Quillette

Quillette Podcast

News EN ↓ 344 episodes

Long-form conversations with scientists, writers, historians, and public intellectuals on the ideas shaping — and dividing — the Western world. Mostly hosted by Jonathan Kay — Canadian journalist, author, and Quillette editor whose books include Among the Truthers , a landmark investigation into conspiracy culture. Kay brings a rare combination of intellectual range, genuine curiosity, and willingness to push back, whether the subject is evolutionary biology, cancel culture, geopolitics, or the philosophy of free speech. Non-dogmatic, evidence-driven, and unafraid of controversy.

Author

Quillette

Episodes

James Kirchick on ‘Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington’ 06.07.2022 36:09

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to author James Kirchick about the closeted lives of gay men living and working in America's capital during the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Dawkins on the Wonders of Flight 20.06.2022 26:53

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins about his new book on the science and mythology of life in the air—from puffins and flying squirrels to fairies and angels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘Sex Realism’ Versus ‘Sex Denialism’: Is the Tide Finally Turning Against Gender Ideology? 05.06.2022 48:29

Economist editor Helen Joyce, author of ‘Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality,’ explains to Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay why biology must trump politics when it comes to defining who is a woman and who is a man. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Progressive Social Panic at Yale and Princeton 23.05.2022 46:12

Reporter Aaron Sibarium talks to Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about his recent scoops concerning the campaign against anti-woke Princeton classics professor Joshua Katz, and the unsettling radicalism of student activists at Yale Law School Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Elon Musk Can Promote Free Speech—Without Turning Twitter Into One Big ‘Dumpster Fire’ 08.05.2022 35:10

Veteran technology expert Jim Rutt tells Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about the hard lessons he’s learned over four decades of creating and implementing content-moderation standards on numerous social-media platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Montz on Harvard University’s Campaign Against One of Its Most Famous (and Politically Incorrect) Black Professors 25.04.2022 28:47

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with documentary filmmaker Rob Montz about self-made education expert Roland G. Fryer Jr.—who bucked Harvard’s progressive party line on race and education, and then got targeted with dubious harassment claims. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frances Widdowson on the Questions Canadians Aren't Supposed to Ask About Unmarked Graves 13.04.2022 39:21

Former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson describes the political, academic, and journalistic taboos surrounding the fate of Indigenous residential-school students in western Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shmuel Bar on the War in Ukraine, and the Failure of Western Deterrence 05.04.2022 30:31

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to intelligence expert Shmuel Bar about why Putin bungled the war in Ukraine, why NATO didn't do enough to deter the Russians, and what happens next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Harris on Islam, Dropping Acid, Joe Rogan, Vaccine Pseudoscience, the Wonders of Meditation, Collaborating with Ricky Gervais, and the Myth of Free Will 25.03.2022 1:30:37

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay asks neuroscientist, philosopher, best-selling author, and celebrity podcaster Sam Harris about the key to living a fulfilling and satisfying life (and whether it‘s okay to tell your children they’re bad at sports) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia's Surprising Military Blunders in Ukraine: A Strategic Analysis 09.03.2022 30:34

Royal Military College professor Scott Maloney and Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, and consider what Vladimir Putin will do to salvage his widely denounced invasion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Mchangama on His New Book, "Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media" 07.03.2022 36:36

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Copenhagen-based think-tank scholar and podcaster Jacob Mchangama about why so many human societies have a difficult time tolerating dissent and heresy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Best on Substack's Commitment to Free Speech 27.02.2022 30:50

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Substack's founder and CEO about empowering writers through free expression (and his company's new, foosball-table-free San Francisco offices) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' Protesters, in Their Own Words 15.02.2022 41:15

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with David Paisley and Jay VanderWier, two of the many ordinary working-class Canadians who’ve assembled in Ottawa to protest restrictive government COVID policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher J. Ferguson on Racist Orcs, Ableist Adventures, and Non-Binary Monsters: Can 'Dungeons & Dragons' Survive Wokeness? 31.01.2022 45:47

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to psychology professor Christopher J. Ferguson about his newly published academic paper, "Are Orcs Racist? Dungeons and Dragons, Ethnocentrism, Anxiety, and the Depiction of 'Evil' Monsters" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Shermer: Watching 'Scientific American' Go Woke 17.01.2022 50:53

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to book author and Skeptic editor Michael Shermer about why scientific media, professional organizations, and academic departments are increasingly succumbing to progressive ideological fads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat on His Hellish Experience with Lyme Disease 04.01.2022 49:45

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat about how his new book—which explores both his own fight against chronic Lyme disease, and the controversy surrounding the condition within the medical community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Kay on Middle Age, Watch Collecting, Sports Cars, Board Games, and Disc Golf 23.12.2021 30:19

Quillette's Jonathan Kay ends 2021 by speaking to Bob Tarantino about the things he does when he isn't hosting the Quillette podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Lockhart on How Guns Transformed Western Civilization 20.12.2021 33:30

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Wright State University professor Paul Lockhart about the enormous military and political upheavals set in motion by the adoption of gunpowder-based weapons from the 13th Century onward—including the demise of the medieval castle, the empowerment of large centralized states, and the deployment of permanent standing armies. Learn more about your ad ch...

Trent Colbert Turns the Tables on Yale Law School's Kafkaesque Diversity Department 10.12.2021 30:34

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks with second-year law student Trent Colbert, who recorded YLS Diversity Director Yaseen Eldik and Associate Dean Ellen Cosgrove as they tried to strongarm him into a public confession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Batya Ungar-Sargon on the Growing Gulf Between Ordinary Americans and the Progressive Journalists Who Cover Them 28.11.2021 30:48

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Newsweek editor Batya Ungar-Sargon about her new book, "Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy"—and her political voyage from doctrinaire progressive to self-described "left-wing populist" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nancy Segal on Lessons in Human Nature Revealed by Identical Twins 13.11.2021 25:22

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with California State University professor Nancy Segal about her career spent studying twins, and her new book, Deliberately Divided. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Shellenberger on How Progressive Activists Are Making American Cities Poorer, Dirtier, and More Dangerous 09.11.2021 34:38

Author Michael Shellenberger speaks with Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about his new book, San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Storr on Our Insatiable Appetite for Status 26.10.2021 27:05

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with author Will Storr about his new book detailing the profound role of status-seeking in shaping human societies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harvard Professor Steven Pinker on How to Think Rationally, the Monty Hall Problem, Kurt Gödel, and the Case for Objective Truth 18.10.2021 29:27

'Enlightenment Now' author Steven Pinker speaks with Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay about his newly published book, 'Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Haidt on Instagram’s Mental Health Emergency 04.10.2021 47:42

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with NYU professor and “Coddling of the American Mind” Co-Author Jonathan Haidt about the emotionally destructive effect of social media on many young users Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices