has been displaced. Thousands, if not more, have died. And still, ordinary Ukrainians – professors, engineers, ballerinas…
Why No One Trusts Anything
What if I told you that all the brokenness in our society—from the increased rates in suicide and addiction to the decreased rates in marriage and sex to the crisis of…
Things Worth Fighting For
For the past three weeks, we have watched the people of Ukraine and their president breathe life into virtues that many of us thought were dead or on life support: duty, sacrifice…
The Stakes of a No Fly Zone
Russia’s war against Ukraine has been raging on for almost two weeks now and Ukraine is in crisis. President Zelensky has been begging the United States, together with their allies, to…
Watching Lia Thomas Win
Lia Thomas is a transgender woman who has, in one year, become the star athlete of the women’s swim team at The University of Pennsylvania. When she competed on the men…
Russia's War on Ukraine: A Roundtable
Air raid sirens have been ringing out over the capital of Ukraine for the past week. Russian troops have laid siege to Kharkiv, the second biggest city in the country, and the…
America Is Afraid of War. Putin Knows It.
Zoe Strimpel on the collapse of Western authority, self and geopolitical understanding— and the predictably catastrophic results of our politics of retrenchment, appeasement and pacifism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…
Condoleezza Rice on Race, Russia, Freedom and Why America’s Best Days Are Still Ahead
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is one of those pioneering American leaders whose story is for the history books. Born in the segregated south in the 1950s, Rice couldn’t step…
Beijing's Genocide Olympics
Right now, the Winter Olympics are underway in Beijing. But for the Chinese Communist Party, the 2022 Games are an opportunity not simply for athleticism, but for authoritarianism. Athletes at the Games…
Former Google CEO on Big Tech, Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin and the Future
Eric Scmidt has been a pioneer at every chapter of the tech revolution… from the very beginnings of the internet to helming Google for more than a decade. Now, he’s focused…
Matt Taibbi v. Bret Stephens on American Power
Ever since the end of World War II, America has been the dominant world superpower. We have been ready to use that power to defend our national interest. Or to defend a…
Why Are We Boosting Kids?
The Covid vaccines are medical miracles. During the pandemic they have been literal life-savers; I’ll never forget the relief I felt after getting that first shot. Despite the conspiracy theories…
The Tiger Mom Won't Stop Roaring
It’s hard to think of an institution in American life that’s more broken than higher education. As universities have abandoned core liberal principles like free speech, bending to students’ demands…
An Imam Blows the Whistle on Muslim Antisemitism
As a boy growing up in Turkey, Abdullah Antepli thought hating Jews was normal. He read Mein Kampf before he was 15. His parents gave him a children's version of The…
The Aftermath Part 2: The Haves and The Have Nots
At this point in the pandemic, one group of Americans generally gets to show their faces. The other still does not. One group orders groceries from Amazon, while the other packages it…
The Aftermath Part 1: Kids, Schools, and the Crime Surge
As we approach the third year of this pandemic, it’s become painfully clear that the stringent measures we took to mitigate against the virus had all kinds of unintended consequences. For…
What We Know About the Hostage-Taking in Texas
Audio from the unfolding situation at Congregation Beth Israel.
