Factually! with Adam Conover

(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!) Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are obsessed with...

Just because weed is legal doesn’t mean it’s safe. Despite its growing legalization across the country, a lack of regulation has led to alarming levels of pesticides and chemicals in cannabis products—posing serious health risks. This week, Adam talks with Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Paige St. John about her recent findings on contaminated products being sold in fully legal dispensari...

Vaccines save lives—period. So why have so many people grown skeptical of one of the most scientifically proven medical advancements in human history? And how did vocal anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theorist, and all-around slurry-brained mush man Robert F. Kennedy Jr. end up on track to be nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services in Donald Trump’s cabinet? This week, Adam sits down with Dr....

(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!) It feels like everything is a gamble these days,...

Health insurance companies aren’t in the business of keeping people healthy—they’re in the business of making money. And that means they’ll go to extreme lengths to deny valid healthcare claims, sometimes with devastating, even fatal, consequences for the people they insure. We all know the system is broken, but journalists T. Christian Miller and Patrick Rucker have uncovered just how deep the ro...

( 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!) Seriously, what happened to the idea of decades...

In recent years, despite trans people making up a relatively small percentage of the population, there has been an outsized and deeply harmful wave of anti-trans backlash. Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was fueled in large part by anti-trans rhetoric, and he wasted no time acting on his hateful promises in his first days back in office. This week, Adam speaks with Chase Strangio, Co-Director of the...

( 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!) The Los Angeles fires were not preventable, vir...

The phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" actually started as a joke—because, let’s face it, it’s physically impossible. So how did this absurd notion become one of the most unshakable ideas in American culture? The truth is, the ideals of self-reliance and hustle have always been more myth than reality. This week, Adam sits down with Adam Chandler, author of 99% Perspiration, to explore ho...

Southern California has been utterly decimated by wildfires, with the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Altadena being virtually leveled to the ground. In this special episode, released outside of our usual schedule, Adam sits down with UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain to unpack what really happened—both in terms of the environmental factors and the disaster response, and to dispel th...

As the effects of climate change ravage our world, we have no choice but to fight back. While it may feel like a hopeless endeavor, the truth is that we have the power to make a difference through collective action. This week, Adam sits down with Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, to discuss how we can drive meaningful change toward a greener future, particularly in light...

So much of today’s political policy is shaped by the public perception of crime—but what if that perception isn’t accurate to begin with? Donald Trump essentially won the election by spinning tall tales of record-level violent crime, and instead of pushing back, the Democrats mostly went along with it. But are things really as bad as they seem? And would we even know if they were? This week, Adam...

Global fertility rates are dropping, and while this might initially seem like a solution to overpopulation concerns, it also signals major challenges ahead. A generational imbalance could spell disaster for social security, elder care, and the workforce needed to combat climate change. This week, Adam sits down with Dr. Alice Evans to explore the causes behind declining birthrates, the consequence...

( 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!) Being part of a political party used to actuall...

Amazon workers are on strike! It’s no shock that employees are pushing back against the invasive, abusive, and grueling practices of one of the world’s largest corporations. What is surprising, though, is that they managed to form a union at all. Stephen Maing and Brett Story’s astonishing new documentary Union tells the inspiring story of how workers fought against all odds to claim victory over...

California has the fifth-largest economy in the world, the biggest population of any U.S. state, and it's just gosh darn beautiful. So why do Trump and his allies insist on portraying it as a dystopian nightmare? While it’s tempting to dismiss their rhetoric as partisan fearmongering, the truth is California faces serious, long-standing challenges. This week, Adam sits down with California State S...

( 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!) Typically folks tend to be, uh, anti-murder......

What the hell is going on with the Democratic Party? For the past eight years, it seemed like the party’s entire identity revolved around defeating Donald Trump. Now, Trump is returning to office with more power than ever, following a catastrophic 2024 election for the Democrats. This defeat has raised serious questions about the party’s strategy, messaging, and even its core identity. This week,...

The war in Gaza has been going on for over a year, killing 44,000 Gazans and leaving countless others injured or displaced. With no ceasefire on the horizon, the question remains: where do things go from here? This week, Adam is joined by Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017, to exam...

The left lost hard this election, and it warrants a deep examination of what the ideals of the Democratic party even stands for. Are voters on the left represented by their party anymore, or is it time to consider alternative means to enacting progressive change? This week, Adam speaks with Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party, about how activists on the left can build...

When it comes to police reform, one of the most glaring and urgent issues is the unchecked power of sheriff departments. Once elected, sheriffs face almost no oversight and are nearly impossible to remove from office. This lack of accountability has led to widespread corruption, with some departments acting as though they’re above the law. Even more disturbing is the existence of actual police gan...

Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was an unmitigated catastrophe on multiple fronts, but it’s hard to ignore how it ultimately became a powerful tool in helping Donald Trump get elected. Was this Musk's plan all along back in 2022, or just another example of his infantile, buffoonish behavior with no real consequences? In this episode, recorded before the election, Adam sits down with New York Times...

( 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!) Congratulations to Elon Musk on his historic Wh...

This week’s election was a decisive win for Donald Trump. While it was once reasonable to view this racist, sexist, plutocratic, transphobic, criminal as an outlier in American politics, it’s time to face the reality that he is American politics. In this special episode, Adam sits down with journalist Jamelle Bouie to discuss the sweeping changes a second Trump presidency will likely bring to the...

We all know the ultra-wealthy look for ways to dodge paying taxes, but when you have enough money, this game goes global. From Swiss bank accounts to international business consultants, there’s an entire network dedicated to helping the rich hide their money and avoid paying their fair share. This week, Adam sits down with journalist and author Atossa Araxia Abrahamian to discuss her book, The Hid...