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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

39:59

“We’re Going to be Okay” with social psychologist...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/26

Trump. Gaza. Artificial Intelligence. Authoritarianism. Assassinations. Climate Chaos. Russia. Social media. The far right. Terrorism. Political division. How bad are things? More importantly: How would we know?Every generation believes things are falling apart. And at some point, they’ll be right. But the social psychologist Adam Mastroianni argues that we’re exhibiting a kind of doom paralysis right now.Even if things were as bad as they seem, they’re more likely to be solved -

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59:02

"How the Lab Leak Got Cred" with Elizabeth Finkel

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/22

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 suspicious? Was Anthony Fauci the victim of a crazed conspiracy, or is there something fishy in the official origins of Covid-19? The inside story of how the Covid lab leak hypothesis went mainstream is just one of the tales which the science journalist Elizabeth Finkel investigates in her new book. Josh is still suspicious of the Wuhan lab so

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162:06

"Can Liberalism Survive?" with Waleed Aly

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/18

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 this show for years, and finally nailed him down. Do not miss this powerful episode. Waleed is a controversial superstar Down Under. He's the recipient of Australia's highest journalism award, a Walkley, and its highest television prize, a Gold Logie, for hosting The Project, a nightly network news panel show, for more than ten years. He's

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61:47

"What IS a Zionist?" with Charlotte Korchak

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/15

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 young, vibrant, American-born educator about Israel who joined Josh on her whirlwind trip to Sydney. The pair of them wrestle with justice, Jewishness, antisemitism and how Zionism should coexist with a Palestinian state.

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78:10

Charlie Kirk & Guns

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/11

America's pre-eminent conservative youth activist, Charlie Kirk, has been assassinated while speaking at a Utah college. Josh shares his thoughts... and reintroduces a classic monologue about America, violence and guns.

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49:40

Josh Visits the South Pacific: Climate Chaos, Chinese...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/09

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 will affect you?A lot, it turns out. In this bonus episode, Josh is on the ground in Solomon Islands, where leaders from across the Pacific are currently attending the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting. Beneath all the happy-talk about foreign aid is a deeper subtext. The big rich players (i.e. Australia) are trying to bribe their tiny South

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34:02

Just Josh: Eulogy for Josh's Dad

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/08

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 he wishes he’d acted on earlier. Then, a live recording of Josh delivering the official eulogy at the funeral.

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53:22

PREMIUM: "Has Home Ownership Become Hereditary?" with...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/04

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 Australia, now chief economist at the Centre for Independent Studies joins Josh to unpack the roots of the housing crisis. They discuss supply and demand, heritage rules, immigration, infrastructure, and why the dream of home ownership is slipping out of reach for younger generations.

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76:05

"Substack's Founders on the Future of the Media" with...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/09/01

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 readers return to old-school news outlets? Or is there a third way? That’s Substack’s bet. The platform is transforming the media landscape by enabling journalists and creators to speak directly to users.Just as Josh was embarking on Substack’s first-ever around-the-world livestream marathon, the company announced a new round of

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60:00

PREMIUM: "Anti-Immigration, the Far Right & the...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/28

How does an adventurous, open-minded, well-travelled young bloke get interested in nationalism... and then in Western supremacy... and then white pride... Until he becomes so obsessed with protecting Western Civilization from Islam, that he shoots nearly a hundred innocent Muslims and livestreams the massacre to cheering racists around the world? The official government line is that the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooter was a lone wolf. The killer himself cultivated this image. But the movement that

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68:45

SZEPS WORLD TOUR - NICK CAVE on Faith, Melancholy, &...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/25

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 unofficial poet laureate and philosopher king through his online letters project, The Red Hand files. Nick sat down with Josh in London on the Szeps Live World Tour to discuss songwriting, grief, faith... and, as a bonus, to critique some of Josh's recent episodes.

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39:37

SZEPS WORLD TOUR - JIMMY CARR, COMEDY LEGEND

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/21

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. He hosts huge UK television panel shows and is currently touring the US, UK & Europe (and Australia and New Zealand early next year) with his latest live show, JIMMY CARR: LAUGHS FUNNY. Jimmy and Josh caught up in-the-flesh in London on the Szeps Live Around-the-World Podcast Marathon to discuss crowd work, Elon Musk, immigration, COVID,

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87:28

SZEPS WORLD TOUR – COLEMAN HUGHES on Race, Trump & Power

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/18

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 Hughes doesn’t just write and broadcast, he also plays a mean jazz trombone, bringing the same contrarian rhythm to politics as he does to music. During the Szeps Live World Tour’s jaunt through New York, Josh and Coleman sat down to dive into race, identity, Trumpism, and whether the Left can find its groove again.

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39:15

SZEPS WORLD TOUR – MEGHAN DAUM on What You’re Not...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/14

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 of Northeast Los Angeles. There, they track down the ultimate iconoclast, Meghan Daum - former Los Angeles Times columnist, humorist, defender of sanity and all-round cultural firebrand. Meghan's independent media empire is The Unspeakeasy - a podcast, Substack publication and a community for freethinking women. Enjoy this sparkling ramble

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80:40

SZEPS WORLD TOUR - RICH ROLL on Liberty, Loneliness &...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/11

Rich Roll is one of the biggest podcasters in America, thanks to his irresistible blend of ultra-athleticism, Stoic philosophy, sobriety, personal improvement (don't call it "self-help"), and an infectious curiosity about what makes life worth living. In this live-streamed conversation on the Szeps Live World Tour, Rich welcomed Josh to his new digs in a glorious mountaintop lair behind Malibu - to to talk discipline, midlife pivots, the seductions of modern distraction, and whether resilience today

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84:14

SZEPS WORLD TOUR - KMELE FOSTER on Race, Spirituality...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/08

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? What is it really about, this game of being human? Kmele Foster is one of the most original and humane thinkers Josh has the privilege of knowing. Funny, fearless and wise, the two young dads sat down in Brooklyn during the Szeps Live Around-the-World Podcast Marathon to wrestle with Blackness, whiteness, racism, parenting, guilt-ridden woke

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68:16

SZEPS WORLD TOUR - SAM HARRIS on Making Sense of Life

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/08/05

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 Sam Harris fearlessly take on Islam, Black Lives Matter and Gaza, but not transgender ideology? Are psychedelics a portal to another realm, will A.I. become conscious, and is Sam a hypocrite for eating meat? Sam Harris is one of the world's most influential podcasters and commentators. He burst onto the scene as a prominent atheist but has

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38:32

On Stage in NYC: Panel Show at the Comedy Cellar

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/07/31

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 Robin Williams - for a no-holds-barred, live-streamed panel extravaganza. Is South Park doing more to resist Trump than the press, or is it part of the circus? What happens when podcasting becomes the default news source? Is "platforming" bad ideas dangerous or essential? Are we nostalgic for a media era that never was? And how do you choose

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83:11

SZEPS LIVE TOUR: "Inequality, Abundance, & Using A.I....

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/07/29

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, the world's best economics blog. His day job is as an economics professor at George Mason University, where he also runs the classical liberal Mercatus Center. But his influence is immense... on policymakers, tech titans and thought leaders who hang on his ideas as a visionary sage. Tyler hosts what Josh regards as one of the world's best

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40:03

SZEPS LIVE TOUR: "Atheism, Wokeness & Islam" with...

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps ·

2025/07/27

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 her faith in atheism.First, she noticed progressive peers preaching critical race and gender ideologies, while punishing blasphemers of their social-justice dogmas in ways that felt uncomfortably... religious. Second, she tripped out on Ayahuasca. Third, she walked away from her podcast, A Special Place in Hell. What happened? Sarah sat down

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