Bringing Sanity to the Omicron Chaos: Three Doctors Weigh In
Have you hit a wall with Covid? We have. The irrationality of the current policies and conversations surrounding Covid—guidelines that are coming from our public health authorities; rules coming from our…
Humans Are More Resilient Than You Think
We are living in an era in which Americans–especially younger ones–say they are increasingly traumatized. In one recent study, 82% of Gen Z respondents said they regularly felt so sad…
Investigating January 6th: The Price Liz Cheney Paid
A year ago today, something big happened in Washington. Was it a coup? Was it an insurrection? Was it “the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war,” as Joe Biden…
Replay: America's Cultural Revolution
As the year ends, we want to share where this podcast began and replay our first episode. What does the public shaming of Palestinian immigrant Majdi Wadi — and the boycott of his…
Replay: Why You’re Right – And Wrong – About Abortion
The abortion debate is top of mind as we enter 2022, with a pending supreme court decision that could radically change the legality and availability of abortion in this country. So, we…
Replay: The Real Story of “The Central Park Karen”
Over the next few days we are going to be replaying some listener favorites from the last year, starting with what was without a doubt our most provocative and popular episode: a…
Abigail Shrier: On Freedom in an Age of Fear
Abigail Shrier, the author of the bestselling book “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” was recently invited to speak at Princeton. But this being a college campus in 2021, you…
The Power of Kim Kardashian
Just when we think we have Kim Kardashian pinned she adds another hyphen. She’s a reality star, until she owns Instagram. She’s an influencer, until she becomes a business mogul…
Jussie Smollett and Hate Crime Hoaxes
In 2019, Jussie Smollett’s hate crime allegations captured the nation. The actor and singer claimed that two men beat him, poured bleach over his head, and tied a noose around his…
Quick Question: WTF Is Going on With the Economy?
Eccentric economist and brilliant thinker Tyler Cowen answers our questions about the confusing state of the economy. We talk about: inflation, the stock market, “The Great Resignation”, billionaires, income inequality, crypto, Texas…
Vanished by China: One Couple’s Story
Desmond Shum knows well the cost of doing business in China. Born to a humble family that was marginalized during the Cultural Revolution, he became a wildly successful entrepreneur, along with his…
Is Covid… Over? And Other Burning Questions This Thanksgiving
If your family is anything like mine, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to take a break from work, to bask in one others’ presence, and to fight savagely over the hottest political issues…
The Media’s Verdict on Kyle Rittenhouse
Here is what I thought was true about Kyle Rittenhouse in the last days of August 2020: The 17-year-old was a racist vigilante. I thought he drove across state lines…
Can Andrew Yang Fix Our Two-Party Dumpster Fire?
First, Andrew Yang ran for President, and he could barely get mainstream media’s attention. Then, he ran for Mayor of New York City, and suddenly, his every move was being scrutinized…
Weekend Extra: Why ‘People Love Dead Jews’
It’s been three years since the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, the most lethal attack on Jews on U.S. soil. That day was, for me, as it was for so…
How “Luxury Beliefs” Hurt the Rest of Us
"Defund the police" or "healthy at every size" or "marriage is just an oppressive institution of the patriarchy" - these are just a few of the ideas that are becoming common doctrine among American elites. And Rob Henderson has described these new orthodoxies as “Luxury Beliefs.”
Women Like Hunting Witches, Too
If you’ve just heard of the word “TERF” (it stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) it was probably because of Dave Chapelle’s new Netflix special, “The Closer.” The comedian declared…
Pain, Wisdom and Mercy
Ross Douthat is a New York Times columnist, a father of four, an author . . . and also someone who lives with a tremendous amount of pain. Ross has been battling chronic Lyme disease…
Was the Internet a Horrible Mistake?
Last week, Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, confirmed what we already felt; that big tech platform’s algorithms are manipulating our sense of reality, and ourselves, and in doing so enriching themselves…
Why You're Wrong—and Right—About Abortion
The most honest thing I’ve ever read about abortion is by Caitlin Flanagan. It’s called “The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate: Why We Need to Face the Best Argument From…
Wrongthink on Race With Glenn C. Loury
Four decades ago, Glenn C. Loury became the first tenured black professor of economics in Harvard’s history. Ever since then, he has made waves for his willingness to buck the elite…
Vaccine Hesitant? A Doctor Responds
So much of the conversation about Covid-19 is angry and full of finger-pointing. Dr. Vinay Prasad has consistently been able to cut through the noise, the confusion, and the endless…
The Story of One Teenager's Escape From Afghanistan
It’s been a month since the fall of Afghanistan. And Black Hawk helicopters and Humvees aren’t the only things we left behind. Trapped in a country now controlled by the…
Portland State Sacrificed Ideas for Ideology. So Peter Boghossian Quit.
Peter Boghossian is the first one to tell you: he's no victim of cancel culture. The philosophy professor has long had a taste for stoking debate, questioning orthodoxies, and exposing the…
Courage in the Face of Book Burners
Abigail Shrier is a lawyer, a reporter and author of Irreversible Damage. One way to describe her book would be: controversial. She has been accused of spreading misinformation by GLAAD. A prominent…
American Decline Is a Choice. Let's Not Choose It.
Between the catastrophic American withdrawal from Afghanistan, an endless pandemic, a broken education system, and competent leaders nowhere in sight, it can feel like America is in a constant state of meltdown…
You’re Already Living in China’s World Pt 2: Beijing's Long Game
In Part II, a diagnosis of the global ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party with Josh Rogin. Josh explains how U.S policy mistakes in the 20th century handed more power to…
You're Already Living in China’s World Pt 1: The Lab Leak Lies
When the pandemic began eighteen months ago, anyone who dared suggest that the virus came from a lab in Wuhan, China, was dismissed as a crank, or otherwise accused of racism, xenophobia…
How We Failed Afghanistan (And Ourselves) with HR McMaster
How did this happen? How did we spend 20 years, over 2 trillion dollars and over 2,000 American lives to wind up losing Afghanistan to the Taliban in under two weeks…
When American Doctors Are Scared to Tell the Truth
For several months, the journalist Katie Herzog has been talking to some of the country's top doctors and professors—not about COVID, or vaccines—but about a new, creeping orthodoxy that…
The Real Story of “The Central Park Karen”
Amy Cooper was not the internet’s first “Karen” — the pejorative used for a demanding, entitled white woman. But as the Central Park dog walker who went viral for calling the police…
Bigger, Stronger, Faster: The Truth About Testosterone
Why are men the way they are? Are they naturally more aggressive? And is it fair for transwomen to compete in sports separated by sex? Is it possible to overcome our animal…
A 21st Century Witch Hunt
Maud Maron is the picture of a passionate progressive. She was a Planned Parenthood escort; a research assistant for a Black Panther leader; a Bernie voter; a public school parent; and, most…
You're Being Lied To
One year after her resignation from the New York Times, Bari sits down with author (and America's most famous Stoic) Ryan Holiday to talk about how the media broke and who…
Rufo v. French: Should Schools Ban Critical Race Theory?
All of a sudden, the phrase "Critical Race Theory" seems like it's everywhere. If you are confused by the phrase, or wonder how everyone seems to have an opinion about it…
America's Sex Recession
A recent study from the American Medical Association found that one-third of men between the ages of 18 to 24 reported having no sex at all in the previous year — and…
Why Winston Marshall Left Mumford & Sons
For 14 years, Winston Marshall was the banjo player and lead guitarist of the massively successful band Mumford & Sons. Last week, following a viral incident over a tweet, he quit the band…
When a Free Society Becomes a Police State
For 26 years, the swash-buckling, pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily was a thorn in the side of the Chinese Communist Party. This week, after its offices were ransacked, its founder was…
Revolt of The Public
Why does every institution feel so broken? Why would newspapers sacrifice their credibility to suppress something like the lab leak theory? Why does it feel like small differences of opinion so quickly…
Mark Cuban on F*ck You Money
The billionaire entrepreneur on the ProPublica tax report, capitalism, corporate cowardice, the Chinese Communist Party, crypto & more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
America's Cultural Revolution
What the public shaming of Palestinian immigrant Majdi Wadi — and the boycott of his Minneapolis business — says about who we are becoming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…
'The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind'
A psychiatrist lecturing at Yale's Child Study Center spoke about 'unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way.'
Official Trailer: Honestly with Bari Weiss
The most interesting conversations in American life now happen in private. This show is bringing them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating…
Should Public Schools Ban Critical Race Theory?
A debate between Christopher Rufo and David French.
Did Covid Come From the Lab? Mike Pompeo says Yes.
An interview with the former secretary of state about the virus, China's ambitions, Iran, Israel, and the future of America.