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

Daphne Merkin on the Baseless Abuse Claims Against Woody Allen—And Why The Media Refuses to Let Them Die 04.04.2021 30:46

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks to journalist Daphne Merkin, author of a widely discussed 2018 New York Magazine article on Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, about HBO’s highly torqued documentary, 'Allen v. Farrow,' and the dubious claims it contains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nancy Rommelmann and Michael Totten on Portland's Descent Into Violence—And Why They Finally Decided to Flee 28.03.2021 37:25

Quillette's Jonathan Kay talks to two ex-Portlanders about how the COVID-19 pandemic and a year of violent protests turned their once beloved city into a fractured, downwardly mobile arena for America's culture war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Psychiatrist Andrew Lustig on the Conspiracist Internet Subculture of ‘Gangstalking’ 19.03.2021 34:40

Quillette’s Jonathan Kay speaks to Canadian researcher Andrew Lustig about his research on the web-based communities of individuals who believe they are surrounded by evidence of an enormous “gangstalking” conspiracy, involving dozens or even hundreds of individuals, aimed at causing them to become insane or commit suicide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evolutionary Psychologist (and Twitter Hit Man) Gad Saad on the ‘Cesspool’ in Academia, Hollywood’s Man-Children, and His New Book, ‘The Parasitic Mind’ 13.03.2021 35:43

Quillette’s Jonathan Kay speaks with Concordia University marketing professor Gad Saad about his take-no-prisoners social-media style, Lebanese politics, and the inner ideological life of Seth Rogen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Doyle—The Brain Behind Titania McGrath—on His New (And Very Serious) Book, ‘Free Speech And Why It Matters’ 09.03.2021 43:11

Jonathan Kay interviews comedian, social critic, and book author Andrew Doyle on why he thinks government censors are a bigger threat to a free society than the bigots they’re seeking to cancel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Literary Critic (and Sopranos Cameo Actor) Leon Wieseltier on His New Magazine, the Meaning of Forgiveness, and His Favorite Car-Chase Movies 01.03.2021 43:32

Host Jonathan Kay talks to long-time New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier about ‘Liberties,’ the ambitious literary journal he founded after getting Me-Too’d—and many other subjects besides, including the future of journalism, the innocence of Woody Allen, the allure of jazz music, and Nicolas Cage’s underrated cinematic masterpiece, 'Gone In 60 Seconds' Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Sociologist Nathalie Heinich on French Academics' Opposition to America's Race-Based Ideologies 22.02.2021 30:30

Quillette's Jonathan Kay speaks to eminent French sociologist Nathalie Heinich, founder of a new organization that opposes the spread of America's race-fixated academic movements into French campuses. While many conservatives have traditionally complained about the excesses of "French theory," Prof. Heinich argues, many harmful ideas are now crossing the Atlantic in the opposite direction. Learn m...

Social Media Network Creator Brian Amerige: If You Could Create a New Network from Scratch, What Would It Look Like? 15.02.2021 38:50

Quillette’s Jonathan Kay talks to Brian Amerige—a former team leader at Facebook, and now the CEO of Thoughtful—about the content-moderation lessons he’s learned from established social-media giants, and how we can create something better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Minds.Com CEO Bill Ottman on Censorship, ‘Algorithmic Transparency,’ and the Post-Trump Social-Media Landscape 04.02.2021 40:10

Quillette’s Jonathan Kay speaks with Bill Ottman, co-founder of the Minds social-media network, about the challenges facing Silicon Valley communications giants Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John McWhorter on the Ideological Excesses of the Social-Justice Movement 19.01.2021 1:05:07

Columbia University professor and Atlantic Magazine writer John McWhorter speaks with political satirist and TV presenter Josh Szeps about the transformation of radicalized progressive politics into a religious-style belief system Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cheri Jacobus on How Donald Trump Used Twitter to Destroy People’s Lives (Including Hers) 13.01.2021 32:59

Jonathan Kay speaks with Cheri Jacobus, a veteran Republican Party worker and conservative media figure who was mobbed and deplatformed after she called out Donald Trump for his abusive rhetoric and dubious campaign tactics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Philippe Lemoine on the Case for Lockdown Skepticism 06.01.2021 43:13

Jonathan Kay speaks to Philippe Lemoine about problematic assumptions embedded in the models used to support COVID lockdown policy. Yes, separating people helps reduce virus transmission and saves lives. But forced isolation also can generate serious (and often life-threatening) risks. Moreover, how much of the beneficial effects attributed to lockdowns are the result of disease-avoidant behaviour...

Professor Tania Reynolds on the Controversy Over Female Mentorship in Academia 02.01.2021 45:20

University of New Mexico social psychologist Tania Reynolds speaks with Jonathan Kay about Nature Communications' questionable decision to retract a controversial article, the intrusion of ideology into scholarship about academic mentorship, and the principles of evolutionary biology that may affect female professional relationships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toby Young on the Free Speech Union, and His Campaign Against Cancel Culture 24.12.2020 44:36

Jonathan Kay talks to colleague Toby Young about the fine line between journalism and activism, the politics of censorship, and his start-up year at the Free Speech Union Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oren Cass on the Conservative Case for Labor Unions 17.12.2020 33:02

As the conservative movement enters a period of post-Trump flux, American Compass CEO Oren Cass explains to Quillette's Jonathan Kay why a right-leaning coalition with organized labor now makes sense Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Christakis on His New Book, ‘Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound And Enduring Impact of Coronavirus On The Way We Live’ 10.12.2020 31:52

Yale Sociologist and Physician Nicholas Christakis speaks to Quillette’s Jonathan Kay about the origins of COVID-19, how it compares to Bubonic plague and Spanish Flu, and the way it will shape the future of our societies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Benny Morris on the Turks’ Forgotten 19th-Century Genocide of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian Christians 08.12.2020 35:54

Jonathan Kay speaks to famed Middle Eastern historian Benny Morris, whose latest book explores the ethnic cleansing of Turkey during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Abigail Shrier on Her New Book About Peer Contagion and Gender Dysphoria 06.12.2020 22:12

Jonathan Kay speaks to Wall Street Journal contributor Abigail Shrier about the epidemic of teenage girls seeking gender reassignment, the backlash against her book—and the backlash against the backlash Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yale School of Public Health Professor David Paltiel on Computer Modelling COVID-19 Vaccination Programs 28.11.2020 26:00

Jonathan Kay speaks to public health expert David Paltiel about how mass vaccination could help end the COVID-19 pandemic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shelby Steele, Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, on ‘What Killed Michael Brown?’ 23.11.2020 31:59

Author Shelby Steele speaks to Quillette’s Jonathan Kay about white guilt, the ‘poetic truth’ of Ferguson, the dead end of racial grievances, and the creative process of working with his son Eli Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington-Based Journalist Brad Polumbo on LGBT Politics in the Pre- and Post-Trump Eras 20.11.2020 33:38

Brad Polumbo speaks to Quillette’s Jonathan Kay about life as a gay conservative journalist in Washington, D.C., the politics of outing Republican lawmakers, the complex political tensions between LGB and T, and the new journalistic climate that he expects will emerge under Joe Biden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeffrey Flier, Former Dean of Harvard Medical School, on This Week’s Good News About the Hunt for a COVID-19 Vaccine 14.11.2020 31:38

Jeffrey Flier—physician, endocrinologist, researcher, and 21st Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University—speaks to Quillette’s Jonathan Kay about Pfizer’s recent announcement that its candidate COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be more than 90% effective in preliminary testing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamil Jivani on the Inconvenient Truth About Donald Trump’s Non-White Supporters 06.11.2020 36:18

While Trump’s hopes of a second Presidential term seem to be vanishing, his surprisingly strong showing among Black, Hispanic, Muslim, and Asian voters is challenging the progressive claim that Trump's appeal is rooted primarily in racism. Quillette’s Jonathan Kay discusses these surprising election results with author and journalist Jamil Jivani. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

Jodi Shaw on a Climate of Fear at Smith College, Following Unproven Racism Accusations 03.11.2020 45:00

A whistleblower at an elite Massachusetts women’s college talks to Jonathan Kay about how a single 2018 incident on campus unleashed public-shaming measures that targeted the school’s lowest-paid workers—all in the name of social justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cult Expert and Deprogrammer Rick Ross on NXIVM, Founder Keith Raniere, And the Many Tactics Cults Use to Exploit the Unwary 26.10.2020 42:37

Rick Ross, executive director of the Cult Education Institute, speaks with Jonathan Kay about infamous cult leader (and now convicted felon) Keith Raniere, who spent 14 years suing Ross for telling the truth about NXIVM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices