Hard Knox with Amanda Knox

Rebecca Lemov is the author of The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyperpersuasion, whose work explores how people are persuaded, manipulated, and sometimes brainwashed. In this conversation, Amanda and Rebecca unpack why intelligence doesn’t protect us from influence, how moments of “ungrounding” make us vulnerable to brainwashing, and why shame keeps many survivors silent....

There's some wisdom you can only find when you're lost, which has led Kevin Kelly, senior Maverick and co-founder Wired magazine, to get lost intentionally through decades of travelling. Along the way, he's collected some gems of wisdom and invented many of his own. Kevin Kelly is the author of Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier. Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.amandaknox.co...

In this episode of Ask Amanda Anything, Amanda unpacks the complexity of memory, truth, and the quiet work of setting boundaries with those we love, even when love feels conditional. How do we navigate the minefield of family relationships when our histories clash and our beliefs collide? Why do some people rewrite the past to protect themselves, and how do we hold on to our reality without losing...

Emily Oster is an economist, bestselling author, and creator of Parent Data, where she uses research to cut through fear-driven myths about pregnancy and parenting. In this episode she discusses how data and boundaries help us make better choices when there’s no way to guarantee an outcome, why treating everyone—including toddlers, teenagers, and even adults—like they need both love and limits lea...

How do you laugh at the absurdity of your own trauma without minimizing it? Why do we expect people who’ve been hurt to perform grace, and what if they just want to be messy and real? In this AMA, Amanda tackles questions about forgiveness, therapy, and surviving the spotlight. Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.amandaknox.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠amandaknox.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X: @amandaknox IG: @amamaknox Bl...

Michael Moynihan is a journalist, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, and a writer known for his unflinching takes on politics, culture, and free expression. In this episode, he and Amanda discuss how satire and skepticism cut through today’s noise, why outrage has become the default language of public life and how to keep your sense of humor intact when the world seems determined to lose its min...

Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fascinating. In this “Old School” episode, Megan Phelps-Roper talks with Amanda about her upbringing in and departure from the Westboro Baptist Church. What does it mean to be lost in faith, to lose our faith in an ideology or in a person, and how do w...

This week on Ask Amanda Anything: From prison letters to public scrutiny, Amanda reflects on trust, resilience, and what it means to be seen. She shares her take on Kim Kardashian’s surprising role in criminal justice reform, the philosophy behind her Waking Up series, and why some bonds from prison endure while others fade. Along the way: lessons from stand-up comedy, the challenges of dating und...

R.G. Shore, author of The Ocean Inside Me and a meditation teacher who began his practice in prison, joins Amanda for a conversation on resilience and self-discovery. They discuss how meditation can turn confinement into freedom, why facing hate can lead to compassion and how surrendering to the hardest circumstances can reveal unexpected strength. Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.amandaknox.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Katie Simon’s latest book, Tell Me What You Like: An Honest Discussion of Sex and Intimacy After Sexual Assault, explores how survivors chart diverse paths to healing. In this episode, she reveals how she walked away from a life that looks perfect from the outside, why listening to your body can be the most radical act of self-preservation and how intimacy after trauma asks for patience, honesty,...

Yascha is a professor at Johns Hopkins University, the Founder of Persuasion and the host of The Good Fight podcast, known for his work on democracy, identity, and polarization. In this conversation with Amanda, he describes how growing up between cultures shaped his obsession with belonging and freedom, why personal resilience matters just as much as political resilience and how finding your voic...

Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fascinating. In this “Old School” episode, Dr. Kari Nixon joins Amanda to talk the intersection of death, disease, and community and how illness impacts identity. It's a topic she pursued without even realizing that she herself was a victim of Munchaus...

This week on Ask Amanda Anything: How it feels to watch your own life turned into television. Why false confessions still shape the way justice fails. How a flood of letters — from Harry Potter fan fiction to marriage proposals — carried Amanda through prison. And why the eternal debate of Han Solo versus Indiana Jones reveals more about resilience than you might think. Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠w...

Katie Herzog is a journalist, podcaster, and author of Drink Your Way Sober, a candid and science-based look at alternative paths to recovery. In this discussion with Amanda they uncover answers to some hard questions. How do you break free from addiction when the standard treatments don’t work? Why might shame, denial, and even doctors themselves stand in the way of effective solutions? And how c...

This week on Ask Amanda Anything: Why do betrayals from old friends still cut so deep, even years later? How can a lie about something small spiral into a wrongful conviction? Why does our justice system reward the best storytellers instead of the search for truth? How do you keep your balance when negative energy comes at you from strangers or even people you once trusted? Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Brook Urick became the public face of Seeking Arrangement, the dating site that brought sugar babies and sugar daddies into the mainstream—and into a media firestorm. In this episode, she and Amanda unpack the cultural panic around sex, power, and money. They dig into how narratives get hijacked, why judgment moves faster than truth, and what it takes to reclaim your identity after going viral for...

Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fascinating. In this “Old School” episode, Dr. Michael Shermer joins Amanda to unpack why convictions, from religion to conspiracy theories, grip us so tightly—and how skepticism can help us stay grounded in an age of polarization and misinformation. R...

This week Amanda responds to your questions and reflects on how public judgment can shape your identity, why dramatization can spark empathy, how wrongful convictions often stem from human error, and why surveillance culture makes private mistakes feel permanent. Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.amandaknox.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠amandaknox.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X: @amandaknox IG: @amamaknox Bluesky: @⁠⁠amand...

In this episode, CNN anchor and novelist Jake Tapper joins Amanda in a wide-ranging converasation about navigating public scrutiny, maintaining personal ethics in a polarized news cycle, and why storytelling is essential to understanding power. They explore how to hold onto your principles in a profession built on spin, and why humor might just be the best weapon against despair. Reach out to us a...

This week on Hard Knox...music! We’re sharing Amanda’s guest appearance on Life in Seven Songs, a podcast where guests tell their life stories through seven tracks that shaped them. In this episode, Amanda reflects on how music became a lifeline during her years in prison—through the three CDs she was allowed in her cell and even a paper keyboard she used to practice piano. Music connected Amanda...

Anthony Graves spent 18 years in prison—12 of them on death row—for a crime he didn’t commit. In this conversation, he shares how he survived solitary confinement, why he chose forgiveness over rage, and how he’s turned his unimaginable ordeal into a mission for justice, dignity, and healing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a bonus for our Hard Knox listeners we are sharing Amanda’s recent appearance on the podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss. Bari is a journalist, author, and founder of The Free Press, known for her fearless interviews and sharp commentary on culture, politics, and free expression. It's a wide-ranging conversation exploring the themes of Amanda’s new memoir, Free: My Search For Meaning. If you alrea...

Zosia Mamet is best known for her starring role as Shoshanna Shapiro in the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series Girls. In this episode Zosia joins Amanda for a vulnerable and funny conversation about anxiety, imposter syndrome, and what it means to feel “too much” in a world that keeps asking for something else. They explore how control becomes a survival strategy, why writing a memoir...

Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox—self-described “Sisters of Ill Repute”—have each reclaimed their own narratives in the face of withering public scrutiny. Now, as executive producers of the new Hulu series The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, they come together for a deeply human conversation about surviving public shaming, living with a past you didn’t choose, and why empathy can be a radical force fo...

Reach out to us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.amandaknox.com⁠⁠⁠ ⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠amandaknox.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ X: @amandaknox IG: @amamaknox Bluesky: @⁠⁠amandaknox.com⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Free: My Search for Meaning⁠⁠⁠ Waking Up Meditation App⁠https://www.wakingup.com/Amandaknox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices