Best Quillette Podcasts (2025)

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Russell Shorto, whose new book chronicles the extraordinary events in 1664 that delivered Manhattan from the Dutch to the British. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Robot Ethics and Colonial Legacies with Sean Welsh 1:08:43

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5d ago1:08:43

1:08:43

Sean Welsh is one of Quillette’s most wide-ranging contributors, having written on subjects as varied as artificial intelligence, Middle Eastern politics, and colonial history. Trained in philosophy and employed as a computer programmer, Welsh describes writing as a pursuit of curiosity rather than a career—a way to explore the questions that inter…

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Huxley, Burroughs, and the Church of Scientology 20:54

7d ago20:54

20:54

Like it or not, hidden within those influential texts are the bizarre jargon and lunatic assertions of a mendacious madman.By Quillette

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Brainrot, Not Ideology 8:55

9d ago8:55

8:55

The assassination of Charlie Kirk shows how Discord, memes, and “online brainrot” may motivate disaffected youth like Tyler Robinson more than ideology.By Quillette

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Pride and Prejudice 29:31

10d ago29:31

29:31

The self-esteem movements that once deranged America’s school curricula have since deranged the realm of identity activism.By Quillette

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Should Feminists Work with the Right? 14:43

13d ago14:43

14:43

Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith about her new book, Feminism Beyond Left and Right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Gaza and the Collapse of Truth-Seeking 14:00

15d ago14:00

14:00

The Gaza aid-site controversy and a crisis of journalism by Gary Geipel.By Quillette

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Thomas Sowell: Tragic Optimist 48:02

16d ago48:02

48:02

In his 2000 memoir A Personal Odyssey, Sowell recounts a parable that was read to him as a young boy and which he never forgot.By Quillette

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Falling Fertility: A Crisis We Refuse to Face 11:14

18d ago11:14

11:14

Fertility decline is not merely a demographic curiosity—it is a structural challenge with civilisational implications. So why are people so reluctant to take it seriously? By Andrew GloverBy Quillette

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RFK Jr.’s Unprecedented Attack on Life-saving Vaccines 38:02

18d ago38:02

38:02

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Stanford University infectious diseases expert Jake Scott about the perils of rolling back immunization treatments for COVID, RSV, and Measles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Leaving the Woke Cult with Anthony Rispo 55:09

20d ago55:09

55:09

In this episode of the Quillette Cetera podcast, host Zoe Booth is joined by Anthony Rispo—a writer, independent researcher, and co-host of The Discourse Lab podcast. Anthony holds a degree in psychology from Columbia University, where he specialised in social cognition and sociopolitical behaviour. His academic research has explored narrative, per…

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In Defence of Absolute Truth 30:02

21d ago30:02

30:02

By rejecting any universally applicable standards of reason, it destroys the possibility of true conversation, of learning from and compromising with each other.By Quillette

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Mahmood Mamdani Wants to Dismantle America 11:55

22d ago11:55

11:55

Zohran Mamdani’s father Mahmood is a postnationalist who advocates the dissolution of all nation states, which he views as intrinsically violent and unjust.By Quillette

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Fragments Against the Ruins 29:09

22d ago29:09

29:09

In his deliberately archaic new rendition of Homer’s epic, Jeffrey Duban takes a defiant stand against the modernisation of classical literature in defence of a disappearing tradition.By Quillette

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‘Shameless Beyond the Curse of Shamelessness’ 25:02

23d ago25:02

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In a new book, Joan Smith critically examines the historical mistreatment of Ancient Rome’s leading women—including Emperor Augustus’ daughter Julia, who was denounced as a nymphomaniac and cast into exile.By Quillette

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Naive Protest and Calculated Terror 7:38

27d ago7:38

7:38

The Australian security services have confirmed that Iran orchestrated antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. This is not the first time leftist causes have been hijacked by Islamists. It is time we confronted this danger.By Quillette

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The Modular Mind 14:55

28d ago14:55

14:55

Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to evolutionary psychologist Rob Kurzban about his book Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Twilight of the Satyrs 49:08

29d ago49:08

49:08

Charlotte Allen examines how Philip Roth biographer Blake Bailey's sexual misconduct allegations led to both men being cancelled and explores the broader cultural shift from the sexual liberation of the 1960s to #MeToo's scrutiny of male literary figures and their treatment of women.By Quillette

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The Limits of Radical Protest 21:16

1M ago21:16

21:16

Those fighting for social change today would do well to heed Bayard Rustin’s advice about how to build sustainable and effective political movements.By Quillette

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A Jewish Girl in Revolutionary Iran 15:52

1M ago15:52

15:52

Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to Roya Hakakian about her extraordinary memoir, Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Ancient DNA and the Return of a Disgraced Theory 26:20

1M ago26:20

26:20

This is a story of some of the greatest findings in modern research, and of the dismal narrow-mindedness and motivated reasoning displayed by scholars who ought to know better.By Quillette

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Adam Szetela on How Cancel Culture and Sensitivity Readers Are Shaping the Publishing Industry and Silencing Dissent 51:45

1M ago51:45

51:45

In this episode of Quillette Cetera, Zoe Booth speaks with Harvard fellow and Cornell PhD Adam Szetela—author of new book That Book Is Dangerous: How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing (MIT Press, 2025). A working-class kid turned literary insider, Szetela exposes what he calls “the sensitivity era”: a cultural …

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The Sensitivity Era 13:28

1M ago13:28

13:28

Amid literary subcultures, competition has always been fierce and unrelenting and has become even more so in our age of elite overproduction. On social media, these embittered rivalries play out in public amid a chorus of backbiting worthy of Chekhov. Robert HuddlestonBy Quillette

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The Cancellation of Bertrand Russell 13:02

1M ago13:02

13:02

Eight decades later, the issues raised by the Russell case—the rights to free speech and academic freedom—have still not been settled.By Quillette

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The Problem Is Islam—Not Islamism 6:09

1M ago6:09

6:09

The problem here is not a subset of Islamic thought, but the fundamentals of Islam itself. By Obaid OmerBy Quillette

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Rethinking “Harm Reduction” 30:49

1M ago30:49

30:49

Once seen as a model of progressive drug policy, San Francisco now stands as a morbid example of how that approach has gone astray.By Quillette

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What Does It Take to Develop a ‘Scrabble-Shaped Brain’? 43:20

1M ago43:20

43:20

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to linguist, mathematician, and tournament organizer John Chew about the world of ultra-elite Scrabble word-masters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Parsi: A Fiercely Contested Identity 16:02

2M ago16:02

16:02

Iona Italia talks to novelist and historian Nev March about how a series of landmark court cases in the 19th and 20th centuries upended both the Indian legal system and the Parsi community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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McMaster’s Imaginary Sex Ring 1:26:17

2M ago1:26:17

1:26:17

In 2020, a Canadian university tore up its psychology department in search of a non-existent network of sexual predators. Documents obtained by Quillette reveal how administrators allowed it to happen.By Quillette

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Against Palestinian Statehood 8:42

2M ago8:42

8:42

Nurturing an alternative power structure in this kind of politically stunted society will be the work of generations. It can’t be summoned into existence by Western leaders seeking to appease domestic constituencies.By Quillette

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Can We Regulate Online Hate Without Killing Free Speech? With Dr Andre Oboler 1:11:47

2M ago1:11:47

1:11:47

In this episode, Dr. Andre Oboler—CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Institute and a global expert on antisemitism, hate speech, and online extremism—joins Zoe Booth to unpack the surge in antisemitic hate speech since October 7, 2023,. Dr. Oboler discusses recent antisemitic attacks on Australian synagogues, and his role as an expert witness in the…

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Milan Kundera: The Nobel Prize for Literature Winner We Never Had 22:29

2M ago22:29

22:29

Few writers in our time were more committed to the novel or had more idealism about the heights the form could scale.By Quillette

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How LGB Became Estranged from T 36:49

2M ago36:49

36:49

Gay activist-turned-journalist Adam Zivo explains how radicalized forms of trans and queer advocacy became a liability to the once-united LGBT movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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His Satanic Majesty Retires 19:41

2M ago19:41

19:41

A tribute to the man who helped to revolutionise modern rock music and reality TV.By Quillette

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The Vanishing of Peng Shuai 9:25

2M ago9:25

9:25

Whatever really happened between Zhang and Peng, the truth is that they were both already victims, having been raised in a society that completely denies the importance of the individual.By Quillette

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Why the Islamic Republic Must Fall 17:08

2M ago17:08

17:08

As a dissident Iranian, I support Israel’s efforts to weaken the Ayatollahs’ regime. I’m not alone in this. By Armin Navabi.By Quillette

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The Soldier and the Revolutionary 50:19

2M ago50:19

50:19

The contrasting lives and ambitions of two major figures in the fight for Indian Independence: General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya (“Timmy”) and Subhas Chandras Bose.By Quillette

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War and the End of Empire 16:02

2M ago16:02

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Iona Italia talks to historian and film-maker Phil Craig about the latest in his series of books about World War II: 1945: A Reckoning: War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Quillette

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Too Much Monkey Business 33:45

2M ago33:45

33:45

The questions at the centre of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial are still contested today.By Quillette

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Glamourising Violence at Glastonbury 12:43

2M ago12:43

12:43

Bob Vylan’s “death to the IDF” chants at Glastonbury reveal how Britain’s economic despair has radicalised a generation and threatens to revive ancient hatreds.By Quillette