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87 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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‘A Golden Age of Science’ Brought to You by the White House
22 oktober 2026 · 46 min
The Trump administration wants to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence for scientific discovery. But can its plan succeed without prioritizing universities? Lees meer
Guest host Tyler Cowen speaks with Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s top science and technology adviser, about the White House’s new blueprint for American innovation and what it means for the next generation of scientists.
00:00 Intro
00:54 The model for scientific research today
02:49 What's the scientific evidence that science has been broken?
04:38 What are the administration’s science funding priorities?
10:55 What's the role of universities in training scientists?
16:31 Science and immigration policy: are we getting it wrong?
18:55 Who has the final say over what gets funded?
24:43 Should political appointees have the ability to block particular grants?
28:29 Longevity science vs. a man on the moon
29:16 Why is Trump calling it superintelligence vs. artificial intelligence?
30:46 Does the White House think AI safety concerns are a "hoax"?
34:50 Should the federal government fund a lot more AI safety research?
39:07 How much could scientific discovery be turbocharged in the next five years?
41:00 A.I. regulation & preventing backlash
Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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What the Frontier Labs Know That We Don’t
15 oktober 2026 · 50 min
Dwarkesh Patel is one of the most important voices in the artificial intelligence world. Deeply embedded in San Francisco’s tech community, he has interviewed nearly every tech chief executive at length. Lees meer
This week’s guest host, Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, sits down with Mr. Patel to discuss why researchers are resigning, whether A.I. could become conscious and if he’ll ever get an A.I. girlfriend.
Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
00:00 Intro
01:31 What Inspired the “Dwarkesh Podcast”
02:47 Documenting Wild Human History
04:18 What The Public Doesn’t Understand About A.I.
06:25 The Mood in San Francisco
06:51 Dwarkesh Didn’t See This Coming
09:08 Should More A.I. Researchers Resign?
11:09 Unreleased Frontier Models
13:26 Pausing A.I.
15:45 A.I. Psychosis & Consciousness
21:14 What Tech Bros Do for Fun
23:50 Bay Area Culture
24:06 A.I. Boyfriends v. Girlfriends
26:02 Are A.I. Therapists Good?
26:54 What Dwarkesh Got Wrong
27:44 What’s The Next Big Thing?
29:13 Robot Predictions
30:26 What Jobs Are Safe?
35:21 The Speed of A.I. Adoption
37:12 Milestones To Watch
42:58 What If 2035 Looks Normal?
44:39 Dwarkesh In 2045
46:27 Skepticism On A.I. Revenue
48:01 How Podcasting Has Changed Dwarkesh
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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That Daily Brain Rot Break Is Taking Us Back to the Dark Ages
8 oktober 2026 · 49 min
Literacy is declining sharply across the West. In the era of vertical video, who has the time or concentration to read a long article — let alone a whole book? Lees meer
As we lose the ability to read long-form text, we might also be losing the capacity for democratic deliberation and self-governance. That’s the argument this week’s guest, the Times of London columnist James Marriott, makes in his recent book, “The New Dark Ages.” He sits down with guest host Mary Harrington to discuss our return to oral culture, the political consequences and what we can learn from the medieval era about storing information in a digital world.
Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
00:00 Intro
00:52 What Is Post-Literacy
02:05 The Data Behind the Decline
05:21 The Shift Toward Video
09:44 Why Reading Is Hard
10:45 Walter Ong on Oral vs. Literate Cultures
14:27 Tribal Politics and Emotion
18:21 The Reading Revolution
21:14 Literacy as an Engine for Democracy
25:15 Medieval Literary Culture
27:27 What We Can Learn the Medieval Era
30:13 Remembering Everything and Nothing
33:49 How Bukele Communicates Visually
37:04 Monarchy vs. Dictatorship
41:38 Is Postliteracy a Right-Wing Phenomenon?
43:29 Can We Resist the Slide?
46:33 Closing
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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We Are Clueless About What’s Coming
1 oktober 2026 · 51 min
Nick Bostrom rose to prominence for predicting artificial intelligence doom more than a decade ago — garnering support from figures like Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Bill Gates. But now he’s retreating from those warnings, focusing his attention on a more complex question: What if A.I. succeeds beyond humanity’s wildest imaginations? Will we be bored out of our minds? Are we too infantile to understand what’s coming? Lees meer
Guest host Spencer Klavan, the associate editor at the Claremont Review of Books, presses Bostrom on the potential uses and abuses of superintelligence, rationalist ethics and what makes us human.
Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
00:00 Intro
01:07 What is P(doom)?
04:44 Bostrom’s Doomsday Scenarios
06:14 Vulnerable World Hypothesis
08:27 The Best-Case Scenario of Superintelligence
12:37 The Problems We Can’t Solve in Utopia
14:47 Paths to Superintelligence
17:02 What Kind of Utopia Do We Want to Live In?
21:56 The Values Worth Keeping in Utopia
32:42 Bostrom’s Influence on Effective Altruism
38:04 Are Existential Warnings Helpful?
43:52 The Trajectory of Humanity
46:51 Why Bostrom Wants Utopia(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections?
24 september 2026 · 45 min
Many Americans are losing faith in elections. Proposed solutions from across the political spectrum to restore faith in the process — early voting, mail-in ballot restrictions and voter ID laws — seem to have the opposite effect. Lees meer
But lack of trust in elections is a symptom of a broader problem: America is living through an era of democratic dissatisfaction. That’s what the New York University law professor Richard Pildes argues on this episode of “Interesting Times.” He and the guest host, Sarah Isgur, the editor of SCOTUSblog, discuss why Americans are so worried about the midterms and how to fix our electoral system and restore trust.
00:00 Existential Election Anxiety
02:38 Era of Democratic Dissatisfaction
04:21 Were Recent Election Reforms a Mistake?
06:09 Campaign Finance Reform
09:22 SCOTUS and Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Executive Order
13:57 Why Did Trump Target Absentee Ballots?
20:32 Should There Be a National Voter Database?
23:58 Proof Of Citizenship Debate
29:48 What Should SCOTUS Do?
35:47 Partisan Manipulation in Elections
42:24 Can the Midterms Be Stolen?
44:51 Closing Thoughts(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Trump Is Getting Even Richer. Is That a Crime?
10 september 2026 · 43 min
President Trump made more than $2 billion last year — far exceeding his presidential salary of $400,000. His growing fortunes are raising questions about his allegiance to investors, particularly foreign ones, as he makes policy decisions and shapes the direction of the country. Lees meer
The contributing Opinion writer Christopher Caldwell and the Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith discuss how the president has amassed this fortune, whether it’s legal and if the United States is becoming a kleptocracy.
Note: As we work on relaunching 'Interesting Times,' the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.
00:00 Why Trump’s Wealth Is Unusual
01:30 Presidential Ethics Before Trump
02:28 Trump’s Crypto and Foreign Money Flows
06:12 Is It a Kleptocracy?
07:36 What’s Unconstitutional About Trump’s Finances
10:43 The U.A.E. and Trump’s Foreign Policy
13:41 How Trump’s Weaponization Is Changing Government
16:42 What Congress Could Do
18:59 The Tit for Tat Weaponization
24:13 Can Trump Pardon Himself?
26:57 The “Deep-State” Crackdown
36:59 Oversight Norms and Voter Verdict
42:46 Closing Thoughts(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein on the Art of Persuasion
27 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
“Interesting Times” is on a brief hiatus. Before we return next month, we’re bringing you an interview from “The Ezra Klein Show” with Ross Douthat about his 17 years as a conservative columnist at The New York Times. But Ross and Ezra go back even further, to the nascent days of political blogging. They talk about the seismic changes they’ve witnessed in the media industry over the years and the art of changing minds. Lees meer
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website here.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint for a 150-Year Life: Is It Worth It?
13 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
For my final episode as host of “Interesting Times,” I wanted a fitting finale — a conversation that encapsulates the ambition of this show: examining how seemingly radical ideas are steadily entering the mainstream of American politics, technology and culture. Few ideas are as radical as the hope of significant life extension and the quest to live forever. Lees meer
My guest today thinks he can outrun death. After selling his tech company for hundreds of millions of dollars and experiencing a profound religious crisis, Bryan Johnson turned his own body into the ultimate science project, centered on an explicit mission: Don’t die.
But why does Johnson want to live forever, and what lessons can his algorithmically driven lifestyle bring to the rest of us?
It’s been an honor hosting this podcast and navigating these strange waters with you. “Interesting Times” will be back with new episodes and new hosts in the fall.
0:00 Why Bryan Johnson Wants to Defeat Death
1:18 The Core Premise of "Don't Die" vs. Immortality
3:26 Selling Braintree/Venmo & Personal Collapse
6:33 Leaving the Mormon Church & Searching for Meaning
7:45 Launching Project Blueprint: Body as Philosophy
11:35 Bryan Johnson’s Daily Longevity Routine & Biological Age Metrics
15:06 How AI Builds "Autonomous Health" for the Human Body
17:58 The Best Habits to Optimize Health: Sleep & Heart Rate
21:32 Blueprint Products, Supplements, & Testing
23:46 Reversing Biological Aging: Saunas & HBOT
25:24 Can Psychedelics Extend Lifespan? Psilocybin Longevity Trials
31:07 How Falling in Love Has Changed His Perspective
34:06 Diagnosed with an Incurable Autoimmune Disease
35:51 The Risk of Gerontocracy
53:53 Can Humanity Defeat Death? Societal & Philosophical Impacts
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or …
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Scott Galloway: America Abandoned Its ‘Unremarkable’ Young Men
6 augustus 2026 · 43 min
What does a liberal solution to the masculinity crisis look like? As men fall behind in the American educational system and the economy, they’re looking for meaning — and often find it in the wrong places. Lees meer
My guest today is Scott Galloway, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business. Galloway is an unlikely masculinity guru — he’s a liberal academic, a business founder and a married father.
He had a lot to say about the social and economic reasons young men seem to be struggling, but he’s still optimistic about the future.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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How Older Americans Hoard the Future
30 juli 2026 · 53 min
American leaders are staying in office past their prime. Boomers are reluctant to relinquish control — from political offices to corner offices — to the detriment of their juniors. In a society where the elderly hold so much power, should younger generations revolt? Lees meer
My guest today is Samuel Moyn, a professor at Yale Law School, and he argues that American democracy is distorted by the power of the old. We discuss how seniors have hoarded wealth and influence and how Americans can renew an intergenerational compact.
0:00 The Tyranny of the Elderly
2:01 From Joe Biden to Mitch McConnell
4:19 Europe's Anti-Gerontocracy
5:15 Politicians are the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’
7:07 The Dark Side of Longevity
9:40 How Age Impacts Policy
15:10 The Age Wealth Gap
20:21 How About Millennials?
23:28 Age Limits and Youth Power
38:14 Care Hoarding and Family Burdens
44:54 The Assisted Suicide Debate
50:14 Personal Stakes
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Iran, China, Canada? A Defense of Trump’s Grand Strategy
23 juli 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Is President Trump’s grand strategy unraveling? The United States is at war with Iran, China is ascendant, Russia and Ukraine are stalemated and American allies are openly questioning our commitment to them. Lees meer
Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, joins me to discuss the state of America’s foreign policy and he makes the case that Trump’s approach to our allies and adversaries is making us stronger.
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - What Is Trump’s Approach to Foreign Policy?
5:00 - Is China Still America’s Main Rival?
7:08 - Colby’s Strategy of Denial in the Pacific
9:58 - How to Avoid a War with China & Taiwan
12:18 - Can U.S. Aircraft Carriers & Bases Survive a Pacific Conflict?
16:43 - Is the Iran War Draining Our Weapons and Resources?
17:49 - The U.S. Military Strategy in Iran War
19:44 - Does the Middle East Conflict Help or Hurt China?
22:04 - Trying and Failing to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz
28:13 - The Parallels of Iran to the Vietnam and Iraq Wars
33:17 - Trump’s Strategy With Russia & Ukraine
40:49 - "NATO 3.0" & Returning to the Cold War
43:21 - Did the Pentagon Try to Cut Support for Ukraine?
46:28 - How "Middle Powers" Fail
49:30 - Greenland, Canada, and the Monroe Doctrine
52:22 - Canada: Neighbor or 51st State?
54:23 - What We Expect From Allies
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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A Vision of a ‘Society Without Capitalism’
16 juli 2026 · 58 min
Democratic socialists are having a moment. But can they actually remake the Democratic Party — and the American economy — in their image? My guest today, Bhaskar Sunkara, is longtime democratic socialist, and he makes the case that socialism has a universal appeal that transcends our current politics and will ultimately triumph against capitalism. Lees meer
0:00 Intro
1:24 The rise of democratic socialism
5:00 Why is this a breakthrough moment for Democratic Socialism?
8:24 Class Realities: The demographics of socialist voters
9:26 The intellectual foundations of the American left
11:02 What socialists want: Affordable housing, Medicare for All
15:55 Socialist housing policy: construction, rent control, public housing
18:17 The socialist approach to AI and technological change
22:16 The case for unions
24:18 Is Democratic Socialism compatible with capitalism?
25:57 Class conflict vs. the identity politics of the wokeness era
29:00 The ideological conflict between Hillary Clinton liberals and the Bernie Sanders left
30:40 This Socialist wants the left to stop hating America
36:38 Why Israel-Palestine and anti-imperialism are central issues for Democratic Socialists
45:51 Luigi Mangione and the illiberal left
50:37 Is Zohran Mamdani a moderate?
51:54 Was Joe Biden's presidency a socialist experiment?
55:42 Raising taxes to expand the welfare state
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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‘ I'm Worried About Weimar America’
9 juli 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
The work of Rod Dreher has a consistent theme: doom. He believes the collapse of Christianity has ushered civilizational decline in Europe, that we’ve traded our humanity for comfort, and he worries that totalitarianism is around the corner for the United States. “I’m worried about Weimar America,” he tells me. “It may not be Hitler 2.0, it may not be Stalin 2.0. It might be something all American, but it’s not going to be what we’re used to.” It’s best not to dismiss him; he’s been right before. We discuss how we got here and the dangers that still lie ahead when we grant godlike powers to our technology. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
1:41 - The role of Christianity in Western society
12:26 - Free speech in Western Europe
17:40 - Immigration and de-Christianization
23:55 - Viktor Orbán's Hungary
34:50 - "Weimar America" and the coming crisis
46:45 - Dreher's personal journey
55:12 - Dark re-enchantment and A.I. as a "vector for the demonic"
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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The Unifying Speech We Won’t Get This Independence Day
2 juli 2026 · 6 min
My fellow Americans: On this 250th anniversary of our great republic, I think we’re unlikely to have a unifying address from any politician. So, I thought I’d get a little dressed up and offer one myself. Watch this video on YouTube Channel: Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Lees meer
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Is it Time for a New Sexual Revolution?
25 juni 2026 · 55 min
The growing alienation between men and women is, to my mind, one of the biggest stories of our time. Lees meer
It’s warping our politics and culture through the rise of misogynistic influencers on the right and a growing sense of feminist despair on the left.
My guest this week believes that our problems today can be traced back to the sexual revolution. She argues that it reset relations between the sexes in a fundamentally negative way and ultimately benefited men. Louise Perry is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal’s Free Expression section and the author of “The Case Against the Sexual Revolution.”
0:00 - Intro
01:28 - “The Case Against the Sexual Revolution"
16:20 - What is reactionary feminism?
21:30 - The effects of the digital revolution on men and women
30:29 - The tradwife phenomenon
34:58 - What about premarital sex?
43:38 - Can female emancipation and sexual restraint coexist?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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JD Vance on the Morality of the Trump Administration
18 juni 2026 · 1 uur
“If you think this is a bad deal, what is your alternative?” Critics of JD Vance think that his key role in the Iran negotiations may end up being an albatross around his neck. (“If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” President Trump said in France this week.) Lees meer
But in our conversation, the vice president seemed buoyant and eager to play the salesman, insisting that the deal is better than the pact President Barack Obama sealed in 2015.
I asked him about his initial opposition to the war, his conflict with the pope and whether his political future is riding on the success of the Iran agreement. We also discussed Vance’s new book, “Communion,” about the vice president’s return to faith, and whether or not the Trump administration’s policies embody Christian values.
0:00 - Intro
01:06 - The implications of the US - Iran Peace deal
07:04 - Will Iran's internal politics transform?
17:30 - The US - Israel Relationship
22:19 - Vance's Protestant Christian upbringing
28:22 - From non-believer to rediscovering faith
35:18 - Christianity in Vance's life and in the Trump administration
47:07 - Tensions with Pope Francis
54:10 - The future of the Iran deal and a message to Republican critics
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Better Sex, Better Hair, Better Sleep: ‘Humanmaxxing’ Is Here
11 juni 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
We can enhance athletic performance, lose weight with a pill and even take psychedelics to alter consciousness. At what point does all this self-optimization become self-obsession? When does it get in the way of our humanity itself? My guest this week is the German biotech entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, who believes scientific breakthroughs to extend our lives — and even put us in touch with the divine — are close at hand. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
01:40 - Investing in longevity, A.I. and psychedelics
6:06 - The vision for the Enhanced Games
13:45 - Normalizing enhancements for everyone
20:02 - Ozempic is the first of many...
30:00 - The five basics for health and well-being
36:52 - Psychedelics trips and spiritual revelations
59:20 - Christian skepticism
01:04:22 - "Jesus is not human-maxxing."
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com.
Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/opinion/better-sex-better-hair-better-sleep-humanmaxxing-is-here.html
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Anna Paulina Luna Wants Everything Disclosed
5 juni 2026 · 1 uur 21 min
In an era defined by deep institutional distrust, a new trend within populist conservatism has emerged. It’s a sense that the federal government is keeping secrets and protecting the powerful at our expense. My guest this week is Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a conservative Republican from Florida who has quickly established herself as a political troublemaker. She’s challenging fellow lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — on issues like sexual harassment and ethics, but she doesn’t see her campaign to clean up Congress as in tension with her allegiance to President Trump. Luna has focused her first years in Congress on exposing what she views as coverups, from the Epstein files to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and longstanding government secrecy around U.F.O.s. Lees meer
00:00 - Intro
01:31 - Luna's politics: "Conservative with a streak of populism"
08:07 - From chaos to conservative influencer
16:17 - Critiquing the ethics of Congress
24:55 - Presidential ethics and the Epstein files
36:25 - The U.A.P. activity at Eglin Air Force Base
41:02 - The "mosaic" around the J.F.K. assassination
47:50 - U.A.P. evidence
54:30 - Whistleblower retribution and protections
57:57 - Secret programs: "A stronger dose of strangeness"
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Our Military Is Built for the Wrong Century
28 mei 2026 · 1 uur
The future of high-tech warfare has arrived. Just look to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran to see how much drones and robots have remade the modern battlefield. Is the U.S. positioned to win wars in this new era? What are the ethical constraints of waging autonomous warfare? My guest this week is Christian Brose, the president and chief strategy officer of Anduril, a defense technology company building a slate of autonomous weapons and defense systems for the American military. Lees meer
00:00 - Intro
03:18 - Drones on the Russia - Ukraine battlefield
8:17 - Iran's stalemate and American military readiness
17:11 - Anduril is more than a "Lord of the Rings" reference
25:33 - Force fields and a layered defense
31:12 - The challenges of "finicky" autonomous systems
44:44 - The ethics of automating the kill chain
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.
21 mei 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
What’s really driving the humanities crisis in higher education? As enrollment and reading decline, I asked Jennifer Frey, a professor of philosophy, what it was like to run a liberal arts program that was gutted. I wanted to know whether she thinks the age of A.I. could bring back the kind of education she says is fundamental to human formation. Lees meer
00:00 - Intro
2:08 - Why study the humanities?
5:00 - Do the humanities mean more morality?
15:00 - Shakespeare vs. John Grisham
24:07 - The Tulsa Honors College
34:43 - Left-wing critiques and specialization
44:10 - Is conservatism a friend to liberal arts?
56:32 - Why the humanities are crucial in the age A.I.
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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China's Not the Problem. We Are.
14 mei 2026 · 53 min
The United States and China are really the only two countries that matter right now in shaping the A.I. future. As President Trump and President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing, there’s a kind of Cold War atmosphere, with people talking about an A.I. arms race. But who is winning? Are we even in a race at all? Kyle Chan, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, says it’s hard to call it a race because the U.S. and China have very different A.I. goals. Lees meer
00:00:25 U.S. vs. China in A.I.
00:03:07 Everyday A.I. in China
00:07:41 China's A.I. chip limitations
00:12:14 China's A.I. advantage: energy & deployment
00:16:10 China's public mood on A.I.
00:19:44 AI, job displacement and social concerns
00:23:53 Robots for China's labor shortage
00:26:55 China's view on America's AGI fixation
00:31:16 Distilling A.I. models
00:38:39 U.S. needs more A.I. deployment
00:41:48 U.S. chip policy and the hawk's argument
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel,
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
.
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A Legendary Investor on How to Prevent America’s Coming ‘Heart Attack’
7 mei 2026 · 51 min
A stalemated war. Fractured alliances. A rival waiting in the wings. It feels to me that we’re having an “end of the American empire” moment. My guest this week, Ray Dalio, is an unlikely prophet of doom — the billionaire Bridgewater investor conquered Wall Street by studying history and mastering global trends. He foresaw the 2008 financial crisis,and these days he’s warning that the U.S. is repeating the patterns that ended great empires of the past. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
01:24 - The rise and fall of empires through big cycles
08:35 - Geopolitical tensions: China, Iran and the Suez Canal
14:27 - Fiat currency or gold?
24:19 - America’s coming ‘heart attack’
30:37 - Acts of nature, A.I. and technology
43:37 - ‘Could we have a Japanese future?’
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Why Are We Still Driving?
30 april 2026 · 57 min
Self-driving cars are here. But what kind of future will they bring: safe roads and extra time or dystopian traffic jams? My guest this week is Andrew Miller, who writes about self-driving cars and transportation policy. I love the open road, so I press him on what’s lost when we give away driving to the robots. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
01:27 - The sales pitch for Waymo, Tesla, and Zoox
12:24 - How autonomous are autonomous cars?
20:14 - Liability: Who is responsible for an accident?
31:56 - Political obstacles: Spying, data, labor
38:53 - 20:35: The good and bad scenarios
48:25 - Are we losing the “romance of the road”?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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A Bitcoin Evangelist Tries to Convert Me
23 april 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
One question has haunted my investment strategy for years: What is cryptocurrency actually for? It feels as though the vibes are constantly shifting — one day it’s the dollar’s successor, and the next it’s little more than a meme. My guest this week is bitcoin evangelist Anthony Pompliano, the chief executive of ProCap Financial. We get into whether crypto is a bet against the American empire and whether its volatility is actually a strength. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
01:27 - Physical to digital: The evolution of financial assets
05:00 - The wealth inequality gap
09:58 - The global adoption of crypto
14:51 - Bitcoin vs. Ethereum
20:26 - Why "stability" is a financial lie
29:30 - A “digital savings account”
41:57 - The role of Bitcoin in political dynamics
56:05 - “A bet against America”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Trump Is the End of a 100-Year Experiment
16 april 2026 · 1 uur
President Trump has tested the limits of presidential power since he returned to office — from his assertion of total control over federal agencies to his war in Iran. But so far, many of Trump’s most aggressive moves have been stopped by the Supreme Court. Lees meer
My guest this week is Sarah Isgur, a conservative court watcher, who argues that the Supreme Court isn’t just a firewall against Donald Trump, but the real power center in American politics today.
0:00 - Intro
01:28 - Remaking the presidency: The hundred-year experiment
04:26 - Trump’s legal retribution campaign
09:15 - The Supreme Court’s strategy in the face of Trump
18:15 - “Looming" cases: Tariffs and birthright citizenship
28:23 - Supreme Court internal dynamics
43:32 - The future bench
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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How Ben Sasse Is Living Now That He Is Dying
9 april 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
How would you live if you knew when you were going to die? I sat down with the former Republican senator Ben Sasse to hear how he is facing his own mortality after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. For Sasse, cancer brings pain, but also clarity, sharpening his focus on the state of our politics, his wife and three children, and the God he expects to shortly meet. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
01:51 - Ben Sasse’s terminal diagnosis
07:14 - Oncology navigation and clinical trials
16:10 - Sasse’s career in the Senate and reflections on politics
32:55 - What could a civic-minded Senator achieve?
38:15 - Reforming academia and liberal arts
54:49 - Facing mortality: The “final enemy”
59:27 - Advice for the living
1:01:10 - The “prayer of pancreatic cancer”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? A Debate.
2 april 2026 · 1 uur 24 min
Even if you don’t believe he walked on water, the teachings of Jesus still have a certain power. My guest this week, the New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, calls himself a “Christian atheist.” I asked Ehrman to come on the show to explore Jesus’ message, discuss how the Bible has shaped the morality of the Western world and explain what even the biggest skeptic can learn from one of mankind’s oldest texts. Lees meer
0:00 - Intro
02:20 - Jesus’s moral teachings
08:15 - Ehrman’s path away from Christianity and faith
21:22 - The historical evidence for Jesus and the New Testament
33:26 - The challenges in interpreting the Gospels
52:07 - The contradictions in the New Testament
01:04:10 - Historical and geographical validity
01:09:25 - The visions and reality of the Resurrection
01:19:21 - A “Christian atheist”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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How Far Will Trump Go in Iran?
26 maart 2026 · 51 min
Is the U.S. winning the war with Iran? Even though President Trump claims success, it doesn’t quite feel like it — oil and gas prices are high, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and the Iranian regime is still in place. Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a prominent Iran hawk, explains why “total victory” is within reach in spite of the cost. I pressed him on the gap between Trump’s desire for a quick deal and his desire to end the Islamic Republic. Lees meer
00:00 - Intro
00:03:49 - Is Iran biding its time until Trump leaves office?
00:07:07 - Three phases to regime change
00:09:42 - Iran's military capabilities and the Strait of Hormuz
00:14:54 - How will the next American president treat Iran?
00:18:48 - The battle for the Strait of Hormuz
00:23:27 - Will Iran attack its neighbors?
00:28:43 - Will Trump cut a deal?
00:38:19 - Does Israel think Trump is its best chance?
00:43:04 - Risk of U.S. alienation from Israel
00:48:01 - The cost of inaction and the Iranian people
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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White Identity Is Galvanizing the Right
19 maart 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
The idea that white people — and white men in particular — face discrimination has become something of an obsession on the American right. Lees meer
It’s a view that my guest this week shares. Jeremy Carl was nominated to a State Department post by the Trump administration, which sparked a lot of controversy. Carl is the author of “The Unprotected Class,” in which he makes the case that white Americans are in danger of becoming “second-class citizens.”
I wanted to know what he thinks constitutes anti-white discrimination and whether focusing on it inevitably leads to white nationalism. After we taped this interview, Carl withdrew his nomination, acknowledging that he lacked enough support to be confirmed.
0:00 - Intro
01:59 - Jeremy Carl’s trajectory and State Department Nomination
05:24 - The Civil Rights Act and rise of anti-white Discrimination
12:20 - The impact of immigration on white Americans
24:53 - The "radicalization" of D.E.I.
37:37 - Carl’s provocative language and controversial tweets
51:06 - “White culture” vs. “civic nationalism”
01:01:00 - The fours pillars of “Americanness”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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The Democrats Could Still Screw This Up
12 maart 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Can the Democrats finally seize on President Trump’s increasing unpopularity and end their slump? It seems to me as though 2026 is providing them ample opportunity. But I wanted to know what they actually stand for. Have they learned anything about immigration? Are they ready for the new politics of artificial intelligence? To find out, I asked someone I consider a true man of the left, Chris Hayes, the host of “All In With Chris Hayes” on MS NOW. Lees meer
00:00 Intro
02:09 - Democrats: The state of play in 2026
06:46 - How Israel fractures the Democrats
09:19 - Immigration reform beyond the “old consensus”
19:46 - Models for Democratic leadership: Mark Kelly, Ruben Gallego, Rafael Warnock, and Jon Ossoff
27:22 - 2028: Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom and “the Hillary Clinton problem”
30:41 - The politics of attention
36:19 - The challenges of achieving a Leftist society
45:37 - A Leftist case against A.I.
1:04:23 - Will A.I. define the 2028 election?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times With Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Does the Iran War Put America First?
5 maart 2026 · 59 min
I don’t think a war with Iran is what Trump — or his voters — had in mind when he campaigned on “America first.” My guest this week is Curt Mills, the executive director of The American Conservative, a magazine that champions foreign policy restraint. Mills thinks the war with Iran is a major betrayal of the voters who put Trump in the White House and has the potential to shatter Trump’s domestic coalition. Lees meer
01:27 - Tracking the Trump administration’s foreign policy shifts and dynamics
08:50 - The different strands of right-wing foreign policy
15:00 - Is the anti-war movement real?: Policy, polling and public opinion
27:49 - Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East’s influence on U.S. foreign policy
40:17 - Why can’t Trump say no to Israel?
46:20 - How does the fallout in Iran impact Trump’s potential 2028 successors and insurgents?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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The New Space Race
26 februari 2026 · 57 min
We’re going back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. That is, if Artemis II can get off the ground. I sat down with Jared Isaacman, the billionaire leading NASA, to hear his perspective on everything from extraterrestrial life to the timeline for sending humans to Mars. Lees meer
This interview was recorded before NASA announced the delay of Artemis II’s launch.
01:59 - Where are we?
04:00 - From entrepreneur to astronaut
09:04 - The “lunar futuristic junkyard”
15:06 - NASA’s budget
22:43 - Beyond NASA: Blue Origin, SpaceX and private industry
27:26 - The orbital economy
37:21 - How do we get to Mars?
43:31 - “Do you think there's life out there?”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Welcome to the Indian Century
19 februari 2026 · 45 min
The next global leader is waiting in the wings — and no, I don’t mean China. India is the major power with the fastest-growing economy and the world’s largest population, and on the heels of trade deals with the United States and the European Union, it’s poised to become even more influential. I wanted to speak with Amitav Acharya, a prominent international relations scholar, about whether a new Indian century is about to be born. Lees meer
01:49 - India vs. China: The race to development
05:26 - “The mother of all trade deals”
11:02 - India's “multi-aligned” foreign policy
17:46 - What is India’s grand strategy?
24:08 - The diaspora’s cultural and civilizational influence
41:50 - India in 2060
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Anthropic's Chief on A.I.: ‘We Don’t Know if the Models Are Conscious’
12 februari 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
A.I. is evolving fast, and humanity is falling behind. Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, has warned about the potential benefits — and real dangers — linked to the speed of that progress. As one of the lords of this technology, is he on the side of the human race? Lees meer
01:37 - The promise and optimism of A.I.
12:59 - White collar "bloodbaths"
25:09 - Robotics and physical labor
30:16 - The first “dangerous” scenario
42:22 - What if it goes rogue?
48:01 - Claude’s constitution
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Why Ending Roe Wasn’t Enough for the Pro-Life Movement
5 februari 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Nearly four years after Roe v. Wade was overturned, where is the pro-life movement setting its sights? That’s what I wanted to know from the activist Lila Rose. We spoke last month in front of a live audience at the Catholic University of America. We debated whether her cause was prepared for the fall of Roe and whether abortion still matters at all to the right. Lees meer
01:55 - Live Action and undercover activism
05:53 - Pro-Life 101 and S.L.E.D.
13:36 - “The mistake of feminism”
17:02 - Pro-family policy
22:47 - The political landscape after Roe
42:35 - The pro-life movement beyond politics
47:39 - The medical “zone of uncertainty”
53:53 - Why should women be pro-life?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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‘Trump Has Lost the Country’
4 februari 2026 · 4 min
I want to say something that few conservatives will admit right now: Donald Trump has lost the country. The coalition he assembled to defeat Kamala Harris has evaporated, and his aggressive agenda — never mind his legacy — won’t survive if Republicans can’t win the next election. Lees meer
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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A Plan to Restore Trust in Science From a ‘Fringe Epidemiologist’
29 januari 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
If you want to understand how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the face of American public health, you have to go back to the Covid era. Medical authorities spoke with certainty: Trust the science. Don’t listen to skeptics. But a lot of people stopped trusting experts entirely when outsiders got some things right and the establishment got some things wrong. Now those outsiders are in charge, like my guest this week. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the director of the National Institutes of Health. I wanted to know: Can an outsider restore trust in public health institutions without undermining trust even more? Lees meer
02:11 - How the “fringe epidemiologist” came to be
08:18 - What went wrong while “crushing COVID-19”
15:18 - “The responsibility of public health leaders”
28:42 - Reforming public health and the NIH
42:52 - Three areas of controversy plaguing public health
1:00:52 - Success metrics
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Jamelle Bouie and I Debate Trump’s Failing Grade
25 januari 2026 · 40 min
President Trump’s aggressive return to the White House has been disruptive in ways that will continue to reshape American — and global — governance and politics for decades. At a live event with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, I joined my colleague Jamelle Bouie and our boss, the Opinion editor, Kathleen Kingsbury, to break down the first year of Trump 2.0. This conversation originally aired as an episode of “The Opinions.” Lees meer
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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No, Young Men Are Not Returning to Church
22 januari 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Something surprising is happening to religious belief in America: It’s no longer trending downward. Are Americans becoming more religious? On this episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross sits down with the demographer and former pastor Ryan Burge to discuss the myths and realities of religious revival and debate whether the future belongs to ortho bros or Pagans. Lees meer
01:32 - A new era of American religion
08:19 - The shifting gender balance in religion
13:38 - Class, education and social trust
18:48 - Tarot, astrology, and UFOs: Post-Christian spirituality
22:40 - The decline of the Seven Sisters
28:27 - Politics in the pews
40:29 - The religious and political America of 2050
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Minneapolis Feels ‘Like Being in a Civil War’
16 januari 2026 · 47 min
Can cellphone cameras and whistles impede President Trump’s immigration policy? On this week’s episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross speaks with Francisco Segovia, the executive director of a Minneapolis-based nonprofit on the front lines of anti-ICE activism, about how his organization is training citizens to become constitutional observers. “It’s your right to video record what your government is doing,” he says. Ross asks if there’s any enforcement he’d accept. Lees meer
2:56 Current dynamics on the ground in Minneapolis
5:03 Communities Organizing Power and Action for Latinos (COPAL)
6:53 Francisco Segovia's story
14:26 What is a constitutional observer?
22:27 Reflections on Renee Good
28:59 Training efforts to try and keep protesters safe
34:42 What kind of immigration enforcement is legitimate?
Hey, Los Angeles! Come see Ross in conversation with the columnist Jamelle Bouie and the editor of New York Times Opinion, Katie Kingsbury, on Tuesday, Jan. 20. They’ll take stock of the first year of Trump’s second term and debate the administration’s biggest actions so far and what it all means for our country. Get tickets here while they’re still available.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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A Defense of U.S. Intervention in Venezuela
7 januari 2026 · 54 min
What should the U.S. do next in Venezuela? President Trump’s former Venezuela envoy Elliott Abrams wants the Trump administration to push harder for full regime change. But, he and Ross debate if a democratic transition is even possible based on the administration’s interests and past American efforts in the region. Lees meer
01:15 - The case for regime change in Venezuela
07:43 - The Trump administration’s current strategy
14:06 - The Abrams Plan: An alternative approach
17:50 - Oil blockades, sanctions, and military action
28:54 - Past transitions in Latin America
36:06 - The Reagan administration's “unsavory allies”
43:57 - Trump’s priorities are a “mystery”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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‘Making Sense With Sam Harris’ and Ross Douthat
1 januari 2026 · 1 uur 48 min
This week we’re sharing an episode of ‘Making Sense With Sam Harris.’ The author and podcaster recently invited Ross on his show to discuss religion and politics. But they debated so much more: the existence of God, the mystery of the cosmos, the limits of consciousness, moral progress and even whether demons walk among us. Lees meer
Note: This recording has not been fact-checked by our team.
