Podcast appearances and mentions of josh zepps

I spoke with Alan Davison about a recent article he wrote about how our institutions need to support dissenting views. The self-inflicted lack of trust in academia, the encroachment of illiberalism in our institutions.
 Follow me: @obaidomer Follow Alan: @alan_davison Read Alan's article here: https://spectator.com.au/2022/10/bursting-the-bubble/ Alan's Faculty special speaker series, “Permission to Think” that he is working on with Josh Zepps: https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-arts-and-social-sciences/partners-and-community/fass-industry-events/permission-think An article on indigenous science in New Zealand: https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2021/12/17/royal-society-of-new-zealand-responds-to-complaints-about-investigations-of-its-fellows-free-speech-and-two-science-supporting-academics-apparently-get-punished-for-their-free-speech/ Research on free speech in New Zealand universities: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/11/502

This episode we discuss Blaketown, Food shortages, RAT, Clarke, Fumanswoo, Razor balls, Swapcasts, Josh Zepps, Bob Sagat, Baseball, Cold war, korean airlines flight 007,  Space news,  Grizzlyman, Chimp sex,  David Ike, Coke bust, Tonga and much more. Enjoy.

This week Marcella and Niccole are joined by the hilarious River Butcher. They discuss the ever-controversial (on this show) Che Diaz, the Spears sister feud...and Marcella's appreciation for Wordle. This week's Hella Old, is a viral tweet that asks, "what were you doing at 22?" and an unsuspected Internet Crush on Josh Zepps, who took down Joe Rogan on his own show. Last, a weird cancel corner for Steve Harvey who's actually never said anything controversial. -----Follow Marcella and Niccole!Twitter & IG: @marcellacomedy & @niccolethurman-----Photography by Kim NewmoneyHead Inflation by Manuel Abady-----Advertise on The Scroll Down via Gumball.fm See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parker Molloy: My guest today is Matt Negrin, a senior producer for the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. And just about the only person on the planet, I know who gets more irritated about the way politics gets covered in the media than I do. Matt, thank you so much for joining me.Matt Negrin: No, I'm obviously happy to have a contest with you about who is more angry at the media on a daily basis. It's a contest in which we both lose so full in on it.Well, I was thinking about this. So this is going to be the first episode of my podcast for the new year, because I had to take a month off because I was just like, “Why am I doing this?”I take a month off because I celebrate January 6th privately. And so I really just a full-on month of just remembrance.Yeah. Well, I mean, if Christmas starts in November, January 6th starts in December.January 6th creep is a real issue that we need to address, people are putting up their January 6th gallows way too early.So I feel like the two of us started the Trump years as relatively sane individuals who just happened to consume a lot of news media. What happened to us?The question is how did we become totally crazy while also feeling that we're the only sane people in a world in which everyone else is crazy, right?Yeah. Pretty much.To me, it feels like the beginning of the Trump years, or the beginning of the Trump term was like, okay, obviously this is a catastrophe, but maybe, just maybe our trusted news media will do the right thing and we'll hold this guy accountable. We'll check him, we'll provide a level of accountability that you and I haven't seen in our lifetimes really. And obviously, that didn't happen. So I think the ongoing frustration with that is what has, at least for me just made me question what is going on with this industry that I was a part of? That I spent almost a decade in, how did I not see that this was kind of inevitable? And then when I left the industry, I was like, all right, now I feel like I can talk about this stuff freely, which is kind of a bad sign that people in journalism can't talk about what's really happening.And that's been kind of the undertone I think of journalists will tell you privately in the DMs that they agree with what you're saying, but will never say it publicly. And that's bad.The Present Age is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.Yeah, well, on that sort of the same kind of thought, I get a lot of people who will text me or DM me to say they liked something I wrote and I'm like, "Cool. I would appreciate a retweet." And they're like, "Sorry, I can't."It's just, "I'll get in trouble if I do that." I've heard from so many people at newspapers and TV networks who say the same thing. And they're like, "God, you're so right. Thank you for doing this. This really needed to be called out." And my response is always, "You are totally in a position to call this out yourself." And they all say, "Ah, you know I can't do that." And it's like, “ha ha.” Yeah. Well, that's fun. Thanks for your help. But I'm just going to sit back and let this profile of Greg Gutfeld just kind of go out and get tweeted about, and I won't do anything about it.Yeah. “I won't criticize it because I don't want to get in trouble with the bosses.”Exactly. I don't want to mention how we gave a platform to Josh Hawley. I don't want to be the person who does that. It's not my role. Yeah.So speaking of giving a platform to Josh Hawley and giving a platform to Ron Johnson and giving a platform to Roger Marshall and Rick Scott and Mike Ron, and all of those. So is Chuck Todd your nemesis? And does he know that he's your nemesis?Okay. The word “nemesis” requires the person to acknowledge your existence. So I think the answer is no, I don't think he has ever once acknowledged at least explicitly, any of the good faith. I would say criticisms about Meet the Press, but I've heard from enough people to know that like yeah, he's aware of it. They're aware of it. They're all aware of it. And one of the NBCPR guys, Richard Hudock has engaged with me on Twitter. So has another producer for Meet the Press. So yeah, they're aware, but they do not respond anymore and I think part of it is because they probably know it's not a good look to be fighting on Twitter. But also I think they know that some of these things are indefensible.So you can't defend Chuck Todd for putting Roger Marshall, who is a Senator who voted to overturn the election on Meet the Press. You can't defend that. It's an obvious message that Chuck Todd thinks it's okay to give a platform to people who tried to overturn the election. And that's simply something that if you're a good faith journalist, you probably don't agree with. So I don't relish the idea that there's a guy on TV who is my nemesis, but at the same time, why aren't more people talking about this? It seems very dystopian. I don't know. What was your feeling after January 6th? I feel like there were a bunch of us on the left who were saying we have to hold these people accountable by not giving them platforms or at least by branding them explicitly every time they're mentioned or on the air with a reminder that they did this thing. Right. Do you remember that feeling?Oh yeah. I mean, I wrote an article for Media Matters in December 2020. So it was before January 6th where I was just like, “What they have done is an unacceptable attack on democracy, et cetera, et cetera.” And yeah, so then of course, then January 6th happens and the-You brought up Mike Braun, that's a triggering person for me because I remember in December, I think it was December 6th, I hope I'm right about that. I'm going to Google it real quick because I'm pretty sure I'm right. I've just ingrained all this stuff into my f*****g head. Yeah. December 6th, 2020, Mike Braun was on ABC's This Week and he floated this conspiracy theory that boxes of ballots were being hidden under a desk in some state and that there was a video showing how the Democrats were trying to steal the election. So this is a month after the election. It's, I guess three weeks after Biden was declared the winner. And you have a sitting senator on ABC talking about this conspiracy theory. That is at the time, the media was feeling out this world, right?“How many senators are going to help Trump try to overturn the election? What is the line?” And Mike Braun was seen as a non-crazy Republican by a lot in the media. And then he goes on This Week and pushes this thing out. To me as a producer or as a host or as a person at ABC that should have been the cutoff line, like okay, we're ending this interview. And it just went on for six minutes. They didn't even talk about the thing they were going to talk about, they just talked about voter fraud and that's millions of people who are seeing that and thinking what is this video? What is he talking about? Maybe there is something to this. That to me was like, Mike Braun is not Josh Hawley, he is not Ted Cruz and that's kind of the point.They can all be pushing this conspiracy theory or different versions of the conspiracy theory. And the media is going to accept them because they don't have this outwardly crazy Marjorie Taylor Greene-ish stain on them. Mike Braun looks like an honorable person, but if you look at what he really does, he goes on Newsmax and talks about the same thing. So that's why that guy is very triggering for me. Months later you have Donie O'Sullivan, who I think is a really sharp reporter at CNN going to these QAnon rallies, interviewing people who are saying the election was stolen. And they specifically cite the thing Mike Braun talked about. So, this is how misinformation spreads. It spreads on mainstream media. And the fact that these networks keep putting these people on, to me, indicates they either don't know their role in it, or they're just totally fine with it. I don't know what another option would be.Yeah. I mean, that's... God, I remember when I first got hired at Media Matters, one of the first things I did was I flew out to DC because we decided to do a thing where I would work in the office one week and then spend a few months working from home and then kind of repeat that. And I flew into DC and I saw a guy wearing a shirt that just had a big letter Q on it, standing on the steps of the Supreme court with a selfie stick, taking a picture where he is making a real tough guy face. And it was just him by himself. And it was the first time I had ever seen anyone in person wearing a QAnon kind of thing. And I thought, “Ha ha, that's so funny.” It's not so funny anymore. Part of the issue is that these views aren't debunked on TV instead what you get is you get, "Hey, do you think Joe Biden won the election?" That's not good. Presenting it as a question is part of the problem.Right. And there are multiple journalists who have done this in GOP primary debates over the past year, there was one in, I think it was Hugh Hewitt who did it in the, oh, what race was it? I can't remember, but he was moderating a debate. And he said, do you believe Joe Biden won the election? Okay. You're a journalist on MSNBC, you should not be allowed to do that. There was another local news reporter in New Mexico who was moderating a special house race primary and, or I think it was actually the general election, and she said, "Who do you think won the 2020 election? And how do you plan to work on work with others who disagree with you?" Don't frame this as an issue, it is not an issue.Part of the problem with the Q stuff that, what you just said made me think of is, when QAnon first started becoming a topic that the mainstream media had to talk about. They did it really poorly. And I remember the Q baby at the Trump rally, someone held up a baby with a Q on the shirt and it was like Q baby. And then QAnon went nuts. And then someone was wearing a Q dress and the letter Q. And so then the media had to be like, all right, let's do QAnon. I remember Lester Holt, the anchor of the NBC Nightly News, doing a whole thing on QAnon, on what is it? And they just really did not do a good job explaining that.This is rooted in antisemitism, a conspiracy theory that feeds a lot of extremist impulses. It's an online-based thing. Ben Collins and a handful of reporters do really good work on this stuff at these networks and the rest of the journalists there just kind of don't, it feels like they don't read it or they don't talk about it. They just kind of say, QAnon, it's part of the right-wing. No, it is so much deeper than that. And it's basically all the people at the January 6th insurrection are QAnon believers. Technically, if you wanted to extrapolate a lot of those views, Kevin McCarthy believes half the s**t in QAnon, but you would never get reporters saying Kevin McCarthy is a QAnon believer because he hasn't said "I'm a QAnon believer." But he does believe that George Soros is in charge of the federal election takeover or whatever. That's a Qanon conspiracy theory. So he is a Q believer. And it shouldn't be weird to say that, it should be the reality.And part of the problem I think is that these things start online and journalists generally seem to not take things that start online seriously, which is a gigantic problem because so much of our lives are online. So you have all these journalists who've been around for 20, 30 years, or whatever. And things are not the same now as they were then. And so you have newer journalists, you have people like Ben Collins who are doing great work with a lot of this internet-based stuff at, in the... Who else? Brandy Zadrozny.Oh yeah. Yeah.Yeah. Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins are kind of like the tag team misinformation reporters at NBC.And yet, sometimes NBC will do things that touch on those topics that they don't involve those two and which is just mindblowing.Right. Feels extremely strange. Yeah. Feels extremely weird. Yeah.That's why I find your approach to the internet generally kind of interesting because you're trying to fight misinformation with tweets and with... I like your TikToks.I haven't done them in a while.I know, but they're funny.All right. You know what Parker I'm going to do one today or tomorrow, just because you have formally requested it. I'm taking that as a request.But no, I mean they're good. And TikTok is one of those places where it's one of those things where I start to feel way too old and it's weird kind of aging into something where it's like, “Oh no, a social media platform feels like it's too geared towards the younger kids.”Yeah. But there's a version of TikTok that doesn't have to be that for us. I think TikTok is popular among the generation younger than us because it's so easy to embrace video culture and phone culture. All we have to do is just kind of lean into that. It doesn't have to be us being like, ah, we're the old cranks. It can just be us being like, okay, I'm going to just slightly change the way that I view how to get a message out. There are older people on TikTok who do really, really well. And I think it's because video just comes naturally to them, but the medium is video rather than text. I think that's just the big difference.And I appreciate that you put in the effort to try to find that because I do feel like there's sort of a formula to a lot of the way information travels online and TikTok is a place where a ton of misinformation just thrives because it's harder to check. You can't just do a word search to find something on TikTok. You have to actually find out that some creator on there believes objectively insane stuff.And then go, “Okay, so this person's a Q creator, so what do we do about it?” And I don't know what the answer to that is other than the fact that most of the time, if you bring this up to a lot of the older, the legacy journalists, they will go, well, it's just the internet. That doesn't count.It has the same tone-deafness as an article that's written about people having a reaction to some viral moment. And the headline is like, "The internet loves..." It's like, no, no, no, the internet is a collection of people, they're expressing themselves on the internet. The internet is not a sentient thing. I think the approach to social media has to be, and this might sound very pedantic, but I think that journalists, writers, and kind of like the conversation havers or the conversation starters either rely on social media or use social media to develop their kind of first and second level takes on things. And that's why it's important to get in there early and point out that like, okay, this person, an example from today, Alyssa Farah, who's spreading misinformation about the vaccines, who is hired by CNN, which is insane.Let's get in there early and point out how she was a writer for WorldNetDaily, a conspiracy theorist birther website that was run by her father. And then she worked for Donald Trump for a year, spreading COVID misinformation. And now is hired by CNN. Getting in there early hopefully shapes the way that other people see that story. But a lot of, as you just said, legacy journalists, they might be on Twitter. They might be looking at tweets, but they don't really participate in the conversation.And one example of this that I just remembered was in September 2021. So 3, 4 months ago when Ted Koppel, who is 81 years old, the most legacy journalist you could have, went to Mayberry, the fake town in Andy Griffith. It's like Mount Airy in North Carolina, which is the inspiration for Mayberry. So he goes there to do a trolley tour and talk to Trump voters. And all he did was exactly what you were just saying earlier was like, "Who do you think won the election?" And they're like, "Mm, Donald Trump." And he is like, "Interesting." Like, this was a really bad piece of journalism that CBS Sunday morning aired as