Honestly with Bari Weiss
The most interesting conversations in American life happen in private. This show brings them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating people in the country, every week from The Free Press, hosted by former New York Times and Wall Street Journal journalist Bari Weiss.
Episodes
We’re All Living in Casey Neistat’s World
Today, on our inaugural episode of Second Thought, Suzy Weiss sits down with one of the most influential people in YouTube’s history: Casey Neistat. Casey has millions of followers and billions of views to his name—and he saw early on that YouTube would change everything. It certainly changed his own life.
In this conversation, Casey talks about riding the wave of the YouTube tsunami, his love of
A Note from Bari on Honestly
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What to Expect in 2026 with Niall Ferguson, John McWhorter, Dr. Mark Hyman, Leandra Medine Cohen, Suzy Weiss, and Sarah Isgur
This past year wasn’t easy—but it was certainly eventful. Donald Trump returned to the White House, issued a record number of executive orders, deployed the National Guard to American cities—like LA and D.C.—imposed sweeping tariffs on all our trading partners, gutted the government with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and unleashed a massive crackdown on immigration.
But that was
The Birth of Christianity
It's Christmas Eve. A holiday celebrated by 2.4 billion people around the world, which centers on a 2,000-year-old story about a Jewish man born in Bethlehem who became a rabbi, who the Romans would later execute in Jerusalem.
But what most people don’t know is that the first people who believed in Jesus did not think they were starting a new religion. They were a small group of Jews who thought
CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk
Last week, Bari sat down with Erika Kirk for an hour-long town hall in front of a live audience on CBS.
It was an extremely powerful conversation. Erika and Bari spoke about a lot—rising political violence in this very divided country; the way some people justified or excused Charlie’s murder; what Erika thinks about some of the controversial things Charlie said in his lifetime; her response t
Should We Legalize Assisted Suicide?
One of the most complex medical, ethical, moral, and religious questions of our era is that of physician-assisted suicide—also known as Medical Aid in Dying, or MAID.
Eleven U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have legalized some form of MAID for terminally ill patients. And New York might join them.
Over the summer, a Medical Aid in Dying Act passed New York’s state legislature. It is now sitting
Is Designing Babies Unethical—or a Moral Imperative?
All parents know what goes into raising children: the time spent changing diapers in inopportune places; the hours of worrying—about what to feed them, how to educate them, how to protect them and keep them healthy; the countless hours devoted to dance classes, summer camps, pediatricians, and piano lessons—all investments meant to give them the best chance in life.
Most of us would do anything t
Would America Be Safer Without the Second Amendment?
Few lines in the Constitution have provoked as much passion—or confusion—as this one:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
What did the Founding Fathers mean by “well regulated”? What did they mean by “Militia”? And, do any of those definitions hold in 21st-century America?
Guns are on
Kids Don't Need Phones with Jonathan Haidt
You probably know Jonathan Haidt as the guy trying to save your kids from smartphones and social media apps. Likely you’ve read The Anxious Generation, which has been translated into 44 languages and sold nearly 2 million copies. One might say that Jon is Elvis for 21st century moms who don't understand Discord.
But when Haidt gets written about decades from now, it will be for much more than th
Democratic Dissident John Fetterman
Who owns the future of the Democratic Party?
That’s the question on everyone’s mind since last Tuesday night—when the richest city in America elected 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as its mayor.
You can see Mamdani’s win as a one-off—a charismatic contender facing a rival mired in controversy. But the other way to see it is as emblematic of something larger: a sign about the sta
How We Lost Ourselves to Technology—and How We Can Come Back
Do you feel uneasy? Do you feel a level of ambient anxiety? Do you feel despair, despite the fact that we live in the most luxurious time and place in human history?
The point is, you are not crazy. If you feel these things, you are simply attuned to reality—and it’s not a problem that’s solvable with less screen time or with meditation, red light, or sea moss.
My brilliant guest, Paul Kingsnor
Can Reading Fix Men?
It’s no secret that young men are sort of unwell.
They are four times more likely to kill themselves, three times more likely to struggle with addiction, and 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than women. If that weren’t enough, record numbers of men are not getting married, not dating, not enrolling in school or working, and struggling with serious mental health issues.
In response, a cott
Palmer Luckey and the Future of American Power
A former Senate staffer recently told our friend, reporter Dexter Filkins: “The last socialist systems in the world are in Cuba and the Pentagon.” My guest tonight is trying to do something about that. And good luck to anyone trying to get in his way.
When people think of defense tech titans, they might not think of my guest tonight, Palmer Luckey. He looks more like Jimmy Buffett than George S.
Trailer | Spiral: Murder in Detroit
On October 21, 2023, beloved Detroit community leader Samantha Woll was found brutally stabbed to death outside her home—two weeks to the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. It looked like an open-and-shut case—a hate crime. But swiftly the police ruled that out. Instead they eventually found themselves with two unrelated suspects. When they charged one with murder, the case took a turn tha
How Katie Herzog Drank Her Way to Sobriety
If you’re listening to this, you probably know someone who has struggled with alcohol addiction, or maybe you’re an alcoholic yourself. It’s one of the most universal human experiences. In 2023, 10 percent of the U.S. population met the criteria for alcoholism. That’s 30 million people.
And throughout the past hundred or so years, there’s basically been one solution: total sobriety, talk therapy,
The Hostage Release and the Future of Gaza
At 3:22 a.m. ET on October 7, 2023, Bari texted her producer: “Candace, there’s war in Israel.” At that moment, Hamas men still roamed southern Israel, and the details were far from clear. What we knew was that Israel had been attacked and that videos were beginning to make their way from Telegram to X: scenes of dozens of Palestinian terrorists breaking through the security fence and rushing into
María Corina Machado’s Fight to Free Venezuela
Congratulations are not usually in order for someone who has been forced into hiding, someone whose children are scattered across continents for their safety, someone whose supporters are sitting in prison cells for the crime of believing in democracy.
But our guest today, María Corina Machado, just won the Nobel Peace Prize—joining the ranks of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Da
Niall Ferguson on October 7 and Our Changed World
This week commemorates the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023. That morning, Hamas invaded Israel. They slaughtered some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Forty-eight hostages, some alive and some dead, are still being held in Gaza.
In these last two years, the world has changed. In many ways, the past two years have felt like two decades. The world feels like it has tilted on its a
He Spent 491 Days as a Hamas Hostage. This Is How He Survived.
Two years ago today, five terrorists broke into Eli Sharabi’s safe room on Kibbutz Be’eri. He had been sheltered there for hours with his wife, Lianne, and teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, reading horrific texts flooding in from neighbors and hoping somehow his family would be spared.
They were not. The terrorists shot and killed their dog, then dragged Eli away, leaving his family behind. As
The Future of The Free Press
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How One Man Overcame His Autism
Leland Vittert is one of America’s most recognizable television correspondents. You’ll know his face from years of frontline reporting in places like Egypt, Libya, Israel, and Ukraine.
You may have followed his tumultuous exit from Fox News in 2021, after clashing with the network over its coverage of Donald Trump—and then his redemption arc, becoming the host of On Balance and the chief Washing
Inside the Mossad
If you’re anything like us, you’re a sucker for a good spy show: Homeland, Tehran, Fauda, The Bureau. We’re fascinated by the life of spies—the secret meetings in Beirut cafés, the wigs and false identities, the double and triple lives, always one step away from exposure, risking everything for their country.
Most of the time, those TV characters are pure fiction and the stories are the stuff of
Woody Allen on Life and Death
You know the name Woody Allen. Everyone does. He’s made some of the most acclaimed films ever made: Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors—he list goes on and on and on. He’s made an astonishing 50 movies.
You see his influence everywhere, from sitcoms to stand-up to just about every rom-com made since Annie Hall premiered in 1977. And in the process, he turned himself into A
Charlie Kirk’s Murder and the Rise of Political Violence
Yesterday, in broad daylight, in front of a crowd of 3,000 people at Utah Valley University, Charlie Kirk was shot dead. Kirk was not just a husband, not just a father, and not just one of the most prominent young conservative voices in the country. He made his name doing something fundamental to the American project: disagreeing out loud.
He famously said, “When people stop talking, bad stuff h
Justice Amy Coney Barrett
When Amy Coney Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court, she was in some ways an unlikely choice. She was living in South Bend, Indiana, not New York or D.C. She went to Notre Dame Law School, making her the only justice that didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. She’s the mother of seven kids. And, at the time of her appointment, she’d largely spent her career as a professor, with just under three year
Conversations with Coleman: Three Hostages Families Disagree on How to Get Their Loved Ones Home
Everyone wants the war in Gaza to end. The reason the war is not over is because about 50 people are still being held hostage by Hamas.
Twenty of them are alive, but on the brink of death. About 30 of them have already been killed, and their bodies remain in Hamas captivity.
There are differing opinions on the best way to bring them home: continue the ground war in Gaza, or take the partial deal
Breaking History: The Invention That Changed Everything
Ever travel to Europe in the summer and suddenly feel very “ra ra ra” about America?
It’s not because of American culture, or food, or architecture. The thing people miss first and foremost is AC. Yes, air-conditioning.
It’s an American treasure and of course, fodder for many dad jokes.
But beyond the jokes, this invention has been politically and culturally transformational.
AC allowed factor
The Radical Right Is Coming for Our Sons
You might have heard of the new term: “woke right.” It’s the idea that the illiberalism that has swallowed the progressive left—what we often refer to as “wokeness”—has come for the right.
Here’s how we think about the dynamic:
Over the past two decades the woke left said: “Everything is taboo”—our Founding Fathers, the idea that men and women are different, the idea that wearing hoop earrings i
Why Amanda Knox Forgave the Man Who Sent Her to Prison
On November 1, 2007, a man named Rudy Guede broke into a random home in Perugia, Italy, then raped and killed Meredith Kercher—a 21-year-old exchange student from the University of Leeds.
You might not even remember the names Rudy Guede and Meredith Kercher. But one name you will remember is Meredith’s roommate, Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old exchange student from Seattle.
In the weeks and years aft
Why Unions Went for Trump
The question of who represents the working class is probably the hottest debate in American politics. Is it Republicans? Democrats? Or socialists like Zohran Mamdani?
Pundits can debate that question all they want, but the undeniable test is: Who do the unions believe stands for working people?
For a century, unions were undeniably Democratic. And in 2021, Joe Biden tried to carry on that tradit
Jeffrey Epstein and Conspiracy America
Here’s one fun question to ask at a dinner party: What is your favorite conspiracy theory?
There’s the idea that the CIA killed John F. Kennedy. The moon landing was fake, and 9/11 was an inside job. Covid was designed by the Gates Foundation to control the world—and the Covid vaccine had a microchip. There’s the deep state. Chemtrails. QAnon. The Illuminati. Reptilian overlords. Pizzagate—which
Could Rahm Emanuel Be Our Next President?
Rahm Emanuel is giving every indication that he’s running for president in 2028—including by coming on Honestly yesterday.
Emanuel, now 65 years old, has spent decades making a name for himself as one of the Democratic Party’s fiercest and most effective partisans—a true knife fighter, and you’ll see that spiciness in this interview.
But can the dealmaker, the guy so adept at pulling the levers
Giga-Yachts, Flo Rida, and Bunkers. . . What Could Go Wrong?
Depending on who you ask, some would call the ultrarich “shameless”; others might say “aspirational.” For example: Mukesh Ambani, the Indian centibillionaire, has a room of snow in the Indian tropics—to say nothing of his skyscraper home, 168-car garage, and 600-person-staff. And celebrations for his kids’ weddings featured Rihanna and Beyoncé.
This is nothing new. Aristotle Onassis had whales’ t
Why Young People Love Socialism
Just two weeks ago, New Yorkers voted en masse for a self-proclaimed socialist—someone who once called for “seizing the means of production.”
This is, of course, Zohran Mamdani, who dominated in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor with a definitive victory over Andrew Cuomo.
He has called for rent freezes, free buses, and even government-run grocery stores.
He won 56 percent of the v
Is Anyone a Genius?
Love him or hate him, many consider Elon Musk to be a modern-day genius. He co-founded PayPal, which transformed how people purchase things. He became the CEO of Tesla, which revolutionized electric vehicles—and made it cool to drive them. He founded SpaceX, accomplishing what only superpower nation-states have previously. And he is working to make our species interplanetary—maybe in a few years,
The Words That Made America
America is turning 250. And we’re throwing a yearlong celebration of the greatest country on Earth. The greatest? Yes. The greatest.
We realize that’s not a popular thing to say these days. Americans have a way of taking this country for granted: a Gallup poll released earlier this week shows that American pride has reached a new low. And the world at large, which is wealthier and freer than it h
Is Iran’s Nuclear Program Damaged or Destroyed?
When we last recorded Saturday night, the U.S. had just announced its strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The U.S. had entered the war. The restrainers had seemingly lost.
In the following hours, President Donald Trump said the mission was a “spectacular military success.” And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the program “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites.
But there’s much more to that stor
The U.S. Bombs Iran’s Nuclear Program
On Saturday night at 7:50 pm ET, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had entered the war against Iran when he posted: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home
Niall Ferguson and Dexter Filkins: Who Will Win the Israel-Iran War?
It’s the fourth day in the war between Iran and Israel.
Many questions hang in the air. Chief among them: Will Israel be able to fulfill its main goal in the war—to end Iran’s nuclear program? Will it put troops on the ground to do so, specifically to blow up Iran’s most important nuclear site? Or will the U.S. get involved? Will Trump provide the bunker-busting bombs necessary to destroy the fac
Iran Strikes Israel, Oil Fields Ablaze, and Will the U.S. Enter the War?
As we taped this episode of Honestly, it was 3 a.m. in Israel. Sirens wailed across the country as Iranian missiles rained down on Israeli towns.
At the same time, Israel was striking military and nuclear sites inside Iran, and oil fields were aflame.
Meanwhile in Washington, reports were emerging of a heated debate inside the White House over whether the U.S. should get involved in the war.
It
Naftali Bennett and Michael Oren: Israel and Iran at War
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel pulled off a historic strike on Iran. As I record these lines, Iran is reporting a “massive explosion” in Isfahan, in a province that is home to several nuclear facilities. In Israel, where Shabbat has begun, the government has ordered all synagogues to shut down—and for citizens to remain close to bomb shelters as they brace for a retaliatory strike.
Amb. Mike Huckabee on Gaza Aid, Iran, and MAGA’s Foreign Policy War
There are people who have résumés we might call “diverse” or “wide-ranging.” And then there are people like Mike Huckabee who, at age 69, has seemingly crammed several lifetimes’ worth of careers into one.
He was a televangelist. He was governor of Arkansas for over a decade. He ran for president and won the Iowa caucuses. He hosted his own show on Fox News for seven years. He’s written books o
How Qatar Bought America
In the past few weeks, Qatar has been all over the news with flashy headlines of a $400 million luxury jet that the country gifted to President Donald Trump. It symbolized their opulence and eagerness to please the U.S.
But 40 years ago, Qatar was a country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of a few billion dollars. Since the 19th century, it has been run by the Al Thani family, which can tra
The Biden Cover-Up and the Failure of the Press Corps
In 2023 and 2024, there were many things that were unsayable. Perhaps the most unsayable—at least in legacy media circles—was that the President of the United States was not capable of being president, because he was no longer mentally fit.
Those people who did break the taboo—who dared to notice Biden’s countless gaffes, his stiff gait, those who recognized the reality of old age, including Sp
How to Examine Your Marriage and Your Life
A lot of people fall in love outside of their marriages. Some have affairs. Some leave their wives or husbands. But not a lot of people are Agnes Callard.
Agnes did something really unique. She fell in love while she was (seemingly happily) married with two children. She told her husband. They got divorced—sharing a single lawyer—and it took under three weeks to split.
And then? Then they al
Welcome to the Global Intifada
Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were staffers at the Israeli Embassy. They had just planned a trip for Sarah to meet Yaron’s parents. He had recently bought an engagement ring.
Then on Wednesday night, they were murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The suspect, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, told police: “I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza.”
Since
Debate: Will the Truth Survive Artificial Intelligence?
The late biologist E.O. Wilson said that “the real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous.” Wilson said that back in 2011, long before any of us were talking about large language models or GPTs.
A little more than a decade later, artificial intelligence is already completely transformin
Andrew Cuomo on His Past and New York’s Future
When you think about great political comebacks, maybe you think of Donald Trump, or Richard Nixon, or “comeback kid” Bill Clinton.
You might soon add Andrew Cuomo to that list. In 2020, Cuomo was at the top of the world. He had been governor of New York for a decade. He had an illustrious career in New York politics—which is sort of the Cuomo family business. He learned how the state worked fro
How China Captured Apple
The majority of people listening to this episode are hearing it on an iPhone. As most of us can attest, the iPhone is so central to our lives that if we lose it, we feel totally unmoored from our ability to function in the world.
It’s hard to explain how ubiquitous the iPhone is—and how much of a behemoth Apple is. Apple sells over 60 million iPhones in the U.S. a year, and one plant can make a
Meet Casey Means, Trump’s Pick for Surgeon General
There’s an endearing saying that the U.S. surgeon general’s primary role is to be the nation’s family doctor. They represent America’s medical community, educate the public on current health risks, and wield tremendous influence over medical and scientific information.
On Thursday, President Trump nominated Dr. Casey Means to take on this important role.
Casey’s background is unique. After a
The Man Who Helped Michael Jordan Win
I want to tell you the story of a kid, born in 1937 into segregated Washington, D.C. He’s 9 when his father dies and 13 when his mother has a mental breakdown, disappears, and is institutionalized. He’s effectively orphaned. This is how George Raveling’s story begins.
Despite being dealt one of the worst cards imaginable, George, now 87, went on to become the most revered basketball coach in th
Dana Perino on Trump’s White House, Fox News, and … Love
Sometimes we have a guest who needs no introduction. You know Dana Perino. She took on the job of White House press secretary when President George W. Bush was at his most unpopular—back in 2007 and 2008, as the Iraq War dragged on. She did not receive a warm welcome from those covering the White House—outlets like The New Republic called her clueless, and she was even injured after an Iraqi repor
Douglas Murray on Joe Rogan, Hamas, and Moral Collapse in the West
President Donald Trump has been in office for 100 days. Israel has been at war with Hamas in Gaza for 570, and Russia and Ukraine have been at war for over 1,000.
Douglas Murray has had a front-row seat to all three of these unfolding stories, bringing us reportage and analysis that have illuminated the most urgent issues of our time.
His reporting and willingness to call out bad actors ac
100 Days of Donald Trump
Today marks President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office. What to make of this dizzying first hundred days?
As Bret Stephens put it: “I’m hard-pressed to think of a more disastrous first 100 days of any presidency in American history. . . all of the wounds are self-inflicted.”
Even some of Trump's most ardent supporters are struggling to understand and support his actions. As Rod Dreher wrot
Marco Rubio on Iran, Deportations and the State Dept. Shake-Up
Yesterday, The Free Press had a major scoop: The State Department is launching the biggest shake-up in decades in an effort spearheaded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Today, Rubio joins us on Honestly to discuss his goals for restructuring the Department and also how the U.S. is responding to manifold crises at home and abroad, from controversial deportations to the American attempt to end t
Can America Survive Without Christianity?
In the past few weeks, Bari has done two episodes on religion—one asking, “Do we need a religious revival?,” and then a follow-up conversation with Ross Douthat asking how people who grew up in the secular West can actually find faith.
Today, we have the last installment of this intellectual and religious inquiry, and we are asking a new question: What is the role of religion as a political force
Ross Douthat: Why It’s Logical to Believe in God
You may have noticed on this show that Bari Weiss is always asking her guests, “Do you believe in God?,” “What is your favorite biblical character?,” or “Do we need a religious revival?”
And you might be wondering why she keeps knocking on this door?
It’s partly because we’re curious about people’s metaphysical beliefs. But it’s also because we think something profound has gotten lost in our soci
Mark Hyman: How to Live Your Healthiest Life
In 2025 it seems like there are two types of people—those who are insanely diligent about health, the people who learn everything there is to know about ingredients, the people who run every beauty or cleaning product through the EWG Working Group (a database where you can check for the presence of alleged toxins in household ingredients)—And then there are the rest of us. The people who go about
Niall Ferguson: The Trade War and the Battle for the 21st Century
If your head has been spinning since Donald Trump walked into the White House Rose Garden and declared “Liberation Day” last Wednesday, we don't blame you. And not just because it was nauseating watching the stock market or your 401(k) crash down, but because it wasn't clear what exactly we were looking at.