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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‘A Hard Time We Had of It’
24 december 2025 · 4 min
Merry Christmas and happy holidays! This week Ross Douthat shares one of his favorite poems for the occasion, “The Journey of the Magi,” written by T.S. Eliot, to reflect on a year one might call “interesting.” See you next year! Lees meer
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Will It Ever Be Cool to Be Conservative?
18 december 2025 · 1 uur 8 min
Edgelords, Groypers, Sydney Sweeney’s jeans. American pop culture is having a right-wing moment. Ross recently joined the “Popcast” hosts Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli to debate whether it will ever be truly cool to be conservative in Hollywood. Lees meer
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Is Anything Holding MAGA Together?
11 december 2025 · 1 uur 9 min
After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, conspiracy theories and divisions multiplied on the right. On this episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross talks to Andrew Kolvet, a Turning Point USA spokesperson and executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” about what happens to a movement when its charismatic leader is gone, what it’s like to be the target of conspiracy theories, and whether there are any issues unifying conservatism now. Lees meer
01:32 - Andrew’s friendship with Charlie Kirk
05:18 - Turning Point U.S.A.’s activism and impact
11:16 - Charlie Kirk’s assassination and its aftermath
18:42 - The divisions on the right start with conspiracy theories
38:28 - “Can the right hold together on Israel?”
41:19 - Stress-testing the cohesion on the right
56:08 - The Erika Kirk/Trump contrast
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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The Shifting Politics of Transgender Rights
4 december 2025 · 1 uur 18 min
The transgender rights movement in America appeared to be gaining momentum. But after suffering a big loss before the Supreme Court in June and facing a shift in public opinion, where does the fight go now? Lees meer
On this episode of “Interesting Times,” Ross is joined by Chase Strangio, a transgender rights activist and a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, to discuss strategy in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion — as well as broader philosophical questions about transgender identity.
02:15 - Bostock vs. Clayton County
08:30 - United States v. Skrmetti
22:57 - Defining sex, gender identity and transgender identity
32:52 - Chase talks about “coming home”
40:42 - Healthcare for transgender youth is changing
56:58 - Sports and transgender athletes
1:07:49 - Coexistence within the debate
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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He Has a Plan for the Left. It Might Involve Overthrowing the Constitution.
27 november 2025 · 57 min
Happy Thanksgiving! If you’re dreading your family’s impending political feuds over turkey and dinner rolls, we’re here to share an episode that just might help guide you. In August, Osita Nwanevu, a progressive and the author of “The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding,” joined Ross for a respectful debate about how we should be interrogating the democratic system the country is built on — without yelling or threats. Lees meer
5:21 - What's wrong with our democracy?
10:43 - Our undemocratic founding
18:36 - The case for more U.S. states and a new constitution
25:27 - Where economic reform fits into this problem
30:54 - Does Trump represent the will of the people?
38:50- What Trump’s presidency says about democracy
42:06 - The elusive Bernie Sanders moment
48:05 - The mystical element of our politics
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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It’s Deeper Than Nick Fuentes
20 november 2025 · 58 min
Is antisemitism the next chapter of “America First”? Many see the appeal of antisemitic ideas among younger conservatives as a natural consequence of a hard right nationalist turn. Yoram Hazony — a prominent advocate of nationalist politics — is trying to keep that from happening. He joins Ross to discuss the root of right-wing antisemitism and what right-wing leaders should do about it. Lees meer
02:12 - Just how bad is antisemitism on the right?
06:24 - The generational and theological rebellion
14:35 - “The virtues of nationalism” and an American cultural center
25:33 - Foreign policy under nationalism
29:59 - The U.S. - Israel Relationship and antisemitism
45:59 - What can nationalist leaders do about antisemitism
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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‘This Is the War Against Human Nature’
14 november 2025 · 50 min
“There’s something very spiritually dark about the internet,” the author Paul Kingsnorth tells Ross Douthat in this week’s episode of “Interesting Times.” Kingsnorth warns against the expanding presence of technology in our lives and declares it “the war against human nature.” Lees meer
00:06:10 - Defining "The Machine"
00:08:03 - Ecological vs. Spiritual Collapse
00:15:03 - The Case for Modernity
00:24:02 - The Four Ps of a Healthy Culture
00:28:39 - Collapse, Revival, and The Internet
00:34:05 - Thiel, Musk, and The Antichrist
00:42:37 - The Choice in 'Alexandria'
00:46:44 - How to Live Within The Machine
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace?
6 november 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
Is society too feminine or not feminine enough? Two conservative writers, Helen Andrews and Leah Libresco Sargeant, disagree on the answer. They join Ross Douthat to debate whether the feminization of institutions led to wokeism and a greater divide between men and women. Lees meer
01:33 “Wokeness is distinctively feminine.”
06:17 - Has liberal feminism failed women?
16:26 - The feminization of institutions
20:47 - Defining feminine and masculine vices
24:09 - Toxic femininity
39:09 - Defeminization in the workplace
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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