Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
Politics & Society · Podcast notes

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

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Politics & Society Category
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Politics & Society

Will the Iran Deal Last? JD Vance Is Betting His Future on It.

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Politics & Society

Better Sex, Better Hair, Better Sleep: ‘Humanmaxxing’ Is Here

Christian Angermayer, a biotech investor and advocate of human enhancement, joins the podcast to discuss his 'Next Human Agenda' - using technology and science to maximize human potential. Angermayer …

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Politics & Society

A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.

Jennifer Frey, a philosophy professor and liberal arts advocate, joins host Ross Douthat to discuss the crisis facing humanities education in America. Frey recently left her position as Dean of Honors…

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Politics & Society

China's Not the Problem. We Are.

Kyle Chan, an expert on China and AI, discusses the fundamental differences between U.S. and Chinese approaches to artificial intelligence development with the host of Interesting Times. The conversat…

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Politics & Society

A Legendary Investor on How to Prevent America’s Coming ‘Heart Attack’

Ross Douthat hosts Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, to discuss his theory that America faces imperial decline following historical patterns of great power cycles. Dalio has spe…

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Politics & Society

Why Are We Still Driving?

Ross Douthat interviews Andrew Miller, transportation policy writer and co-author of The End of Driving, about the rapidly approaching reality of autonomous vehicles in American cities. The conversati…

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Politics & Society

A Bitcoin Evangelist Tries to Convert Me

Ross Douthat hosts Anthony Pompliano, a prominent Bitcoin advocate, to explore cryptocurrency's actual utility beyond speculation. Pompliano argues that Bitcoin serves as digital currency designed to …

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Politics & Society

How the Supreme Court Defeated Trump

Ross Douthat hosts Sarah Isger, a conservative court watcher, lawyer, and author of Last Branch Standing, to discuss the Supreme Court's role as the dominant power center in American democracy. The co…

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Politics & Society

How Ben Sasse Is Living Now That He Is Dying

Ben Sasse, former U.S. Senator from Nebraska and current University of Florida president, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in December 2023 and given a 3-4 month life expectancy. Ross Dout…

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Politics & Society

Can We Trust the New Testament?

Bart Ehrman, professor of New Testament studies and author of Love Thy Stranger, joins Ross Douthat to discuss the historical Jesus and early Christianity. Ehrman, a former evangelical Christian turne…

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Politics & Society

How Far Will Trump Go in Iran?

Ross Douthett hosts Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and longtime Iran hawk, to discuss the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict. Dubowitz has worked on Iran policy for 22 years a…

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Politics & Society

White Identity Is Galvanizing the Right

Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and author of The Unprotected Class, joins Ross Douthat to discuss his controversial nomination for Assistant Secretary of State for International…

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Politics & Society

The Democrats Could Still Screw This Up

Chris Hayes, host of All In with Chris Hayes on MSNBC and author of The Sirens' Call, joins Ross Douthat to discuss the state of Democratic politics and the left's response to technological change. Ha…

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Politics & Society

Does the Iran War Put America First?

Ross Douthat interviews Kurt Mills, executive director of the American Conservative magazine, about the Trump administration's shift toward military interventionism despite campaign promises of restra…

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Politics & Society

The New Space Race

Ross Douthat interviews Jared Isaacman, NASA's new administrator, billionaire entrepreneur, and SpaceX astronaut who has flown to space twice and conducted the first private spacewalk. The conversatio…

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Politics & Society

The Future Is Indian

Ross Douthat interviews Amitav Acharya, a prominent international relations scholar who has written about multiplex world order, discussing India's unique position in 21st-century geopolitics. Acharya…

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Politics & Society

Is Claude Coding Us Into Irrelevance?

Dario Amodei is the CEO of Anthropic, one of the fastest-growing AI companies, and author of two influential essays on AI's promise and perils. Before entering AI, he worked as a computational neurosc…

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Politics & Society

‘Trump Has Lost the Country’

Ross Douthat, New York Times Opinion columnist, hosts this episode of Interesting Times where he delivers a stark warning to conservatives about Trump's second presidency. Speaking as a conservative c…

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Politics & Society

A ‘Fringe Epidemiologist’ on What’s Wrong With Public Health

Ross Douthat interviews Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the new NIH Director under the Trump administration, exploring how COVID-era controversies transformed him from Stanford professor to public health reform…

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Politics & Society

Jamelle Bouie and I Debate Trump’s Failing Grade

This live conversation features New York Times opinion columnists Jamel Bowie and Ross Douthat, moderated by Opinion Editor Kathleen Kingsbury at the Los Angeles Public Library. The discussion takes p…

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Politics & Society

America’s Very Weird Religious Future

Ross Douthat interviews Ryan Burge, an ordained minister and data analyst who recently closed his own church after 17 years of pastoring. Burge is author of The Vanishing Church How the Hollowing Out …

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Politics & Society

Minneapolis Feels ‘Like Being in a Civil War’

Ross Douthat interviews Francisco Segovia, executive director of COPAL (Communities Organizing Power and Action for Latinos), a Minneapolis nonprofit training activists to document ICE operations. Seg…

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Politics & Society

A Defense of U.S. Intervention in Venezuela

Elliott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State under Reagan, George W. Bush, and Trump's first term, joins Ross Douthat to analyze the recent developments in Venezuela following Nicolas Maduro's …

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Politics & Society

‘Making Sense With Sam Harris’ and Ross Douthat

Sam Harris interviews Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and author of Believe, in a wide-ranging debate about religion's role in addressing civilizational challenges. Harris, a prominent atheist …

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Politics & Society

‘A Hard Time We Had of It’

This Christmas reflection features a single speaker reading and analyzing T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Journey of the Magi' as a meditation on transformation, uncertainty, and the spiritual meaning of Chris…

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Politics & Society

Will It Ever Be Cool to Be Conservative?

Ross Douthat, New York Times opinion columnist and host of Interesting Times, joins Popcast hosts John Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli for a crossover episode examining conservative politics in pop cult…

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Politics & Society

A.I., Mars and Immortality: Are We Dreaming Big Enough? | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

The episode features Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, early Facebook investor, and author of Zero to One, discussing his stagnation thesis with host Ross Douthat on the podcast "Interes…

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