how quaint, this cool little town. Oh, the people here have some interesting thoughts. Hey, these are people who are radicalized on Facebook and Fox news. They think that QAnon, they think that Q is the leader of a secret plot. These people are psychos and you should not be giving them this platform. And Ted Koppel has no idea what any of that is about.No. None. He's like, how could you believe this? Well, I mean, because the internet told me. I mean, just as we're discussing this, it was only a couple of days ago that Joe Rogan was pushing some sort of vaccine misinformation on his show, which is kind of his thing.He really leaned into it.Yeah. And someone corrected him and he's like, shifting the goal post to be like, "Well, actually I read somewhere..." And that's all people, I mean, need that's all people need these days is just, "Well, I read somewhere that something agreed with me." I mean, I could write something that says, yeah, the vaccine makes you grow a third arm. I don't know. And, it's not true, but I could put it on the internet.I think the way that this clip, if anyone wants to check this out, I feel like if you go on Twitter and search, Joe Rogan, Josh Zepps, Z-E-P-P-S. You'll find this clip, but it was Joe Rogan pushing this idea that young kids can develop a complication if they get the vaccine. And then this guest was like, you actually have a higher chance of getting it if you get COVID. Rogan was like, no, that's not true. And then they look it up, which is the only thing redeemable about this is, well, at least they looked it up. And then it turns out that Joe Rogan is wrong, what he was saying was false. And then as soon as he realizes he's false, he just questions the nature of journalism.He's like, “Well, how do we know that? When we read these things, it's like, where are we getting this information?” Buddy, you Googled it. You looked it up, this is a reflection of how you do your own research and how you are relying on your own preconceived notions of what is true or false based on what you need to say. And because he knows his listeners want to hear the skepticism, the hesitation, just the falsities, he will lean into it and he'll go back the next day and the day after that and keep pushing it, having not learned a thing, because he's not interested in educating people, he's interested in amassing a following. And that is what you kind of see all across right-wing radio, smaller podcast networks, even these like Fox shows, OAN, Newsmax. It's all people who are probably mostly in on it. They know what they're saying is b******t. And if they happen to believe it, that's even worse. But I feel like most of them don't, they just know that it's really good for them. Although it's impossible for us to know, I'm not in Pete Hegseth's head, he might really not wash his hands. He might really think germs don't exist.See, now you sound like a New York Times reporter circa 2017 where you're like, I” can't say ‘lie.’”“I don't know it's in his heart. I don't know what's in Donald Trump's heart. He might not be lying. He might truly believe, Donald Trump might really believe that Hillary Clinton used the Venezuelan treasury minister's brother to facilitate a deal with Barack Obama's niece. He might believe that. He might believe that and we don't know. And so we have to call it, like an untruth or a false claim.”An “unsupported claim.” “We will give it one Pinocchio.”Oh, man, the Pinocchio system. I mean, if there ever were a metric for how we need to evaluate our world, I love seeing Glen Kessler, the Washington Post Pinocchio guy give Biden four Pinocchios. If you gave Trump four Pinocchios on anything, no one else can ever get four Pinocchios. There cannot be a comparable way to say Joe Biden also did a bad, come on, there is no comparison. Joe Biden misstating a percentage on COVID cases is nowhere close to Donald Trump being like "Ghosts voted in the 2020 election."So in November, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy tweeted, "The only way fascism wins is if the free press covers fascism versus democracy, like just another cats and dogs political fight." I have bad news for him.First of all, zero Pinocchios.That's true. But that's exactly how it's been so far. And that's what kind of worries me. At the time you quoted that and you wrote "Two hours ago, Chuck Todd invited a fascist big liar on the top-rated Sunday show to state that vaccines don't stop the spread of COVID and didn't offer a chance for a Democrat to respond to anything he said." And I think that kind of sums up where we're at.Parker you giving me the play-by-play of my own tweets is any Tweeter's dream. Let's go back.“And then you got this many likes and then...”Oh my God. Okay. Yeah, it's good. This is net-positive. I think for the cause, which is people in Congress have a bully pulpit. They can go on TV and talk about this stuff. They can tweet stuff. They can give interviews, they can write op-eds. They have an outsized voice in the conversation because of the way that our media respects elected officials for better or worse. So it's good that Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz, Ted Lieu, Eric Swalwell, Tim Ryan, all of these kind of resistors, the lefties are taking up the message for media reform or media awareness, media literacy. I don't really know what to call it. So I like that. I don't think enough of them are doing it to make it as successful as we'd want it to be, but it is good that they're aware of it.And to your point, it also is really unfortunate that the media doesn't really change at all. And it's not just Chuck Todd. I think Chuck Todd is one of the prime examples of it because he has the biggest platform on Sunday mornings and that still has a sizable audience. And it influences a lot of discussion for at least 18 hours on social media. But there are others too, who kind of either agree with the worldview or not the worldview, but agree with the philosophy of we still need to give these people who deny vaccines a real platform, or just giving Ted Cruz a voice on anything seems crazy to me. But there are a lot of journalists in that world who believe it.And so the cats and dogs thing, the political horse race thing is a separate criticism to me. Yes. Politics is covered with this frantic nature of who's up, who did a good zinger, who didn't, and there's a place for that. And it's anything before 2015. That doesn't really longer apply, I think. But that is also different than giving a role or sorry, giving a platform to the people who are rooting for the end of truth and democracy.So it does go hand in hand, obviously, those people who want to cover politics as a horse race also probably think that those people should be given a platform, but they are kind of two different issues for me. And I mean, one of my unpopular among our cohort opinions is that I do think politics can be covered in a horse race way at times.I don't think that's necessarily bad. I think polls are interesting and good for the most part. It's when you're polling things like critical race theory and then running a headline afterward that's calling it education instead of what it really is, which is just racism. And I think the sanitization of those really dark elements of the Republican party is what happens when you cover things through a horse race prism in 2020, 2021, 2022. So that kind of needs to change for us to have a more honest media, but obviously a very low chance of that happening.Yeah. Well, there's, God, there was something recently, let me, I'm just going to find this. So there was a poll that Harvard did and I'm trying to find- Okay. So this poll, this was polled by Harvard's Center for American Political Studies survey.“So how do we even know where we're getting these reports,” I'm being Joe Rogan. “We're Googling stuff and just reading it.” No, I'm kidding. Go ahead.And here was the question. There are only two possible answers. Do you think the schools should promote the idea that people are victims and oppressors based on their race? Or should they teach children to ignore race in all decisions to judge people by their character?Wow, that's amazing. So it was obviously 70% weighted toward the position of “Wait a minute, we shouldn't be doing the bad thing.”It was 63/37 in favor of ignoring race in all decisions.Just great. Wow.And the funny thing is, so someone tweeted, this is an actual question from the survey and Andrew Sullivan responded "And a good one." That's what he said. Well, no, it was not a good question.The idea of doing push polls, in general, is kind of slimy, but something on that, the wording of that is so deliberate and so designed just to get a Fox News headline that it feels, I don't know, it's gross. Ugh. Yeah. I hate hearing that. Oh my God. Some of the words in those things, what was it "completely ignore"?Yeah. Yeah. It was "Should they teach children to ignore race in all decisions to judge people by their character." The fact that they had to add "in all decisions" was like-Isn't Mark Penn part of a polling group that's called Third Way or something, or some middling, his whole, I could be misrepresenting him. I thought he was part of the Third Way thing or No Labels or something.He is the Stagwell group. I don't know what that is even, but…I was going to say some of these fake Democrats, or fake centrist people are part of this idea that there has to be a third option. It doesn't have to be Democrats or Republicans, oh, but your question here is two very extreme options right now. If only there were a third way or a more purpleish answer to this quagmire.The funny thing is, so this poll, the pie chart they used for it is the red and blue, and blue is people are victims based on their race and red is ignore race. So I think it really gets out there.Obvious. Yeah. I remember in 20- I think 14 or 15, Fox News, it might have been Doug Schoen, that guy who did a poll and it was, “Do you think the country is going to hell in a handbasket?” That was the question.There was the Lou Dobbs one that was like, “Is Trump doing great, greater or greatest?” It was basically that old Colbert bit.Okay, that screenshot to me is the defining screenshot of Trump propaganda. “How would you rate President Trump's handling of the China virus,” is what it said. And it was like “Very good, great, and super.”Stuff like that, it is made not just for the Fox News audience, it's made for the internet. And that's why I'm so interested in this topic generally, because the way we talk online, people like to be like, “Well, no, it's not real life. It's the internet. It's not real life.” What do they think real life is?I know. Honestly, but also I'm glad Twitter is not real because real life sucks. Twitter is where I want to be now.Only marginally better than real life, which is also bad.Have you seen real life? It's terribleSo the last thing I wanted to ask you about before I let you go is, so when the New York Times got rid of their public editor position, they told people to tweet. They said it was unnecessary because people could just tweet. Twitter is the public editor, which that seems like a bad idea, but also there is no group of people less inclined to change or reflect based on tweet responses than New York Times reporters, it seems. How do you think that’s been going?I have a feeling that the intention behind that, I think was good. I think the intention being, “We want to hear from readers and we acknowledge that social media is where our readers have the fastest and most direct way to let us know what's going on. And a handful of our reporters engage with people on social media that can all in an ideal world, in which everyone is acting in good faith and willing to acknowledge their own shortfalls or errors, which can lead to a much better transparent reporting process.” That, I think, was the intention. In reality, obviously, it means we pile on the New York Times for bad headlines, and they, I guess we don't know what their real response is, but it feels like they don't change anything in a significant way.But that said, there's no way that all of these comments can't live in their heads at some level, which is why I do feel like having rapid response to bad framings or all these diner stories. I want to think that it's good because it will affect what they do in the future. I don't know if that's true. Part of the reason that I am skeptical of how effective tweeting at journalists is, is because a lot of the journalists at the New York Times are really good and they do really good reporting and exposes and then some f*****g editor will undermine it all with a shitty headline. And people don't understand that reporters don't write headlines, which for the most part, is the case. Reporters have very little to do with the headlines as a...This is my big brag of the day. I used to be an intern at the New York Times. I was on the copy desk and the copy editors write the headlines and they work with the reporters on it if they want to, but editors write the headlines and then a different editor rewrites it. And then a page one editor rewrites that. It goes through a whole process. The headline is normally what we're most upset about because that sets the tone for the story. And we are rightfully upset about that. Those editors should be better at that.It's also the only thing that most people see. Most people don't click on stories. At this point, this thing is so outdated, but it was a 2010 survey [Ed. note: it was a 2014 survey], I hope that there's a new version coming out at some point, but it was an old survey that was basically 60% of Americans haven't clicked on a story in the past week. So they're getting everything from what they see on Twitter and what they see headlines as they pass by.Wow.So that's why you can't just have a little misleading tweet or a little misleading headline Because that's what most people will see.Did you read that story or did you just read the headline that said 60% of people?Just read the headline that said 60%.Sounds good.And the funny thing is, I remember when it came out, Chris Cillizza wrote about it and it was like, "Dude, how do you not understand?!”The clickbait master.Well, as it relates to headlines, yes, I think everyone acknowledges that's a huge issue. And I think that should put more emphasis on the role of editors at newspapers, like the New York Times, which by the way, there are a lot of headline writers there and headline writing is kind of an art at the Times and that needs to be reevaluated because a lot of their headlines have been really bad. And we get a lot of the reaction to it in this, I think, okay. So I think a lot of the reaction to those headlines kind of snowballs into this narrative that the New York Times is being out of touch, being tone-deaf, whatever. And then it's easy to go after the people on the byline, the journalists who write the story are the only ones with their names on it. And the editors aren't.That, I think, is not always fair. That said, if Peter Baker writes a stupid story and is quoting people stupidly and is making bad analysis about how January 6th is just a red versus blue reality thing, sure, he's wrong for doing that. But I think a lot of the times when [people] are going after headlines, it's good to know, it's important to know that the reporters, aren't the ones who write the headlines and this is such a weird thing to try to educate people about because it's not intuitive. You would never think that that's the case, especially because in a lot of new media websites or digital publications, reporters do write the headlines and they often write it tying into the story, which is fine. That's a good way to write for a digital audience, but it's not always the case at these legacy papers that we focus on because they do have a huge circulation.I'm also thinking right now of the cliche Buzzfeed writer, who's like, "Okay, I have to do a story on the 43 greatest kangaroo gifs." And then the editor's like, "How about we do the 43 great kangaroo gifs?" And the writer's like, "That's not the headline I want."“It will restore your faith in humanity.”Yeah. “I would never say that.”And so, yeah, Matt, is there anything else that I haven't asked that you want to mention or any projects you're working on or anything?Oh, man, you covered so much.Anything at all. The floor is yours.I have a perfunctory plug for this thing we did at the Daily Show where we've put up these January 6th monuments. If anyone wants to check this out, just go online and use the hashtag daily show monuments. But it's basically a tribute to our wonderful Freedomsurrection heroes who tried to overthrow the government on January 6th. And we just felt that we needed to honor them, kind of the way that civil war generals are honored in the south. So we put up some monuments to them. I would encourage everyone to just educate yourselves about our history and our heritage before the woke right-wing mob tries to tear them down.See, what we need to do, though. If you really want to be like the way that civil war monuments are celebrated in the south, we should wait 70 years and then put the monuments up just aggressively too.Okay. This is a really crazy thought is in 70 years, what will, Parker you and I will have to do a podcast in 70 years and see if people even know what January 6th is.I hope I'm dead.I hope I'm dead in seven years.Seven, 70, whatever. It's all the same. But Matt, thank you so much. It's been a lot of fun talking to you.This is the least angry I've been in so long.I know. So now it's like, I'm going to close this and go look at Twitter. Yeah. I'm sure things will be fine.We'll go get angry together online.Sounds good.Thanks, Parker. Thank you so much. Get full access to The Present Age at www.readthepresentage.com/subscribe

#JoeRogan took it in the mouth this weekend after Josh Zepps presented him with actual Covid facts. Once again, #JoeRogan is NOT a Dr. #DougFord pretended to drive around digging people out of the worst blizzard in 40 years. He's invisible when it matters and we can't get rid of the dumb f*** when it does. #JoshAllen and #TheBills were perfect this weekend. The #Dallas #Cowboys were not and they want to fight about it. Ray Rauth from Talking Football With Ray covers Wild Card/Fight Weekend in #America. #Woke #HarryPotter and #PureBlood Jizz is a thing.

Even in a global pandemic, fighting misinformation in an open society will always be an uphill battle, so James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at the effort by hundreds of doctors, professors, scientists and health care to pressure Spotify into addressing covid-19 misinformation in The Joe Rogan Experience, its hugely popular podcast, and on its platform in general (01:40).  The guys also take a look at how it may be possible to can take control over and harness stress to one's benefit (38:23).  ‘A Menace to Public Health': Doctors Demand Spotify Puts an End to Covid Lies on ‘Joe Rogan Experience' (Rolling Stone)Joe Rogan admits broadcaster Josh Zepps made him ‘look dumb' during vaccine debate (The Independent)270 health experts to Spotify: Joe Rogan's Covid misinformation is ‘a sociological issue of devastating proportions' (CNBC)Governments try shame to boost vaccine use. Does it work? (Christian Science Monitor)How to Turn Off Harmful Stress Like a Switch (Pocket)

Josh Zepps apparently "destroyed" Joe Rogan on his own show by proving to Joe that myocarditis was more common from COVID than from the vaccine itself. But is this true? I found the study Zepps cited in his claims, and bring you all the info so you don't have to waste your time hunting for it!  @PowerfulJRE   @JRE Clips   @Tim Pool   @Peter McCullough, MD   @Robert W Malone, MD  #myocarditis #vaersStudy from Joe Rogan Show: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34341797/ 

--On the Show: --Scilla Alecci, reporter with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, coordinating the organization's partners in Asian and Western Europe, joins David to discuss the blockbuster Pandora Papers --The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered the heavily gerrymandered congressional district maps be thrown out, and fair districts redrawn --Arizona Republican State Senator Jake Hoffman runs away from reporter questions about why he signed a fraudulent and phone elector document claiming that Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in the 2020 Presidential election --An opinion column in the Los Angeles Times by Michael Hiltzik argues that mocking the deaths from COVID of the unvaccinated is ghoulish, but necessary --Donald Trump is interviewed on radical right wing propaganda channel OAN and crushes the host's anti-vaccine questions with actual facts --Tucker Carlson allows Glenn Beck, currently suffering from COVID, to spread a widely debunked COVID internment camp conspiracy theory --Josh Zepps explains to Joe Rogan that his belief about the COVID vaccine and myocarditis is wrong, and Rogan simply moves the goalposts --Right wing propagandist Candace Owens wildly claims, absent any evidence, that comedian and actor Bob Saget died from the COVID vaccine --Voicemail caller asks about the "reality" of COVID hospitalizations in the past compared to now in the midst of the Omicron variant --On the Bonus Show: Novak Djokovic in trouble for breaking isolation, Bernie wants N95 masks for all, Alex Jones made millions off scam supplements, and much more...

Over the past seven episodes, Josh has explored all the rushes that some crave and others despise. But what about the micro-rushes that almost all of us get every day? When we hear our phone ping with a social media notification, or lose countless hours in a video game, we are all getting sucked in to the intermittent rewards of the algorithm. Josh talks to a futurist, a data expert, a recovered video game addict, and a digital wellbeing expert to try and figure out why we've all become addicted and how we can break free. Dive deep into the rush... of algorithms. LINKS Josh Szeps @joshszeps Nova Podcasts Instagram @novapodcastsofficial Mark Pesce https://nextbillionseconds.com/ Cam Adair https://camerondare.com/  Chris Eade https://antisocial.io/  Dr Joanne Orlando https://www.joanneorlando.com.au/  CREDITS Host: Josh Szeps Managing Producer: Elle Beattie Producer: Amy Kimball Editor: Adrian Walton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wished you were famous? Millions of followers online, fans clamouring for selfies, private jets to the Bahamas... But why do we crave this intense level of attention? And how does it affect people when they receive it, especially when it's not intentional? Josh leaves no stone unturned as he speaks to reality star Charlotte Crosby, a philosopher, a fame psychologist, a man who helps people get famous, and a woman who became a meme... Dive deep into the rush... of fame. LINKS Josh Szeps @joshszeps Nova Podcasts Instagram @novapodcastsofficial Tim Deanhttp://www.ockhamsbeard.com.au/  Charlotte Crosby @charlottegshore Listen to Values And Vibrators with Charlotte Crosby https://bit.ly/values-and-vibrators  Silvia Bottini https://silviabottini.com/  Max Marksonhttp://marksonsparks.com/  Dr Donna Rockwellhttp://www.donnarockwell.com/  CREDITS Host: Josh Szeps Managing Producer: Elle Beattie Producer: Amy Kimball Editor: Adrian Walton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you think when you see someone on an early morning run, or drive past someone cycling down the highway to god knows where? Why do some people feel the need to push their bodies to the limit of physical exertion? Josh talks to marathon-running comedian Eddie Izzard, a self-confessed exercise addict, and takes on a six-week personal training course to try and figure it out. Dive deep into the rush... of endurance. LINKS Josh Szeps @joshszeps Nova Podcasts Instagram @novapodcastsofficial Dr. Tom Seabourne https://www.ntcc.edu/directory/seabourne-dr-tom  Eddie Izzard https://eddieizzard.com/en  Studio Athletica https://www.studioathletica.com.au/  CREDITS Host: Josh Szeps Managing Producer: Elle Beattie Producer: Amy Kimball Editor: Adrian Walton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At face value it seems obvious why sex gives us a rush. But what is it about certain activities, objects, and settings that take it to the next level? And what happens when the pursuit of these things goes too far? Josh gets himself tied up, talks to a few experts and a dominatrix, to understand why we seek out so many avenues of pleasure.  Dive deep into the rush... of sex. LINKS Josh Szeps @joshszeps Nova Podcasts Instagram @novapodcastsofficial Studio Kink https://www.studiokink.com/  Dr. Lauren Rosewarne https://laurenrosewarne.com/  Paula Hall https://www.paulahall.co.uk/  Eva Oh https://www.eva-oh.com/  CREDITS Host: Josh Szeps Managing Producer: Elle Beattie Producer: Amy Kimball Editor: Adrian Walton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode nine and it's podcast time. First up, as always, your friendly neighbourhood Castologists tell us exactly what they thought of Ain't it Rich, Serial and RadioLab. Then, have they got more recommendations for you! (Of course they have, it's literally their job). Liz is all about romantic espionage with I Secretly Recorded My Boyfriend, Patrick brings comedy and the biggest issues of our time together with #WeThePeople LIVE, and Zane brings Paul F. Thompkins to the table once more with Spontaneonation (making Liz very happy in the process).Liz Recommends: I Secretly Recorded My Boyfriendhttps://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/i-secretly-recorded-my-boyfriend/Jo was so astounded with some of the things her boyfriend said that she started secretly recording him (seriously, he doesn't have a clue). She brings her friends Katy and Sparky on board to judge the status of her relationship by the very amusing recordings. Get ready for heavy Birmingham accents, lots of swearing and a fascinating look into the differences between men and women.For both: Start at the start and listen to as many that grab you. This one's easy to duck in and out of.Pat Recommends - #WeThePeople LIVEHey guess what I've recommended. A news, science and politics podcast. Something like that anyway. Crazy right? Hosted by Australian media personality Josh Zepps, this one started out as a somewhat drunken panel show that would take place in a bar in New York. Now that Josh is a responsible adult with twins he's moved back to Sydney and the show has taken on a one on one interview format... onaoneonone. Anyway, the show is great regardless of format and he manages to wrangle plenty of fine guests.For Zane: Episode - 134. Dr Karl - LIVEFor Liz: Episodes - 139. Is the USA Undemocratic - Harvey Kayehttps://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/wethepeople-live/id1002920114?mt=2Zane Recommends - Spontaneanation www.earwolf.com/show/spontaneanation-with-paul-f-tompkinsAfter The Thrilling Adventure Hour left my life, Paul F Tompkins did his best to fill the void in my life (and in the Largo Theatre) with this improv podcast. Spontaneanation with Paul F Tompkins is a completely improvised show, from monologue to interview to narrative sketch. Join Paul, his special guests, his incredibly talented improviser friends, and accompanist Eban Schletter for an hour of comedy that none of them ever see coming.For Liz: 41 Pet Store, Post RobberyFor Pat: 4 Savannah Georgiahttp://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/earwolf/id407542375Subscribe to us on ITUNES, STITCHER, SPOTIFY, RADIOPUBLIC or your podcatcher of choice.Find us on FACEBOOK, TWITTER or INSTAGRAM.

Every so often, I get invited on to a radio or TV show to talk about apartments.  This week I've been on Breakfast on ABC 702 with Josh Zepps, (usually hosted by Robbie Buck and Wendy Harmer) and then on Friday I got up at 4am to go on ABC's early morning show with Rod Quinn (which will be featured in next week's podcast). That was a challenge (apart from being two cups of coffee under par)  because we had lots of callers from all over Australia. Next week, I will be on Triple-M in Adelaide to talk about Airbnb. Back to this podcast, I was on the ABC with Josh to discuss why residents of the Opal Tower had been told to move back into their apartments, whether or not they felt safe.  It's an emotive issue and we tend to forget that the driving principle behind why developers are in business is to make money, not necessarily house families. They were paying hotel accommodation for people who could have moved back home - so they pulled the plug. We also discussed the damage done to owners' investments that aren't covered by defects claims - the plummeting values of apartments that are no longer worth what some people have borrowed in mortgages. It would be nice at this point to say we moved on to lighter fare, but it doesn't get much darker than the legal battle to get defects fixed in Part Two of our Strata Disaster podcast. Sue Williams and I recall what happened when our owners corporation had freed itself from the dodgy developer's management and committee cronies, only to be led by so-called "experts" into a $6 million battle with attack-dog lawyers. And all the time, the strata committee was being undermined by disgruntled neighbours, overly secretive lawyers, liars and spies and then, finally, subjected to the most horrendous personal abuse.  Fifteen years on, we can laugh at the ridiculousness of it, but there are people in the building who still haven't uttered a word to each other since those days. Pour yourself a stiff drink and plug in to the podcast. https://episodes.castos.com/flatchatpod/Flat-Chat-wrap-10.mp3

Gad Saad (@gadsaad) is an evolutionary behavioural scientist at the John Molson School of Business who is known for applying evolutionary psychology to marketing and consumer behaviour. He holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption and has a blog at Psychology Today titled Homo Consumericus and a thriving Youtube channel where he critiques ideas of multiculturism, third wave feminism and societal norms/issues as a wholeIn addition to this, Gad's the prolific author of: * The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature * Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences * The Evolutionary Bases of ConsumptionGad is no stranger to media. He has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal and Huffington Post, been mentioned in The Economist, Forbes, Chatelaine, Time, and The New York Times. He appeared on #WeThePeople Podcast with Josh Zepps, Waking Up Podcast with Sam Harris, was featured on four episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, appeared Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria and has been interviewed on The Rubin Report.You can listen right here on iTunesIn our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including: * How college and post-modernism are creating a generation unable to think and reason * The reason science and fact are so important yet so often misrepresented * How confirmation bias can create a terrible mono-culture * Why fake news is more damaging than it initially appears * The way companies and social media hijack our biological drives to drive consumerism * The problem with universities and education and ideas on how to fix them * Rewriting government to fit human psychology * Why Gad is passionate about animal rights but not a vegan or vegetarian * The problem with polarizing issues and failure to discuss them * Why the US is so isolationist and extreme in its political views * Communism vs capitalism and the future of society * Biological differences between men and women * The problem with taboo topics in culture--Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to Support FringeFMFringeFM is supported by the generosity of its readers and listeners. If you find our work valuable, please consider supporting us on Patreon, via Paypal or with DonorBox powered by Stripe.Donate   

(Recorded June 6th, 2018)w/ Josh Szeps (formerly Zepps, frequently misspelled as Zeeps) host of "#WeThePeople LIVE" and “The People Versus” IN THIS DISPATCH:-  Brisbane to Boston.- Clive James's death watch- Kanye drops “Ye” - Slavery may be a choice after all- Kat Timpf falls out of a tree...- Jim Acosta was wrong about Kim Kardashian- Bill Clinton is a widower- Bill Clinton is the real victim, but he's kinda sorry too- Moynihan goes full “fxck your interns”- Free Love- Pardon Me (Myself)- Death By China- Josh Zepps, Globalist- Starbucks/Roseanne/Samantha Bee- BIG SWINGING APE BALLS--(It feels so good it should cost -- Bought an alligator, I ain't talkin' Lacoste) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

(Recorded June 6th, 2018)w/ Josh Szeps (formerly Zepps, frequently misspelled as Zeeps) host of "#WeThePeople LIVE" and “The People Versus” IN THIS DISPATCH:-  Brisbane to Boston.- Clive James's death watch- Kanye drops “Ye” - Slavery may be a choice after all- Kat Timpf falls out of a tree...- Jim Acosta was wrong about Kim Kardashian- Bill Clinton is a widower- Bill Clinton is the real victim, but he's kinda sorry too- Moynihan goes full “fxck your interns”- Free Love- Pardon Me (Myself)- Death By China- Josh Zepps, Globalist- Starbucks/Roseanne/Samantha Bee- BIG SWINGING APE BALLS--(It feels so good it should cost -- Bought an alligator, I ain't talkin' Lacoste) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week's episode is another live recording from All About Women, where speakers from across the world spent the day having robust discussions about feminism, identity and culture. And who better to weigh in on all things cultural than New York icon, writer and commentator Fran Lebowitz. A fixture on US late-night TV, Lebowitz brought her unique brand of devastating wit to Sydney for the first time. In this hilarious and strangely philosophical conversation, which covers technology, Trump, #metoo and the perils of plane travel, Fran Lebowitz reminds us why she still has all the cultural cache. The session was chaired by journalist Josh Zepps. For more from Fran, head to our Youtube channel.

Two days after Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, Josh sat down with one of the world's greatest scientists and rationalists, Richard Dawkins, at a live event at Philadelphia's Penn Museum. Since it's the one-year anniversary of Trump's presidency this week, we're releasing the exclusive audio of "An Evening With Richard Dawkins in Conversation with Josh Zepps". The two of them grapple with science, reason, Islam, faith, and the shell-shock they feel at the biggest political upset of our time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded on Thursday, Novemer 2nd, 2017With Special Guests: Josh Zepps - Host, #WeThePeople LIVE (@WTP_Live, @joshzepps) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Recorded on Thursday, Novemer 2nd, 2017With Special Guests: Josh Zepps - Host, #WeThePeople LIVE (@WTP_Live, @joshzepps) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Josh Zepps is an Australian media personality, political satirist, actor, and TV show host. He and Matt discuss the importance of context and heart behind offensive words, topics off limits to people of majority race or gender, and how shutting down conversation by those people doesn't equal progress. They also articulate how both journalism and science are incomplete processes.   Links & Sponsors: breakitdownpod.com #WeThePeople LIVE That's It: thatsitfruit.com with promo code DOWN for 10% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t touch that podcast! Yes, Lindsay Beyerstein and Josh Zepps have moved on to new endeavors, but a new chapter for Point of Inquiry is about to begin, with new hosts and a new format. In this quick update the hosts-to-be will tell us a little bit about themselves and preview what they have planned for Point of Inquiry’s new direction. So stay subscribed to Point of Inquiry in your podcast app of choice, and look for new episodes starting in June.

Joining me today is Josh Zepps! I first came across Josh's work when Sam Harris and Hannibal Buress had a bizarre interaction on his podcast #WeThePeople LIVE (here's a SoundCloud link). I was impressed with how Josh handled it and have followed him ever since. He has interviewed people like Gad Saad and ACTUALLY challenged them on their narratives. Josh is an impressive thinker and interviewer, and we talk about his broadcasting history (which might not be what you expect!) and about where our focuses are and should be in today's political climate. It's a fascinating conversation on many fronts and I look forward to many more with Josh! Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com  

Jill Tarter holds the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA where she also served as the former director of the Center for SETI Research. She was also a Project Scientist for NASA’s SETI program and has conducted a number of observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. Since funding for NASA’s SETI program was cut in 1993, she has worked to secure private funding so that SETI may continue to explore.    In this conversation with Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps, Tarter discusses the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, how we go about looking for it, and why the search is so important to humanity. Zepps presses Tarter on the possible dangers of finding life outside our world, what it means to be alive in the first place, and the potential threats we face with artificial intelligence on our own planet.  Special note from the Center for Inquiry: This is Josh Zepp’s final episode of Point of Inquiry. It has been a privilege having Josh cohost the program for more than three years. He is inquisitive, bold, witty, and never afraid to ask hard questions and hold guests accountable for their views. His conversations on Point of Inquiry exemplify the spirit of free inquiry we seek to advance at the Center for Inquiry. We of course wish him nothing but success, and look forward to opportunities to work with him in the future. You can hear Josh on his political podcast, WeThePeople LIVE. Thank you, Josh! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for news about what's next for Point of Inquiry!

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on Spotify and at http://wtplive.com

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on iTunes (https://t.co/6eWfSu8tRM) and at http://wtplive.com

While science was once the force that propelled humanity into an age of enlightenment, a pernicious fear of science and the unknown threatens to plunge society to into an age of darkness. So says Dr. Paul Offit, a groundbreaking immunologist, and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Offit’s new book, Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong, comes at a time when the fundamental concepts of evidence, facts, and truth itself are being smothered by a miasma of misinformation.   Dr. Offit joins Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps for a vital discussion about the prognosis for science under the Trump administration, the dangers of the anti-vaccination movement, the probability of future pandemics, and much more. 

People living at mountainous high altitudes account for only 10 percent of the world’s population, spread out over roughly 25 percent of the Earth’s surface, and yet they also are responsible for a huge portion of the world’s most violent and persistent conflicts. The reason for this correlation between altitude and violence isn’t entirely understood, but there are several factors contributing to the effect the geography of mountain living undoubtedly plays in conflict. Journalist and foreign correspondent Judith Matloff has spent her career covering conflict across the world. She has been a leading pioneer in safety training for journalist abroad and now teaches conflict reporting at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.   Matloff first noticed this geographical trend of violence when her 10-year-old son asked her to point out all the places she’s covered conflict on a globe. The boy quickly pointed out a curious pattern; that they all took place in mountainous regions. Since then, Matloff has thoroughly investigated the trend of violence in high altitude areas, which has led to the publication of her book No Friends But the Mountains: Dispatches from the World’s Violent Highlands. In this eye opening discussion with Josh Zepps, Matloff explains the various reasons why these relatively small and isolated areas see so much trouble, and shares her thoughts on the growing dangers to journalists around the world.

Josh Zepps is a very talented Australian broadcaster based in West Hollywood in Los Angeles California.He’s done many things over his extensive career however his latest project “We the people live” is a podcast focused on making debate healthy again.In the last few years, you may have noticed online and elsewhere - especially in politics - that reasoned debate and discourse has vanished from the public space. Opposing viewpoints get shouted down from polarized positions, and utterly disregarded purely because they came out of the mouth of someone who identifies with a different part of the political spectrum as you.So Josh is trying to bring debate back, and often has viewpoints on his show that are confronting - however he moderates the conversation in such a way that despite my initial knee-jerk reaction to hearing these things, I’m able to see past that and into the deeper concept behind what the person is talking about.So right up front - right here - I will tell you this conversation will use words and phrases and cover concepts that we aren’t used to hearing.To talk about the problem with debate it’s important to talk about the different parts of why debate is broken.And part of that is restraining our initial reactions to hearing concepts and hypotheticals that aren’t entirely unimaginable but are still confronting to hear.You’ll know what I’m talking about when we get there.I highly recommend you check out Josh and find episodes he’s guested on other shows - particularly Joe Rogan’s incredible podcast where he often goes to dig deep into what is happening in the world at the moment.This is a heavy political conversation - but it’s one I feel is healthy to have, and I don’t even mind if you do this one in chunks - listen to five minutes of it, go check an episode of the Dollop - come back here and listen to five minutes more.You can find Josh on twitter @joshzepps.We recorded this over Skype so a big thanks to my podcast producer Andy Maher for chopping it together and making magic out of a dog’s breakfast of audio files. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The United States leads the world in science and innovation, but there’s no guarantee that this will always be the case. The Trump administration’s orders to halt federal science publication and public communication has American scientists racing against the clock to back up their data in fear of it being eradicated. Meanwhile, the scientists who come to America from all over the world face new roadblocks, as the travel ban from select Muslim-majority nations is reeking havoc on scientists who are not only kept from visiting loved ones, but are unable to leave the country for academic work in fear of being barred from reentry.   In this eye opening discussion, Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps talks to Jen Golbeck, a computer scientist at the University of Maryland College Park. She speaks with first-hand experience about the blow American science is taking from the travel ban — not only in its immediate effects, but the long-term consequences these policies will undoubtedly have in putting America behind the rest of the world.

Robin Thede (The Nightly Show) and Josh Zepps (We The People Live) join Negin to lament Donald Trump's feud with civil rights hero John Lewis. Sad! They also discuss why public protest matters and try (but fail) to figure out the First Family.

Josh Zepps talks about the life & legacy of Carrie Fisher with Steele. With thanks to ABC Radio.Support the show. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

US-based Australian political satirist, TV & radio host and podcaster Josh Zepps recently visited Mediaweek. Zepps was the presenter and co-executive producer of Australian Idol's behind-the-scenes component, Idol Backstage. On radio, he won an Australian Commercial Radio Award (ACRA) for his syndicated satirical comedy sketches on the Fairfax Radio network. After moving to New York, Zepps had his own show on Discovery Science Channel, before moving to The Huffington Post to be part of the launch team on HuffPost Live. During our interview Zepps reveals the Australian TV show he just missed out on co-hosting recently. He currently hosts the podcast #WeThePeople LIVE and is in Sydney for a live show on December 18.

This week Richard is joined by Tommy Dean, Josh Zepps and Subby Valentine.

This week Richard is joined by Tommy Dean, Josh Zepps and Subby Valentine.

This week Richard is joined by Tommy Dean, Josh Zepps and Subby Valentine.

Phil Torres is an author, contributing writer for the Future of Life Institute, and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. His writing has been featured in numerous publications such as Time, Motherboard, Salon, Huffington Post, and our very own Free Inquiry. His book is The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Apocalypse.   Since the beginning of civilization, people have worried about its collapse. Pockets of people across the world have long warned that the end is near, and as it turns out, their warnings of apocalypse might be closer to the truth than we think. Torres joins Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps to discuss just how close we are to experiencing catastrophes that have the potential to fuel our demise. With everything from climate change and biodiversity loss to uncontrollable technologies and the greater accessibility of advanced weaponry, Torres predicts that the human race is going to have some major hurdles to overcome if we want to survive the coming century.

This week, two of our favorite guests, Josh Zepps and Jonathan McBride, return to the show to talk about the refugee crisis, and America's debate hangover.

The triumvirate has much to discuss after a weekend disrupted by terror attacks in several states and yet another high profile police shooting. Media speculation, double standards and misestimation of risk abound. Also... Denzel Washington. Josh Zepps, host of We The People Live stops by to help get things sorted. (http://www.wtplive.com) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The triumvirate has much to discuss after a weekend disrupted by terror attacks in several states and yet another high profile police shooting. Media speculation, double standards and misestimation of risk abound. Also... Denzel Washington. Josh Zepps, host of We The People Live stops by to help get things sorted. (http://www.wtplive.com) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Since the beginning of humankind unpredictable forces of nature have been among our most dangerous threats: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornados, hurricanes, and other disasters that trigger our fight-or-flight survival instincts. Pollution invoked climate change is exacerbating natural disasters and spurring unprecedented human migration. So when so many people are clamoring for safety and running for the hills, what does that mean for those who are already atop them? Author and geographer Barry Vann explains what awaits the future of our planet and its human populations in his new book Forces of Nature: Our Quest to Conquer the Planet. In this fascinating yet sobering conversation with Josh Zepps, Vann elaborates on both the causes of migration as well as the outcomes of the population shifts to come. They discuss both the impact humans have had on our planet, and how our planet affects us in turn. Vann is optimistic that while society is prone to taking the path of least resistance, the conditions brought about by climate change will soon become so unbearable it will force us to make tough decisions that will be crucial for our survival. 

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on Spotify and at http://wtplive.com

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on iTunes (https://t.co/6eWfSu8tRM) and at http://wtplive.com

  Iraqi-born writer Faisal Saeed Al Mutar is a blogger for the Huffington Post and a columnist for the Center for Inquiry’s own Free Inquiry magazine. Having grown up in Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein, he’s now a human rights activist and secularism advocate as well as founder of the Global Secular Humanist Movement and Secular Post.    For Faisal and progressive Muslims and secularists across the globe, social media is the primary means of not only seeking community and acceptance, but to opening dialogues about fraught issues such as dissent from Islam. But recently Facebook seems to be singling out many of these conversations and communities, and shutting them down. In a conversation with Josh Zepps, Faisal gives several examples of Muslims and Arabs having their posts and pages removed. Arab secularist groups, condemnations of the Taliban, and other challenges to Islam are being banned from the site, which is often justified by claims of racism, hate speech, and other alleged violations of “community standards.” Faisal argues that when Facebook censors Muslims and Arabs from being able to criticize extremism and terrorism within their own religion and culture it adds to the very stereotypes and fears surrounding Muslims that Facebook should want to prevent.

Myq's 10 minute satellite with Josh Zepps and Danny Hatch

Myq hangs out with Josh Zepps and Danny Hatch on the KATG Network

Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead and Josh Zepps (We the People Live) join Negin Farsad for this inaugural episode of Fake the Nation. They talk about Hillary's ideal running mate (Beyonce, obvs), whether Microsoft's Clippy is anti-Semitic and, because Josh’s Australian accent is close enough to a British one, we talk a lil' Brexit. He pledges allegiance to the Queen!This episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon.

PODCAST’S PRESCIENT DEBATE ON ISLAMISM, HOMOPHOBIA & TERRORISM In a conversation that now feels tragically relevant, the most recent episode of #WeThePeople LIVE—released the day before the Orlando attack—featured a heated disagreement about Islam, homophobia and terrorism. The show’s host, Josh Zepps, disagreed with his guests, VICE producers Abdullah Saeed and Anthony Lappe, about how we ought to discuss Islamist terrorism, homophobia and illiberalism. Should progressives claim that jihad "has nothing to do with Islam"? Or does political correctness only leave the door open to anti-Muslim bigotry? In the aftermath of last night’s horrific events, listen to the exchange and tell us: How do you think we should discuss Islamist violence? @JoshZepps @WTP_LIVE #MakeDebateHealthyAgain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Josh Zepps sits down with commentator and writer Shadi Hamid. He’s a senior fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, a contributing writer to The Atlantic, and his new book is Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World.   There is a heated debate about whether there is something intrinsically unique about the religion of Islam that has lead to destructive groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS, or whether their existence has nothing to do with religion and are merely the product of politics. Many insist that Islam is not unlike any other religion in its infancy and that with time it will go through a natural course of reform. Hamid suggests that Islam is indeed distinct from other religions, but that those distinctions aren’t in and of themselves good or bad. Hamid urges us to look at the root of these conflicts, because Islam’s unique doctrine and origin will likely mean that its path to reform will look very different from the path of enlightenment values that other religions have embraced before it.  

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on Spotify and at http://wtplive.com

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on iTunes (https://t.co/6eWfSu8tRM) and at http://wtplive.com

HEY GUYS SORRY WE WERE OUT DANCING TO PRINCE MUSIC IN BROOKLYN HAVE SOME RESPECT. Are you an orgasm faker? Are you and your gf in love with the same chick? Does your Stepdad have naked pix of you? At least two of these things are a problem. On today's episode of Guys We Fucked, Corinne & Krystyna sit down with Australian media personality, political satirist, and TV show host JOSH ZEPPS to discuss his hatred of labels, the history of homosexuality, Thai viagra, fucking women, fucking men, and fucking goats. Sure, he's married to a dude, but he's not fucking 'gay', ok? Follow JOSH on Twitter: twitter.com/joshzepps **PLEASE RATE & REVIEW US ON iTUNES!! Theenkyasomuch!** Email us: SorryAboutLastNightShow@gmail.com Tweet the ladies: twitter.com/SryAboutLastNyt Tweet Corinne: twitter.com/PhilanthropyGal Tweet Krystyna: twitter.com/KrystynaHutch Follow us on Instagram: SorryAboutLastNight YouTube: www.youtube.com/sryaboutlastnyt Facebook: www.facebook.com/sorryaboutlastnight SEE US LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY (& MIAMI!) FRIDAY, APRIL 22ND @ 11pm (TONIGHT!!) NACHO BITCHES hosted by Corinne Fisher & past GWF guest Blair Socci New York Comedy Club 241 E. 24th Street Tix are $10 with code NACHO newyorkcomedyclub.com/events/late-ni…edy-04-22-2016 SATURDAY, APRIL 23RD @ 7:30PM GLAMOURPUSS! Hosted by Krystyna Hutchinson + Wendi Starling Zinc Bar - 82 W. 3rd Street, NY, NY For tickets: glamourpuss10.brownpapertickets.com **MIAMI, FLORIDA** SATURDAY, APRIL 30TH - GLAMOURPUSS Does Florida {with a super special surprise guest!} The Flamingo Theater 905 Brickell Bay Drive, Miami For tickets: tinyurl.com/z78cq6x MONDAY, MAY 23RD - Doors at 7pm, Show at 8pm ! GUYS WE FUCKED: TEST TOUR DATE ! SubCulture 45 Bleecker Street NYC ALL AGES (under 16 must have a guardian) Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here: subculturenewyork.com/guys-we-fucked/ MUSIC FEATURED THIS WEEK: 1. Lunch Duchess - "Gross" - lunchduchessmusic.bandcamp.com 2. The Rizzos - "Give Me An Answer" - therizzos.bandcamp.com Do you think your music should be featured on an episode of GWF? E-mail Stephen a streaming link to: GWFPodcastMusic@gmail.com

This week Mike and Gene are joined by Josh Zepps (We The People Live!) and comedian/writer Brendan Sagalow to discuss paying college athletes, whether or not white people can have dreads, and how Australia apologized to the Aboriginal people for slaughtering them. twitter- Josh- @joshzepps Brendan- @BrendanSagalow

David Silverman, president of American Atheists, was recently seen on championing the importance of the atheist vote to American conservatives on the late night comedy show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Silverman attempted to persuade Republican believers and non-believers alike that that there was a dire need to keep God out of politics by promoting his cause at one of the most important conservative gatherings in politics: CPAC.   The author of Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World, Silverman is a loud-and proud-activist for atheism and is passionate about making sure the non-religious are included in the conservative conversation. In a spirited conversation with host Josh Zepps, Silverman argues that the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders heralds the end of religion’s grip on politics, and that if the Republican Party does not learn to appeal to atheist voters, they will inevitably be left behind.

Today’s guest is former white supremacist Arno Michaelis, author of My Life After Hate. A leader within what he called a “racial holy war," Michaelis later realized his hate was misplaced, the product of fear, anger, and an overall misunderstanding of concepts such as forgiveness and personal responsibility. Today he is a Buddhist and anti-violence activist with Serve 2 Unite, an organization that works with student leaders to create compassionate, nonviolent leadership in their communities.   In a frank discussion with Josh Zepps, Michaelis reflects on his mistakes, and how he came to let go of his hate and anger. He notes the similarities he perceives between the language and emotion of the white power movement he left, and that of the campaign rhetoric of Donald Trump, whose rallies are now plagued by racially charged clashes and violence. Michaelis joins us today to offer some insight on this worldview of rage, and how we can work toward alternatives to hate and violence.  

A very special hour long episode of #WTP LIVE! Host, Josh Zepps, sits down with the comic philosopher Joe Rogan. The two compare their world views on Bernie Sanders, inequality, extremism, and just about everything else you'd expect. But, they don't just cover the news, they examine whether the current events are showing that the human species is evolving towards an enlightenment. It's quite the hour. Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe on iTunes: #WeThePeople LIVE Please follow us on twitter: @WTP_Live & @JoshZepps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We know more and more about how repressive attitudes about blasphemy and religious criticism in parts of the Islamic world can become explosive, as with the Charlie Hebdo attacks or the murder of secularist bloggers in Bangladesh. But these extreme instances don’t tell the whole story.   This week our guest is Jessica Davey-Quantick, who spent several years in Qatar as a reporter and editor for Qatar Happening and Time Out Doha. She experienced first hand the often laughable degrees of arbitrary censorship and cultural oppression, and simultaneously the liberty with which certain members of society could behave as they pleased. She discovered a world that both reinforced and contradicted commonly held beliefs about the restrictiveness of the culture of Islam in the Gulf States, and wrote about her experiences in a recent article at Vox.   She and host Josh Zepps discuss the problems with how we discuss cultures outside our own, the ways religion is intertwined with repressive norms, and how we might hold a mirror up to our own practices.

The freethought movement has seen two of its most respected and influential institutions combine into what has been called a “supergroup” for secularism. The Center for Inquiry, the organization that proudly produces this program, announced in January that it would merge with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, and that Robyn Blumner, the Richard Dawkins Foundation’s president and CEO, would take over from Ronald A. Lindsay as CEO of CFI.    Both Robyn Blumner and Ron Lindsay appear together as our guests this week, here to discuss with host Josh Zepps the reasoning behind the merger, and how the complementary strengths of the newly-joined organizations can make a larger impact on behalf of their shared mission: fostering a secular society based on reason, science, free inquiry, and humanist values.    We learn more about Blumner’s background as both an executive and a journalist, as well as what the Richard Dawkins Foundation (now a division of CFI) brings to the table. We also get a look back at Lindsay’s tenure at CFI, and how he has helped to build the Center for Inquiry into a lasting institution. 

Welcome back to #WeThePeople LIVE, where once again we were live, and boozy, from the wonderful Pine Box Rock Shop! Josh Zepps was well supported this week with wonderful guests, Akilah Hughes, Christine Nangle, Zhubin Parang, and Natasha Lennard. Four wise guest, ready and capable of turning what shouldn't be funny into something funny. And, that was just what was needed. This week the crew tries to tackle the ocean between the election pageantry and the actual shit America is facing. There conclusion? Well, listen... but something must be in the water. @WTP_live @JoshZepps @acast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the Pine Box Rock Shop, Josh Zepps sits down with Artie Lange, and Chris Hamilton to bullshit about comedy. It's just three guys talking about what used to be funny, what is funny, what is okay to say, what isn't, and it's hilarious. Enjoy humans. @wtpl_live @joshzepps Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the Paris attacks, tensions are running higher than they have in many years over the threat posed by Islamism, how we should talk about it, and how policy should respond to it. One of our most difficult cultural challenges is distinguishing the acts of violent Islamists from public attitudes towards Muslims in general, and specifically how heated and often ugly rhetoric impacts how we confront the massive refugee crisis.   To discuss this thorny and emotionally charged issue, Josh Zepps talks with Michael Brooks, contributor for the award-winning daily political talk show, The Majority Report. It is a lively discussion of a highly polarized issue, revealing just how complicated and nuanced Islam’s role in these crises truly is.

Here it is! A very special hour long episode of #WTP LIVE! Host, Josh Zepps, sits down with the comic philosopher Joe Rogan. The two compare their world views on Bernie Sanders, inequality, extremism, and just about everything else you'd expect. But, they don't just cover the news, they examine whether the current events are showing that the human species is evolving towards an enlightenment. It's quite the hour. Thank you so much for listening. Please subscribe on iTunes: #WeThePeople LIVE Please follow us on twitter: @WTP_Live & @JoshZepps www.WTP_Live.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Zepps is the host of HuffPost Live & #WeThePeople LIVE available on iTunes () and at http://wtplive.com

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE available on Spotify and at http://wtplive.com

This week Josh Zepps chats about the 2016 Republican presidential primaries with journalist Sarah Posner, a senior correspondent for Religion Dispatches and the author of Gods Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters. She is an expert in the political machinations of the religious right in the United States.   The current GOP field has Seventh-day Adventist Ben Carson and the newly Bible-loving Donald Trump battling for the top spot in polls, despite their theological differences with the Evangelical base of the party. Posner explores what’s behind the appeal of these two unlikely front-runners, compares their very different demeanors, and weighs on such topics as the influence of Pope Francis and the prospects for atheist political candidates. 

Last week marked 14 years since the attacks of 9/11, the reverberations of which will certainly be felt well into the future. But for all the impact and tragedy of the attacks, there is still so much that remains unanswered, and unanswered for. Here to lend some insight is American journalist Craig Unger, whose bestselling books include House of Bush, House of Saud, a book that explores the relationship between the Bush family (including its various advisors and functionaries) and the Saudi royal family.  Unger’s work drew attention to several unresolved questions about the Bush administration’s response to the attacks, and how we found ourselves mired in a global military project known as the War on Terror. In conversation with Josh Zepps, Unger looks at the radical religious ideology of the Saudis, its ongoing and confusing alliance with the U.S., and the complications brought on by conflicts with Iran and ISIS.

  Ten years ago on August 29, 2005, nearly 80 percent of New Orleans found itself underwater. Over the following months, the New York Times sent its correspondent Gary Rivlin to live in New Orleans and report on the city’s effort to rebuild. To this day, much of New Orleans are still in shambles and few outside of the city understand the nature of the chaos that ensued during and after the storm. In his new book Katrina: After The Flood, Rivlin reveals how the story of Katrina, and why its impact was so devastating, was much more complicated than the simple narrative much of the media was providing. A decade after the disaster, he joins Josh Zepps on Point of Inquiry this week to discuss how Katrina created a huge racial and class division in New Orleans, and how we might learn from the mistakes that were made in managing the aftermath of the storm.

Comedian Michael Che and host of Huff Post Live Josh Zepps are in the studio this week. Kurt has developed artificial intelligence in the form of Dr. Bill Cosby - the Cosbytron - and the crew give it a Turing test. Things get really crazy when rapper Maino drops in! Plus Bob Dibuono is back as Dr. Phil.

Josh Zepps is the host of #WeThePeople LIVE, available on Spotify and at http://wtplive.com

Josh Zepps is the host of HuffPost Live & We The People Live available on iTunes and at http://wtplive.com  

As difficult it is to accept, there may be no loosening of the grip ISIS currently holds over its territory, at least not any time soon. Our guest, Stephen M. Walt, begins to come to terms with this unpleasant situation in a new article for Foreign Policy magazine,“What Should We Do if the Islamic State Wins?” His answer is not an inspiring one, but one based on the facts as he sees them: We will have to live with it. On Point of Inquiry this week, Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, explores with host Josh Zepps the historical precedence for successful revolutionary movements and their near-intractability once they’ve claimed power. According to Walt, once established, these revolutionary regimes will either continue to act as dangerous rogues who are isolated and contained by neighboring countries, or eventually moderate themselves to the point where even the U.S. may eventually be able to make formal connections and begin to do business.   The Islamic State’s potential to become a major power (or rather its lack of potential), the unreliability of personal accounts from inside ISIS, and American moral hubris all weigh into this fascinating discussion on Point of Inquiry.

On July 5th, 2015 Greece said no to a bailout and austerity measures that would have kept them in the eurozone, lending more uncertainty to an already weakened financial structure. The country that birthed Western democracy has found itself at a standstill, with political factions unable or unwilling to find common ground.  Here to discuss the psychological and historical context behind Greece's struggle is Dr. Daphne Halikiopoulou, an expert in radical nationalism and populism, and the culture and politics of Greece. She is a lecturer at Reading University in the UK on comparative politics, a regular guest on the BBC, and the author of the new book, The Golden Dawn's 'Nationalist Solution': Explaining the Rise of the Far Right in Greece. Recording from Athens, she and host Josh Zepps discuss the cultural and philosophical implications of Greece's financial crisis; what it represents to Greeks and what their struggle says about the security and preservation of secularist values. Dr. Halikiopoulou says that Greece wants to be a leader and an example of progress to the rest of the world, and that perhaps their biggest problem is an infatuation with saying "no" to compromise.  This episode also features a cameo from an Athenian watermelon salesman.

  This week, Point of Inquiry welcomes Richard Dawkins for a special episode recorded before a live audience at the Center for Inquiry’s Reason for Change conference in Buffalo, New York on June 13, 2015. Dawkins is easily one of the world’s most influential and controversial scientists; a pioneer in evolutionary biology, science communication, and the public visibility of atheists. He is the author of several bestselling books including The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and Unweaving the Rainbow, and he is founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.   Dawkins is joined by Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps, discusses how he found his love for science and evolution, the importance of secular values, and how we can inspire people to appreciate and embrace science. It’s not all serious and lofty, of course, as Dawkins cops to being “pretty condescending and bossy,” and displays his remarkable proficiency with an outlandish American accent.      Dawkins, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CFI at this conference, brings the audience to its feet with his wit and insight. 

Ex Machina, a new film that tells the story of a billionaire programmer who creates an artificially intelligent female robot, is in theaters now, and its writer and director, Alex Garland, is our special guest on Point of Inquiry this week. Although this is Garland's debut as a director he has also written hit novels such as The Beach as well as written and produced screen plays such as 28 Days Later.   As the power of computers and the software that runs them rapidly advances year by year, the representation of artificial intelligence in sci-fi films like Ex Machina are inching closer and closer to reality. Josh Zepps talks to Garland about the science and philosophy behind consciousness, the future of self-aware machines, and the ethical considerations we’ve barely begun to ponder.

While Bassem Youssef’s satirical voice has made him widely known as the Egyptian Jon Stewart, merely five years ago Youssef was a heart surgeon broadcasting humorous political commentary on YouTube from his laundry room. His videos soon exploded in popularity, and by 2011 he had moved his satirical show to television. In 2012 Jon Stewart invited Youssef to join him on The Daily Show, and shortly thereafter in 2013 Time Magazine named Bassem Youssef one of the “100 most influential people in the world.” Unfortunately, some would like to see his influence muted, and the political climate in Egypt has made it too dangerous for Youssef to continue producing his show.   On Point of Inquiry this week, Youssef is joined by international comedian Ahmed Ahmed and host Josh Zepps, and the three of them discuss the the role of satire in provoking real political change. Ahmed, like Yousself, has had to learn the hard way that satirists walk a fine line between pushing boundaries while trying not to break them.   Youssef is currently working with a senior producer at The Daily Show to create a documentary about Youssef’s journey of standing up to an entire regime with his fearless comedy, entitled Tickling Giants.

Negotiations between Iran and the U.S. in concert with Germany and the United Nations Security Council are set to result in an agreement on March 31, 2015 regarding Iran’s nuclear program, potentially restricting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Senior Historian for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and adviser to senior government officials on Iranian issues, David Crist, joins host Josh Zepps to discuss how the past several decades have lead up to this decision, and what it will mean for the future.   Though no one can say for certain what will be decided on March 31, Crist is uniquely qualified to offer his insight as author of the book The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran. While he does not hesitate to explain the ruthlessness of the Islamic regime, he also does not fail to criticize America’s shortcomings and missed opportunities. This is a fascinating and rare look into the realpolitik of one of the most consequential international challenges of our time.

Billions of dollars are funneled into federal drug programs to keep our children away from drugs and our cities safe from crime and economic turmoil. Our guest this week, journalist and author Johann Hari, has spent the last several years traveling and researching the war on drugs for his new book Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, to find out if federal programs are as effective and righteous as we are often led to believe. Hari talks to host Josh Zepps about how he discovered a the troubling beginnings of drug war riddled with corruption and ulterior motives, and argues that everything we thought we understood about drug addiction appears to be wrong.

This week on Point of Inquiry, Josh Zepps talks to Eli Lake, a journalist with extensive experience covering international intelligence, diplomacy, and the recent conflicts in the Muslim world. With the Islamic State now eclipsing Al Qaeda as a prime flashpoint for terrorism, discussing and defining the ideology behind the violence is fraught with tension, as evidenced by the uproar over President Obama's recent refusal to characterize "violent extremism" as "Islamic."  Why do new recruits flock to the Islamic State? What are its real-world political goals? What are the dividing lines between the various strains of Islamic extremism? Lake, whose reporting has been featured in outlets such as The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Bloomberg View, and the Washington Times, lends badly-needed clarity to what are difficult and murky topics.

Josh Zepps is the host of HuffPost Live & Point of Inquiry, "a podcast for reason & science" which you can find on Spotify.

Josh Zepps is the host of HuffPost Live & Point of Inquiry, "a podcast for reason & science."

There’s no doubt that Ebola is an incredibly dangerous and genuinely lethal virus, but it’s also a highly manageable one, though you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the kind of hyperbolic coverage we’ve seen of the epidemic. In order to sort fact from fiction about the real threat posed by Ebola, and to better understand its origins and wider implications, Point of Inquiry presents a special episode, recorded before a live audience in New York.   We begin with a presentation by Dr. Jon Epstein, a veterinarian and epidemiologist who specializes in emerging pandemic threats in the developing world. Then Point of Inquiry host Josh Zepps goes more in depth, in a conversation with Dr. Epstein and Dr. Kevin Olival, a disease ecologist and evolutionary biologist. Both are world-leading experts on Ebola and disease prevention with a great deal of insight as to what governments and aid workers need to do to prevent Ebola from becoming a pandemic.    Recorded live at the Brooklyn Brewery, this event was organized by Eco Health Alliance, an international biodiversity organization. 

Josh Zepps is off, and since this week is the 5th International Blasphemy Rights Day, we're rebroadcasting this interview by Chris Mooney with Austin Dacey, CFI's former UN representative and an expert on the subject of blasphemy laws. *** This week, our guest is a return one: Austin Dacey. He's a philosopher, a writer, a human rights activist, and the creator of the Impossible Music Sessions, which we featured in a past show. Austin's books include The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life and, just out, The Future of Blasphemy: Speaking of the Sacred in an Age of Human Rights. This show focused on Austin's new book on blasphemy. But he helped enhance the discussion with a few pieces of music that have been called blasphemous—which is why we wanted to distribute them as widely as possible.

It’s National Chicken Month! But rather than celebrating the consumption of fowl, Point of Inquiry is asking what exactly is going on in America's meat industry? Is the way we consume meat at all rational?    Joining us this week is Christopher Leonard, investigative journalist whose work has appeared in Fortune, Slate, and The New York Times. He is a fellow with The New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute in Washington, DC., and the author of The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business.       Leonard and host Josh Zepps explore the morality of super-industrialized meat production, the iron grip of certain large corporations, and how the centralized system of factory farming is, to Leonard, “Soviet-esque.”

It’s been ten years since the publication of Sam Harris’s book The End of Faith kicked off the cultural phenomenon of “new atheism,” bringing frank criticism of religion into mainstream conversation. In the decade since, Harris has emerged as something of a maverick among nonbelievers and progressives, frequently at the center of controversy with his opinions on Islam and extremism, science’s role in morality, and his embrace of a kind of “spiritualism” grounded in science.   It is this last item that is the subject of his latest book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, in which he seeks a rational approach to transcendence; one that puts the supernatural aside in favor of an honest, scientific exploration of the mind, altered states of consciousness, and other (as he puts it) “spooky phenomena.”    On this special episode of Point of Inquiry, Harris talks to host Josh Zepps about his foray into the mystical. In this fascinating interview, Harris asserts that experiences such as bliss and transcendence must be removed from the realm of sectarianism, but that “one of the great holes in secularism” is that “we don’t have a ready answer for someone who wakes up tomorrow morning with an extraordinary change in their conscious life which they deem positive.”    Harris talks about the search for this answer, as well as the illusion of the self, expanding our moral circle to include other creatures, and an evaluation of the progress secularism has made since the time “new atheism” was still new.

One hundred years ago, Great Britain declared war on Germany, joining in what we now refer to as World War I, a conflict which cost more than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians their lives, and shaped the the world we know today. How did reasonable people let "The Great War" begin, and what can reasonable people today learn from it?   Joining us this week is Christopher Capozzola, an MIT professor in political and legal history, war, and the military, and author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen.     How did rational people plummet themselves into the irrationalism and chaos that tore apart the continent of Europe along with the rest of the world while sowing the seeds of much of the 20th Century's subsequent horrors? Dr. Capozzola and host Josh Zepps examine the kind of day-to-day rationality which can spiral off into madness.

How do we rationally assess risk? Following a terrible series of horrifying air travel disasters, reasonable people begin to question what we consider to be "safe." But should we?    To answer this question, our host Josh Zepps is joined by David Ropeik, an international consultant and expert on the subject of risk perception and communication, and author of Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding Whats Really Safe and Whats Really Dangerous in the World Around You and How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts.    Ropeik discusses how human beings perceive danger versus mathematical probabilities, how fear and optimism affect our perception, and how it might be a good idea to be "gentle" with the word "rational" when it comes to the subject risk. 

Josh Zepps (HuffPost Live, Point of Inquiry) joins Cara in New York City to discuss skepticism, social mobility, and religion in American society. Follow Josh: @joshzepps.

Josh Zepps (HuffPost Live, Point of Inquiry) joins Cara in New York City to discuss skepticism, social mobility, and religion in American society. Follow Josh: @joshzepps.

Our guest this week is Cara Santa Maria, contributor to Al Jazeera America's science show TechKnow, and the host of the podcast Talk Nerdy. This neuroscientist, science educator, producer, writer, and television personality has brought her intelligence and insights to the Huffington Post as its former senior science editor, was the co-host and producer of TakePart Live on Pivot TV, and has appeared countless times on CNN, FOX, BBC, among many others. Point of Inquiry’s Josh Zepps sat down with Santa Maria for a conversation about growing up Mormon in Texas (and the associated postmortem planetary inheritance), the scourge of false equivalency in modern journalism, and the appeal of “woo” from the metaphysical to the pseudoscientific. And just what are our prospects for scientific advancement, and who will benefit most? This is an episode full of fun and eye-opening insights.

This week, Point of Inquiry is excited to welcome “The Amazing” James Randi: famed magician a godfather (as it were) of the modern reason movement, and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Randi is the subject of a new documentary film, An Honest Liar, which brings to life Randi's intricate investigations that publicly exposed psychics, parapsychologists, fait- healers, and con artists.  Randi and host Josh Zepps diagnose the state of American credulity, and discuss why human beings continue to believe unreasonable things that simply “sound nice.” They reminisce about some of Randi's greatest hits with Johnny Carson and Oprah Winfrey, and consider the impact of the religious right in America, of the Internet and social media on skepticism, and much more.  It’s a funny and insightful trek through the last few decades of skepticism from the mind of a great man who helped make it all happen.

This week, Point of Inquiry is delighted to welcome Ann Druyan, co-writer and co-creator of both the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, starring her late husband Carl Sagan, as well as the new series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, starring Neil deGrasse Tyson. In a wide-ranging discussion, Druyan talks to Josh Zepps about how the first Cosmos series came to be, her efforts to translate the majesty of science into relatable and accessible storytelling, and how we've progressed toward making a more reasonable and humane society. We also get a little bit of insight into what it was like to get to know Carl Sagan for the first time.  Ann Druyan co-wrote with Sagan the books Comet, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and sections of The Demon-Haunted World. Their twenty-year professional collaboration also included NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Message (the famous "Golden Record" aboard the Voyager spacecraft) along with many articles, speeches, and other written works. She is co-founder and CEO of Cosmos Studios, as well as Program Director of Cosmos 1, the first solar sailing spacecraft mission.  Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey premiered March 9, 2014 simultaneously in the US across ten FOX networks in 125 countries, and on National Geographic networks in 180 countries, making it the largest global launch of a TV series in history.

Following the death of the Westboro Baptist Church's Fred Phelps, Josh Zepps discusses the state of religious fundamentalism with Frank Schaeffer, the New York Times bestselling author of Crazy for God: How I grew up as one of the Elect, Sex, Mom, and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics-- and How I learned to love Women (and Jesus) Anyway, among many others.  Having recovered from being raised in a fundamentalist Christian family, and having written multiple novels about growing up in that world, Schaeffer has a fascinating perspective on what he sees as the psychological damage inflicted by angry fundamentalism, and helps us examine how we, as atheists, might respond to the death of those we despise. 

This week on Point of Inquiry we welcome Chris Emden, a Columbia Professor who's helped design New York City's public school policy, a leading science education researcher, and Harvard Hip Hop Archive Fellow. Chris Emden is a favored guest of Josh Zepps on Huffpost Live, and for good reason. They chat about the state of American science education, and the ways in which Emden is trying to shake things up. Josh and Emden talk about how we can make science education more interesting and culturally available for students across the country, how to introduce children to science as a personal discipline in life – not just a subject in school – and how to bring about a more scientifically literate population.

As the War on Christmas wages on, our host, Josh Zepps, interviews Rob Boston, Senior Policy Analyst for American's United for the Separation of Church and State, Editor of Church & State magazine and author of Close Encounters with the Religious Right : Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics.   Together they get to the bottom of the War on Christmas. They explain how saying "Happy Holidays" is a violation of Christian liberty and explore the vast number of schools banning red, green, and jolly old men.  Is the War on Christmas a fact or is it fear-mongering and imagined persecution among the Christian media elite?  This week, an amusing, year end, episode of Point of Inquiry which actually delves into some serious Church-State, First Amendment issues along with some festive humor. 

This week on Point of Inquiry, Josh Zepps welcomes P.J. O’Rourke, humorist, cultural commentator, and best selling author of sixteen books. An early proponent of “gonzo journalism” and is a self-described libertarian, O’Rourke has served as editor-in-chief of National Lampoon, and has spent 20 years reporting for Rolling Stone and The Atlantic as the world’s only “trouble spot humorist,” going to wars, riots, rebellions, and other “Holidays in Hell” in more than 40 countries. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and a frequent panelist on National Public Radio's game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!  In this episode they discuss everything from abortion and privacy, to the party following the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the looting of the Baghdad Museum. They are, however, able to steer clear of the dicey topic of free will.

Famed educator, engineer and "Science Guy," Bill Nye Joins our host Josh Zepps for this week's Point of Inquiry. They discuss Bill's start as an Engineer and part time stand up comedian to his groundbreaking work in television educating a generation on science. They also delve into Bill's view into the future of science, science education, as well as how to become excessively rich using the tools of science to change the world. 

Point of Inquiry, the flagship podcast of the Center for Inquiry, relaunches with a special episode recorded before a live audience at the 2013 CFI Summit in Tacoma, Washington, with new co-host Josh Zepps of HuffPost Live.Our unconscious minds offer us something of a paradox. On the one hand, we'd be lost without it, as it processes information without us ever being aware of it — it's how we deal with the real world in real time. But on the other hand, we don't always have a complete picture, so the unconscious mind can often draw mistaken conclusions, even though they may feel right at a "gut level."This is the subject of the work of Leonard Mlodinow in his most recent book Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, for which he won the 2013 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for a book of literary nonfiction on the subject of the physical or biological sciences. In this interview, Mlodinow explains how we have trouble poking holes in our own suppositions.Leonard Mlondinow is a physicist, author, and screenwriter best known for coauthoring (with Stephen Hawking) the New York Times number-one best seller The Grand Design and the international best seller A Briefer History of Time, as well as The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, a New York Times notable book of the year.Next week we'll bring you another episode from the CFI Summit, as our second new co-host, journalist Lindsey Beyerstein, interviews Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children.Copyright 2013