Factually! with Adam Conover

You are going to die. And I am too! But because of this fact, we are fascinated by people who push the final day off as long as possible, and those who promise to prevent it. But what if I told you that pretty much all of it is BULLSHIT? Today I'm joined by Dr. Saul Justin Newman, a research fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. He won an Ig-Nobel prize for showing most claims of ex...

You may have heard of Flock cameras, a network of automatic license plate readers that track not only license plates, but what vehicles look like, and even descriptions of people inside them. If this sounds like the makings of a surveillance network that is both antithetical to our values, and ripe for abuse: it is! And here to talk about it is Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, which...

Life in America is becoming less and less affordable. Politicians tend to blame it on inflation and supply chain issues, but what if corporations are just...price gouging because they can? Today I'm joined by economic sociologist Lindsay Owens to discuss why price gouging is easier and more prevalent than ever, and what we can do about it. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamc...

He can deny it all he likes, but Elon's got blood on his hands. Visit https://groundnews.com/factually to stay fully informed, see through biased media and get all sides of every story. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access through my link. -- SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/ SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually!...

Data centers actually predate the internet, but with the growing demands of cloud storage, crypto and of course AI, companies are scaling up, and finding new ways to deceive and exploit us all in the process. Journalist Paris Marx joins me today to examine how big tech is gambling away our planet in the pursuit of digital power.  SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconove...

Fascism has a different face in 2026. Not only are we facing very real existential threats in the form of climate change and AI, the millenarians who once sat on the fringes of society now wield the most power. Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join me today to unpack our current era of 'apocalyptic fascism' and what we can do about it. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover S...

We've been told AI is supposed to be a tool for us to use. But more and more it feels like we're the ones being used to feed the machines, before they inevitably replace us. Joining me today is author and journalist Cory Doctorow, whose new book The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI examines how we can survive the post-AI world, and how we can help burst the bubble. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATR...

The gaming industry's old model is falling apart. RAM costs are skyrocketing, making new consoles scarce and unaffordable. The industry is beset by layoffs and studio closures, and indie developers aren't doing much better. Will there be anything left for young gamers beyond Fortnite and Roblox? Videogame journalist and podcaster Robert Zacny joins me to discuss the predicament of modern...

Get 20% off DeleteMe by going to https://joindeleteme.com/adam and use code adam to protect your privacy! -- Does the internet seem a lot worse lately? Here's why. https://www.yachtclubgames.com/games/... https://www.404media.co See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Consent has been the focal point of discussions around sex in our society, and rightly so. But consent is, or should be, the bare minimum. Philosopher Quill R. Kukla joins me to examine how we can prioritize not just consent, but agency, and dare I say...pleasure?  SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/ SUBSCRI...

Alcohol kills more Americans each year than all other drugs combined. So why aren't we treating it like the public health crisis that it is? Today I'm talking to health journalists Lev Facher and Isabella Cueto to unpack how it harms us, who benefits, and what we can do about it.  National helpline for substance use concerns: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline The De...

Leaf blowers: a study in how to suck and blow at the same time. Visit https://groundnews.com/factually to stay fully informed, see through biased media and get all sides of every story. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access through my link. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Queer artists have had a profound and wonderful influence on our society throughout history, and nowhere is that more evident than in the field of Pop Music. Journalist and music historian Barry Walters joins me today to uncover the powerful queer subtext behind our most beloved hits. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tou...

It's no secret that AI is stealing from us. From data to intellectual property to our very humanity, it's clear we need more time to take control of our future. Adam talks to the legend himself, Senator Bernie Sanders, about the urgent need for data center moratoriums, and for us to have a say in where AI goes from here. SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON...

You might think you like working from home, but we're starting to see the harm. -- SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/ SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577 » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw4ffMc2NWydBlD...

The dems just opened their pockets and a metaphorical moth flew out, but at least we have all these new data centers, eh? It's so cool. It's all just so cool. -- SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/ SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on: » Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-con...

Philanthropy is broken. Or maybe it’s not—after all, the funds that billionaires set up are deliberately cumbersome tax havens rather than any genuine attempt at giving. The real surprise is in learning how deep the hole truly goes. Today, Adam is joined by Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation and author of CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.  Find a copy of Glen's book at factuallypo...

Move over World Cup halftime show, the biggest shitshow this week is still the cyclospora outbreak. Unless, of course, you’re counting the Trump administration literally trying to pump the military full of testosterone. This week, Adam’s joined by podcaster and crossdresser Trixie Mattel and comedian Dylan Adler.  -- SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover SEE ADAM ON...

Seriously, what is life actually like in China? The American discourse on China is so bad, so poisoned, so laden with agendas, it’s difficult to understand what life looks like in one of the largest countries on Earth. This week, Adam speaks with Yi-Ling Liu, author of The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, about what we can learn about life in China from l...

More horrific murders from ICE, an exhausting scramble to find a candidate to replace Graham Platner in the Maine Senate race, and a massive lawsuit to stop the Paramount/Warner Brothers Discover merger. The news doesn’t slow down, so we can’t either. This week, Adam is joined by David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, and David Weigel, national political editor at Semafor.  -...

Choosing whether or not to become a parent can be a profoundly difficult decision, but it only becomes more difficult when you’re queer. Joe Osmundson is a professor of biology at NYU, and the author of Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood. This week, Joe talks with Adam about the life-defining grief that followed his experience of losing a chance to become a father, and what it taug...

It’s been a week of twists and turns with Graham Platner dropping out of the Maine Senate race, and Trump interfering with the World Cup only for the USA to promptly lose. And for LA locals, all of this is in the warm, chemical-y afterglow of the Boyle Heights cold storage facility fire! Smell that? No, not the ash and carcinogens! It’s a fresh news roundup with writer and comedian Amy Silverberg...

For the past decade, Raphael Bob-Waksberg has pioneered the niche genre of hilarious-yet-heartwrenching animated TV comedies. The BoJack Horseman creator’s new show, Long Story Short , recently landed on Netflix and was immediately met with praise for its perfect balance of madcap humor and intricately layered storytelling. It’s not the kind of show one puts together without many years of developi...

Meta is on the decline. For the first time ever, they’ve shown a decline in active users. They’ve lost ungodly amounts of money on projects that have gone nowhere. They’re burning cash to participate in an AI race that’s also destined for failure. Could their stranglehold on our society finally be loosening? And what happens when they lose their grip entirely? This week, Adam is joined by Julia An...

(In addition to your weekly Factually! episode, this week we're bringing you a monologue from Adam. This short, researched monologue originally aired on the Factually! YouTube page, but we are sharing audio versions of these monologues with our podcast audience as well. Please enjoy, and stay tuned for your regularly scheduled episode of Factually! Sitcoms from decades ago are dominating streaming...