Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps

Helen Lewis's new BBC Radio 4 show, The New Gurus, investigates why so many of us have turned away from mainstream medicine, mainstream politics and the mainstream media to embrace the power of charismatic individuals instead. Helen went viral in 2018 with her legendary interview with Jordan Peterson. She's a brilliant interrogator and a thoughtful critic of the culture wars, wokeness, gender ideology and the far right.

This week Josh reflects, in a somewhat heated way, on the surreal injustices of the justice system. Plus: Aussie-made shoulder-launched drone guns. And sharks in Sydney harbour.

Sam Harris is a best-selling writer, philosopher and neuroscientist who hosts one of the world's most influential intellectual podcasts, Making Sense. Josh wants to pin down, once and for all, Sam's feelings about his former associates in the "intellectual dark web" who've gone off the rails. They also discuss Elon, Twitter, and the best flavour of cookie.To subscribe to the premium podcast feed via substack head to: https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe

Scott Adams is the creator of the cartoon strip Dilbert. He rose to Twitter prominence ahead of the 2016 US election where he picked Trump as the winner, praising him as a master persuader. We leave Trump aside in this episode and focus on Scott's advice on creativity and success that he details in his 2014 book - How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.

For this last Best Of episode we have the amazing Kurt Fearnley - paralympian, media personalist and advocate, who brings an amazing perspective on the global experience of disability. Then, the show I get the most feedback on, my diatribe about gun laws. And finally, one of the world’s foremost experts on sex differences - the historian and bioethicist Alice Dreger.

This week, Josh airs what's on his mind. Did the NFL star Damar Hamlin suffer cardiac arrest because he was vaccinated, or because he was smashed in the chest by six-foot-four, 220-pound receiver? Was the musical editor of The Simpsons, who died this week, the greatest TV composer of all time? We revisit the best-ever Simpsons songs to find out! Is there anything redeeming about seagulls? And as we learn new facts about the Buckingham Palace racism scandal, Josh finds himself confused... Is it always racist to ask where you're from?