Conversations With Coleman

Live in Melbourne w/Josh Szeps Sep 07, 2024

Listen to the rest of this episode : https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/listen

Watch our event in Sydney at FODI: https://youtu.be/ZXZuI7TO3X0?si=LeSjD1PoUoFo01Xu

Support my podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ColemanHughes

The Life of a Black Conservative w/Glenn Loury Aug 09, 2024

BUY TIX to SYDNEY, AUS SHOW 8/25: https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/program/a-colourblind-society-uncomfortable-conversations/#tickets

BUY TIX to MELBOURNE, AUS SHOW 8/28: https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/uncomfortable-conversations-live-with-coleman-hughes-and-josh-szeps-melbourne-28-08-2024/event/130060E1D02C314C

The Future of Woke w/Eric Kaufmann [PLUS AUSTRALIA SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT] Jul 24, 2024

BUY TIX to SYDNEY, AUS 8/25: https://festivalofdangerousideas.com/program/a-colourblind-society-uncomfortable-conversations/#tickets

BUY TIX to MELBOURNE, AUS 8/28: https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/uncomfortable-conversations-live-with-coleman-hughes-and-josh-szeps-melbourne-28-08-2024/event/130060E1D02C314C

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The Folly of Progressivism with Nellie Bowles Jun 20, 2024

Buy Nellie's book here: https://a.co/d/09QQ9O52

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/ColemanHughes

00:00 Introduction and Nelly Bowles' Background

11:07 The Reality of Homelessness and Drug Addiction

32:59 The Idealism and Limitations of Progressive Movements

39:02 Human Nature and Failed Systems

46:06 Origins and Evolution of Antifa in Seattle and Portland

57:47 Corruption and Lack of Scrutiny in the Black Lives Matter Movement

01:09:32 Decline of Left-Wing Political Comedy and Rise of New Comedians

From Foster Care to Cambridge with Rob Henderson Jun 03, 2024

Buy Rob's book: https://a.co/d/gv8juH9

Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/ColemanHughes

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:19 The Importance of Early Life Experiences

07:07 The Overemphasis on Education

09:48 The Flawed Measurement of Success

12:03 The Narrative of Overcoming Trauma

15:15 The Limitations of Post-Traumatic Growth

26:58 Gender Differences in Foster Care

29:23 Addressing Single Parent Homes

30:33 Cultural Shifts and Behavior Change

35:07 The Importance of Two-Parent Homes in the Neighborhood

39:37 The Influence of Background on Work on Luxury Beliefs

42:24 Using Race as a Proxy for Disadvantage

52:06 The Hypocrisy of Luxury Beliefs

58:46 The Effectiveness of Therapy

01:03:01 Ethics and Legality of Surrogacy

Is Therapy Bad for You? with Abigail Shrier Mar 01, 2024

To support the show, visit my Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/ColemanHughes

Feminism Under The Microscope with Mary Harrington Dec 23, 2023

My guest today is Mary Harrington. Mary is a writer and contributing editor at UnHerd. She's the author of a great book called Feminism Against Progress. In this episode, we talk about her general critique of feminism, we talk about what she calls progress theology, we talk about the changing social status of motherhood, we talk about the Barbie movie, gender dysphoria, and much more

Mary's Book - Feminism against Progress

Check out New Merch - https://merchandise.colemanhughes.org

Why? The Purpose of the Universe with Philip Goff Dec 20, 2023

My guest today is Philip Goff. Philip is a philosophy professor at Durham University. He's the author of Galileo's Error and Why the Purpose of the Universe.
Philip believes that science gives us objective reasons to believe that there's value in the universe and he comes at this from a very different angle than say Sam Harris, who reaches the same conclusion for different reasons in his book, The Moral Landscape. Philip relies heavily on the so-called fine tuning argument. So we talk a lot about that in this podcast. We also talk about Philip's theory of panagentialism and much more.

Check out New Merch - https://merchandise.colemanhughes.org

All Things China with Cindy Yu Dec 13, 2023

My guest today is Cindy Yu. Cindy Yu is an assistant editor at the Spectator Magazine, and she's the host of the "Chinese Whispers" podcast, which is actually one of my favorite podcasts.
We talk about whether China will invade Taiwan. We talk about whether the West should adopt a Cold War-like mentality towards China. We discuss the phenomenon of Chinese espionage in the West. We talk about the wave of immigration from Hong Kong into the UK. We discuss the nosedive in China's birthrate over the past 10 years. We talk about the so-called century of humiliation. We talk about the legacy of Xi Jinping. We also talk about the apparent futility of the democracy movement in China and much more.

Psychedelic Libertarianism with Nick Gillespie Nov 25, 2023

My guest today is Nick Gillespie. Nick is a prominent libertarian journalist and commentator best known for his work at Reason Magazine, where he's been for around 30 years.

In this episode, we discuss Nick's experience getting engaged at the recent Burning Man. We talk about psychedelic drugs, the promise they hold, as well as the dangers they contain. We talk about the evolution of the libertarian movement in America. We talk about how we should message about drugs to kids. We talk about the differences between MDMA, psilocybin, and LSD. We talk about why trust in government has declined, and much more.

Pre-Order my book:

"The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America" - https://bit.ly/48VUw17

Race, Brexit, and Islamism with Munira Mirza Nov 21, 2023

My guest today is Munira Mirza. Munira Mirza is a British public policy analyst and cultural commentator. She served as the Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture of London under Boris Johnson when he was mayor, and later served as director of The Number 10 Policy Unit under Johnson when he was prime minister.

In this episode, we talk about Munira's early days as a Marxist, her interest in art and museums, her views on Brexit, her views on multiculturalism in the UK, the Israel-Hamas war and Jihadism in general, and much more.

Pre-order my book:

"The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America" - https://bit.ly/48VUw17

Lessons from Afghanistan with Rory Stewart Nov 09, 2023

My guest today is Rory Stewart. Rory Stewart is a British politician, diplomat, and author who served as a member of parliament from 2010 to 2019. He held several governmental positions, notably as a Secretary of State for International Development in 2019, and was known for his extensive work in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rory has authored several books, such as "The Places In Between", about his solo walk across Afghanistan, and his new book, "Politics on the Edge", a memoir from within.

Rory and I talk about what he learned by walking across Afghanistan. We talk about the war in Afghanistan and what lessons Israel might take from it. We talk about Brexit. We talk about why the Scandinavian model is not appropriate for Britain. We talk about the culture of the world of politics. And finally, we talk about why Rory is so passionate about GiveDirectly, which allows people to give cash directly to the people in the developing world.

References:

Haaretz article - https://bitly.ws/ZG3G

Noam Dworman's tweet- https://bitly.ws/ZG3R

Pre-order my book:

"The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America" - https://bit.ly/48VUw17

Debating the Israel-Palestine Conflict with Yousef Munayyer Oct 28, 2023

So I've gotten criticism lately that I've created an echo chamber of pro-Israel guests, Benny Morris and Andrew Gold being the two examples. So I went on Twitter and asked who I should get to deliver the Palestinian perspective. and many people suggested my guest today, who is Yousef Munayyer. Yousef is a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst based in Washington, D.C. He was the executive director of the US campaign for Palestinian rights, and previously he directed the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development.

As you'll hear, this whole conversation was pretty contentious. It seemed like we disagreed about almost everything. However, Yousef was a very respectful conversation partner and those are the kinds of guests that I look for. Before you listen to this episode, I would encourage you to go back to my episode with the Israeli historian, Dr. Benny Morris, if you haven't already listened to it. It's called "The History and Ethics of the Israel-Palestine Conflict". I recommend that because at the beginning of this podcast, Yousef wanted to dive deep into the history of the conflict and our debate there won't make much sense to you if you aren't already familiar with the basics. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

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My Last Word on TED Oct 21, 2023

Here is my final response to Chris Anderson and Adam Grant on the TED debacle.

A Nuanced View On Israel and Palestine with Andrew Gold Oct 14, 2023

Andrew Gold, who I had on this podcast earlier this year, asked me if I wanted to hop on with him and discuss the Israel-Hamas war and I said, sure. We talk all about the war in Israel and Gaza. As you'll hear, Andrew and I agree that there is simply no moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel. And as you'll hear, I'm also quite sympathetic to the policies that Israel has had to take in order to protect itself from terrorism. I plan to have many more conversations about this topic and I really want to get someone on this podcast that strongly disagrees with me so I don't create an echo chamber for myself or for you guys. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

"Why the Religious Will Inherit the Earth" with Eric Kaufmann Oct 13, 2023

My guest today is Eric Kaufmann. Eric is a political scientist who's written several great books, including "Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?" and "Whiteshift". Eric was a professor at Birkbeck College, University of London for many years. I think he was actually the head of the department there, before he was pushed out for his political views. So we talk about that story at the top of this interview.

We also talk about a whole bunch of other topics. We discuss the sociologist Daniel Bell. We talk about why birth rates are declining in the secular world and why it matters. We talk about high birth rate populations like Hasidic Jews and the Amish. We talk about the tension between liberal politics on immigration and liberal politics on LGBTQ. We talk about why Canada and Scotland are so much further to the left on gender and trans issues than America is. Finally, we talk about why it is that conservatives appear to be happier in data than liberals generally, and why religious people also tend to be happier than secular people, and what lessons, if any, we can draw from that. This was one of my favorite podcasts I've done this year, and I hope you enjoy it.

"The Identity Trap" with Yascha Mounk Oct 07, 2023

My guest today is Yascha Mounk. Yascha is a German born political scientist, author, and lecturer known for his research on the rise of populism and the challenges to liberal democracy. He has authored several influential books, including "Stranger in My Own Country", "The People vs. Democracy", and his new book, "The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time"

A few episodes ago, I had Christopher Rufo on the podcast to discuss his analysis of why wokeness came to dominate so many institutions. Yascha's asking the same question in this book, but he's coming to a different answer. Yascha focuses less on people like Herbert Marcuse and more on intellectuals like Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Derrick Bell, and Kimberlé Crenshaw. We also talk about why there are so many former Marxists in the writing world, but so few people who convert into Marxism later in life. We talk about how Foucault's critique of language differs from George Orwell's critique of language, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Why Is TED Scared of Color Blindness? Sep 28, 2023

The organization’s tagline is “ideas worth spreading.” But they attempted to suppress mine.

“Racism, Election Theft, and Self-Help” with Scott Adams and Noam Dworman Sep 22, 2023

My guests today are Scott Adams and Noam Dworman. Scott Adams is an American writer, commentator, and cartoonist best known for creating the comic strip Dilbert. In addition to his cartooning work, Adams has authored several books and frequently comments on a range of topics from media bias to psychology to the mechanics of persuasion. Noam Dworman is the owner of the Comedy Cellar in New York and is a good personal friend of mine who has his own podcast called "Live From the Table", which is actually one of my favorite podcasts. I'm co-releasing this episode with Noam, so check out his podcast as well.

Now there is an interesting backstory to this conversation surrounding Scott's recent controversial comments and I go into the details of this in the intro to the episode. In this episode, we also address Scott's comments, we talk about mainstream media bias, we discuss Trump's efforts to overturn the election, where Scott has a very different view than myself and Noam. We talk about racism and also double standards around the kind of speech that's acceptable, given your race. Finally, we go on to discuss Scott's recent self-help book called "Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness and Success"

"The Rise of the Radical Left" with Christopher Rufo Sep 15, 2023

My guest today is Christopher Rufo. Christopher is a political activist and filmmaker known for his opposition to Critical Race Theory or CRT. He's a senior fellow and director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory at the Manhattan Institute and he's the author of a new book called "America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything"

In this episode, we talk about the German philosopher Herbert Marcuse and the role he played in popularizing critical theory. We talk about the legacy of the weather underground. We talk about the admiration that left-wing intellectuals in the 20th century had for Mao and Stalin. We discuss the relationship between Critical Theory and Marxism. We talk about the psychological and emotional appeal of communism. We discuss the effect of the collapse of the Soviet Union on the Western left. We disagree somewhat about the legacy of McCarthyism. We talk about the political leanings of public school teachers today. We talk about the strengths and weaknesses of classical liberalism as a philosophy. We also go on to talk about the teaching of CRT in public schools and much more.

"Diversity: From Rome to Rwanda” with Jens Heycke Sep 01, 2023

My guest today is Jens Heycke. Jens is a researcher, writer, and competitive cyclist. He studied economics and Near East Studies at U. Chicago, the London School of Economics, and Princeton. His book is called "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire: Multiculturalism in the World's Past and America's Future"

In this episode, we talk about the origin of the term "melting pot", as well as the origin of the concept of multiculturalism. We talk about the goal of cultural assimilation. We talk about how ancient Rome tackled the issue of cultural diversity among its subjects. We discuss the early Islamic empires; modern-day Sri Lanka; Rwanda and Botswana; the Ottoman Empire; the French color-blind system; Singapore; and much more. This conversation is basically a survey of how all of these different societies have tackled the issue of cultural diversity and what lessons we can draw from their successes and failures. I enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too.

"Can Immigrants Assimilate?” with Garett Jones Aug 29, 2023

My guest today is Garett Jones. Garett is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University. His interests include macroeconomics, the micro foundations of economic growth, IQ, the power of culture, and public choice economics. The books we focus on in this episode are "10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less" and "The Culture Transplant: How Migrants Make the Economies They Move To a Lot Like the Ones They Left"

We talk about the intellectual environment of George Mason University. We talk about about UAPs. We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of democracy. We discuss the possibility of so-called benign dictatorships. We talk about the crisis of expertise, the Electoral College and then we move on to the topic of immigration. We talk about whether and in what ways immigrants assimilate. We talk about the idea of the melting pot. We discuss high trust versus low trust cultures and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

The Myth of Left and Right with Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis Aug 18, 2023

My guests today are Hyram and Verlan Lewis. Hyram and Verlan are brothers. Hyram is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, Idaho, and Verlan is a political scientist at Harvard Center for American Political Studies. Together, Hyram and Verlan have written a very interesting new book called "The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America"

In this book, they challenge the widely held belief that the political left and right represent two distinct philosophies, liberalism or progressivism on one end and conservatism on the other. Instead, they argue that people on the left and the right are more like sports fans. They are born into a particular tribe and then they adopt the random assortment of beliefs that tribe currently holds. Now they acknowledge that there are such things as political philosophies, like libertarianism, for example. They just think those philosophies have nothing to do with what we call the left and the right in everyday speech. In other words, the words left and right do not name philosophies. They name arbitrary tribes that then invent convenient, but false stories about what their philosophies are. That thesis is the topic of this conversation and I think it's very interesting. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too.

“Does Color-Blindness Perpetuate Racism?” A Debate w/Jamelle Bouie Aug 11, 2023

Today's episode is a recording of a debate that occurred a few weeks ago between me and Jamelle Bouie, who is a columnist for the New York Times. This debate was hosted by TED as well as Open to Debate, formerly known as Intelligence Squared. The motion was, "Does Colorblindness Perpetuate Racism?" Jamelle took the affirmative and I took the negative.

Now there's a long backstory to this debate surrounding my recent TED Talk on color blindness and and I go into the details of this in the intro to the episode.

I really recommend that you listen to the whole debate and do share your thoughts in the comments.

"Panpsychism: A Theory Whose Time Has Come" with Phillip Goff Aug 04, 2023

My guest today is Philip Goff. Phillip is a philosopher known for his work on consciousness and the philosophy of mind, particularly for his defense of panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe. He's an associate professor at Durham University in the UK. His books include "Galileo's Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness", and "Consciousness and Fundamental Reality".

Phillip is an advocate of a controversial but very interesting theory of consciousness known as panpsychism, and he defends it as well as I have ever heard it defended. However, before we get there in this conversation, we rehearse what may be familiar ground to some listeners. We talk about the hard problem of consciousness as opposed to the easy problems of consciousness. We talk about the problem with materialist explanations of consciousness. We talk about the problem with dualist explanations of consciousness. Phillip challenges my narrative about scientific progress in a really interesting way. We talk about the global workspace and integrated information theories of consciousness. We talk about the principle of parsimony in science and how it relates to rival theories of consciousness. And finally, we get to Phillip's case for panpsychism. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too.

Will AI Destroy Us? - AI Virtual Roundtable Jul 28, 2023

Today's episode is a roundtable discussion about AI safety with Eliezer Yudkowsky, Gary Marcus, and Scott Aaronson. Eliezer Yudkowsky is a prominent AI researcher and writer known for co-founding the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, where he spearheaded research on AI safety. He's also widely recognized for his influential writings on the topic of rationality. Scott Aaronson is a theoretical computer scientist and author, celebrated for his pioneering work in the field of quantum computation. He's also the chair of COMSI at U of T Austin, but is currently taking a leave of absence to work at OpenAI. Gary Marcus is a cognitive scientist, author, and entrepreneur known for his work at the intersection of psychology, linguistics, and AI. He's also authored several books, including "Kluge" and "Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust".

This episode is all about AI safety. We talk about the alignment problem. We talk about the possibility of human extinction due to AI. We talk about what intelligence actually is. We talk about the notion of a singularity or an AI takeoff event and much more.

It was really great to get these three guys in the same virtual room and I think you'll find that this conversation brings something a bit fresh to a topic that has admittedly been beaten to death on certain corners of the internet.

The Deep State: Fact or Fiction with Lee Fang Jul 21, 2023

My guest today is Lee Fang. Lee Fang is an investigative reporter, formerly of The Intercept and The Nation. His writing is focused on the influence of money in politics, security state overreach, and civil liberties. He was also responsible for releasing part of the Twitter files many months ago.

In this episode, we talk about the wide breadth of Lee's work, including his early reporting about the Koch brothers. We talk about whether there is a deep state, we talk about the collusion between Twitter and the US security state that was revealed in the Twitter files, and much more.

Psychedelic Medicine with Jeannie Fontana Jul 14, 2023

My guest today is Jeannie Fontana. Jeannie is the CEO of the TREAT California Initiative. TREAT is a statewide initiative that would create a $5 billion funding agency for psychedelic research, which has proven highly effective for conditions like PTSD and Depression. Jeannie was a founding member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which performs stem cell research. She has also advocated on behalf of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Jeannie and I talk about her background in medicine, toxicology and biochemistry. We talk about how she got into psychedelic research and doing psychedelics herself. I talk about my own experiences with psychedelic drugs, and much more.

From Boomers to Zoomers with Jean Twenge Jul 07, 2023

My guest today is Jean Twenge. Jean is a psychologist, author, and professor of psychology at San Diego State University. She's best known for her research on generational differences. Her book, "Generation Me", dealt with millennials. Her book, "iGen", which is how I first encountered her, deals with Gen Z. Now she's back with a massive new book called "Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future"

In this episode, we talk about all the differences between the various generations - differences in happiness, suicide rates, drinking behavior, personality traits like narcissism, attitudes towards love and marriage and more. We also talk about the technological and cultural trends that caused these generational changes. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Is the American Dream Dead? with John Wood Jr. Jun 30, 2023

My guest today is John Wood Jr. John is a national leader at Braver Angels, which is a grassroots organization dedicated to the work of political depolarization. He's also a writer for USA Today. He's a former vice chairman of the Republican Party of LA County and a former nominee for Congress. John is also the host of the podcast "Uniting America with John Wood Jr."

John and I talk about 2020 and the legacy of BLM. We talk about the emotional and psychological pull of wokeness. We talk about the status of the American dream. I talk about my experience as a kid switching from public school to private school. We talk about the cultural barriers to success for Black and Hispanic kids. We talk about the similarities between original sin and white privilege and much more. I really enjoy this conversation and I hope you do too.

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Animal Rights, Abortion, and Lying with Peter Singer Jun 23, 2023

My guest today is Peter Singer. Peter Singer is a renowned Australian moral philosopher best known for his work in applied ethics, particularly regarding animal rights and global poverty. He's considered a leader in the development of the modern animal rights movement, which was hugely influenced by his 1975 book, "Animal Liberation". He's just released a new version of the book called "Animal Liberation Now", which we discussed today.

We talk about what has changed since he wrote the original book in the 70s. We talk about lab-grown meat, which seemed to be right around the corner, but still hasn't arrived on the shelves. We discuss the ethical status of capitalism. We talk about the ethical arguments for and against veganism. We discuss the ethics of abortion. We talk about the effective altruism movement and Sam Bankman-Fried. We also talk about the ethics of lying to children and much more.

"The Legacy of BLM, continued" with Thomas Chatterton Williams Jun 16, 2023

My guest today is Thomas Chatterton Williams. Thomas is a great writer whose books include "Losing My Cool" and "Self-Portrait in Black and White", both of which I highly recommend.

Thomas and I talk about a host of subjects here, but we pay special attention to the legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement, and 2020 in particular.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

In Defense of China with Keyu Jin Jun 09, 2023

My guest today is Keyu Jin. Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist currently teaching at the London School of Economics, and she just published a book called "The New China Playbook". Keyu gave a TED Talk about a month ago, the same week that I did, and that's how I became aware of her.

So Keyu has an unorthodox stance on China, at least to a Western audience. It's now a bipartisan consensus that China is our main geopolitical rival and that we ought to treat China as if not an outright enemy than at least a major adversary. From trade wars to theft of our intellectual property to spy balloons, most American politicians would endorse a tough on China stance, at least in principle. Keyu Jin believes that this is the wrong approach. She thinks that America and the West have misunderstood and unfairly villainized China.

As you'll hear in our conversation, I don't share her view, but I'm always interested to hear the arguments of the lone voice willing to buck a consensus. So we talk about China's economy, its strengths and its weaknesses. We discuss China's political system and why it differs from countries like South Korea and Japan. We talk about China's declining birth rate. We talk about the problem of brain drain from China. We talk about China's current human rights record, including its detention of around a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang. We talk about China's aspirations to annex Taiwan and much more.

Genes, Race, and History with Razib Khan Jun 02, 2023

My guest today is Razib Khan. Razib is a population geneticist, writer, and entrepreneur. He is a prominent voice in the realm of genetic genealogy, where he illuminates the interplay of genes, history, and culture. His writing has been featured in the New York Times, India Today, the National Review, and his scholarly work is cited in many scientific journals. Razib also has a very interesting Substack called "Unsupervised Learning".

In this episode, we talk about commercial genetic testing companies like 23andMe. We talk about the genetic histories of regions like Russia, China, Ashkenazis and Madagasy. We also talk about the Indo-Aryan connection. We talk about whether race is a social construct. We discuss the concept of epigenetics and so-called inherited trauma. We talk about what Cleopatra really looked like and more. I hope you all enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.

Reparations and the Legacy of BLM with The GoodFellows Jun 02, 2023

This episode is actually my appearance on the Goodfellows podcast, which is run by the Hoover Institution. They asked me about the reparations proposal that was recently put forward in California. They also asked me about the legacy of Black Lives Matter. We talk about the 1619 Project. We talk about color blindness and a post-racial society. Finally, they went on to ask me what advice I would give to young black kids today.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Evolution, Intergenerational Trauma, and Gender with Jerry Coyne May 26, 2023

My guest today is Jerry Coyne. Jerry is an evolutionary biologist and geneticist. He received his PhD from Harvard in 1978, after which he served as a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Ecology and Evolution for over two decades. His seminal work is on the speciation of fruit flies. Jerry is also the author of two books, including "Why Evolution Is True", which is also the name of his blog, and "Faith Versus Fact".

In this episode, we talk about the tension between evolution and the biblical origin story. Jerry goes over the basics of the theory of evolution by natural selection. We talk about sexual selection. We talk about the teaching of intelligent design in schools and how that compares to the battle over CRT in schools today. We dicuss the attack on evolutionary psychology from the political left. We discuss epi genetics and the concept of intergenerational trauma. We talk about how humanity has evolved genetically in recent history and the consequences of birth rate differences between different groups of people. We talk about gender dysphoria and gender ideology. Finally, we go on to talk about the unanswered questions that remain in the field of evolutionary biology.

Is Whiteness Killing Us? with Dr. Jonathan Metzl May 19, 2023

My guest today is Dr. Jonathan Metzl. Jonathan is a psychiatrist and author and a professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University. He's written several books including "The Protest Psychosis", "Prozac on the Couch", "Against Health" and the topic of today's conversation, "Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland", which received the Robert F. Kennedy award for nonfiction.

In "Dying of Whiteness", Jonathan argues that GOP policies like cutting education funds, cutting taxes, opposing Obamacare, and opposing gun control are hurting the life expectancy of America's white population. In other words, hurting the very people who support these policies most. He also argues that support for these policies policies stems from racial resentment, a feeling of resentment towards minorities among white people. As you'll hear in the discussion, I don't agree that whiteness and racial resentment are the best explanations for why the median Republican supports these policies. And I also think that concepts like "whiteness", and "blackness" are toxic. I think people understandably hear these words as attacks on their racial identities, which they can't control. And so I think we should just rid the discourse of these words. Jonathan obviously disagrees and we talk about that in the episode.

That said, there are some smaller claims I agreed with Jonathan like the fact that the easy availability of guns in this country has made suicide easier for people, especially for the very population that opposes gun control laws. Some of his other claims about the effect of cutting school budgets on life expectancy, I found to be poorly supported. And you'll hear me press him on that towards the middle of the episode. In general, I found that there was some distance between the tone of his book and the positions he was willing to defend in the room. And I don't know exactly how to handle situations like that, as an interviewer. Do I just talk to the person I'm meeting in the room? Or do I hold people accountable to the precise claims that they made in the book? I don't really know. Anyway, I'm grateful to Jonathan for coming on the podcast and I hope you all enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Is Psychology a Fake Science? with Paul Bloom May 12, 2023

My guest today is Paul Bloom. Paul Bloom is a renowned psychologist, professor and author currently teaching at Yale University and University of Toronto. He's published many books including "Descartes' Baby", "How Pleasure Works", "Just Babies", "Against Empathy", "The Sweet Spot", and the topic of today's conversation, "Psych: The Story of the Human Mind".

In this episode, we'll be discussing a broad summary of the field and findings of psychology, touching on its various branches and exploring the complexities of human behavior. We talk about whether psychology is a real science. We talk about the reality of the unconscious mind. We talk about the legacy of Freud, the advantages of self-delusion, the hard problem of consciousness, artificial intelligence and its implication for rival theories of human language and for the future of art. We talk about the potential dangers of AI misalignment, the definition of intelligence, nature versus nurture and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Multiverse of Madness with David Deutsch May 09, 2023

My guest today is David Deutsch. David is a renowned physicist and philosopher, best known for his work on quantum computation and his contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. He's a fellow of the Royal Society and a visiting professor of physics at the University of Oxford. David has written two books called "The Fabric of Reality" and "The Beginning of Infinity"

In this episode, we talk about the purpose of science. We discuss the concept of an explanation and its crucial role in the scientific process. We examine the famous double-slit experiment. We discuss rival interpretations of quantum mechanics and what they imply about the nature of reality. We also talk about progress in physics and advances in artificial intelligence.

Debating Race and Incarceration with Vincent Lloyd May 05, 2023

My guest today is Vincent Lloyd. Vincent is a professor at Villanova University where he directed the Black Studies Program, leads workshops on anti-racism and transformative justice, and has published books on anti-black racism, including "Black Dignity: The Struggle against Domination". Now, Vincent is one of those rare guests with whom I have profound disagreements on the topic of race, but who's actually willing to have the conversation, which I'm very grateful for.

Vincent came to my attention because of a stunning essay he wrote about his experience teaching a summer course on racism at the Telluride Association. He'll tell the full story in the podcast, but essentially his class was destroyed from within by a single hyper-woke person. It's a crazy story and I think it shocked him, and forced him to reckon with the anti-dialogue pro intimidation component of the campus far left. In any event, Vincent and I begin by talking about this strange experience of having his class imploded, and then we move on to debate our substantive disagreements about racism, police violence, race versus class, whether prisons are necessary, and much more.

Science and Spirituality with Robert Wright Apr 28, 2023

My guest today is Robert Wright. Robert is an author and journalist whose work has spanned a variety of topics from evolutionary psychology and game theory to the nature of consciousness and the role of mindfulness meditation in society. He's the author of many best-selling books, including "The Moral Animal", ''Nonzero'', and ''Why Buddhism is True''.

In today's conversation, we explore the intersection of science, spirituality, and ethics, as well as how Robert's work can help us navigate the increasingly complex landscape of modern society. We also discuss the power of mindfulness and meditation, fostering personal growth and promoting a more compassionate and connected world.

The Genius Behind Titania McGrath with Andrew Doyle Apr 21, 2023

My guest today is Andrew Doyle. Andrew is a British comedian, writer, and political commentator. He's best known for creating and writing the satirical character Titania McGrath, a fictional social justice warrior who parodies extreme progressive activism.

Doyle is also a frequent contributor to The Spectator, Spiked, and many other publications, where he writes on topics related to free speech, political correctness, and social justice. He's also written several books including "Woke: A Guide to Social Justice" which he wrote in character as Titania and "Free Speech And Why It Matters" which he wrote as himself. In addition to his work as a writer, Doyle has also performed a stand-up comedy and appeared on various TV and radio programs in the UK.

This was a really fun and wide-ranging conversation about a bunch of different topics, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Dating, Gender, & Virtue Signaling with Sarah Haider & Meghan Daum Apr 14, 2023

My guests today are Sarah Hader and Meghan Daum, who co-host the podcast called "A Special Place in Hell". Sarah, Meghan, and I talk about the difficulty of dating in New York City when you have heterodox politics.

I talk about how the death of my mother influenced my attitude toward science and alternative medicine. We talk about social contagion and gender dysphoria. We talk about Sarah Hader's origin story as an ex-Muslim. We talk about Meghan's origin story as a hater of phoniness. We talk about Robin Hansen's great book, "The Elephant in the Brain", and the evolutionary logic of virtue signaling. We talk about split-brain patients, the bad incentives facing public intellectuals, lab leaks, and much more.

I really recommend you all check out their podcast called A Special Place in Hell. If you like what I'm doing here, then you're probably going to like what they're doing over there.

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DEBATE: Is The Democratic Party Too Far Left? Apr 07, 2023

On the 21st of March, I participated in an Intelligence Squared debate against Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and Congressman Jamaal Bowman. The motion of the debate was: "Has the Democratic Party gone too far left?" So the Political scientist Ruy Teixeira and I argued in the affirmative while Alicia and Jamal argued the negative.

Now this debate was frustrating for me at times and I think you'll hear exactly when those times are. However, overall I'm really glad that I did it and I hope you enjoy it.

Racism, UFOs, and Cultural Appropriation with Neil deGrasse Tyson Apr 01, 2023

My guest today needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway. Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Neil is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Centre for Earth and Space in New York City. He's also hosted and co-hosted numerous science-related TV and radio programs, including Nova Science Now, and Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey. Neil has written several books, including "The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet", "Astrophysics for People In A Hurry", and his new book "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization".

This is Neil's second time on the podcast, and this time we discuss many issues, including declining public trust in science. We also talk about UFOs or UAPs as they're now called. We discuss the history of scientific racism. We talk about the art of communicating science to the general public. We discuss the issue of cultural appropriation. We also talk about the generational gap between Neil and myself and how that may lead us to interpret our experiences differently as black men in predominantly white intellectual spaces, and we go on to talk about much more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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The Strange Death of Journalism with Batya Ungar-Sargon Mar 25, 2023

My guest today is Batya Ungar-Sargon. Batya is a deputy opinion news editor at Newsweek and a columnist at Compact magazine. Before that, she was the opinion editor of The Forward.

In this episode, we talk about tribalism and individualism. We talk about how journalism and media became woke. We talk about the shift from journalism being a working-class profession to a profession for elites and the consequences of that shift. We also talk about gender ideology and at the end, Batya turns the tables on me and asks me several interesting and probing questions about myself and about my audience.

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Mind-Reading Tech is Here with Nita Farahany Mar 17, 2023

My guest today is Nita Farahany. Nita is a professor of Law and Philosophy at Duke Law School. She is the founding director of the Duke Science and Society. She is the faculty chair of the Duke MA in Bioethics and Science Policy and Principal Investigator at slap lab. In 2010, she was appointed by President Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues where she served until 2017. She's an appointed Member of the National Advisory Council for the National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke and she is a past president of the International Neuroethics Society. This is only a small slice of her bio.

The topic of this conversation is mind reading, and I don't mean trying to guess what's in somebody's head. I mean actual technology that scans your brain and reliably conveys what you are thinking or feeling. Now, this seemed like science fiction to me, but Nita convinced me in this conversation that this technology is already here, and there are a host of ethical questions relating to privacy and other things.

Nita and I talk about how EEG scans can give us information about our minds. We talk about the relationship between EEG scans and classical questions in the philosophy of mind, such as consciousness, as well as free will. We talk about the uses of mind-reading technology in criminal investigations, which has already happened. We talk about the current uses of mind-reading tech in Chinese factories. And yes, that is already happening too. We talk about tattoos that can pick up your brain activity. And once again, that already exists. We talk about the combination of artificial intelligence and mind-reading tech and what that promises for the future. We talk about whether excellent liars would be able to pass mind-reading technology. We also talk about how mind-reading tech has even been used to tell whether couples are in love. I really hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Alcoholism, Self-Sabotage, and Wokeness with Africa Brooke Mar 10, 2023

My guest today is Africa Brooke. Africa is a London-based consultant, writer, and life coach. She is the host of the "Beyond the Self" podcast.

In this episode, we talk about her background growing up in Zimbabwe and her experience as an immigrant to the UK. We talk about her journey from alcoholism to sobriety. We talk about her essay, "Why I'm leaving the cult of wokeness?" We also talk about the notion of self-sabotage. Africa is essentially a life coach for high-profile clients and at some point, this conversation basically turns into a life coaching session for me. We talk about my own habits with alcohol, as well as the ways in which I might engage in self-sabotage. Africa seems to be very good at her job, and I hope you find something of value in this conversation.

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Woke Capital with Marc Andreessen Mar 04, 2023

My guest today is Marc Andreessen. Marc is an entrepreneur, venture capital investor, and software engineer. Marc co-founded Mosaic, which was the first widely used Internet browser, as well as Netscape. He also co-founded Opsware and Ning. He is on the board of Meta, and his most important achievement is that he's the first billionaire to ever appear on this podcast.

Marc and I talk about venture capital as a whole and why VC firms on average fail to outperform the stock market. We talk about the role of hierarchy in companies and the possibility of having a truly flat structure where every employee is of equal rank. We talk about George Orwell's book "Homage to Catalonia". We talk about why corporations go woke and why Marc resists that trend. We talk about the maladaptive qualities that have helped him succeed in the VC world and we talk about his long-term vision for his VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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Ron DeSantis' War on Wokeness with Kmele Foster, Chloé Valdary and David Bernstein Feb 24, 2023

Today's conversation is a roundtable with several guests instead of my usual one on one. My guests today are Kmele Foster (Co-Founder of Free Think and Host of The Fifth Column Podcast), Chloé Valdary (Founder of Theory of Enchantment and Host of The Heart Speaks Podcast), and David Bernstein (Author of the recent book "Woke Antisemitism").

We discuss Ron DeSantis' and Chris Rufo's war on wokeness. We discuss Kmele's position on race abolition. We talk about the relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, and much more.

If you enjoy these larger conversations, let me know and I will do more of them.

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Trans Rights vs. Women's Rights with Kathleen Stock Feb 17, 2023

My guest today is Kathleen Stock. Kathleen is a philosopher and a writer, and she was a philosophy professor at the University of Sussex for many years, until she was stampeded out of her job by a mob of angry students. As you'll hear in this episode, Kathleen's main offense was her views on trans issues, which are broadly aligned with people like JK Rowling and Helen Joyce. Due to these critiques of Trans activist ideology, she was more or less run out of her university. Kathleen's story didn't make as many headlines in America as it should have. However, it really is one of the most egregious examples of cancel culture since Brett Weinstein's debacle at Evergreen.

Though Kathleen and I don't agree on everything, as you'll see in the episode, I think the treatment she's received has been shameful. In any event, we discuss all of that in this episode. We talk about the conceptual distinction between sex and gender. We talk about whether one should respect people's preferred pronouns and I think there's some distance between Kathleen and me on those two topics. We also talk about the conflict between trans rights and female rights. We talk about what to do with female-only spaces such as locker rooms, bathrooms, women's sports, and prisons. We talk about what to do with children who self-identify as Trans. We talk about puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical transitions. We also discuss the phenomenon of social contagion, detransitioners, and desisters.

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The History and Ethics of the Israel-Palestine Conflict with Dr. Benny Morris Feb 10, 2023

The topic of today's episode is the Israel-Palestine conflict. I've avoided discussing Israel on this podcast for two reasons. First, because I didn't know enough to feel qualified to weigh in on it. Second, because it may literally be the most radioactive topic on planet Earth. A tiny mistake or misplace word can cause a level of backlash that I just don't want to deal with. However, two things have changed over the past few months. I discuss these two factors in detail in the first few minutes of the episode.

I want the first half of this podcast to serve as an introduction to basic historical facts behind the conflict. If you're well versed on this topic, then you may want to skip the beginning. However, on the other hand, there is still quite a bit of interesting material there. The rest of this podcast is about the ethics and the current politics of the conflict. Who is in the right, and who is in the wrong? Is Israel an apartheid state that's oppressing a minority out of pure bigotry? Is it a colonialist, expansionist state motivated by religious belief? Or is it an embattled and legitimate nation-state surrounded by enemies that want only to survive? These are the questions that people struggle with and I brought in Dr. Benny Morris to help me answer them. Dr.Benny Morris has a unique vantage point on this issue. On the one hand, he is an Israeli Jew, and in recent years, he has become a major defender of Israel against global condemnation. On the other hand, he's probably done more than almost anyone you could name, to discover and publicize Israel's historical war crimes. He refused to serve in the Occupy West Bank Operation and was arrested as a result. His academic work on Israel is cited favorably by people like Noam Chomsky, who is all the way on the other side of the issue. Dr. Benny was at one point shunned by the Israeli academic community for being in essence "a traitor" to his people. He's one of the few people who can really claim to have battle scars from both sides of this debate.

Therefore, I thought he'd be a good person to help me weave through the complexities of the topic. I have a lot of admiration for Benny Morris, and I hope you find him as illuminating as I did.

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Race & Inequality Across the Pond with Inaya Folarin Iman Feb 03, 2023

My guest today is Inaya Folarin Iman. Inaya is the founder of The Equiano Project, a British organization dedicated to promoting free speech, common humanity, and universalism. She recently organized a conference called "Towards the Common Good" hosted at Cambridge, where John McWhorter, Glenn Loury, Thomas Chatterton Williams, and yours truly, spoke along with a host of British thinkers who are fighting in the same trenches that people like John, Glenn, Thomas and myself are. Inaya is one of the major people fighting this fight in the UK. She also ran for Parliament as part of the Brexit party in 2019 and has written for many outlets in the UK including The Telegraph, Spiked and Unheard.

In this episode, we discuss Inaya's background growing up in a working-class immigrant family. We talk about the influence of Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd moment in the UK. We discuss the similarities and differences between the US and the UK with regard to race relations. We talk about the contents of Boris Johnson's commission on race and how that report was misportrayed in the media. We also talk about the tragic cases of Sasha Johnson (a Brit) and Jazmine Barnes (an American), both of whom call into question which Black lives matter, and which Black lives don't.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Defeating the Race Baiters with Freddie Sayers Feb 02, 2023

This is a recording of a live event that I did in London with Freddie Sayers. Freddie is the former editor-in-chief of YouGov, the founder of Politics Home, and the executive editor of UnHerd, which is a great publication you should all be reading.

So Freddie ran this conversation, and we covered lots of ground. We talk about American race politics. We discuss the legacy of Black Lives Matter. We talk about how to tackle divisive, race-centered ideologies. I really enjoyed this conversation, and you'll hear that the crowd did too. For whatever reason, I was quite a bit funnier here than I usually am. So that's always good.

I hope you all enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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Is the Royal Family Racist? with Andrew Gold Jan 26, 2023

My guest today is Andrew Gold. Andrew Gold is an ex-BBC journalist and documentary filmmaker, who now has an excellent podcast called "On The Edge". Andrew focuses on weird and controversial people, for instance, psychopaths, former cult members, exorcists, and so forth.

In this episode, we discuss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to leave the UK and the accusation of racism they leveled at the royal family on the way out. We discuss the Israel - Palestine conflict. We talk about the prospect of immortality and whether it would be desirable. We discuss the psychology of gender identity. We talk about pop music, social bubbles, and much more. I really liked this conversation because we dealt with so many seemingly unrelated topics, which is a nice departure from most of my conversations which generally focuses on one topic. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

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Jihad Rehab: A Tale of Cancellation with Meg Smaker Jan 20, 2023

Welcome to the first Conversations with Coleman of 2023.

We're starting things off right with a great guest, Meg Smaker. If you've heard of Meg, it's probably because of the controversy surrounding her new documentary, originally called "Jihad Rehab", but later changed to "The Unredacted". Now, before I describe the controversy to you, I want to first say that this is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my life, hands down, and it was initially received that way at the Sundance Film Festival. Meg and her camera crew follow former jihadists who have just been released from Guantanamo Bay after 15 years. These former terrorists go through a special rehab program in Saudi Arabia and eventually try to integrate back into Saudi society with varying levels of success.

The documentary touches on America's war on terror, the root causes of Jihadist violence, the challenges of becoming a civilian again once you spend two years fighting and in prison, and our tendency to dehumanize people who've done terrible things. However, Meg's film was condemned by a small group of perpetually offended people on the far left. They condemned the film for being Islamophobic, which it certainly isn't. And they condemn Meg for being a white woman making a film about Arabs (never mind that she lived in the Middle East for many years, speaks Arabic, and so forth). If this documentary had been created by an Arab filmmaker but was identical in every other way, I have no doubt that the same people would be saying it should be nominated for an Oscar. It's really that good. Unfortunately, after her initially warm reception at Sundance, the people at Sundance reversed course and rejected her film from the festival caving into the demands of a small group of activists. Truly a cowardly concession to cancel culture in my view.

If you are able to access this documentary, I highly recommend you watch it. I also hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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Actually Color Blindness Isn't Racist | Essay Jan 17, 2023

In this special video essay, I share my thoughts on the long-running national debate on color blindness.

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Best of Season 3 - Highlight Reel Dec 24, 2022

Welcome to the final Conversations with Coleman episode of the year.

I want to thank everyone for all the incredible support this year.

It's been a great year for the podcast, and I have all of you, especially those of you who support the show to thank for that.

In this final episode, my producer has put together some of the best moments from the podcast over this last year.

I hope you all enjoy this year-end highlight reel and of course, wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

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The Problem of Democracy with Shadi Hamid (S3 Ep.41) Dec 17, 2022

My guest today is Shadi Hamid. Shadi is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He was named one of the world's top 50 thinkers in 2019 by Prospect Magazine. Shadi is also the author of three books, Temptations of Power , Islamic Exceptionalism, and The Problem of Democracy, which will be the primary subject of this conversation.

Shadi and I talk about the difference between liberal democracy and democracy, full stop. We discuss Shadi's concept of democratic minimalism, which is the idea that we should promote democracy in the Middle East even when it leads to illiberal outcomes. We discuss the state of public opinion in Arab countries. We talk about the difference between Islamist and secular parties. We talk about the Israel-Palestine conflict and how it might be affected by the prospect of more democracy in the Middle East. We discuss the lessons learned from the Arab Spring. We talk about the new popularity of isolationist foreign policy in America. We also go on to talk about the so-called "Benign Dictatorships" and much more.

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Elites And Experts with David Sacks (S3 Ep.40) Dec 10, 2022

My guest today is David Sacks. David is an entrepreneur, tech investor, film producer, and the co-host of the All-In podcast, which I highly recommend. He's General Partner at Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm he co-founded. David was the founding CEO of PayPal, which makes him a part of the so-called PayPal Mafia, which includes folks like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. He was an angel investor in Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Airbnb, and many other successful companies. He also produced the film "Thank You for Smoking", which was nominated for several Golden Globes.

David and I talk about his background as an entrepreneur and investor. We discuss his critique of what he calls the "expert class" as well as the "professional class". We talk about the problems with elite colleges and universities. We discussed the attributes that made the PayPal Mafia so successful. We talk about Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and his controversial leadership style. Finally, we also go on to talk about our mutual hobby - Chess.

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Can We Trust AI? with Rama Chellappa (S3 Ep.39) Dec 03, 2022

My guest today is Rama Chellappa. Rama Chellappa is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He's a chief scientist at the Johns Hopkins Institute for assured autonomy. Before that, Rama was an assistant Associate Professor and later became the director of the University of Southern California Signal and Image Processing Institute. Rama is also the author of the book "Can We Trust AI?"

This episode is all about artificial intelligence. Several recent stories about AI have shocked and worried me. We have deep fakes going viral on Tiktok. AI reaching human levels of gameplay at the game "Diplomacy", which is a language-based game of conquest and deception. Then you have the Generative Adversarial Networks or "GANs" creating images from a line of text that rival and often exceed the work done by human graphic designers. Rama and I discuss all of these topics as well as other topics like neural networks, the difference between narrow intelligence and general intelligence, the use of facial recognition software, the possibility of an AI engaging in racial discrimination, the future of work, the so-called alignment problem, and much more.

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Snitches Get Stitches with Alexandra Natapoff (S3 Ep.38) Nov 20, 2022

My guest today is Professor Alexandra Natapoff. Alexandra is a law professor at Harvard University. She writes about criminal courts, public defense, plea bargaining, wrongful convictions, and race and inequality in the criminal justice system. Her new book, which is an expanded edition of her older book is called "Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice"

In this episode, Alexandra and I discuss a phenomenon that's rarely encountered outside of shows like The Sopranos and The Wire, which is the use of criminal informants in the American justice system. Not all countries allow cops and prosecutors to reduce an accused criminal sentence in exchange for his cooperation and other investigations. However, Alexandra argues that most local and state agencies in America are allowed to do this with no documentation and no transparency. We talk about the advantages as well as the flaws of this system. We discuss the risk of informants giving false information or even planting evidence to reduce their own sentences. We talk about the triangular relationship between cops, informants, and prosecutors. We talk about the secretive nature of the informant system and how that prevents academics from studying it. I also press Alexandra on whether her proposal for transparency in the informant system would hinder the cops' ability to solve violent crimes and protect unsafe neighborhoods.

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The Death of The American Coalition with Tim Shenk (S3 Ep.37) Nov 11, 2022

My guest today is Timothy Shenk. Tim is a historian at George Washington University and a co-editor at Dissent magazine. He has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, London Review of Books, The Nation, The New Republic, and Jacobin, among other publications. Tim is also the author of the book "Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy".

In this episode, Tim and I discuss the book that President Obama wrote in the 90s, but never published, which Tim was able to get his hands on. We discuss Obama's early influences, his critique of the left and his critique of expertise. We talk about how Obama's views have changed from the 90s to today. We talk about the legacy of Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and writer who was a hero to both Tim and myself. We talk about how political parties used to build long-term coalitions and win many elections in a row, and why neither party is able to do that today. We discuss popularism and its critics. We also go on to talk about the midterm elections.

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The Art Of Storytelling with Christopher Paolini (S3 Ep.36) Oct 28, 2022

Today I have a different kind of guest than I usually do. He's a fantasy and sci-fi author by the name of Christopher Paolini. You may be aware of his best-selling young adult fantasy book Eragon, which he wrote at the age of 15 and was also made into a major-budget film. The rest of the books in that series are Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. You may also be aware of his more recent sci-fi novel called "To Sleep in a Sea of Stars". I've been a huge fan of Christopher for a very long time, and it was an honor to pick his brain.

In this episode, we talk about Christopher's writing process, the art of storytelling, the difference between young adult fiction and adult fiction, his strange path to becoming an author, the shortening of our collective attention spans, and much more. This was really one of my favorite recent interviews, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Drowning In Debt With Josh Mitchell (S3 Ep.35) Oct 21, 2022

My guest today is Josh Mitchell. Josh is a Wall Street Journal reporter who covers debt and finance. His book is called "The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe" and it was named one of the best books of 2021 by both NPR and The New York Post.

In this episode, Josh and I talk about the history of government involvement in student loans. We discuss the reasons why college tuition has been soaring since the 1980s. We talk about the value of a four-year college degree. We talk about the similarities between the housing crisis of the 2000s and the current student loan crisis. We also go on to talk about President Biden's student loan forgiveness program, and much more.

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The Art Of Meditation with Samaneri Jayasāra (S3 Ep.34) Oct 14, 2022

My guest today is Samaneri Jayasāra. Samaneri is a Buddhist nun and spiritual teacher. Her YouTube channel where she shares her lectures has over 80,000 subscribers.

In this episode, Samaneri and I discuss the purpose of meditation, the true nature of emotions, the core teachings of Buddhism, the illusion of boredom, the difference between Buddhism and the Abrahamic religions, the possibility of enlightenment, the cycle of pleasure and pain, and much more.

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Music, Movies, And Innovation With Ted Gioia (S3 Ep.33) Oct 07, 2022

My guest today is Ted Gioia. Ted is a musician and an author. He's written 11 books including his latest, which is called "Music: A Subversive History". He's been on the faculty at Stanford, and he's been published in the New York Times, the LA Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other newspapers.

In this episode, Ted and I talk about why human beings enjoy music from an evolutionary perspective. We discuss the evolution of recorded music from the analog age to the present. We talk about Ted's unique approach to music history. We talk about the increasing market share of older music compared to newer music. We talk about the current state of music criticism and music writing. We discuss how the streaming model has affected the music industry and the strange phenomenon of fake artists on Spotify. We also talk about Hollywood's shift towards doing remakes and sequels and brand extensions as opposed to new stories, and much more.

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Understanding the Iranian Protests with Maryam Namazie (S3 Ep.32) Oct 01, 2022

My guest today is Maryam Namazie. Maryam is an Iranian-born writer and activist living in the UK. She's the spokesperson of "One Law for All" and "The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain". She has co-authored many books, including "Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights", "Enemies Not Allies: The Far-Right" and "Political and Legal Status of Apostates in Islam".

This episode is all about the current uprising in Iran. Miriam and I talk about the death of Masa Amini in police custody and the protests that her death has caused all over Iran. We talk about the Iranian morality police and the laws and customs governing how Iranian women have to dress and behave. We discuss the strange alliance of conservative Islam and Western intersectional feminism. We discuss the legacy of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which turned around into an Islamic state. We talk about the robust black market for Western and secular content in Iran. We also talk about what we in the West can do to support Iranian women and protesters, and much more.

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Of Boys And Men with Richard Reeves (S3 Ep.31) Sep 23, 2022

My guest today is Richard Reeves. Richard Reeves is a Senior Fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institute, where His research focuses on social mobility, inequality, and the middle class. Richard's new book is called "Of boys and men" and it's all about the specific problems facing men in American society.

In this episode, Richard and I talk about whether there's any need to address male-specific problems in the first place. We discuss whether gender differences come from nature or nurture. We talk about the so-called feminization of society. We talk about the advantage that girls have in our education system, the wisdom of age segregation in K-12 schooling, the gender disparity and ADHD diagnoses, how the labor market has become less male-friendly, the suicide gap between men and women, the intersection of race and maleness, the unique struggles of black boys, and much more.

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Marxism, Intelligence, And The Thing with Freddie DeBoer (S3 Ep.30) Sep 09, 2022

My guest today is Freddie DeBoer. Freddie is an independent writer on substack and has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and many other places. His book "The Cult of Smart" was named one of the 10 best books of 2020 by New York Magazine.

In this episode, Freddie and I begin by discussing Karl Marx, the legacy of Marxism, and the so-called "labor theory of value". Freddie sees much more value in Marxism than I do so we disagree somewhat on that. We move on to discuss intelligence and the broken system of American higher education. A lot of that conversation is directly relevant to President Biden's recent student loan forgiveness executive order, although we recorded this right before that news broke. Finally, Freddie and I talked about wokeness and social justice ideology.

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Humanity in a Thousand Years with Will MacAskill (S3 Ep.29) Sep 04, 2022

My guest today is Will MacAskill. Will is an associate professor of philosophy at Oxford University. He is the co-founder and president of the Centre for Effective Altruism. Will is also the director of the Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research.

In this episode, we discuss his new book "What We Owe the Future". We talk about whether we have a moral obligation to the billions of humans that will be born in the next several 1000 years, and how to weigh those obligations against those of living humans. We discuss population ethics in general, and Derek Parfit's Repugnant Conclusion thought experiment. We discuss the role of economic growth in humanity's long-term future and how to weigh that against present-day wealth inequality. We talk about the ethics of abortion, and the notion of moral progress. We also discuss the possible AI futures that lie ahead of us and much more.

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Quillette, IDW, and Conspiracy with Claire Lehmann (S3 Ep.28) Aug 26, 2022

My guest today is Claire Lehmann. Claire is an Australian journalist and the founder of Quillette, which is the online magazine that I use to write for.

In this episode, Claire and I talk about why she founded Quillette, and how she maintains its original purpose as a magazine. We discuss the so-called "IDW" (the intellectual dark web) and the perception that it fractured into two camps on COVID issues. We discuss the difference between Australian and American COVID policy. We talk about the phenomenon of audience capture and how to fight it. We also talk about gun control in America and Australia, and much more.

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Check out the Conversations with Coleman - Spanish Channel: https://bit.ly/CwCSpanish

America's Failed Criminal Justice Experiment with Rafael Mangual (S3 Ep.27) Aug 22, 2022

My guest today is Rafael Mangual. Rafael is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Head of Research at their policing and public safety initiative. His new book is called "Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts Most".

In this episode, we discuss the nationwide push for defunding and de-policing starting in the summer of 2020. We talk about the so-called root causes of crime. We talk about Ava DuVernay's documentary "13th" and Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow". We discuss the causes of mass incarceration. We talk about cash bail and bail reform. We also go on to talk about legalizing weed and much more.

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Beyond The Lines of Color and Race with Ian Rowe (S3 Ep.26) Aug 12, 2022

My guest today is Ian Rowe. Ian is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the founder of Vertex Partnership Academies. He's also an educator who ran a charter school called Public Prep in the South Bronx for many years.

In this episode, we discuss his new book "Agency". We talk about the obstacles facing low-income Black and Hispanic kids at the schools Ian teaches in. We discuss the problems with the narratives handed to these kids by both the left and the right which Ian calls the "blame the system" mindset and the "blame the victim" mindset respectively. We talk about the challenges faced by charter schools in general and the political opposition they face. We also talk about the role of religion and upward mobility and much more.

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Black, White and Everything In Between With David Bernstein (S3 Ep.25) Aug 08, 2022

My guest today is David Bernstein. David is a professor at George Mason University Law School and the executive director of their liberty and Law Centre. His new book is called "Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America".

Topics covered in this episode include the definition of race and the historical origins of America's Big Five racial and ethnic categories, which are Asian American, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and White. We discuss the problems with all of these categories and how those problems manifest in race-based affirmative action programs and race-based social spending in general. We talk about the phenomenon of racial fraud trials where judges have to determine the race of individuals seeking to qualify for certain programs. We discuss the malleability of racial identity, and how commonly our racial identities can change in response to incentives. We also go on to discuss the prospect of what David calls "a separation of race and state".

I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too.

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WikiLeaks and Whistleblowing: An Exposé That Shook The World with Julian Assange (S3 Ep.24) Jul 31, 2022

Today I'm going to try something new. Instead of publishing an interview that I did myself, or a Q&A where I answer your questions, I'm going to use my platform to publish an interview conducted by somebody else. Now, this requires a bit of an explanation. My friend Desh Amila, who's a filmmaker and producer, organized an event with Julian Assange in 2017. He filmed the event at the time and then forgot all about it until a few days ago when he came across the footage by coincidence. When Desh offered to publish this footage using my platform, I was hesitant at first, because I worry that publishing this on my podcast would give people the impression that I support Julian Assange's actions, or that I support WikiLeaks as an organization.

So let me say this upfront - I'm agnostic about whether Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have done more good than harm for the world, as their supporters must believe. It's just not clear to me, and my publishing of this interview should not be taken by anyone as an endorsement either of him or of WikiLeaks. As all of you are aware, I'm a big defender of free speech and transparency. Therefore, you might expect that I would always take the side of the whistleblower who reveals important secrets held by governments or powerful corporations. For example: I had Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower on this show just a few months ago and I gave her a very friendly interview because I thought that what she revealed about Facebook was clearly a net good for the world. However, my support for free speech and transparency in general, doesn't automatically extend to every specific release of hacked information, especially in cases where that information could hurt people.

You will be able to hear more of my thoughts on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in the introduction to the episode.

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Ask Me Anything with Coleman Hughes | Special Episode Jul 22, 2022

Today's episode is a Q&A where I answer questions sent to me by supporters of the podcast. Usually, I only release these episodes to members only, but I'm releasing this one to the public because I felt the questions were particularly good.

If you have any burning questions you'd like to ask me, and if you'd like to be a part of the next Members Exclusive Q&A, you can join the Coleman Unfiltered Community and become a member today via https://colemanhughes.org/unfiltered

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The Pride Generation with Katie Herzog (S3 Ep.23) Jul 17, 2022

My guest today is Katie Herzog. Katie is the host of the very funny "Blocked and Reported" Podcast along with Jesse Single. She is a great visual artist and was also a staff writer at "The Stranger" for many years.

In this episode, we talk about Katie's upbringing as a lesbian in a less than accepting environment. We also discuss the rapid rise in the salience of trans issues in the past couple of years, the element of social contagion, and the recent rise of Gen Z girls with gender dysphoria. We talk about the mission creep of gay rights organizations and the increasing salience of drag queens in the culture as well as the backlash against them. We discuss the concept of being non-binary and the difference between male and female sexuality. We also talk about pedophilia and so-called virtuous pedophiles. We discuss puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender reassignment surgery. Katie also gives advice to parents with gender dysphoric children. We go on to talk about trans women in sports and the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill and much more.

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BLM: The Revolution Will Not Be Criticized with Zac Kriegman (S3 Ep.22) Jul 08, 2022

My guest today is Zac Kriegman. Zach was a director of data science at Thomson Reuters before he got fired for posting a fact-based criticism of Black Lives Matter in an internal memo. This is one of the worst examples of Cancel Culture and enforced orthodoxy around the issue of race that I've seen in a while. Zach was fired for pointing to research by Roland Fryer who I just had on the podcast, and others, which showed that there was no anti-black bias in police shootings as well as that DOJ investigations into police departments in certain cases caused an increase in homicides due to the police pulling back.

Now as a director of data science at a major media company that has a respected fact-checking wing, part of Zac's job was to ensure that Thomson Reuters was using data accurately and he got fired for doing exactly that. Now he's suing Reuters for wrongful termination. In the meantime, Zac has a substack, where he has posted the memo which got him fired, as well as some other essays. You should definitely go check that out.

In this conversation, we talk about the circumstances surrounding his firing and we primarily speak on the substantive issue of BLM and the effect it has had on policing and crime. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do too.

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The Death of Conversation with Jonathan Haidt (S3 Ep.21) Jun 25, 2022

My guest today is Jonathan Haidt. I just had Jonathan on the show a few weeks ago with Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, but I wanted to get him back for a one-on-one. I'm glad I did because this turned out to be a really great conversation. It actually felt more like a private phone call than an interview, which I thought was really cool. I also thought it was really cool that John brought up the first email that I ever sent to him back when I was just a random Columbia undergraduate trying to understand why some of my professors seemed totally insane.

In the episode, we talk about humor and offensive jokes. We discuss reasons why social media sucks so much as a forum for serious conversations. We also talk about the pros and cons of the internet, the progress America has made on issues like racism, and whether protest movements are still a useful practice. We also go to talk about Elon Musk potentially buying Twitter, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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Can Musicians Think Freely? with Winston Marshall (S3 Ep.20) Jun 18, 2022

My guest today is Winston Marshall. Winston is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning band "Mumford and Sons", in which he played lead guitar and banjo for 14 years. He left the band after writing a tweet that praised a book by Andy Ngo. As many of you may remember, Andy Ngo is a journalist that got beaten to a pulp by Antifa extremists. Winston wrote a pretty mild tweet approving of Andy Ngo's book on Antifa and as a result, was pressured to leave Mumford and Sons and he eventually did. He now has a podcast called "Marshall Matters" which this conversation will also be aired on, so you can go check that out.

In this episode, we discuss Winston's time with Mumford and Sons. We discuss the influence of Jordan Peterson on his thinking and even on his songwriting. We talk about cancel culture in particular with regards to the music industry in Hollywood. We talk about my position on reparations for slavery. We also talk about the differences between America and the UK and much more.

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Voter Suppression: Fact Or Fiction? with Sam Koppelman (S3 Ep.19) Jun 10, 2022

My guest today is Sam Koppelman. Sam is a best-selling author and top speechwriter for many prominent politicians. Sam just co-wrote a book with former Attorney General Eric Holder called "Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote-A History, a Crisis, a Plan"

In this episode, we talked about voter fraud, voter ID laws, voter suppression, and gerrymandering. We discuss the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the so-called "gutting of that act" in 2013. We also talk about the great replacement theory and much more.

As you'll hear in the episode, I'm skeptical of the narrative that voter suppression is a huge problem, that voter ID laws are racist, and so forth. While Sam doesn't quite go that far, I think there is some distance between his position on these topics and my own. As we near the midterms, I'm gonna have a few more guests like this that deal with electoral politics. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

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Overcoming the Odds with Roland Fryer (S3 Ep.18) Jun 05, 2022

My guest today is Roland Fryer. Roland is an economics professor at Harvard University. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant and the Bates medal. Roland is probably among the top five most frequent guest requests that I get. So it was really exciting to finally have him on the show.

In this episode, we discuss Roland's childhood and the many obstacles he had to overcome in order to become a top-notch economist. We talk about his relationship with his grandmother and his father, our relationships to our own racial identities, the progress that America has made in fighting racism, and whether race consciousness can ever be a good thing. We also talk about why high school is boring for so many people and what can be done about it, stand-up comedy, and the power of humor. We discuss Roland's famous empirical work on the prevalence of racial bias and police shootings and arrests, and the implications of this research for the Black Lives Matter movement. We go on to talk about Roland's meeting with President Obama, what Roland learned by doing ride-alongs with police officers, data-driven ways to improve K through 12 education, the nebulous concept of systemic racism, Roland's alternative Diversity Equity and Inclusion company, and much more.

*My apologies for the drop in Roland's audio quality in this episode. Unfortunately, we faced some network issues during the time of recording, thus the drop in quality. Despite the technical inconvenience, I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did.

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The Fracturing of the American Mind featuring Jonathan Haidt and Guests (S3 Ep.17) May 27, 2022

This episode is a recording of a live event that I did with Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff, and Rikki Schlott. Jonathan Haidt is a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. He is also the co-founder of Heterodox Academy, which I once wrote a blog post for back when I was probably 21 years old. Jonathan is the author of many books including "The Happiness Hypothesis", "The Righteous Mind", and "The Coddling of the American Mind" with his co-author Gregory Lukianoff.

Greg Lukianoff is the president of FIRE which is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and probably the pre-eminent defender of free speech on college campuses. Greg is also the producer of several documentaries about free speech and is also a trained lawyer. Rikki Schlott is a columnist for the New York Post, a fellow at FIRE, a contributor at Reason Magazine, and the host of the Lost Debate Podcast.

We all discuss what has changed since Jonathan and Greg published "The Coddling of the American Mind" back in 2018. We talk about the effect of social media on political polarization and mental health. We also discuss Jonathan's recent viral Atlantic essay called "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid", and many other related topics. Unfortunately, because of the constraints of the live event, this is a shorter podcast than usual. However, I'm getting Jonathan back on the podcast very soon to have a full-length discussion about all this stuff.

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Democracy and Diversity with Yascha Mounk (S3 Ep.16) May 20, 2022

My guest today is Yascha Mounk. Yascha is a political scientist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University. He's also the founder of "Persuasion", which is a great online magazine I really recommend you all read. He is also the host of "The Good Fight" podcast. Yascha has a new book out called "The Great Experiment", which is what we'll be discussing in today's episode.

We talk about group psychology and tribalism, their origin, and human nature. We discuss the difference between nations that are built around specific ethnic groups on the one hand and nations that are built around abstract ideas on the other, the challenges faced by multi-ethnic democracies, the threats to diverse democracies from the right and from the left, and why diverse democracies can be less stable than diverse autocracies. We talk about colorblindness, white identity politics and wokeness, whether increased contact between racial groups is the antidote to racism, and whether diversity is an inherent good or a contingent good. We go on to talk about the idea that demography is destiny, the fluidity of racial identity and how one's identity can change in response to social incentives, what it would look like to have a colorblind legal regime in America, immigration and cultural assimilation, and much more.

Inside the Mind of Tim Urban (S3 Ep.15) May 14, 2022

This podcast is actually a recording of a live event I did at TED in Vancouver with Tim Urban. Tim Urban is the author of the blog "Wait But Why?" and also of the upcoming book "The Story of Us". My thanks to the TED team for inviting me to have this conversation.

Tim and I talked about procrastination, the shortness of life, artificial intelligence, political polarisation, and much more. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to film this event, so this will be an audio-only episode.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

The Facebook Whistleblower with Frances Haugen (S3 Ep.14) May 07, 2022

My guest today is Frances Haugen. Frances is a data engineer, scientist, product manager, and whistleblower.

In this episode, we discuss the psychological effects of Instagram on teenagers, the subculture of Tumblr, the cross-check system at Facebook, Facebook's policy toward misinformation, and much more.

I really enjoyed this episode and I hope you do too.

Human Mind: Into The Unknown with Richard Dawkins (S3 Ep.13) Apr 30, 2022

My guest today is Richard Dawkins. I assume most of you know who he is, but in case you've been living under a rock; Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus fellow at Oxford University. If I listed all the awards he's received in his lifetime, this description will not end. His books include The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion, Unweaving the Rainbow, and many others. His latest book is called "Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution" in which he explores and explains the phenomenon of flight both in the animal world and in manmade technology. We didn't get to discuss this book in this episode, but I really recommend you all check it out.

In this episode, we discuss technological progress, whether race is a social construct or biological reality, the mystery of consciousness, the concept of a meme (which Richard invented), religion and its relationship to a happy life, whether wokeness plays the role of a religion in people's lives, and finally, Richard gives his advice to up and coming scientists. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Moving America Forward with Andrew Yang (Special Episode) Apr 28, 2022

My guest today is Andrew Yang. Andrew Yang is a businessman, attorney and author. He is known for his presidential bid in 2020 and his bid for New York City mayor in 2021.

This podcast was recorded at Andrew's studio and jointly released on his podcast which is called "Forward".

In this episode, we discuss my upbringing and background in music, how philosophy is taught, why race shouldn't matter, the democrats use of identity politics, office culture, the future of work, automation, and AI.

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Are We Living in a Simulation with David Chalmers (S3 Ep.12) Apr 24, 2022

My guest today is David Chalmers. David is a professor of philosophy and neuroscience at NYU and the co-director of NYU Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness.

David just released a new book called "Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy", which we discuss in this episode. We also discuss whether we're living in a simulation, the progress that's been made in virtual reality, whether virtual worlds count as real, whether people would and should choose to live in a virtual world, and many other classic questions in the philosophy of mind and more.

The History of Free Speech with Jacob Mchangama (S3 Ep.11) Apr 16, 2022

My guest today is Jacob Mchangama. Jacob is a lawyer and writer based in Denmark. He's the founder of Justitia, a think tank focused on human rights and freedom of speech. Jacob is also the producer and narrator of the excellent podcast called Clear and Present Danger.

Jacob and I discuss his brilliant new book: Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. We talk about the Danish cartoon controversy and Charlie Hebdo. We also discuss the so-called "Milton's curse"; which is the habit of hypocritically defending free speech for some, but not for others. I think this point is relevant to some of the bans that we've been seeing on Russian state news.

We talk about the notion of power relations and its relationship to free speech, the relationship between censorship and human nature, and the importance of having a culture of free speech in addition to having laws that nominally protect it. We also talk about the origins of what Jacob calls "egalitarian free speech" in ancient Athens, the First Amendment and its evolving interpretation over time, and the alleged exceptions to protected speech such as hate speech or shouting fire in a crowded theatre. We go on to discuss whether censorship actually works, big tech companies and their role in censoring speech, similarities between the rise of the printing press and the rise of the Internet, cancel culture, the threat to free speech posed by China and the CCP, and much more.

This was one of my favorite conversations that I've had so far this year, and I hope you enjoy it.

Race, Class, and Culture with Briahna Joy Gray (S3 Ep.10) Apr 08, 2022

My guest today is Briahna Joy Gray. Briahna was the national press secretary for Bernie Sanders and his 2020 campaign. Before that, she was a columnist and Senior Politics Editor at The Intercept. Her work has also appeared in many other outlets like Rolling Stone magazine, Current Affairs, New York Magazine, and The Guardian. Briahna currently hosts the Bad Faith Podcast, which I hope to go on soon.

We talk about how Briahna's international childhood influenced her worldview. We discuss American exceptionalism and patriotism, and whether they're justified, how identity-politics crowds out the issues of poverty in class, the effects of crime in poor neighborhoods, and the cancellation of Whoopi Goldberg. We argue about the extent to which culture is a cause of racial and ethnic disparities. We go on to talk about our cultural obsession with four-year colleges and the prospect of instead supporting vocational schools much more than we currently do, minimum wage laws, and socialism generally.

I really enjoyed this one and I hope you do too.

The War in Ukraine with Cathy Young (S3 Ep.9) Apr 02, 2022

My guest today is Cathy Young. Cathy is one of my favorite journalists around today. She is a writer at The Bulwark and also a cultural studies fellow at the Cato Institute, a columnist for Newsday, and a contributing editor to Reason. Cathy, who was born in Moscow and came to the United States with her family in 1980, is also the author of the books; Growing Up in Moscow: Memories of a Soviet Girlhood, Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality.

This episode is all about the war in Ukraine. Now, it's an unusually dense episode but I really recommend you pay attention to this episode because Cathy is just a wealth of information. We spend the first half-hour discussing the modern history of Russia, from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, where Cathy spent her childhood and her young adulthood to the Yeltsin era and the rise of Putin. We spend the next half-hour discussing the recent history of Ukraine, from the Orange Revolution in 2004-2005 to the Euromaidan protests and the Revolution of Dignity.

We go on to discuss the alleged role of NATO expansion and creating this crisis, the role of Kremlin propaganda, the alleged presence of Nazis in Ukrainian leadership, American hypocrisy and foreign policy. We also talk about the DIS analogy between the war in Iraq and the war in Ukraine, the cancellation of everything Russian, the prospect of NATO intervention in Ukraine, the concept of nuclear blackmail, and more.

The Case for Overpopulation with Matthew Yglesias (S3 Ep.8) Mar 26, 2022

My guest today is Matthew Yglesias. As many of you may know, Matt was the co-founder of Vox, along with Ezra Klein, who I had on the show last year. Matt is also a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and writes The Slow Boring blog and newsletter on substack.

In this episode, Matt talks about why he left Vox for substack and we discuss Matt's book "One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger", in which Matt argues that America should increase its population by means of increasing the native birth rate, as well as increasing immigration. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

The Failures of the NY Times with Ashley Rindsberg (S3 Ep.7) Mar 18, 2022

My guest today is Ashley Rindsberg. Ashley is an American novelist and journalist now based in Israel. His book is The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times's Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History.

We discuss the little-known history of major errors made by the New York Times. We also talk about the concept of authority, what makes the times different from other papers, the idea of objective truth, and the many problems with the 1619 project. We finally go on to speak about how to determine what's true in the world.

The Birth and Death of Political Comedy with Jeff Maurer (S3 Ep.6) Mar 11, 2022

My guest today is Jeffrey Maurer. Jeffrey has been a comedy writer, a speechwriter, and a stand-up comic. He was the senior writer for John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight. Jeffrey is now a substack writer and his substack is called I might be wrong.

In this episode, we talk about the rise of political comedy in America, how political polarisation has changed American television, the problem of preachiness in comedy both on the right and the left, and the fine line between funny and offensive. We also discussed the mechanics of joke writing, the culture of the comedy cellar (which is my favorite comedy club), and the importance of laughter. We go on to speak about how wokeness hurts the Democratic Party, the cancellation of Winston Marshall formerly of the band Mumford and Sons, how Democrats could win in the midterms, gender pronouns, audience capture, and much more. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

COVID: The Conversation We’ve Been Waiting For with Dr. Zubin Damania (S3 Ep.5) Mar 04, 2022

My guest today is Dr. Zubin Damania aka ZDoggMD. Zubin is a USCF Stanford-trained internal medicine doctor and founder of Turntable Health, an innovative primary care clinic. He was also a hospitalist for many years and now hosts the podcast "The ZDoggMD Show"

Zubin and I talk about the differences between mainstream western medicine and alternative medicines, the politicization of COVID information, the misinformation around the mRNA vaccines, the hatred directed at the unvaccinated, and the absurdity of many vaccine mandates. We also discussed the social stigma associated with getting COVID whether Long COVID is biological, psychological or both, the placebo effect and the nocebo effect, and the risk of myocarditis for young men getting the mRNA vaccines. We also go on to speak about the dishonesty in public health messaging, the failures of the CDC and the FDA, the racial triaging of COVID antivirals, whether there are systemic racism in modern medicine, and much more.

Is Matt Taibbi a Right-Winger? (S3 Ep.4) Feb 25, 2022

My guest today is Matt Taibbi. Matt is a writer, journalist, and podcaster. He's a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and co-host of the "Useful Idiots" Podcast. He won the National Magazine Award in 2008 and is the author of many books, including The Great Derangement, Griftopia, and Hate Inc.

In this episode, Matt and I talk about the Substack revolution, the paternalism in public health messaging, why Trump won in 2016, and the perception that people like Matt and myself are right-wing. We also discuss censorship from big tech, book bans in public schools, whether COVID-19 leaked from a lab, and much more.

Propaganda, Misinformation, and Woke Math with Renee DiResta (S3 Ep.3) Feb 19, 2022

My guest today is Renee DiResta. Renee is the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory. She led a multi-year investigation into the IRA, Russia's fake news factory, and she's advised Congress. She's also an ideas contributor at Wired and The Atlantic.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. We talk about public health messaging, hashtags, and trending topics and the effect they can have on the real world, the increasing power of influencers and independent content creators like myself. We also discuss censorship and algorithms on big tech platforms like Twitter and Facebook and how Wikipedia can act as a source of accurate knowledge. We go to speak about how one should do research on topics one cares about in a context where one can't always trust mainstream sources, how to avoid audience capture as a content creator, and whether math is racist. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

A New Way of Teaching in Disruptive Times with Rob Reich (S3 Ep.2) Feb 11, 2022

My guest today is Rob Reich. Rob is a political science and philosophy professor at Stanford University. He is the Director of Stanford's McCoy Centre for Ethics and Society and Associate Director of Stanford's Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. Rob is also the author of "Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better", and the co-author of "System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot", "Digital Technology and Democratic Theory", "Philanthropy in Democratic Societies: History, Institutions, Values" and many more.

We talk about the culture of Silicon Valley, the problem with optimization, the externalities caused by Big Tech, and the problem of censorship by Big Tech. We also go on to discuss artificial intelligence, the famous "Experience Machine" thought experiment, and much more.

Parenting in the 21st Century with Emily Oster (S3 Ep.1) Feb 04, 2022

My guest today is Emily Oster. Emily is a Professor of Economics at Brown University and the author of "Expecting Better", "Crib Sheet" and "The Family Firm". She has a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard and prior to teaching at Brown, she was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

This episode is all about children and families. We discuss the surprising truth about whether women can drink caffeine and alcohol during pregnancy, the difference between randomized trials and observational studies, the problems with nutrition research, and the concept of a natural experiment. We also talk about overly cautious public health messaging, how the principles of business management can apply to managing a family, the rising complexity of having a family in the modern age, the arms race of extracurricular activities, and how much parents should push their kids to do things they don't like. We go on to discuss the difference between public, private and charter schools, why certain charter school networks have been so successful, what to feed your kids and the degree to which our adult tastes are shaped by the foods we eat as children, the overdiagnosis of ADHD and the prescription of Adderall to children. Finally, we talk about the effect of social media on children, the harmful effects of school closures during COVID, and how to raise happy kids.

Reflection on 2021 [Special Episode] Jan 29, 2022

As we step into Season 3 of Conversations with Coleman, here’s a retrospective look into some of the big themes from 2021 and some of my favorite episodes from the last season of the show, while also sharing some thoughts for the upcoming season.

Canadian Myocarditis study: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.12.02.21267156v1.full.pdf

The Climate Cure with Tim Flannery [S2 Ep.42] Dec 17, 2021

My guest today is Tim Flannery. Tim Flannery is a monologist and paleontologist. He was the chief commissioner of the Australian Climate Commission and Chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council. He was named Australian Humanist of the year in 2005 and Australian of the Year in 2007. He is currently a fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. Tim is also the author of his new book "The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19"

In this episode, we talk about the Glasgow Climate Change Conference and where the world is at with respect to our carbon reduction goals. We also talk about the trade-off between industrialization in developing nations and reducing carbon emissions and whether we're in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. We go on to discuss whether climate change is making natural disasters worse, the efficacy of lifestyle changes, like becoming a vegetarian, and much more.

The Health Dilemma of Trans Children with Michelle Telfer [S2 Ep.41] Dec 11, 2021

My guest today is Michelle Telfer. Michelle is an Australian Pediatrician and Head of the Gender clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. She's the lead author of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for trans children, and she is also a former Olympic gymnast.

In this episode, we talk about gender dysphoria, particularly in children and adolescents. We also talk about the difference between puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery as well as the complications of all three.

As I say to Michelle, the size of my podcast audience basically guarantees that someone listening is either trans themselves or the parent of a trans kid. Therefore I hope this episode is useful to them as well as interesting to everyone else.

I'm especially concerned about the process by which it's decided that a young person should undergo irreversible medical operations. Michelle is very much on the inside of this process, and I came away pleasantly surprised by the degree of rigor at her clinic. There are two ways to mess this up. First, by making it too easy for teens and preteens to make irreversible changes to their bodies, thereby guaranteeing that some of them will forever live with regrets. Second, by making it too difficult for trans kids to make the kinds of changes that will give them a shot at happiness. That's the tightrope we have to walk on this issue and from what I can tell Michelle is successfully walking it.

Woke Racism with John McWhorter [S2 Ep.40] Dec 03, 2021

My guest today needs no introduction. Joining me in today's episode is John McWhorter.

John has a new book called "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America". This is an excellent book and I highly recommend you to read it.

In this episode, we talk about what "wokeness" is, as John defines it, and whether the woke can be persuaded. We also talk about the progress America has made on race, the extent to which actual racism is still a problem, Robin DiAngelo and White Fragility. Finally, we go on to talk about what a real programme of uplift would look like for Black America.

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

Race and the Media with Nicquel Terry Ellis [S2 Ep.39] Nov 27, 2021

My guest today is Nicquel Terry Ellis. Nicquel is the senior writer for CNN's Race and Equality team. Before that, she was a national correspondent for USA Today covering race inequality and activism. She has also spent six years working in local news with the Detroit News and the Asbury Park Press.

I often receive the criticism that I only talk to people like John McWhorter, Sam Harris and Glenn Lowry, who agree with me about the problem of wokeness and the moral panic around racism and white supremacy. However, the people making that charge only see the tip of the iceberg. They don't see the dozens of requests and emails I send to prominent people on the other side of this issue to come on my show, all of which get rejected. Ibram Kendi is the only such attempt that I've made public. Nicquel is really the first mainstream media person, in a long time, that disagrees with me on the race issue but is willing to talk about it. So I'm grateful to her for that. Unfortunately, I did not have that much time with Nicquel but in the future, I hope to go deeper into all of these subjects with people who disagree with me.

In this episode, Nicquel and I talk about the biases of the mainstream media, on the topic of race. We talk about racial disparities and the use of force by the police. We also talk about George Floyd, Tony Timpa and Ma'Khia Bryant. Towards the end of the podcast, we go on to discuss whether Black America as a whole is making progress or sliding backwards, and much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

The War on Parents with Bonnie Snyder [S2 Ep.38] Nov 21, 2021

My guest today is Bonnie Snyder. Bonnie is an educator with over 20 years of experience in a variety of roles including teacher, counselor, administrator, and professor in both public and private schools. She's a graduate of Harvard University with a Master's Degree in Counseling from Virginia Tech and a Doctorate in Higher education from Penn State. She is also the High school Outreach Fellow at FIRE: The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

Bonnie's latest book which is the topic of today's conversation is "Undoctrinate: How Politicized Classrooms Harm Kids and Ruin Our Schools―and What We Can Do About It". This conversation is very much a follow-up to my podcast with Christopher Rufo and Kmele Foster. This will also probably be the last guest that I'll address this topic within the near future, for fear of boring you all to death. In this episode, we talk about political indoctrination in K-12 classrooms and the power struggle between parents and teachers, critical race theory and the state laws attempting to ban it, and the political leanings of America's teaching population. We also talk about free speech and forced speech, the consequences of self-censorship, and much more.

The Many Faces of Rationality with Steven Pinker [S2 Ep.37] Nov 12, 2021

My guest today needs no introduction, so I won't give him one.

Today's guest is Steven Pinker, and he has a new book called "Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters."

We talk about what rationality is, we talk about rationality's PR problem, whether rationality has increased or decreased over time and how to apply reason to everyday life choices. We also discuss the behavioral economics revolution and cognitive biases, what it means to be intellectually humble, why people love conspiracy theories and when is it okay to be irrational. We go on to talk about the role "reason" has played in the enormous progress humanity has made since the dawn of civilization, and much more.

Pandemics and Politics with Nicholas Christakis [S2 Ep.36] Nov 05, 2021

My guest today is Nicholas Christakis. Nicholas is a physician, a sociologist, and a professor at Yale University. He'll be known to some of you as the professor who kept his composure in front of a mob of students screaming about Halloween costumes back in 2015 or he may be known to you as the author of many books, including "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social networks and How they shape our lives", "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society" and "Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live", which will be the focal point of our conversation today.

Nicholas and I talk about how the polarized media has harmed our ability to deal with COVID. We talk about the end goal of herd immunity. We talk about whether the incredible speed of the rollout of the vaccine is suspicious. We talk about the ethics of requiring or strongly pressuring people to get the vaccine. We talked about the ethics of encouraging booster shots when many around the world have yet to get their first vaccination. We also discuss Ivermectin and much more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

A Life Without Problems with Ryan Holiday [S2 Ep.35] Oct 29, 2021

My guest today is Ryan Holiday. Ryan is the best-selling author of many books, including "Trust Me, I'm Lying", "The Obstacle is the Way", "Ego is the Enemy", "The Daily Stoic" which is also the name of his podcast, and his latest book: "Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave". Ryan is also the former Head of Marketing at American Apparel.

In this episode, we talk about Ryan's strange career path from marketing to becoming the modern face of stoicism. We talk about stoicism, what it is and how to apply it to your life. We talk about mindfulness meditation, how to deal with traumatic experiences, and how to pursue goals while also letting go of the results. We talk about narcissism. We also talk about far-left campus-style politics and its adversarial relationship with the principles of stoicism. We talk about social media and the battle for our attention and much more.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Parasites of the Mind with Andy Norman [S2 Ep.34] Oct 22, 2021

My guest today is Andy Norman. Andy is a philosopher and the director of the humanism initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the founder of CIRCE, the Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative. In this episode, we discuss his new book "Mental immunity: Infectious ideas, Mind parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think."

We talk about how bad ideas operate like parasites. We talk about the notion of a mental immune system. We talk about the virtues and dangers of being open-minded. We discussed Richard Dawkins's notion of selfish genes and his coinage of the word "Meme". We talked about conspiracy theories, we talked about whether you should seek out disagreements with your friends and family or whether you should simply keep the peace. We talk about policies like stop and frisk and how to weigh lives saved against more abstract moral gains. We talk about what makes good ideas, "good" and bad ideas, "bad". We talk about the Milgram experiment and the Stanford prison experiment. We talk about cultures of cheating and cultures of honesty in different sports, and much more.

From the bottom up with Kmele Foster [S2 Ep.33] Oct 15, 2021

My guest today is Kmele Foster. Kmele will be known to many of you as the co-host of The Fifth Column Podcast which is one of my favorite podcasts.

He's also the co-founder of a media company called Freethink, and a former co-host of The Independents on Fox Business Network.

This episode was sort of a post mortem on two other recent episodes, the one with Christopher Ruffo, and the one with David Hogg. Kmele was one of the co-authors of a New York Times op-ed, critical of the anti CRT laws that Ruffo had a hand in writing. And it seemed to me that that piece had misrepresented the content of those laws. So we spend the majority of the conversation talking about anti CRT laws in general, that op-ed in particular, and the wider conversation about indoctrination in K–12 education.

Towards the end of the podcast, we make a hard pivot and discuss gun control, because Kmele is a proud gun owner. Many of you didn't like the podcast with David Hogg because he's not a gun violence expert. And that's true, of course. But I just want to make it clear that this podcast is not reserved for experts. If you have 1.1 million Twitter followers due to your activism on some topic, that's reason enough for me to have a conversation with you.

Kmele is also not a gun expert by any means. So if you're upset by that, you can consider this your trigger warning.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

The Tale of a Radical with Jesse Morton [S2 Ep.32] Oct 08, 2021

My guest today is Jesse Morton. Jesse has an incredibly interesting life story. He was born in America, converted to Islam as a young adult, became radicalized, and devoted his life to doing everything he could to help Al-Qaeda from America, including creating the very first English language jihadist propaganda magazine, which later famous magazines like Inspire and Dubuque would be modeled after.

So after a long journey away from Islamism, he now runs an organization called Parallel Networks, which works on deradicalizing people who are involved in extremist political and religious movements of all kinds. I enjoyed this one a lot, and I hope you do too.

Economics 102 with Prof Abhijit Banerjee [S2 Ep.31] Oct 01, 2021

My guest today is Professor Abhijit Banerjee. Professor Banerjee is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, an econ professor at MIT, and a co-founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Banerjee and I discussed the difference between empirical work and theoretical work in economics. We talk about Banerjee's Nobel Prize-winning research on alleviating global poverty. We talk about whether immigrants drive down wages for native workers, the role of financial incentives and driving human behavior.

We speak about welfare, the effect of globalism on American industries like manufacturing, and the social consequences of having whole industries die out, and much more.

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The Transgender Revolution with Helen Joyce [S2 Ep.30] Sep 24, 2021

My guest today is Helen Joyce. Helen is a staff journalist at the Economist magazine, and has been an editor there since 2005. She also has a PhD in mathematics from University College London. Helen just released a controversial new book called "Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality." Now, this is one of those books that is likely to be misrepresented on Twitter and in some media as transphobic but is in fact a deep and thoughtful attempt to navigate all the complex issues at the intersection of gender identity and public policy.

Helen and I discussed the difference between gender and sex, evolving definitions of gender, the different waves of feminism, gender dysphoria and related phenomenon like autogynephilia, trans identity as well as gender neutrality. We talk about hormone treatments, puberty blockers, detransitioning, and the age at which people should be able to make these kinds of decisions. We discuss gender pronouns, the logic of sex-segregated spaces, such as locker rooms, bathrooms, sports, and prisons. And finally, we talk about the phenomenon of social contagion as it applies to gender identities.

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The Virus that Conquered the World with Prof Peter Doherty [S2 Ep.29] Sep 17, 2021

My guest today is Professor Peter Doherty. Professor Doherty is a Nobel Prize-winning veterinary surgeon. His prize-winning research focused on how the immune system reacts to viruses. He is also the author of "Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know", "An Insider's Plague Year" and many other books.

This episode is about all things COVID. Professor Doherty goes into detail about the physiology of COVID and what happens when you get infected. We talk about the way MRNA vaccines work, whether masks and lockdowns work, the ethics of pressuring people to get vaccinated, the reasons why people choose not to get vaccinated and more. We also talk about Ivermectin and its potential use as a treatment or prophylactic. I assume I have some audience overlap with a Darkhorse podcast, which is run by Brett Weinstein and Heather Heying. I know that some people have drawn the lesson from listening to that show that taking Ivermectin is better than getting the vaccine. So if that describes you, please listen to Professor Doherty discuss Ivermectin.

Finally, there's a lot of biological detail in this podcast, but I highly recommend you stick it out because Professor Doherty is a brilliant thinker and an excellent communicator. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

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Chaos Abroad, Nonsense At Home with Amy Chua [S2 Ep.28] Sep 11, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Amy Chua. Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School. Her books include World on Fire, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, The Triple Package, Political Tribes, and many more. She's made Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2011 and has been a guest on many TV shows, including Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher.

Amy and I spoke on August 26 and discussed the situation in Afghanistan. We talked about how our failure to recognize the importance of ethnic differences hampered our military efforts there. We talk about our inept withdrawal and abandonment of our allies. And on a lighter note, we discuss a now resolved situation with her employer, Yale Law School.

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Critical Race Theory with Christopher Rufo [S2 Ep.27] Sep 04, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Christopher Rufo. Christopher is a documentary filmmaker and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He has almost single-handedly led the national fight against Critical Race Theory, as it manifests in public schools and in workplaces. I haven't said much about this subject yet. So it was great to finally dive into it.

Christopher and I talk about where Critical Race Theory comes from. We talk about diversity training in the workplace, segregating people by race, various anti-critical race theory state laws and whether they are a good idea, what business owners and CEOs can do to fight critical race theory, and much more.

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Coleman Hughes responds to your texts (Bonus Episode) Aug 28, 2021

Today's episode is a Pre-Recorded Q&A. A majority of these questions were sent to me via text and a handful via Instagram. In this episode, I answer questions about rap culture, The Roland Fryer Study on racial disparities in police shootings, The 'Veil of Darkness' Study by Stanford, meditating on psychedelics, my thoughts on the term "Critical Race Theory", progressive tax, and several other topics. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

If you would like to send in your questions for the next Q&A session, you can directly send them to me through text message. You will be able to find that function at https://colemanhughes.org.

For those of you who are considering joining our community, sign up at https://colemanhughes.org

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Gun Control with David Hogg [S2 Ep.26] Aug 21, 2021

My guest today is David Hogg.

David is a Gun Violence Activist and a History Major at Harvard University. He rose to national prominence after surviving the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. He is also the Co-Author of the New York Times Best Seller: #NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line

This episode is all about gun violence. Despite surviving a mass shooting, David feels and I agree that mass shootings get more attention than they should and that we should pay at least as much, if not more attention to the far greater number of people getting murdered in violent neighborhoods every day. David and I clash somewhat over the right approach to gun control. We spend a good deal of time arguing about whether it makes sense to have armed security guards in schools. We talk about the Second Amendment and the role historical context should play in our assessment of modern-day policies, and much more.

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The Rise and Fall of China with Michael Beckley [S2 Ep.25] Aug 14, 2021

Today's episode is all about China. My guest is Michael Beckley, who's an associate professor of Political Science at Tufts University and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He's received awards from the American Political Science Association and the International Studies Association and he's been featured in numerous media outlets, including the Financial Times foreign affairs, foreign policy, The New York Times, NPR, and The Washington Post. Michael is also the author of the book Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World's Sole Superpower.

Many people are worried that China will one day surpass America as the world's leading superpower. Michael Beckley doesn't think so. He thinks that China's extremely fast growth since the late 20th century is unsustainable and that its flaws will soon lead to a decline, which is an interesting counterpoint to my conversation with Neil Ferguson many months ago. I really enjoyed this one and I hope you do too.

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Bonus Episode: Braver Angels Event with Coleman Hughes, Rakim Brooks and John Wood Jr. Aug 07, 2021

Today's episode is actually a recording of an event I did a few weeks ago for the organisation Braver Angels. The mission of Braver Angels is to depolarise our politics by setting up dialogues between people who disagree on stuff. In that spirit, they set up this conversation between myself and Rakim Brooks, who is the Senior Campaign Strategist and Systemic Equality Campaign Manager for the ACLU. This was moderated by my friend John Wood Jr, a great Writer and National Leader for Braver Angels.

We talk about Critical Race Theory, Group Psychology and Tribalism. The role history should play in our current political discourse, and we feel lots of questions from the audience. There were some interesting disagreements between me and Rakim and also many points of agreement. I hope you all enjoy this.

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Cancel Culture & Political Dysfunction with Ezra Klein [S2 Ep.24] Jul 30, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today who probably needs no introduction is Ezra Klein. Ezra Klein is a Journalist and Political Writer. He co-founded Vox before leaving for the New York Times where he's now a Columnist. He also hosts the podcast The Ezra Klein Show, which I've been listening to for many years.

Ezra and I talk about a wide range of subjects. We talk about his background as a smart kid who got horrible grades, the over prescription of Adderall to children, Cancel Culture, Race-Conscious Public Policy, and how the American Political System could become healthier.

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The Erosion of Women's Rights with Ayaan Hirsi Ali [S2 Ep.23] Jul 23, 2021

My guest today probably needs no introduction. Today I'm talking to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ayaan is a Writer, Activist, and former Politician. She is also a New York Times best-selling author. If you haven't read her memoirs, Infidel and Nomad, then you've missed out on one of the most beautiful story arcs that I've ever encountered.

Her new book is called Prey: Immigration, Islam and the Erosion of Women's Rights. Her thesis is that the wave of migration from Muslim majority countries into Europe has caused an increase in Sexual Violence towards women in receiving countries. This is an uncomfortable topic, but an important one nonetheless. And there's no one better to discuss it with Ayaan. Unfortunately, I was not able to get Ayaan on video so this will be an audio-only episode.

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Power and Hypocrisy with Glenn Greenwald [S2 Ep.22] Jul 16, 2021

Before I get to my guest today, I have two announcements. The first is that there's limited edition merchandise is available for fans of the show! You can check that out at Colemanhughes.org.

My second announcement today is about my interview with Michael Shellenberger from a few weeks back. It seems that Michael made some very misleading or outright false claims about the connection between climate change and extreme weather events. Specifically, he said that climate change did not contribute to the intensity of wildfires in California and Australia. It was a surprising claim to me at the time, but I didn't push back in the moment. Although in retrospect, I should have because it turns out this is not the consensus of the climate science community. Some of his other claims, including that we're not in a sixth mass extinction are at the very least far more controversial than he indicated. So to rectify this, I'm going to get a mainstream climate scientist on the show very soon, and cover all of these topics in detail.

My guest today is Glenn Greenwald. Glenn probably needs no introduction as he's among the most famous journalists in the world. He is also a constitutional lawyer and author of four New York Times bestselling books on politics and law. In this interview, we talked about the philosophical through line in his career as a journalist. We talked about free speech, the surprising similarities between George Bush's war on Islamic terror and Joe Biden's war on white supremacist terror. We also spoke about false accusations of racism, Glen's experience raising mixed race kids in Brazil, the danger posed by elites who don't realise they live in a bubble, President Biden's race based policy for pandemic aid, and Glenn gives his advice to young journalists.

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Bonus Q&A with Coleman Hughes Jul 09, 2021

For my members who have signed up via my website, I'm pleased to announce that transcripts are now available for Season One of Conversations with Coleman. For those of you who haven't signed up via my website, I'd recommend making the switch so you can claim these amazing benefits via https://colemanhughes.org

Today's episode is a recording of a live Q&A that I did a few months ago. I talked about how to have difficult conversations, what anti-racist books I'd recommend for children, the consequences of identity politics, blackness as an identity, the overuse of racism, cultural diversity and its relationship to racial disparity, and several other topics. I'll be doing another Q&A soon. If you're a supporter of the show, this time, you'll be able to submit questions directly to me through text message. You will be able to find that function at https://colemanhughes.org. For those of you who are considering joining our community, sign up at https://colemanhughes.org Stay tuned, for more updates!

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The Perils of Race Science with Charles Murray [S2 Ep.21] Jul 03, 2021

My guest today requires a longer-than-normal preamble. I'm speaking with Charles Murray, who is a Political Scientist, Writer, and W.H. Brady scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Murray has been a controversial figure throughout his whole career, but especially since the publication of "The Bell Curve" in the '90s. The most controversial claim in that book was that the mean IQ gap between black and white Americans is partly genetic in origin, meaning it cannot be fully closed by changing the environment in which black kids grow up. As you'll hear in the podcast, I suspect Murray is wrong about this and that huge cognitive changes are possible in the long run for black America by means of environmental interventions.

I did not have Murray on to rehash the empirical claims he made in The Bell Curve. I had him on to discuss his new book, "Facing Reality: Two Truths about Race in America". This book has a slightly different emphasis than The Bell Curve. In facing reality, Murray argues that we have to face two truths about race in America, or else the American experiment is doomed. These two truths, according to Murray, are that different races have different mean levels of cognitive ability and that different races have different crime rates. Murray believes that the only way to fight back against the idea that America is a racist nation and to fight against the proliferation of race-based public policy is to bring his empirical claims from The Bell Curve into the mainstream. Now, I strongly disagree with Murray about this, as you'll hear....

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The Evolution of Culture with Joseph Henrich [S2 Ep.20] Jun 26, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Joseph Henrich, a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Joseph is also the author of the books, "The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous", "The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter" and "Why Humans Cooperate: A Cultural and Evolutionary Explanation (Evolution and Cognition)"

We talk about the ways in which cultural practices have shaped human biology, why culture is the real reason why humans dominate over the animal kingdom, the implicit wisdom in many tribal cultural traditions, lactose intolerance, and other ways that culture has interacted with genetics, so-called WEIRD cultures (Western Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) and how they differ from more traditional cultures and much more.

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American Policing in Crisis with Anthony Barksdale [S2 Ep.19] Jun 18, 2021

Welcome to another Conversation with Coleman!

To date, we have given around 400 free subscriptions to those who have expressed financial challenges. With the growing impact of this podcast, I hope to continue providing free memberships to those with financial difficulties. To continue doing this, we have started a campaign to pay it forward. Help us grow the Conversations with Coleman community so we can continue providing free access to those who request it. Please consider paying it forward by making a donation via https://colemanhughes.org

My guest today is Anthony Barksdale. Anthony was the Acting Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department from 2007 to 2012, and has worked at various levels of policing as well as with the FBI. He's now also a commentator for CNN.

Anthony and I discussed the national conversation on policing and racism. We talked about the shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and how Martial Arts training could prevent the need for cops to use deadly force. The possibility of substituting cops with mental health professionals, the shooting of Rashard Brooks, and when it makes sense to let suspects flee a crime scene. The over-policing of low-level drug crime and prostitution, the Ferguson effect and the current mass retirement of police officers, the defund movement, qualified immunity, the psychological dynamic between an officer and a suspect during a routine traffic stop, and about how to get rid of bad cops. I admire Anthony so much, and I'm so glad that I'm able to bring him to an audience that may have not have heard of him before. You can see me express that admiration throughout the conversation. So I really hope that you guys find this one valuable.

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The Myth of Climate Apocalypse with Michael Shellenberger [S2 Ep.18] Jun 12, 2021

I'm pleased to announce that supporters of the show will be able to interact with me through text messages. If you are considering joining our community, you can sign up at colemanhughes.org/ Today's guest is Michael Shellenberger. Michael is a journalist, author, environmental activist and was dubbed ‘Hero of the Environment’ by Time Magazine. He's the Founder and President of Environmental Progress, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating poverty and saving the natural environment. He's co-written and written a number of books, including An Ecomodernist Manifesto, and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, which is the topic of today's conversation.

We talked about the trade-off between reducing global carbon emissions and allowing third world countries to industrialize, how civilization would adjust to rising sea levels, whether climate change would lead to military conflict over scarce resources, the claim that we have to cut carbon emissions in half in the next decade, the importance of nuclear energy, cryptocurrency and its environmental consequences, are humans causing a mass extinction, is banning plastic bags a good policy, and much more.

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Straight Talk On Racism with Wilfred Reilly [S2 Ep.17] Jun 03, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Wilfred Reilly. Wilfred is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky State University. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Southern Illinois University and a Law degree from The University of Illinois. He is also the author of the books "Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About" and "Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left is Selling a Fake Race War"

Wilfred and I talked about the undiscussed progress that America has made on racial issues, racial disparities and to what degree they can be attributed to current racism, past racism, or other factors like group cultural differences, public misperceptions surrounding racism and the cops, hate crime hoaxes and why people manufacture them, and much more.

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The Power of Gods with Daniel Schmachtenberger [S2 Ep.16] May 27, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Daniel Schmachtenberger. Daniel is a founding member of The Consilience Project, aimed at improving public sensemaking and dialogue. His writing is focused on ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a focus on catastrophic and existential risk, civilization and institutional decay, collective action problems, social organization theories, and the relevant domains in philosophy and science.

Daniel and I spend a lot of time talking about the effect of new technology on our ability to problem solve as a society, the disadvantages of democracy relative to autocracy, how much of our behavior can be attributed to human nature and how much to culture and much more.

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From Darkness to Light with Scott Barry Kaufman [S2 Ep.15] May 21, 2021

My guest today is Scott Barry Kaufman. Scott is a cognitive scientist who has taught courses on intelligence, creativity, and well-being at Columbia University, NYU, The University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. He is the author of the latest book "Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization" and the host of The Psychology Podcast. In 2015, he was named one of the "50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world" by Business Insider.

Scott and I talked about his background as a learning disabled child and internet hacker. We also talked about the psychology of victimhood and trauma, dark empaths, mindfulness meditation, spiritual narcissism, psychedelics, free will and its implications for praise and blame, and the benefits of adversity.

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Giving The Devil His Due with Michael Shermer [S2 Ep.14] May 14, 2021

My guest today is Michael Shermer. Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the host of the Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He's the author of New York Times bestsellers, ‘Why People Believe Weird Things’, ‘The Believing Brain', ‘Why Darwin Matters’, ‘The Science of Good and Evil', ‘The Moral Arc’, ‘Heavens on Earth', and ‘Giving The Devil His Due’, which is the subject of today's podcast.

Michael and I talked about the declining relevance of Christianity on the political landscape today, threats to free speech, QAnon, conspiracy theories, and why people believe them. We talked about the one conspiracy theory I do believe in and laws that would ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools, and much more.

How to Think with Julia Galef [S2 Ep.13] May 07, 2021

My guest today is Julia Galef. Julia Galef is an author and podcaster. She's the Co-founder of the Centre for Applied Rationality and the host of the podcast "Rationally Speaking". In this episode, we discuss her new book, "The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't". We talked about the difference between intelligence and open-mindedness, the tension between pursuing the truth dispassionately and belonging to a tribe, the notion of instrumental rationality, the trade-off between building a larger audience and remaining true to one's principles, and whether affiliating with a political party makes it harder to form true beliefs.

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Race and Identity with Brittany King S2 [Bonus Episode] Apr 29, 2021

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

This episode is actually a recording of an event I did many months ago with Brittany King, an up-and-coming freelance writer. We talked about Brittany's background, leading her local BLM chapter, her experience studying with Ta-Nehisi Coates, her evolving views on race and identity politics, how American race politics affect many people's views of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the causes of the 2020 summer riots and many similar topics. This recording was created at an event hosted by the Brotherhood Synagogue that features a moderated Q&A.

Just a heads up that the audio quality is not the best.

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Destroying Primeworld with Jesse Singal [S2 Ep.12] Apr 23, 2021

My guest today is Jesse Singal, Jesse Singal is a journalist and author. He was a contributing writer for New York magazine for years and has written for The Atlantic and many other outlets, and he's now on Substack. Jesse and I discuss his new book, ‘The Quick Fix : Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills’. We discussed the replication crisis in psychology, why so much psych research gets debunked in the long run.

We talked about the problem with notions like self-esteem, power, posing, grit and other fads in psychology. And we spent a good deal of time talking about the implicit bias test and its flaws.

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'Social Dilemma' with Tristan Harris [S2 Ep.11] Apr 16, 2021

My guest today is Tristan Harris. Tristan is a computer scientist and president of the Centre for Humane Technology. He was named TIME 100's 'next leader shaping the future', and Rolling Stone magazine's '25 people shaping the world'. Tristan is the co host of Your Undivided Attention, consistently among the top 10 tech podcasts on Apple. Tristan was also the primary subject of the acclaimed Netflix documentary 'The Social Dilemma', which we talked about in this episode. Tristan and I talked about the problems created by social media both for our individual happiness and for the health of society as a whole.

Rethinking Identity with Desi-Rae [S2 Ep.10] Apr 09, 2021

Today's guest is Desi-Rae Campbell. Desi-Rae is a YouTuber, writer, and artist. Her show which I've been on is called 'Just Thinking Out Loud'. Desi-Rae and I talk about racial identity and 'blackness', the notion of racial pride, the differences between America and Desi-Rae's homeland of Jamaica with respect to racial identity, how children think about race, affirmative action, immigration, and more

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Thriving in the Taboo with Aella [S2 Ep.9] Apr 02, 2021

Today's guest is Aella, she is a difficult person to describe as you'll see. Aella is a blogger, a sex worker, and the queen of interesting Twitter polls. During our conversation we talked about her upbringing as a fundamentalist Christian, psychedelics meditation, sex work, polyamory, sexual jealousy, the psychology of trauma, critical race theory, and identity politics.

Please note there are minor audio glitches due to an unstable internet connection.

I'd also like to point you in the direction of a new documentary called Better Left Unsaid which is available for pre-order. The documentary is primarily about the evolution of the far left and produced by my friend Desh Amila. The film features interviews with people like Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Douglas Murray, and myself. You can watch the official trailer and stream the documentary at betterleftunsaidfilm.com

#Ad. If you are concerned about your privacy when browsing the internet, try Express VPN. Visit my exclusive link ExpressVPN.com/COLEMAN and you can get an extra 3 months FREE on a one-year package.

The Tribal Instinct with Amy Chua [S2 Ep.8] Mar 26, 2021

My guest today is Amy Chua. Amy is a professor at Yale Law School. Her books include 'World on Fire', Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother', 'The Triple Package', and 'Political Tribes'. She made Time Magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2011 and has been a guest on many TV shows including Good Morning America, the Today Show, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Amy and I talk about tribalism, highly successful minority groups, and how ethnic tensions have undermined the US foreign policy. We also talk about the sources of racial and ethnic disparity, color blindness, and much more.

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This week's episode is sponsored by our friends at Indeed. Hiring is one of those things you don't want to mess up. To take your business to the next level you need to hire great people with Indeed instant match. Indeed searches through the millions of resumes in their database to help show you great candidates, instantly. This way you can do the part you really need faster – meeting and hiring great people. As a listener of my podcast, you can redeem your free $75 credit at indeed.com/CONVERSATIONS. This offer is valid through March 31.Terms and conditions apply.

The Case for Color-blindness S2 [Bonus Episode] Mar 19, 2021

Just one announcement, I'll be hosting a members only Q&A on Sunday, March 28, 6 -7 PM ET on YouTube. If you're not a member and would like to participate please sign up at colemanhughes.org.

Today's episode is a bit different than usual. It's actually a recording of a talk I gave at Harvard's Program on Constitutional Government three months ago, entitled The Case for Color-blindness. My talk is about 30 minutes, and it's followed by an audience Q&A. I hope you enjoy it

Coleman Hughes responds to his Biggest Criticisms - S2 Bonus [Partial episode] Mar 12, 2021

The purpose of my solo episode is twofold. First, I'd like to update you all on the status of my attempted conversation with Ibram X. Kendi, the author of 'How to be an Anti-racist', and arguably the leading anti-racist public intellectual in America at the moment. And second, I want to respond to the most common critiques I receive regarding my views on race.

Bonus episodes are a members-only perk, however, I have decided to release a portion of the episode to the public. If you would like to access my full conversation consider becoming a member via https://colemanhughes.org/

Awakening The Mind with Sam Harris [S2 Ep.7] Mar 05, 2021

A special thank you to Ground News for supporting this week's episode. Download the Ground News app for free: https://check.ground.news/GroundNewsAppcwc and see the full story, for every story.

Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.

My guest today is Sam Harris. Sam needs no introduction on this podcast. He was the first guest I had, and I'm happy to say he's my first repeat guest. Last time I talked to Sam about reparations and cancel culture. This time we focus almost entirely on psychedelics, meditation, and spirituality. Aside from a brief tangent at the beginning, where we talk about Trump and the intellectual dark web by popular demand.

Growing Beyond the Divide with Tom Bilyeu [S2 Ep.6] Feb 26, 2021

My guest today is Tom Bilyeu.

Tom and I discussed the problem with 'self help', the benefits of believing things that aren't true as a mechanism of self-improvement, the side effects of taking pride in one's intelligence as well as cancel culture, political correctness and so much more.

#Ad This week's episode is sponsored by our friends at Indeed. Hiring is one of those things you don't want to mess up. To take your business to the next level you need to hire great people with Indeed instant match. Indeed searches through the millions of resumes in their database to help show you great candidates, instantly. This way you can do the part you really need faster – meeting and hiring great people. As a listener of my podcast, you can redeem your free $75 credit at indeed.com/CONVERSATIONS. This offer is valid through March 31.Terms and conditions apply.

'What killed Michael Brown?' Shelby & Eli Steele [S2 Ep.5] Feb 19, 2021

My guests today are Shelby and Eli Steele.

Shelby Steele is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the author of many books, including 'The Content of our Character', which won him the National Book Critics Circle Award. Eli Steele, who is his son is a documentary filmmaker whose films include 'How Jack Became Black', 'What's Bugging Seth?', and 'What Killed Michael Brown?', which is the subject of today's conversation.

The main topic of today's conversation is the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014 and all the related issues. One note here, Eli Steele is deaf but is able to lip-read over zoom. So understanding his speech might take a bit more focus than normal, but it's very worth it. I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do too.

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I'd like to say a special thank you to Indeed for supporting this week's episode. Hiring is one of those things you don’t want to mess up. To take your business to the next level you need to hire great people with Indeed instant match. Indeed searches through the millions of resumes in their database to help show you great candidates, instantly. This way you can do the part you really need faster – meeting and hiring great people. As a listener of my podcast, you can redeem your free $75 credit at indeed.com/CONVERSATIONS. This offer is valid through March 31, terms and conditions apply.

Policing: A Cop's-Eye View - Dr. Michael Sanchez [S2 Ep.4] Feb 12, 2021

My guest today is Dr. Michael Sanchez.

Michael is a criminal justice scholar with over 20 years of experience in the criminal justice system. He's been a detention officer, booking officer, patrol officer, patrol sergeant, administrative supervisor, training coordinator, firearms instructor, investigator, Lieutenant, Deputy Chief of Police, an international police officer with the UN in Kosovo, and regional commander for the UN police in Haiti. He has a masterpiece officer license in the state of Texas, a bachelor's degree in police science from Ottawa University, a master's degree in criminal justice administration from Utica College, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a specialization in criminal justice from North Central University. He's been teaching at Utica College since 2012 and he's also a full-time lecturer for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the criminal justice department. So I can honestly say this was the most interesting conversation I've had about policing in my life. And this conversation took place many months ago when the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots were in the foreground of everyone's minds. So I was very excited to talk to someone who had both academic knowledge of policing and practical experience with it.

Michael and I talk about the difference between policing in America and international policing, the steady stream of videos of unarmed Americans getting killed by cops including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks. We talk about the mechanics of shooting and why cops tend to fire so many bullets, the difference between tasers and guns, how to hold bad cops accountable and so much more.

#Ad - I'd like to say a special thank you to 1440 for supporting this week's episode. If you’re sick of biased news reporting, 1440 is one of the closest things I’ve found to a truly objective news source. Their team of scientists and experts - not pundits - scours the media to curate a fact-based daily email newsletter. To join check out join1440.com/coleman

Recording date : 22 Oct 2020

The Evolution of Altruism Michael McCullough [S2 Ep.3] Feb 05, 2021

My guest today is Michael McCullough.

Michael is a professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego where he directs the evolution and human behavior laboratory. He studies the functions of human behavior and emotion using the conceptual tools of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science. Michael has conducted research on forgiveness, revenge, gratitude, empathy, religion, and morality. He's the author of Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, and The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code, which is the focus of today's conversation.

Michael and I talk about the field of evolutionary psychology and why it's considered controversial. We talk about Richard Dawkins and the selfish gene revolution, the evolutionary roots of altruism towards strangers, and we talk about the criticism that evolutionary psychology is a collection of 'just-so' stories rather than actual science. We also discuss the evolution of welfare spending over the past few centuries and about how it's possible for human societies filled with selfish apes to become more altruistic.

#Ad -Today's episode is sponsored by our friends 1440. If you’re sick of biased news reporting, 1440 is one of the closest things I’ve found to a truly objective news source. Their team of scientists and experts - not pundits - scours the media to curate a fact-based daily email newsletter. To join check out join1440.com/coleman

Recording date : 12 Nov 2020

50 Years on the Left with Noam Chomsky [S2 Ep.2] Jan 29, 2021

My guest today needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway. Noam Chomsky is a linguist, philosopher, social critic, and activist. Noam is considered the father of modern linguistics, and has written more than 100 books. His most recent being Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth and Power. Noam and I both signed the infamous Harper's letter many months ago, so we start out by talking about that letter and the fallout that ensued. Next, I asked Noam what has changed most about the culture of the American Left in his lifetime, the strange alliance between multinational corporations and woke anti racism, the role of money in politics, the rising influence of China and much more.

#Ad- Today's episode is sponsored by our friends 1440. If you’re sick of biased news reporting, 1440 is one of the closest things I’ve found to a truly objective news source. Their team of scientists and experts - not pundits - scours the media to curate a fact-based daily email newsletter. To join check out join1440.com/coleman

Recording date : 23 Dec 2020

When Leaders Go Mad Christopher Ferguson [S2 Ep.1] Jan 22, 2021

Welcome to season two of Conversations with Coleman and to the first episode of the New Year.

Today’s guest is Christopher Ferguson. Christopher is an American psychologist who serves as a professor and co-chair of psychology at Stetson University in Florida. He previously served as an associate professor of psychology and criminal justice at Texas A&M International University and in 2014, he was named a fellow of the APA.

Christopher and I talked about the definition of mental illness, prescribing Adderall to children, the link between creativity and mental illness, how mental illness affected historical figures like Alexander the Great, Hitler, and Stalin. I also asked Christopher to assess the mental state of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Recording date: 08 Jan 2021

The Intersectional Crackup with Douglas Murray (Ep.20) Dec 17, 2020

A special thank you to Ground News for supporting this week's episode. Download the Ground News app for free at https://check.ground.news/ColemanHughes to join the fight against media bias.

Today's guest is Douglas Murray. Douglas is a best-selling author, journalist, and political commentator. He's also an associate editor at the British magazine, The Spectator. Douglas and I had a wide-ranging conversation about the rise of intersectionality and its consequences for society as a whole. I really enjoyed this one and I hope you do too.

Please note, during the first 2 minutes of the episode, there is a slight audio glitch.

Recording date : 08th of October

The Tides of American Politics with David Shor (Ep.19) Dec 03, 2020

A special thank you to Ground News for supporting this week's episode. Download the Ground News app for free at https://check.ground.news/ColemanHughes to join the fight against media bias

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/ Today’s guest is David Shor, a political data scientist. David worked for the Obama campaign and was described in New York Magazine as “Obama’s in-house Nate Silver”. You may know David’s name because he was fired in June, over a tweet that was widely viewed as innocent. The tweet cited research showing that riots, unlike non-violent protests, tend to move voters to the right. Although Coleman wanted to talk to David about the circumstances of his firing, due to legal reasons, David can’t talk about it publicly.

This episode focuses on the basics of polling and why the polls under predicted Trump’s performance in both 2016 and 2020. Coleman also talked about David’s skepticism of the so-called ‘Shy Trump Voter Effect’, the problem of non-response bias, and what to make of the growing cultural divide between college-educated and non-college-educated voters. Coleman had a very productive disagreement about the so-called racial resentment scales, used as a tool to understand why people voted for Trump and much more.

The End of Trump with Andrew Sullivan (Ep.18) Nov 13, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

Coleman's latest episode features Andrew Sullivan, a British born American writer and blogger. Andrew is a political commentator, a former editor at the New Republic, and the author or editor of six books. He also started a very famous political blog called the Daily Dish in 2000 and eventually moved that blog to Time Magazine, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and is now running an independent subscription-based format on Substack.

This episode was recorded last Thursday, right after the election, and before it was completely certain that Trump had lost. During this episode, they look at Trump's single-term presidency in retrospect and evaluate which fears about him proved true and which proved false. They talk about the lack of a Biden landslide, and what that means for the long term prospects of Trumpism — even in the absence of Trump himself. They talk about the problem of elite bubbles misunderstanding the rest of the nation, the relationship between Trump and the far left, and much more.

The Case for Open Borders with Bryan Caplan - Bonus Partial Nov 12, 2020

To hear the full interview consider becoming a member at https://colemanhughes.org/

Coleman invites Bryan Caplan to join him on his latest bonus episode. Bryan is an economist at George Mason University, a research fellow at the Mercatus Centre, and a New York Times best selling author. His books include The Myth of the Rational Voter (which was voted best political book of the year by the New York Times), Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids, The Case Against Education, and Open Borders. Bryan also blogs for EconLog, and has been published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.

During this episode, they talk about Bryan's argument for open borders, the case against higher education, and more.

Why I'm Voting For Biden - Bonus Oct 29, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

With the elections just around the corner, Coleman explains why he is voting for Joe Biden.

The Devil May Care with Megyn Kelly (Ep.17) Oct 29, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

This episode is supported by our friends at Ground News. Ground News is an app that empowers readers to compare how news sources from across the political spectrum are covering the same story so you can easily access the underlying coverage bias of every story. Download the Ground News app via http://check.ground.news/cwc to join the fight against media bias.

Coleman's latest episode features Megyn Kelly. Megyn is a journalist and an attorney who anchored for Fox News between 2004 and 2017, and then for NBC News between 2017 and 2018. Megyn's NBC show was canceled in 2018 after she questioned whether blackface was always racist by definition, or whether there are cases where it's okay.

During the episode, they talk about her new podcast, the Megyn Kelly show, and what she has been doing with her time out of the public spotlight. They talk about the Bombshell film, the challenge of being vulnerable when you're in the spotlight, and Megyn's relationship to feminism. They also talk about the first Biden/Trump debate, Black Lives Matter, the riots, and the politics of race.

My Open Letter To Ibram X. Kendi - Bonus Oct 20, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

This month’s bonus episode is based on an open letter Coleman wrote to Ibram X. Kendi.

In the letter, he invites Ibram to have a public conversation on Conversations with Coleman. As you know, we are living through a time in which great attention is being paid to the related issues of race, racism, and racial inequality. Even though their perspectives on these issues differ, a conversation between Coleman and Ibram would be fruitful.

To read Coleman's letter to Ibram head to letter.wiki/conversations

To ensure that some good comes of this, Coleman has set up a GoFundMe page, where all the proceeds raised will go to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), which funds scholarships for black students.

You can donate via gf.me/u/y4qahi

Trump, COVID-19, and Cold War II with Niall Ferguson Ep. 16 Oct 15, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode Coleman interviews Niall Ferguson. Niall is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Niall has authored 15 books, including: ‘The Pity of War', ‘The House of Rothschild’, ‘Empire’, ‘Civilization’, and ‘Kissinger: The Idealist’ — which won the Council on Foreign Relations, Arthur Ross Prize. He is also an award-winning filmmaker having won an International Emmy for his PBS series, ‘The Ascent of Money’. In addition to writing a regular column for Bloomberg, he's the Founder and Managing Director of Greenmantle LLC.

During this episode, they talk about the concept of counterfactual history, Trump's response to COVID-19, and how our political culture might look different if Hillary were elected. They also talked about the deteriorating relationship between the US and China and the prospect of a second Cold War. Please note, this conversation happened way back on September 1, so if you're wondering why they don't talk about the first debate or Trump having COVID, that's why.

The Problem of Race: Glenn Loury and Coleman Hughes - Bonus Episode Oct 02, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

This recording was created during an event hosted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which features Coleman Hughes alongside Glenn Loury. Glenn is an economist at Brown University and host of The Glenn Show at Blogging Heads.

This conversation is a big picture discussion of the problem of race in America today, the narratives that compete for space in the mainstream media, and the path forward.

The Intellectual Roots of Wokeness with James Lindsay and Peter Boghossian (Ep.15) Oct 01, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews James Lindsay and Peter Boghossian. James is a mathematician, writer, and founder of New Discourses. He is the author of a new book called ‘Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity’. Peter is a philosopher, a professor at Portland State University, an author of ‘A Manual for Creating Atheists’ and ‘How to Have Impossible Conversations’.

During this episode, they talk about critical theory, postmodernism, critical race theory, and how these conspired to build the foundation of social justice ideology as we know it today. They talk about the ways in which social justice has departed from its parent ideologies, and much more.

The Limits of Identity with Ayishat Akanbi (Ep.14) Sep 17, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Ayishat Akanbi, a Nigerian-British fashion stylist, writer, cultural commentator, and photographer.

During the episode they talk about Ayishat’s background in the fashion world, why the art world is so progressive, the tension between free speech and safety, the psychology of identity politics, the psychology of apologies, the pressure to post on social media about activist causes, how to address historical wrongs, and more.

Q&A with Coleman Hughes - Bonus Sep 03, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

Listen to the recording of a live Q&A Coleman hosted for his subscribers.

Recording date: August 23rd, 2020.

Approaching the Third Rail with Bret Weinstein (Ep.13) Aug 20, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Bret Weinstein, an American evolutionary biologist and host of the Dark Horse Podcast - which he was on a few weeks ago. During this episode they talk about whether economics is the driving force behind ethnic conflict, the extent to which racial differences in average IQ are the result of nature or nurture, they spend a long time discussing cultural differences between groups that might account for racial disparity and the way in which history is used by social and political movements.

Thinking About Morality with Peter Singer (Ep.12) Aug 06, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Peter Singer, an Australian moral philosopher, professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and a Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne. Peter is known for his book, ‘Animal Liberation’ in which he argues in favor of veganism, and his essay ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’ in which he argues in favor of donating to the global poor. During this episode they talk about whether moral obligations depend on where you happen to be in the world, whether human happiness is comparative or absolute, Tyler Cowen’s book Stubborn Attachments, hedonic adaptations and whether the human race is happier now than it was a thousand years ago, and more.

Is Black Lives Matter Right? - Bonus Jul 21, 2020

Solo episodes in their entirety are usually available to subscribers only. Due to the importance of the subject matter, Coleman has decided to make this episode available to everyone. For member-only perks please consider joining at colemanhughes.org.

In this episode, Coleman discusses his views on race and police. A subject that has been on the lips of many since the death of George Floyd by the hands of police officers. He will read an essay he wrote for City Journal called 'Stories and Data', while also providing some additional thoughts.

Life, Death, and Meaning with Brian Greene (Ep. 11) Jul 16, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Brian Greene, an American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. During this episode they talk about Brian’s latest book ‘Until the End of Time’, consciousness, religion, the meaning of life, and more.

The Arc of Racial Progress with Neil deGrasse Tyson (Ep.10) Jul 02, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. In the first half of this episode, they talk about the progress that has been made in reducing racism since Neil was a child, and the prevalence of racial profiling and stereotyping in the mainstream media. In the second half, they talk about police brutality, different ways of passing data on police killing unarmed civilians, and whether an attitude of optimism or pessimism is warranted at this moment.

Q&A with Coleman Hughes - Bonus Jun 25, 2020

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

Listen to the recording of a live Q&A Coleman hosted for his subscribers.

Recording date: June 14th, 2020.

Crime, Violence, and Progress With Steven Pinker (Ep.9) Jun 18, 2020

Coleman talks to Steven Pinker, a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. During this episode they discuss the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers and the riots that followed, the Black Lives Matter movement, the broader discourse surrounding race in America, and more.

For exclusive member-only content become a CwC subscriber via https://colemanhughes.org/

Unlearning Race with Thomas Chatterton Williams - Bonus Partial May 28, 2020

To hear the full interview consider becoming a member at https://colemanhughes.org/

In this episode, Coleman interviews Thomas Chatterton Williams, an American author, columnist and cultural critic. They talk about identity politics, the conflict between race consciousness and color blindness, reparations, the logic of diversity, and more.

Living In Paradox With Chloe Valdary (Ep.8) May 14, 2020

Coleman talks to Chloé Valdary, an American writer and entrepreneur, about the rise of global antisemitism; the wealth gap; the injustices within American history and more.

The Case For Color Blindness - Bonus Partial Apr 15, 2020

To hear the full interview consider becoming a member at https://colemanhughes.org/

Coleman makes the case for color blindness in his latest solo episode for Patreon members.

Why Are Young Men Vulnerable To Violence? | Jamil Jivani (Ep.7) Apr 09, 2020

Coleman talks to Jamil Jivani, author and social entrepreneur, about why young men are vulnerable to violence, Islam and the West, Black Lives Matter and more.

Deadly And Dangerous Prison Conditions | John Pfaff (Ep. 6) Mar 26, 2020

Coleman talks to John Pfaff, author and American law professor at Fordham University, about criminal justice, the true causes of mass incarceration and how to achieve reform.

Could Robots Become Conscious? | Annaka Harris (Ep. 5) Mar 12, 2020

In this episode, Coleman has a chat with Annaka Harris, New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS and the wife of Sam Harris about the notions of science, consciousness and AI.

The 1619 Project and the Legacy of Slavery - Bonus Partial Episode 1 Feb 28, 2020

To hear the full interview consider becoming a member at https://colemanhughes.org/

Coleman talks about The 1619 Project and the Legacy of Slavery in his first solo episode for subscribers.

Where Do Morals Come From? | Sean M. Carroll (Ep.4) Feb 20, 2020

In this episode, Coleman has a chat with Sean Caroll an atheist theoretical physicist, specialising in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology.

Should America Pay Reparations For Slavery? | Katherine Franke (Ep.3) Feb 06, 2020

In this episode, Coleman has a chat with Katherine Franke — one of America's leading scholars on law, racial justice, and African American history.

Has Anti-Racism Become A New Religion? | John McWhorter (Ep.2) Jan 16, 2020

In this episode, Coleman has a chat with John McWhorter - an American academic and linguist.

Will The Push For Reparations Get Trump Reelected? | Sam Harris (Ep.1) Dec 11, 2019

In this episode, Coleman talks to best-selling author, neuroscientist, and philosopher, Sam Harris about the reality of reparations, post-racialism, social justice thinking and more. Head to https://colemanhughes.org/ for more

Introducing Conversations With Coleman | Official Podcast Trailer Nov 25, 2019

Conversations with Coleman is home to honest conversations with leading intellectuals on polarised issues in the realm of race, politics and culture in the West.

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