Best The Webb Of Conspiracy Podcasts (2025)

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On Stage in NYC: Panel Show at the Comedy Cellar 38:32

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11m ago38:32

38:32

It was a sweltering evening in Greenwich Village as a packed crowd showed up at the legendary Comedy Cellar - the stomping ground of Seinfeld, Chappelle, and Robin Williams - for a no-holds-barred, live-streamed panel extravaganza. Is South Park doing more to resist Trump than the press, or is it part of the circus? What happens when podcasting bec…

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SZEPS LIVE TOUR - TYLER COWEN on Inequality, Abundance, & Using A.I. to Achieve 'Intellectual Immortality' 1:23:11

2d ago1:23:11

1:23:11

Tyler Cowen is one of the world's Top 100 Global Thinkers according to Foreign Policy magazine. The Wall Street Journal calls his blog, Marginal Revolution, the world's best economics blog. His day job is as an economics professor at George Mason University, where he also runs the classical liberal Mercatus Center. But his influence is immense... o…

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SZEPS LIVE TOUR: "Atheism, Wokeness & Islam" with Sarah Haider 40:03

4d ago40:03

40:03

Born in Pakistan, Sarah Haider founded the Ex-Muslims of North America to help Muslims escape Islamist coercion. She was an outspoken atheist. Then... she lost her faith in atheism. First, she noticed progressive peers preaching critical race and gender ideologies, while punishing blasphemers of their social-justice dogmas in ways that felt uncomfo…

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THE SZEPS LIVE WORLD TOUR IS UNDERWAY 1:11:53

5d ago1:11:53

1:11:53

G'day from New York City. We've been sitting on this Easter egg for some time, warming it up under our feathery little tooshes. It's now time to let the warm yolk of intellectual invigoration ooze over your grateful noggins. It's time for the SZEPS LIVE WORLD TOUR. Yes, global mega-giant publishing behemoth Substack has tapped this li'l ole show fo…

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"How Not to Feel Like a Failure (When Fame & Fortune Aren't Enough)" with TV Host Osher Günsberg 1:07:57

10d ago1:07:57

1:07:57

How do you avoid the hamster wheel of hoping that your next success will deliver happiness? How do you escape mental ruts, anxious spirals and critical self-talk? Osher is a superstar in Australia. He was the face of Australian Idol, The Masked Singer, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. He also happens to have, as he politely calls it, "a different…

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PREMIUM: "How to Raise an Awesome Kid (and be an Awesome Grown-Up)" with Dr Billy Garvey 57:16

14d ago57:16

57:16

It's one of the most persistent, perplexing and provocative questions to plague our culture: What explains the explosion in ADHD, anxiety and autism in kids? Is it too much Instagram? Not enough Ritalin? Or are one-of-a-kind kids being failed by a one-size-fits-all model of schooling and parenting? Dr Billy Garvey is one of Australia's leading deve…

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"The Case for Nuclear Power" with Aidan Morrison 1:37:43

17d ago1:37:43

1:37:43

Have rich democracies been hoodwinked into chasing a mirage of green energy? Are renewables leading us into a dead-end of brown-outs, white-elephant wind farms, and costly, dodgy electricity? Are the "smart homes" and "smart grids" actually overly-complicated patchwork solutions to a problem that has a safe, affordable, reliable, carbon-free soluti…

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PREMIUM: "In-Groups & Out-Groups" with social psychologist Jolanda Jetten 32:50

21d ago32:50

32:50

Are you defined by your identities? Where do you rank in the hierarchy of your social group, either online or in real life? How are the boundaries of your communities policed? By whom? In an era of social-media mobs, splintering communities and anti-immigrant ideas, the way we sort ourselves into in-groups and out-groups is a fascinating field of s…

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“Josh vs the Anti-Gay-Parenting Activist” Katy Faust 2:03:35

24d ago2:03:35

2:03:35

Katy Faust is a family-values activist who campaigns against all families that don't contain a biological mother and father. A rockstar among American conservatives, she's the founder of the children's rights organization, Them Before Us. On shows like Jordan Peterson's - and in her lobbying of lawmakers - she argues for prioritising every baby's r…

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"Artificial Intelligence in a Human World" with Prof. Toby Walsh 50:39

28d ago50:39

50:39

Is it legit for tech companies to vacuum up everything humans create, to spin off A.I. content, and not to compensate humans? Will this world of creative artificial creatures promote or corrode human creativity? In America, two tech giants just won landmark court cases over their use of copyrighted works to train A.I. models. The court found that M…

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"Should We Ban Extreme Wealth?” with Prof. Carl Rhodes 1:05:56

1M ago1:05:56

1:05:56

Is there something broken about a world where some people are absurdly, insanely rich? Or is inequality the price we pay for innovation? What do Bezos, Gates, Musk & Zuck tell us about what's malfunctioning in our societies? Would be better with no billionaires, or is the anti-rich movement an impoverished politics of envy? Professor Carl Rhodes wa…

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PREMIUM: “The Palestinian Delusion: the 'Right of Return' & the Mirage of Peace” with fmr Labor Knesset parliamentarian Einat Wilf 50:43

1M ago50:43

50:43

What if the problem for the Palestinian people was not Israel, but the encouragement by the international community of a fantasy that, one day, Palestinians will return to Israel proper? That’s the thesis of 'The War of Return’ by former Labor parliamentarian and foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Einat Wilf. She opposes settlem…

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"A.I., Artificial Souls, and the Crazy Conundrum of Consciousness" with Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel 1:04:16

1M ago1:04:16

1:04:16

Let's take a break from the news cycle for a moment, shall we? There's a lot of cool shit to ponder that's more important and more fascinating. Like, how does the gooey blob of atoms between your ears generate all of your experiences? And are we on track to producing machines that feel as alive as you? Eric Schwitzgebel is a legendary professor of …

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"Being Courageous in a Conformist World" with Sarah Wilson 1:15:08

1M ago1:15:08

1:15:08

Are we too spoilt to be creative? Are we succumbing to decadent decline? How do you dissent when the incentives are to conform? How do the French retain the art of disagreement while the Anglosphere gets stuck in predictable squabbles? How can we grow a pair of collective cojones and defiantly create a better future? Today's episode would normally …

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JUST JOSH: "Staying Sane on Israel" 56:11

1M ago56:11

56:11

Anti-Zionism, antisemitism, Palestinians, Hamas, Israeli Arabs, diaspora Jews, Gaza, and now an all-out war with Iran. It's head-spinning, trying to make sense of Israel right now. Today, Josh comes to you battered and bruised by the slings and arrows of a national pile-on. He wrote the lead opinion piece in the big thumping weekend edition of Sydn…

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PREMIUM: “Old Media, New Media & the Truth” with legendary journalist Chris Uhlmann 44:32

2M ago44:32

44:32

Chris Uhlmann is one of the most experienced and well-known journalists Down Under. He worked for decades as either the host or the chief political reporter on many of the country's most respected news shows: The 7.30 Report, ABC News, Nine News, and ABC Radio's flagship current affairs show "A.M." He's made the leap to Substack, and joined Josh to…

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BONUS: The Playwright Who Just Won the Tony Awards 47:08

2M ago47:08

47:08

Over the weekend, the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play went to Eureka Day, a brave, hilarious satire of wokeness, vaccine denial, identity politics and social justice. Fresh from Broadway, the Sydney production is on now at the Seymour Centre. Its playwright, Jonathan Spector, joined Josh from California before his Tony triumph. Eureka Day is …

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“An Incredible Clean-Energy Future: Smart Homes, Smart Grids & Smart Thinkers” like energy entrepreneur Saul Griffith 1:00:10

2M ago1:00:10

1:00:10

If you want to feel optimistic about the mind-boggling potential of the renewable energy revolution, listen to Saul Griffith, one of the world's leading experts in electrification, decarbonisation and renewable energy technologies. He's founded a dozen Silicon Valley technology companies, R&D labs, and non-partisan organizations, and he was instrum…

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PREMIUM: "Trump, the Left, and the Future of Liberalism" with Yascha Mounk 35:19

2M ago35:19

35:19

While the showdown continues over Trump's military deployment against Los Angeles protestors, can we take heart from the resurgence of anti-Trump liberalism in Canada, Australia, the U.K. and Europe? Could the Democrats capture that energy? If the culture has moved on from "wokeness", then what's the next paradigm for the Left? How should we think …

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"Influencers, In-Fights & New Media" with Hannah Ferguson 1:35:02

2M ago1:35:02

1:35:02

At 26, Hannah Ferguson is one of the most influential young women in Australia. Her media company, Cheek Media, boasts an army of politically-engaged, progressive female fans. Ferguson co-hosts the smash hit podcast Big Small Talk, which breaks down politics and pop culture. An unapologetic progressive, she recently interviewed the prime minister a…

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PREVIEW: Andrew Sullivan 36:10

2M ago36:10

36:10

Andrew Sullivan is one of the most influential political writers of his generation. He became the face of the gay marriage fight, after writing the first major American article arguing for it in 1989. His 1995 book, Virtually Normal, became a bible of the marriage equality movement. Andrew had moved to America to get his PhD in politics from Harvar…

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"Why Gaza is Genocide" with Israeli Holocaust Historian Prof. Amos Goldberg 1:00:09

2M ago1:00:09

1:00:09

Terms like "genocide" and "apartheid" are thrown around a lot by anti-Israel activists. But when a leading Israeli Holocaust historian declares his own country to be a genocidal apartheid state, we ought to listen. Born and raised in Israel, Dr Goldberg is a professor in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew Universi…

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PREVIEW: “Tariffs, Greenbacks, Qatar’s Air Force One, and American Empire” with Assoc. Prof. David Smith 28:19

2M ago28:19

28:19

How do you reconcile Trump's passion for American Greatness with his disengagement from international systems which America set up? What are the consequences so far of Trump's tariff flip-flops? Can Ukraine be resolved by the Great Powers alone? Do volatile bond markets predict the end of the U.S. dollar? Where does this all leave America in relati…

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Josh on... Can You Change People's Minds? 1:33:36

2M ago1:33:36

1:33:36

We've got a special treat for you today. Josh sat down with the hosts of the "Changed My Mind" podcast, who interrogated him about whether it's really possible, in our divided times, to change someone's mind. Josh shares his thoughts about the art of persuasion; reveals topics on which his position has changed; and wrestles with conundrums like fac…

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"The Game-ification of Everything" with Gurwinder Bhogal 1:42:43

3M ago1:42:43

1:42:43

Gurwinder rose to fame writing elaborately insightful Twitter threads about how to be human in the twenty-first century. He now publishes The Prism, on Substack, a guide to navigating the digital age. Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page…

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“Free Thought vs Free Speech” with Jenara Nerenberg 1:05:25

3M ago1:05:25

1:05:25

Are people too disagreeable these days? Or, in fact, are we losing the knack for disagreement? Are we self-silencing? Or getting more rude? Jenara Nerenberg is the founder and host of The Neurodiversity Project. She's a Harvard graduate who lectures widely on neuroscience and diversity, and who runs workshops at institutions like the Stanford Gradu…

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"Does Alien Life Exist?" with astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb 1:21:17

3M ago1:21:17

1:21:17

Are we alone? If alien life exists, why can't we find it? What's "the great filter"? Why is the universe set up the way it is? What are the chances there 's some purpose to it all? And is BBC News correct in reporting that "Scientists find 'strongest evidence yet' of life on distant planet"? What have we actually found? What might it mean? Whenever…

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“Conspiracies, Echo Chambers & Culture Wars” with Sacha Judd 1:44:24

3M ago1:44:24

1:44:24

The internet is a dumpster fire. Are you a firefighter? Or an arsonist? This episode is a cracker. Sacha Judd is an expert on internet subcultures. A former lawyer, she has become something like “the Mark Cuban of New Zealand” - a smart, left-wing investor in high-growth startups; advisor to businesses; and fierce commentator on Big Tech. Sacha wan…

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PREVIEW: Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dave Sweeney 50:27

3M ago50:27

50:27

Do nuclear weapons protect Western civilisation? Or are they an insane error that humanity should undo? Is nuclear power worth the cost and risk? Dave Sweeney co-founded the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. Dave and Josh debate the risks and rewards of nuclear weapons and nuclear pow…

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BONUS: "Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Furore" with Tyson Yunkaporta 1:11:54

3M ago1:11:54

1:11:54

Have indigenous Welcomes-to-Country gone too far? On Friday, far-right hecklers disrupted the Welcome to Country (i.e. the land acknowledgment, in North American parlance) of a profound Australian national event, the Anzac Day Dawn Service. The protest has sparked a national firestorm about race, racism and remembrance. Josh shares his thoughts abo…

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"Facebook Whistleblower" Frances Haugen 1:13:36

3M ago1:13:36

1:13:36

What’s social media doing to us, and how would you fix it? Mark Zuckerberg has been a busy boy on the witness stand in Washington DC lately. In one of the most consequential antitrust cases in tech history, Meta is being sued by the U.S. government for allegedly maintaining a monopoly. It could reshape the future of social media, privacy regulation…

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"American Authoritarianism" with Matt Welch 1:24:55

3M ago1:24:55

1:24:55

What do you make of a U.S. government that snatches people off the street and disappears them into Central American prisons, forever, with no trial, and no way to appeal? Matt Welch is a libertarian journalist. He's no wild-eyed, Trump-loathing leftie. Fresh off the back of his appearance on Bill Maher, Matt joined Josh on Josh's streaming TV show,…

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“Reimagining Schooling” with Finnish education icon Prof. Pasi Sahlberg 1:48:09

3M ago1:48:09

1:48:09

What's the purpose of school? Why do we run schools the way we do? How might we reinvent education in an era of artificial intelligence and ADHD? Professor Pasi Sahlberg is one of the world's leading education experts. He ran Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, moved to Washington DC to advise the World Bank on education, and was a visitin…

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PREVIEW: "What Can Democrats Do?" with David Pakman 20:23

3M ago20:23

20:23

The Democratic Party is paralysed. It can't merely offer resistance to Trump. It also needs to offer an alternative to him. But how? Should they oppose his every move, as the likes of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Cory Booker believe? Or should they shut up and wait for the president to doom himself, as Senate minority leader …

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“Decoding the Gurus” with Chris Kavanagh and Matt Browne 1:18:53

4M ago1:18:53

1:18:53

When are independent shows like Uncomfortable Conversations serving a useful purpose... and when are they just preaching to the choir? "Decoding the Gurus" is a podcast that dissects how new-media personalities gain guru status. Frequently, such podcasters claim to be bravely challenging the status quo... while comfortably pandering to their team. …

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Anthony Bourdain’s “Lieutenant”, Laurie Woolever 1:11:24

4M ago1:11:24

1:11:24

Anthony Bourdain was Josh's hero. Laurie Woolever was, as Bourdain called her, his "lieutenant". A writer and culinary graduate, Laurie had worked for another gigantic cooking celebrity, Mario Batali, before he was brought down for alleged sexual harrassment. She spent almost ten years as Bourdain's right-hand-gal. The two of them wrote two books t…

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PREVIEW: "What Is the 'Patriarchy'?" with Prof. Cordelia Fine 38:46

4M ago38:46

38:46

Do males and females differ in what we want out of life? In what jobs we want to do? In how much we want to look after babies, or run a tech start-up, or sweep the living room, or be a CEO? Or are biological preferences just an excuse to justify inequality? Cordelia Fine is a feminist academic who studies scientific explanations of sex differences …

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JUST JOSH: The Woke Catastrophe of “Snow White” 28:49

4M ago28:49

28:49

If you want to see what's wrong with not being offensive, watch Snow White. The new Disney re-make is so committed to not offending anyone that it’s a social-justice jumble. Snow White isn’t white as snow; her love interest isn’t a prince; the dwarves aren’t “dwarves”; but there IS a dwarf in a non-dwarf role; Snow White doesn’t need a man; the man…

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BOB CARR on Diplomacy, Statesmanship and Grief 1:40:32

4M ago1:40:32

1:40:32

Even if you're not Australian, you want to listen to this conversation with one of the nation's most iconic statesmen. Bob Carr is a former foreign minister of Australia (i.e. the secretary of state) and, before that, the longest-continuously-serving Premier of NSW, Australia's most populous state. He's an intellectual powerhouse, an icolonoclast, …

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PREVIEW: “Does Ukraine Still Matter?" with correspondent Misha Zelinsky 38:43

4M ago38:43

38:43

What are Trump and Putin cooking up for Ukraine? Can the Europeans sideline it? What options does Ukraine still have on the table? And does any of this really matter to non-Europeans any more? This week, the ceasefire talks that President Trump boasted he'd wrap up in 24 hours fell apart, again. Russia says it wants an end to the war, if Ukraine ef…

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Australia’s Shadow Treasurer, Angus Taylor 1:06:30

4M ago1:06:30

1:06:30

Angus Taylor is the Shadow Treasurer of Australia and a key figure of the Opposition, the centre-right Liberal Party. A former cabinet minister, businessman and Rhodes scholar, he's often discussed as a future prime minister. Opinion polls put his party's return to power in the May election as a 50/50 bet. Josh sat down with the Shadow Treasurer to…

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PREVIEW: "Two Jews Debate Israel" with Antony Loewenstein 40:50

4M ago40:50

40:50

How should moderate, secular Jews feel about Israel? How brutalising must Israel’s Gaza policy be before more Jews denounce it? Is Israel a well-intentioned country hijacked by right-wing leaders from its true purpose of peace? Or is it intrinsically committed to destroying Palestinians? Was a Jewish ethno-state a mistake from the start? Or is Isra…

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JOHN McWHORTER: Language, Race & Trump 1:25:46

5M ago1:25:46

1:25:46

John McWhorter is arguably the world’s most famous linguist. A professor at Columbia University and a columnist for the New York Times, he alternately enrages the right and the left as an anti-Trump, anti-woke, Black academic. John and Josh sat down in Sydney to discuss gay slang, the Trumpist right, Black provocateurs and “serving c***t”. Watch th…

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"Why Greenland Matters" with Sherri Goodman 42:01

5M ago42:01

42:01

When Trump floated the idea of the U.S. acquiring Greenland, some called it a random brain fart. But there is a real conversation among security experts about control of the Arctic in the 21st century. As climate change opens up new avenues for shipping, spying, mining, submarining and warfare, the far North Atlantic matters more and more. Sherri G…

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BONUS: Josh on Israel-Palestine Coverage 1:21:10

5M ago1:21:10

1:21:10

Last week, Arab leaders gathered in Egypt for a Palestine Summit. The 22-nation Arab League emerged with a re-energised Arab Peace Initiative to solve the Israel-Palestinian Conflict once and for all. Australia's largest and most trusted news organisation, the ABC, covered the event in an article entitled "This Plan Would End the Israel-Palestinian…

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"Trump, Gaza & Liberalism" with Senator Dave Sharma 59:18

5M ago59:18

59:18

Australians go to the polls in a few months. It looks surprisingly grim for the first-term, centre-left Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. As part of Uncomfortable Conversations' election coverage, Josh invited a select handful of prominent politicians who are likely to be the most interesting figures for listeners from all over t…

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"The Next Canadian PM” with Jen Gerson 1:13:45

5M ago1:13:45

1:13:45

Justin Trudeau's political career will end this weekend when his replacement is elected as the Canadian Liberal leader. This happens at a moment of extraordinary uncertainty for Canadians. As the U.S. launches a painful trade war, Canadians are being forced to rethink their economic and strategic future. What's going on up there? Who are the candid…

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"Hate Speech or Free Speech?" with Prof. Alan Davison 2:15:40

5M ago2:15:40

2:15:40

Perhaps the most dangerous idea is what to do about dangerous ideas. A spate of anti-semitic attacks has led to new laws that will punish Australians for "hate speech". But are hate-speech laws a band-aid over deeper problems like ethnic bigotry, religious conservatism, historical ignorance, social media, migrant integration, university bias, and I…

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“Chinese War Games” with Sam Roggeveen 1:44:17

5M ago1:44:17

1:44:17

How should medium-sized countries respond when they're bullied by a superpower? The question applies as much to Canada dealing with President Trump as to Australia reacting to China. Last Friday, the pilot of a Virgin Australia flight from Australia to New Zealand noticed a flash of weapons from a Chinese warship just a few hundred miles off the co…

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PREVIEW: "Rogue Fentanyl Chemists" with Ben Westhoff 39:58

5M ago39:58

39:58

Imagine posing as a drug dealer and going undercover into a Chinese drug lab. That's what Ben Westhoff did to report on how fentanyl -- which kills about 75,000 Americans every year -- gets made. Will Trump's crackdowns at the Mexican border stanch the flow? Why are other rich countries less affected by opioids? How did fentanyl cause the worst dru…