Shows / Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps
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
Episodes
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Mindfulness, Science, Buddhism & Bullsh*t"? with Mo Edjlali
You know you should meditate. But you don't have the time. Or you're no good at it. So you occasionally subscribe to a meditation app, you listen to podcast…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“What’s Comedy For, Anymore?” with Wil Anderson
The Saudi stand-up controversy, the Jimmy Kimmel brouhaha, the clickification of live shows into viral video clips, the clash of podcasters like Marc Maron vs…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Charlie Kirk’s Secret Plan to Take Over America” with Dr Matthew Boedy
What if the fight for America’s soul wasn’t just political, but theological? A powerful movement inside Christian America believes it is on a…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"There IS no Housing Crisis, Akshually ☝️" with economist Cameron Murray
Insane house prices are destroying the middle-class dream of home ownership. Or... are they? Is there actually a housing crisis? Or are most people, in fact…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Godfather of the Greens”, fmr Senator Bob Brown
He’s been called the most successful environmentalist in Australian history, and one of the most influential in the world. Former Senator Bob Brown…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Gaza 3.0" with Yaakov Katz
It’s the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks, and the Middle East is abuzz with a new plan that would see an independent Palestinian body…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Is the UK Falling Apart?" with Dominic Frisby
Is it racist to worry that there are more immigrants in London than white English? Has the UK reached a tipping point in its conversation about Britain’s…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Don’t F*** it up, Australia” with MP Allegra Spender
It’s a fact. The way our governments raise and spend money benefits older, richer people, and disadvantages younger people who are trying to build…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“We’re Going to be Okay” with social psychologist Adam Mastroianni
Trump. Gaza. Artificial Intelligence. Authoritarianism. Assassinations. Climate Chaos. Russia. Social media. The far right. Terrorism. Political division. How…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"How the Lab Leak Got Cred" with Elizabeth Finkel
What happens when the public's understanding of a global event is hijacked by online psuedo-experts? How should scientists express uncertainty when everyone's…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Can Liberalism Survive?" with Waleed Aly
What holds liberal democracy together in an age of social media, tribal politics and rising violence? Josh has been trying to get Waleed Aly to submit to doing…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"What IS a Zionist?" with Charlotte Korchak
What does "Zionism" mean after the destruction of Gaza? As Josh wrestles with this question himself, Charlotte Korchak is his Zionist guide today. She's a…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsCharlie Kirk & Guns
America's pre-eminent conservative youth activist, Charlie Kirk, has been assassinated while speaking at a Utah college. Josh shares his thoughts... and…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsJosh Visits the South Pacific: Climate Chaos, Chinese Bribes & Mosquitoes
What can a stunningly beautiful, dirt-poor, corrupt, tropical-island nation teach us about the battle between China and the West... and about how climate chaos…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsJust Josh: Eulogy for Josh's Dad
Josh reflects on the death of his dad after years with Alzheimer’s - the strange in-between of losing someone before they’re gone, and the lessons…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: "Has Home Ownership Become Hereditary?" with Peter Tulip
Why is housing in Australia so unaffordable, and what can be done about it? Peter Tulip, former economist at the US Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Substack's Founders on the Future of the Media" with Hamish McKenzie & Chris Best
What is the future of the media? Are we doomed to inhabit our own social-media news bubbles, tailored by algorithms to keep us “engaged”? Will…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: "Anti-Immigration, the Far Right & the Christchurch Shooter" with Investigative Journalist Joey Watson
How does an adventurous, open-minded, well-travelled young bloke get interested in nationalism... and then in Western supremacy... and then white pride…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR - NICK CAVE on Faith, Melancholy, & Stardom
Nick Cave is one of Australia’s biggest musical exports. But after forty years as a rockstar - and the death of two sons - he's become something else: A…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR - JIMMY CARR, COMEDY LEGEND
Jimmy Carr is one of the most successful stand-up comics on earth. His hilarious, brutal crowd work is a viral sensation. His Netflix specials are smash hits…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR – COLEMAN HUGHES on Race, Trump & Power