As our guest today, economic historian and Free Press columnist Niall Ferguson, wrote in
Axios Founders: Who Broke the Media?
Depending on who you talk to, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen are either the swampiest of swamp creatures—the epitome of all that is wrong with political journalism—or, alternatively, two of the most interesting, successful entrepreneurs in the new media landscape.
In 2006, VandeHei left The Washington Post to co-found Politico, where he was executive editor. His first hire was Mike Allen, then of Ti
Debating Pronouns with John McWhorter
John McWhorter is one of the greatest living experts on the English language—and many others, too. He’s an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia, a columnist at The New York Times, and he’s an unsung Broadway aficionado. He once told us he could not do an interview because he was busy rehearsing a cabaret show for his bungalow colony. It all sounds like a scene out of The Marvelous Mrs. M
Jay Bhattacharya Was “Dangerous.” Now He Leads NIH.
A few years ago Jay Bhattacharya was an obscure Stanford professor—a medical doctor who also had a PhD in economics. Then Covid hit, the lockdowns began, and “Doctor Jay”—as he is known—became a pariah in the medical community.
That’s because, along with colleagues from Harvard and Oxford, Jay questioned whether the lockdowns were a good idea. They did this in an open letter called the Great Barr
Leonard Leo: The Man Who Rebuilt the Supreme Court
For the last quarter century, an Italian macher from New Jersey has been one of the most powerful people in the United States. If you’re a certain type of nerdy, obsessive, legally inclined conservative, he’s basically Taylor Swift. But most people don’t know who he is because he doesn’t want them to know.
He has never held or sought political office. He does not hail from Silicon Valley or Wall
Will Mahmoud Khalil Be Deported?
The morning of March 8, Mahmoud Khalil was detained at his apartment in New York City. Khalil is a 30-year-old Algerian citizen. He was born in Syria and is of Palestinian descent.
He came to this country on a student visa in 2022, married an American citizen in 2023, became a green card holder in 2024, and finished his graduate studies at Columbia University in December 2024.
Mahmoud was also th
Debate: Do We Need a Religious Revival?
The other week Bari traveled to Austin, Texas, to host a debate on a simple little topic: religion and whether we need more of it.
There’s a line from Proverbs that has guided believers for at least the past 2,000 or so years. It goes like this: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But for most of our lives, this message has been turned on its head.
We can’t entirely blame the so-c
Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson Have a Plan for the Left
Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson are the two most important liberal journalists working in the legacy press today—Ezra at The New York Times, and Derek at The Atlantic.
Although they insist they’ll never go into politics themselves, they are offering Democrats a path back to power.
To see their way out of the political wilderness, the Democrats need a vision—one that goes beyond resistance to Trump
Alex Karp’s Fight for the West
Alex Karp is many things: a cross-country skier, a long-range shooter, a tai chi expert who might be the only man who knows how to wield a sword but doesn’t know how to drive. He’s also a collector of extremely prestigious degrees. His PhD thesis was called “Aggression in the Life-World: The Extension of Parsons’ Concept of Aggression by Describing the Connection Between Jargon, Aggression, and Cu
Andrew Schulz Has Advice for Dems, Jews, and Comics
Each one of us has a different conception story. For some parents, it’s a romantic night out, maybe over a candlelit dinner. For others, like Bari and Nellie, it involves a trip to a fertility clinic in a mall that doesn’t even validate parking.
And of course, for some it’s a long, challenging, emotional process involving needles, hormones, and many false starts. We know a lot of our listeners c
Meet Sarah Wynn-Williams, Facebook’s Highest-Ranking Whistleblower
You may have never heard of Sarah Wynn-Williams, but that’s about to change.
She’s written a memoir about her nearly seven years at Facebook, the company that has since rebranded as Meta. In doing so, she’s become the company’s highest-ranking whistleblower.
Until around 72 hours ago, the book’s existence itself was a secret. Wynn-Williams, a onetime New Zealand diplomat, was effectively the c
The Dissidents Who Defeated Russia
Earlier this week on Honestly, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Brianna Wu, and Christopher Caldwell shared their views on President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s showdown with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and on the Russia-Ukraine war more generally.
Simply put, Batya and Chris made the case that Russia is not an American adversary in the way China is and that Trump’s seeming sympat
The Best Reality TV Is Actually in the Oval Office
It’s been four days since the diplomatic earthquake went down in the Oval Office between President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian president Zelensky. The world is still feeling the aftershocks.
In Europe, leaders have been jolted into action. Ukraine’s European allies, including British prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron, met in London on Sunday to forge
The Future of Money with Brian Armstrong
Have you ever gone on the internet and stumbled onto this combo of words, or perhaps non-words?: “Dogecoin.” “Shiba Inu.” “Hawkcoin.” “Bored Ape NFT.”
If that sounded like gibberish, don’t worry—we’ll explain. And also, time to start learning, because these terms come out of a new financial ecosystem—the world of crypto, a market that started 15 years ago and is now worth about $3.3 trillion.
Th
German Elections, Antisemitic Nurses, and the Latest Hostage Release
Over the past year, right-wing parties across the West have been sweeping elections. Donald Trump in the United States, Argentina’s Javier Milei, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and now Germany.
On Sunday, 83 percent of Germans went to the polls—the highest turnout since the Cold War.
The Christian Democrats, the country’s center-right party led by Friedrich Merz, won. But th
‘We’re Releasing Dangerous Terrorists. . . and We Accept the Price’
I’m sure you remember the images of Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
They were just nine months and four years old when they were kidnapped by Hamas along with their mother, Shiri, on October 7, 2023. It was impossible to look at the image of her shielding them, her eyes full of terror, the children clinging to her, and not think of the Holocaust.
For more than 500 days, people around the world prayed for
Can Rick Caruso Save LA?
A lot of people are wondering if things in LA would look different if Rick Caruso had won the mayoral race against Karen Bass in 2022. If he had been mayor when devastating fires began in the city last month, would he have prevented them from consuming about 40,000 acres, which is more than twice the area of Manhattan?
At the time he ran, many quietly supported the billionaire real estate mogul—s
How to Find Love in 2025
Running The Free Press is Bari’s hobby, but her true passion is being a yenta. And one thing Bari has learned from talking to young singles is that there is a total breakdown of sexual relations these days between men and women.
Some blame social media, dating apps, or the alleged feminization of men. But Louise Perry blames the sexual revolution. In 2022, Louise wrote this for The Free Press: “
Tulsi Gabbard, Kanye West, and Mar-a-Gaza
It’s Trump’s third week in office and there is no shortage of news to report. Last week, RFK Jr., Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard advanced in their congressional confirmation hearings for Health and Human Services secretary, FBI director, and Director of National Intelligence, and criticisms of Gabbard resurfaced over her meeting with former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2017, and over her def
Can America Win the AI War with China?
Two weeks ago, America thought it was leading the AI race. Then out of nowhere, an unknown Chinese start-up turned the American stock market—and that assumption—on its head. DeepSeek, a Chinese company founded less than two years ago, released a free AI chatbot that rivals the most advanced available open AI products. And they did it despite America’s prohibition on shipping our most advanced micr
Simon Sebag Montefiore: History Is Not Over
Did you know that Joseph Stalin could sing with perfect pitch? Or that he was so scared of his wife that he would hide from her in the bathroom? Did you know that Peter the Great liked to surround himself with naked dwarfs? Did you know that Catherine the Great—long smeared as a nymphomaniac—was actually a lovelorn monogamist? Or that King Herod’s genitals once exploded with maggots?
Most histori
Tiger Mom Amy Chua Takes Washington
Fourteen years ago, Amy Chua published Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. It was received less like a book and more like a nuclear bomb. Here are some headlines from the time: “Why I Will Never Be a Tiger Mom.” “Why Amy Chua Is Wrong About Parenting.” “Amy Chua Is a Circus Trainer, Not a Tiger Mother.” “The Human Race Needs Elephant Mothers, Not Tiger Mothers.” “Amy Chua's Recipe for Disaster and th
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