Uncertain Things

We’re back! And so is British Palestinian writer/Substacker John Aziz . As we did in our 2023 conversation (“ Diaspora Palestinian to Hamas Apologists: Debate Me, Bro ”), we discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict — but this time we hone in on all that hasn’t changed since October 7th. At this rate, we’re way closer to an AI-induced utopia of abundance than peace in the Middle East. But at least we...

Mike Pesca — host of the How To! and The Gist podcasts — joins us again! We revisit the topic of nihilism, dive into annihilism (and why it’s different), and dunk on quite a few celebrities along the way. Stay to the end, and we recommend the sweet sweet artworks that may just be the antidotes to our burn-it-to-the-ground times. On the agenda: -On ghosts, demons, and podcasts [0:00-7:50] -Adaam’s...

Eli Lake — staff writer at The Free Press, contributing editor at Commentary Magazine, and host of the Breaking History podcast — returns to the podcast to discuss the state of neoconservatism; the war with Iran (and why all the pundits are wrong about); and the enduring mystery (but not-so-enduring importance) of Tucker Carlson. On the agenda: - Neocons, Redux -The war in Iran -The “geopolitics”...

Jesse Brown — journalist and founder of the Canadaland podcast company — joins us IRL in New York City to talk about his latest project: What is happening here ? The audio doc, hosted by Jesse, dives into the ways Anti-Zionism and antisemitism have taken root in Canada since October 7th. On the agenda * What is happening here? and the red triangle [0:00-22:38] * Why the Canada example matters [22:...

Dr. Einat Wilf — Israeli writer, podcaster, and now founder of the political party Oz — returns to the pod to tell us a tale of two wars: the physical war fought (and technically won) in Gaza and the global war for Jewish sovereignty (that’s far from over). If you’re a curious layman on this subject, like Vanessa, make sure to revisit our first conversation with Dr. Wilf before listening, to make...

New York Times columnist, co-host of Advisory Opinions and The Dispatch Podcast, and Nashville-based evangelical, David French, returns to the pod once again. This time, we had one big question on our minds: What’s with all the Christianity cosplaying taking over politics right now? But an Uncertain Things episode wouldn’t be an Uncertain Things episode if we stuck to just one topic! We ended up d...

Journalist Ben Dreyfuss (writer of Calm Down and co-host of Central Air ) joins us for a conversational grab bag: Zohran Mamdani’s agenda; the Left’s ideologues (and how to distinguish them from the cosplayers); the challenge of maintaining personal relationships across political divides; Luigi Mangione’s appeal; the dearth of humor amongst Millennials; and more. If these topics leave you spinning...

Adaam is joined by James Lindsay, author of Cynical Theories and founder of New Discourses, to play the epistemology drinking game: you take a shot every time either speaker uses the word! They talk about how higher education in America became a racket, whether we can revivify classical liberalism in the age of social media, whether we need to exclude bad actors from the public discourse, whether...

Anthropologist Adam Louis-Klein was in the Amazon on October 9th, when he went online and learned what had happened two days previously. Almost immediately, he also discovered something else: his left-wing colleagues in the academy were ready to ostracize him for his “ filthy Zionist ” views. Since then, Louis-Klein has turned his analytical eye toward anti-Zionism. In this conversation, he explai...

Writer, reporter, Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em co-host, and pie baker extraordinaire Nancy Rommelmann returns to Uncertain Things to talk (again) about a topic she knows all too well: Portland. In 2021, she lambasted the way the media was distorting what was happening on the ground by underplaying the violence. Four years later, she’s lamenting the way the President and his cronies are distorting what...

Matt Welch, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast and editor at large for Reason Magazine , joins Adaam to discuss the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s grim. How grim? Very. Get off social media. Turn off your phone. Touch grass. See ya’ll in the gulag. Also: - Matt’s previous visit to Uncertain Things - Adaam on political violence - Adaam and Jonah Goldberg on political violence - Yu...

What’s lost when we opt for the convenience of technology over the difficult, awkward, thrilling realities of human interaction? With so much tech to reach for, when do we lose the ability to interact with each other – or even understand ourselves? And with the AI revolution already afoot, is humanity just f*cked? Vanessa’s back from mat leave and ready to dive into our tech-saturated, under-socia...

