Conversations with Peter Boghossian

Latest Episodes:

Treason of the Intellectuals | Jean-François Braunstein Nov 05, 2026

Show notes

Smart people are better at reasoning. They often come up with good reasons for asinine conclusions. Groups of smart people reason more efficiently and usually generate more and better reasons for those conclusions, independent of what's true. Give smart people academic positions, then jobs for life (tenure), and they are rewarded for reasoning to and justifying asinine ideas.

Peter Boghossian talks with French philosopher Jean-François Braunstein, who has been blacklisted for defending science, about the treason of intellectuals. How did truth come to be treated as a right-wing concept? Why did we abandon objectivity for radical subjectivity? And what happens when power replaces truth as the goal of inquiry?

They dig into epistemology, the confidence we place in our beliefs, and why argumentation and the free exchange of ideas are the only way out.

Can we escape this civilizational catastrophe? Yes. Here's how...

Find Jean-François Braunstein's Books Here: • Amazon

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

Free Speech vs Social Cohesion? | Paul Spoonley Nov 03, 2026

Show notes

If we have to sacrifice speech rights to achieve a certain degree of social cohesion, should we make that bargain?

Peter Boghossian talks with sociologist Paul Spoonley about contentious topics in the free speech debate. Should Islamists be demonized? What about other groups? Who decides, and what does a regulatory apparatus for hate speech actually look like in practice?

Peter and Paul also explore a puzzle at the heart of the debate: Why do some people shake off criticism while others are deeply traumatized by it?

Follow Paul Spoonley • X

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

How We Became a Low-Trust Society | Calum Nicholson Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

Why can't we have real debates anymore?

Peter Boghossian talks with anthropologist Calum Nicholson about two forces eroding public life. First, we've lost the ability to argue in good faith, because we increasingly assume the other side is acting in bad faith. Second, science itself has become so subjective that it's turning anti-scientific, drifting away from finding truth and toward pushing political narratives. Together, they argue, these two trends have created the low-trust society we live in today.

So how did we get here, and how do we rebuild public trust?

Follow Calum Nicholson • X • Substack

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

More BS: Psychological Safety | Peter Barrett Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

Are some people's perspectives better than others?

Peter Boghossian and host of Debatology Peter Barrett start with that question and follow it wherever it leads: The collectivist mind versus the individual mind, and what role emotions should play when people talk across deep divides.

Barrett argues that real conversation requires people to feel psychologically safe and willing to be vulnerable. Boghossian pushes back. The safety that matters isn't psychological, it is epistemic: An environment where people can question their beliefs, admit they were wrong, and change their minds without losing face. This is not semantics. It is a real, substantive difference.

Follow Peter Barrett • Substack • X • YouTube • TikTok • Instagram

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

I Played the Trans Activist | James Esses Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

Peter Boghossian cannot get a pro-trans activist to come on for these conversations, so he took on the role himself and interrogated James Esses with the strongest pro-trans arguments.

Follow James Esses • X • Substack

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

Should Mosques Be Illegal in America? | LIVE with Dale Partridge Oct 28, 2026

Show notes

A pastor says America should ban mosques. Now, he defends it LIVE.

Dale Partridge is a Reformed pastor and open Christian nationalist. He leads King's Way Reformed Church in Prescott, Arizona, hosts the American Glory podcast, and wrote "The Israel Delusion." He doesn't hedge. Peter Boghossian will press him on what he believes, why he believes it, and how confident he should be.

What you'll hear: • Islam as an "existential threat to Western civilization": Is it true, and what follows? • America as a Christian nation. • Freedom of religion as "a really bad idea": What replaces it?

No safe spaces. No talking points. Just two people who disagree and test each other's ideas.

Follow Dale Partridge • X • YouTube • Instagram

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

Bad Gun Handling Isn't Bigotry | Paul Sharp Live Oct 24, 2026

Show notes

Her job is to protect Parliament. She just won an award for service. And in the photo: Finger on the trigger, muzzle pointed at a fellow officer.

"It wasn't loaded." Rule #1 of gun safety: Treat every gun as if it is.

Thousands noticed. The Met didn't order remedial training. It said the criticism was because she's Muslim.

What would you trust this police force with? Policing? Gun safety? Evidence? And can an institution this corrupted by ideology ever recover?

Peter Boghossian goes live with Paul Sharp: Retired police officer, firearms instructor, and BJJ black belt martial artist with over 40 years of experience.

Follow Paul Sharp • X • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

"Queer Anthropology" and the Death of Science | Elizabeth Weiss Oct 23, 2026

Show notes

Did you know there's such a thing as "queer anthropology"?

Anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss says it's a sign of a much bigger problem. When a field abandons logic, falsifiability, and consistency, it stops being science and starts being ideology. Falsehoods get presented as truth, real problems go unsolved, and the past gets molded to fit the narrative instead of discovered.

Peter Boghossian and Elizabeth dig into how anthropology got captured, what it costs, and what it will take to bring the field back, valuing evidence.

Follow Elizabeth Weiss: • X • Website

In Collaboration with Heterodox Centre • YouTube • X

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

Inventing History: The New Indigenist Playbook | Elizabeth Rata Oct 23, 2026

Show notes

Rewrite the past, control the present.

Professor Elizabeth Rata (University of Auckland) joins Peter to explain how invented history has become a key strategy of the new indigenist movement, and what it means for schools, science, and democratic citizenship.

Follow Elizabeth Rata • Website • YouTube

Elizabeth's new education series • https://elizabethrata.com/documentary

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials

"We're Going to Graduate Students Who Aren't Faking It" | Loren Rotner Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

"We're going to graduate students who aren't faking it."

AI can now write the essay, pass the exam, and fake the thinking. So what happens to education? Are universities making sure students can think for themselves, or are they producing graduates who outsource their minds to AI?

Peter Boghossian sits down with Loren Rotner, associate provost at the University of Austin (UATX), to dig into it. What's actually wrong with legacy institutions? Why have so many stopped teaching students how to think? And what safeguards is UATX putting in place to make sure its graduates can reason, write, and argue on their own?

Follow Loren Rotner • X

To learn more about UATX: • YouTube • Facebook • Instagram

Find Peter Boghossian • X

• Newsletter

• Donate

• Podcast

• All Socials