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PODCAST

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

society & culture comedy interviews

All Episodes

53:20

"Trump = Hitler?" with Dennis Glover

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/19

What should you make of comparisons between the present day and the 1930s? Is the greatest risk that we're sliding towards Nazi-style fascism? Or that we're being drawn into a civil war where half the country are villains? Dennis Glover has a PhD in History from King’s College Cambridge and works as a professional speechwriter and author. He has written policy and speeches for many of Australia's most influential left-wing politicians including Julia Gillard and Kim Beazley. He's the author of

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74:58

Jesse Singal and Coleman Hughes

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/15

Two of the internet’s most intellectual contrarians sit down in a park with Josh. Magic ensues. Jesse is among the world's most astute analysts of internet nonsense. He became a lightning rod when his 2018 Atlantic cover story was the first deeply reported mainstream article to question child transgender medicine. His punishment was swift and severe, driving him into the netherworld of Podcastistan where his hit show with Katie Herzog, Blocked and Reported, analyses the pieties and group think

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62:59

Senator David Pocock on "How to Be a Senator &...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/12

Why do some people have strong moral opinions but don't act on them, while other people effect real change? It's a question Josh wanted to ask Australia's most influential athlete-turned-politican. David Pocock was a rugby champion who played for Australia's national team, one of the world's most iconic rugby sides. He then became the first senator not aligned with any major political party to represent the Australian Capital Territory. He was one of the most prominent faces in a tsunami of

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25:51

JUST JOSH: The Perfect Veep Pick

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/07

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the presidency, has chosen her running mate… and it isn’t one of the swing-state governors her pollsters were recommending. Josh is surprised, impressed, and uncharacteristically chipper about what this means for Harris, for the election and for the future of the American left. Cheer up and dive in to everything you need to understand about the possible fiftieth vice president of the United States, Tim Walz. To get more content like this

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66:50

“What Even Is the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ Today?”...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/05

DON'T MISS COLEMAN HUGHES AND JOSH LIVE IN MELBOURNE! GET TICKETS NOW AT https://bit.ly/Coleman-Szeps-Melb Vaccine mandates. Wokeness in Hollywood. The female pay gap. Race protests. Diversity programs. Covid lockdowns. #metoo. The so-called intellectual dark web tackled it all. A loose grouping of dissenting intellectuals and commentators, they sought to buck taboos and open minds. What happened? Who went down the rabbit hole to crazy town, and who maintained thier heads? And where is the

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78:30

“Is Planet Earth Alive?” with Ferris Jabr

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/08/02

Have you ever wondered what’s up with Earth? Seriously. What the actual heck. Of all those trillions of space rocks, this one is all leafy and watery and lifey. What is it, this spaceship we’re on, this pale blue dot? Might it be a kind of living thing itself? ‌ This old hippy idea has been wrestled into a more fascinating, harder-headed thesis by the scientist and journalist Ferris Jabr. He's written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, National Geographic, Wired and The Los Angeles Review

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62:28

“PROJECT 2025” with Skye Perryman

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/30

Project 2025, technically the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, is a set of sweeping policy changes to be enacted on Day One of the next conservative administration. If Trump wins, that’s January 20th, 2025. Skye Perryman is one of the project’s leading opponents. She’s the president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a non-profit that promotes democracy through court cases, lobbying and education. Washingtonian magazine named her one of this year’s Most Influential People Shaping Policy and her

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123:42

Tim Minchin: "Arty Farty Echo Chambers"

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/26

How do you escape the shaming of the mob when you're a public figure with original ideas? Tim Minchin is one of the most successful creatives Australia has ever produced. He wrote the music and lyrics for Matilda the Musical, which won more Olivier Awards than any other show in history at the time. Now in its 13th year, the show continues to sell out on the West End. The Broadway production was nominated for a stash of Tonys. The 2022 movie version is a riot. Minchin went on to write the

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63:33

“Racial Identity in Europe” with Thomas Chatterton...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/23

First things first: The Uncomfortable Conversations LIVE touring empire is expanding, with live shows in Sydney and Melbourne in August with the inimitable Coleman Hughes. Tickets are selling fast. Get yours now. Don’t miss out: Sydney https://bit.ly/Coleman-Szeps-Syd Melbourne https://bit.ly/Coleman-Szeps-Melb Meanwhile, the new YouTube page is going gangbusters. The episode you're listening to was shot as an outdoor TV interview on an early spring day in a Manhattan park. Check it out and

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43:44

"Is Josh a 'Bad Gay'?" with Alastair Lawrie

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/17

When Sydney's biggest broadsheet newspaper published an opinion piece by Josh on the occasion of the Mardi Gras Gay Pride Parade, it triggered a backlash from some in the LGBT+ community. One of Josh's attackers was a prominent activist, Alastair Lawrie, the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Justice and Equity Centre. Instead of arguing with Alastair on Twitter, Josh invited him on the show to hash out their differences and discuss what challenges the LGBTQ+ community still faces. To get

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102:00

“Trump’s Prognosis” with David Frum

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/15

Well, what happens now? Does Donald Trump win? Does he lose? To whom? What are we all in for? On the eve of Trump’s coronation as the Republican presidential candidate at the party’s National Convention this week, he was narrowly shot in an apparent assassination attempt at a rally. Is this the most dramatic election of our lives? David Frum is one of the most influential anti-Trumpers to come out of a Republican White House. As President George W Bush’s speechwriter, he's credited with the

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127:12

"Is Trans Ideology Harming Transsexuals?" with Dana...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/12

"Transsexual" sounds like an old-fashioned term. But it describes a real medical condition in which your brain has the opposite sex from your body. Are transsexuals threatened by newer gender-queer, non-binary theories of sex? Dr Dana Beyer says so. She's one of the most influential and effective trans activists in history. A medical doctor and self-described transsexual, she's been striding the hallways of power since the 1970s meeting with the likes of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary

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64:12

“Boomers vs Millennials” with Dr Jean Twenge

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/08

Boomers. Millennials. Gen X. Gen Z. Are you actually in control of your feelings about gender fluidity, social media, streaming television, laptops, jumbo jets and the pill, or have you absorbed the norms of your generation? Dr Jean Twenge is a psychology professor who's been studying large, national surveys of young people for decades, teasing out how the generations differ. Her books include an analysis of millennials ("Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive,

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71:33

“Authoritarianism in Europe” with Péter Krekó

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/04

Europe is holding its breath ahead of France’s parliamentary elections, in which a “far right” party could win power for the first time since WWII. The hero of 21st-century right-wing European triumphalism is Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Many European far-right candidtaes are his devoted fan boys, as are farther-flung admirers like Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson. This week, Hungary assumed the rotating leadership of the European Union presidency. Orbán’s first move was to swoop into Kyiv

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79:16

“So… What Can the Democrats Do Now?” with Yascha Mounk

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/07/01

President Biden’s catastrophic debate performance has left many people worried about his electoral chances against Donald Trump. At this late stage, is there any way out? Here, you get a double feature. In the first half-hour, Josh shares his reaction to the debate and his advice on Democratic messaging. Then the iconic political scientist Yascha Mounk -- an expert in how democracies thrive or fail – joins us to explain the pathway to Democratic victory. But is Joe Biden part of the plan? Finally,

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32:40

JUST JOSH: Having a Dad with Alzheimer's

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/06/27

Why does the death of some people punch us in the gut, and others slide by? Does your way of grieving indicate what you value in life? Judith Whelan died last night. She was 62. She was Josh’s mentor, his champion, his arch-defender, playmate, and confidante, despite being his boss’s boss’s boss. She is, in many ways, the person who made Josh’s current career possible. Another mentor and friend, Howard Fineman, died two weeks ago. And Josh’s father is in the death spiral of Alzheimer’s. Here, Josh

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70:56

“Why the Kids Aren’t Alright” with Dr Billy Garvey

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/06/24

What's up with kids these days? ADHD. Autism. Bullying. Toxic boys. Self-harming girls. Social media addiction. Coddled teens. Anxious parents. A lot of folks are wringing their hands about the young-un's mental health. Josh thought he'd pick the brain of one of the world's leading experts who actually works at the coalface with troubled kids. Dr Billy Garvey is a senior specialist in child mental health at one of the largest tertiary paediatric hospitals in the world. Billy challenges many of

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50:49

JUST JOSH: PROTESTERS AT SEINFELD

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/06/19

Josh was at Jerry Seinfeld's Sydney show last night, which was disrupted by Palestinian protesters in the audience. Josh shares his initial reaction and reflects on Gaza activism and anti-Zionism.To get more content like this and to join in the fun of the Uncomfy Convos multiverse, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations

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59:07

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/06/17

On September 11th, 2001, the Australian prime minister, John Howard, was scheduled to meet with President George W Bush at the White House. While he was hunkered down in Washington during the terrorist attacks, Australia was being run by his deputy, the Acting Prime Minister, John Anderson. John was the equivalent of Australia’s Vice President during some of the most significant events in recent history.Anderson is a Christian conservative who opposed same-sex marriage and the 2023 indigenous

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66:46

Are Indigenous People Victims? with Anthony Dillon

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2024/06/13

Is it useful or debilitating to frame Indigenous people merely as victims of history?Anthony Dillon is an Indigenous Australian, an academic and commentator who rejects today’s popular ideologies about White Australia, invasion and racism. He and Josh wrestle with how to make progress on First Nations issues in an innovative way. This episode is part of Permission to Think, a collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney, thanks to Professor Alan Davison. It’s a taste of a longer episode

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