Jonah Goldberg, host of The Remnant and author of Suicide of the West , joins Adaam for a session of unfettered nerdery and gloom, in which definitions shall be debated, Straussian hats worn, and metaphors unapologetically mixed. They cover the meaning of “utopianism,” the revolutionary force of monotheism, the power of language, the messianic urge from Christ to the Jacobins, the lack of new idea...

It is an extra (((special))) episode on Uncertain Things as Ruth Wisse, senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund and author of Jews and Power , hosts Adaam for Friday afternoon cookies and Talmud. The two discussed the wave of resentment that threatens to consume American culture ( or Annihilism , as Adaam stubbornly calls it ), the problem (or lack thereof) of inequality, the Jewish rejection of Weakness...

AEI Senior Fellow Yuval Levin rejoins the pod to discuss the enemies of continuity. He and Adaam debate the definition of conservatism and whether it’s the Annihilist urge that dominates the contemporary left or something else entirely. Oh, and if that’s not nerdy enough for you, they also go on a semi-Burkean detour to adjudicate whether beauty in art is related to truth (because someone had to!)...

Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast and co-author of The Genius of Israel , is bullish on Israel. Is there anything that could change his mind? He and Adaam discuss what makes Israeli society strong and what might make it turn against itself. They also can’t resist some media naval gazing and debate whether the fall of sense-making gatekeepers is a boon or a curse. On the agenda: -Brave ne...

Alan Dershowitz is one of the most prolific legal scholars (and civil rights litigators) in this country of ours. In his latest book, The Preventive State , he takes the first step in developing the jurisprudence of what Philip K. Dick called precrime . Dershowitz argues that we need a better — and more transparent — legal system for calculating how many civil liberties we’re willing to sacrifice...

Coleman Hughes, author of The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America and writer for The Free Press, argues that recent progressive theories about antiracism have looped all the way back to racism. He joins Adaam to discuss the power of language to reveal and distort, the moral confusions of revolutionary activism, the aesthetics of social justice, and how this all relates to Isra...

Is there hope for Palestinians in Gaza after the war? What will happen to Hamas? Does anyone still want a Two State Solution? And will the war with Iran change the game? Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and director of Realign for Palestine , joins Adaam James Levin-Areddy to discuss. Ahmed seeks to refocus the Palestinian mission from armed resistance against I...

Former ACLU President Nadine Strossen and FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) President Greg Lukianoff join Adaam to discuss their upcoming book War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why They Fail . The three dig into what makes liberalism in general and free speech in particular so powerful, so radical, and so rare. Is too much information a danger for free speech?...

Perspicacious podcaster Mike Pesca, host of The Gist and author of Pesca Profundities , joins Adaam to partake in principled, punny, and peppily pugnacious perorations. On the agenda: the creeping nihilism of American society (and should we be worried about it), the comedy of Signalgate, the state of the media, and the revenge of the cancelled. On the agenda: -Podcasting with Pesca [00:00] -Misinf...

Former Democratic organizer Brianna Wu joins Adaam James Levin-Areddy for a conversation about her journey from leftist activism to clashing with leftists about antisemitism and the recklessness of transgender politics. Wu opens up on the challenges that come with standing up to one’s own tribe, the importance of defending liberal values, and how to think responsibly—and compassionately—about sex...

Religious scholar Tomer Persico, now a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, returns to help us unpack why liberalism is special — and why it’s now in crisis. Mentioned in this episode: -Our first conversation with Tomer, about the implications of seeing ourselves as made in the image of God -Yascha Mounk, who talked to us about how identity politics is straining liberalism -Tom Holland...

To write The Other Significant Others, journalist Rhaina Cohen interviewed couples around the country who have committed to sharing their lives with each other — just not their beds. These pivotal yet hard-to-define relationships have existed throughout history, but we lack the vocabulary to talk about them (let alone a legal framework to protect them). Adaam and Vanessa — platonic partners themse...

Podcaster/journalist Andy Mills shares the unusual trajectory of his life and career: from small town boy; to God-loving member of a close-knit group of friends; to rebellious drop-out of a Christian college; to curious outsider in Southern Sudan; to hard-working, some-time inappropriate young media professional; to a more self-aware, award-winning podcast producer; to New York Times outcast; to i...