He’s been grilled before Congress, clashed with Bill Maher, and built a reputation as one of the most interesting young intellectuals in America. Coleman…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR – MEGHAN DAUM on What You’re Not Supposed to Say
As the Szeps Live Around-the-World Podcast Marathon barrels along, Josh and his long-suffering producer, Jono, cruise their rented convertible into the hills…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR - RICH ROLL on Liberty, Loneliness & Legacy
Rich Roll is one of the biggest podcasters in America, thanks to his irresistible blend of ultra-athleticism, Stoic philosophy, sobriety, personal improvement…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR - KMELE FOSTER on Race, Spirituality & 'Wokeness'
What is your race? What is your identity? How should your kids think about how they fit in at school, or don't, on the basis of their racial or economic group?…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS WORLD TOUR - SAM HARRIS on Making Sense of Life
How much responsibility do podcasters have not to "platform" crazy voices? Is there a countervailing duty to explore unusual ideas, spurned by elites? Why did…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsOn Stage in NYC: Panel Show at the Comedy Cellar
It was a sweltering evening in Greenwich Village as a packed crowd showed up at the legendary Comedy Cellar - the stomping ground of Seinfeld, Chappelle, and…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS LIVE TOUR - TYLER COWEN on Inequality, Abundance, & Using A.I. to Achieve 'Intellectual Immortality'
Tyler Cowen is one of the world's Top 100 Global Thinkers according to Foreign Policy magazine. The Wall Street Journal calls his blog, Marginal Revolution…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsSZEPS LIVE TOUR: "Atheism, Wokeness & Islam" with Sarah Haider
Born in Pakistan, Sarah Haider founded the Ex-Muslims of North America to help Muslims escape Islamist coercion. She was an outspoken atheist. Then... she lost…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsTHE SZEPS LIVE WORLD TOUR IS UNDERWAY
G'day from New York City. We've been sitting on this Easter egg for some time, warming it up under our feathery little tooshes. It's now time to let the warm…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"How Not to Feel Like a Failure (When Fame & Fortune Aren't Enough)" with TV Host Osher Günsberg
How do you avoid the hamster wheel of hoping that your next success will deliver happiness? How do you escape mental ruts, anxious spirals and critical…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: "How to Raise an Awesome Kid (and be an Awesome Grown-Up)" with Dr Billy Garvey
It's one of the most persistent, perplexing and provocative questions to plague our culture: What explains the explosion in ADHD, anxiety and autism in kids?…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"The Case for Nuclear Power" with Aidan Morrison
Have rich democracies been hoodwinked into chasing a mirage of green energy? Are renewables leading us into a dead-end of brown-outs, white-elephant wind…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: "In-Groups & Out-Groups" with social psychologist Jolanda Jetten
Are you defined by your identities? Where do you rank in the hierarchy of your social group, either online or in real life? How are the boundaries of your…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Josh vs the Anti-Gay-Parenting Activist” Katy Faust
Katy Faust is a family-values activist who campaigns against all families that don't contain a biological mother and father. A rockstar among American…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Artificial Intelligence in a Human World" with Prof. Toby Walsh
Is it legit for tech companies to vacuum up everything humans create, to spin off A.I. content, and not to compensate humans? Will this world of creative…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Should We Ban Extreme Wealth?” with Prof. Carl Rhodes
Is there something broken about a world where some people are absurdly, insanely rich? Or is inequality the price we pay for innovation? What do Bezos, Gates…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: “The Palestinian Delusion: the 'Right of Return' & the Mirage of Peace” with fmr Labor Knesset parliamentarian Einat Wilf
What if the problem for the Palestinian people was not Israel, but the encouragement by the international community of a fantasy that, one day, Palestinians…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"A.I., Artificial Souls, and the Crazy Conundrum of Consciousness" with Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel
Let's take a break from the news cycle for a moment, shall we? There's a lot of cool shit to ponder that's more important and more fascinating. Like, how does…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Being Courageous in a Conformist World" with Sarah Wilson
Are we too spoilt to be creative? Are we succumbing to decadent decline? How do you dissent when the incentives are to conform? How do the French retain the…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsJUST JOSH: "Staying Sane on Israel"
Anti-Zionism, antisemitism, Palestinians, Hamas, Israeli Arabs, diaspora Jews, Gaza, and now an all-out war with Iran. It's head-spinning, trying to make sense…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: “Old Media, New Media & the Truth” with legendary journalist Chris Uhlmann
Chris Uhlmann is one of the most experienced and well-known journalists Down Under. He worked for decades as either the host or the chief political reporter on…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsBONUS: The Playwright Who Just Won the Tony Awards
Over the weekend, the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play went to Eureka Day, a brave, hilarious satire of wokeness, vaccine denial, identity politics and…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“An Incredible Clean-Energy Future: Smart Homes, Smart Grids & Smart Thinkers” like energy entrepreneur Saul Griffith
If you want to feel optimistic about the mind-boggling potential of the renewable energy revolution, listen to Saul Griffith, one of the world's leading…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREMIUM: "Trump, the Left, and the Future of Liberalism" with Yascha Mounk
While the showdown continues over Trump's military deployment against Los Angeles protestors, can we take heart from the resurgence of anti-Trump liberalism in…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Influencers, In-Fights & New Media" with Hannah Ferguson
At 26, Hannah Ferguson is one of the most influential young women in Australia. Her media company, Cheek Media, boasts an army of politically-engaged…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREVIEW: Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan is one of the most influential political writers of his generation. He became the face of the gay marriage fight, after writing the first major…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Why Gaza is Genocide" with Israeli Holocaust Historian Prof. Amos Goldberg
Terms like "genocide" and "apartheid" are thrown around a lot by anti-Israel activists. But when a leading Israeli Holocaust historian declares his own country…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREVIEW: “Tariffs, Greenbacks, Qatar’s Air Force One, and American Empire” with Assoc. Prof. David Smith
How do you reconcile Trump's passion for American Greatness with his disengagement from international systems which America set up? What are the consequences…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsJosh on... Can You Change People's Minds?
We've got a special treat for you today. Josh sat down with the hosts of the "Changed My Mind" podcast, who interrogated him about whether it's really…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"The Game-ification of Everything" with Gurwinder Bhogal
Gurwinder rose to fame writing elaborately insightful Twitter threads about how to be human in the twenty-first century. He now publishes The Prism, on…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Free Thought vs Free Speech” with Jenara Nerenberg
Are people too disagreeable these days? Or, in fact, are we losing the knack for disagreement? Are we self-silencing? Or getting more rude? Jenara Nerenberg is…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Does Alien Life Exist?" with astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb
Are we alone? If alien life exists, why can't we find it? What's "the great filter"? Why is the universe set up the way it is? What are the chances there 's…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Conspiracies, Echo Chambers & Culture Wars” with Sacha Judd
The internet is a dumpster fire. Are you a firefighter? Or an arsonist? This episode is a cracker. Sacha Judd is an expert on internet subcultures. A former…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREVIEW: Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dave Sweeney
Do nuclear weapons protect Western civilisation? Or are they an insane error that humanity should undo? Is nuclear power worth the cost and risk? Dave Sweeney…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsBONUS: "Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Furore" with Tyson Yunkaporta
Have indigenous Welcomes-to-Country gone too far? On Friday, far-right hecklers disrupted the Welcome to Country (i.e. the land acknowledgment, in North…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"Facebook Whistleblower" Frances Haugen
What’s social media doing to us, and how would you fix it? Mark Zuckerberg has been a busy boy on the witness stand in Washington DC lately. In one of…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps"American Authoritarianism" with Matt Welch
What do you make of a U.S. government that snatches people off the street and disappears them into Central American prisons, forever, with no trial, and no way…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Reimagining Schooling” with Finnish education icon Prof. Pasi Sahlberg
What's the purpose of school? Why do we run schools the way we do? How might we reinvent education in an era of artificial intelligence and ADHD? Professor…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh SzepsPREVIEW: "What Can Democrats Do?" with David Pakman
The Democratic Party is paralysed. It can't merely offer resistance to Trump. It also needs to offer an alternative to him. But how? Should they oppose his…
Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps“Decoding the Gurus” with Chris Kavanagh and Matt Browne
When are independent shows like Uncomfortable Conversations serving a useful purpose... and when are they just preaching to the choir? "Decoding the Gurus" is…