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Conversations with Coleman

Conversations with Coleman

The Free Press 244 Episodes Aug 17, 2026

Conversations with Coleman is a podcast where deep thinkers and curious minds meet for sharp, surprising, and unfiltered chats. Hosted by Coleman Hughes, a writer and thinker who asks questions others dodge, the show covers politics, philosophy, race, culture, and science. It's not about debating but about discovery, offering real talk for those tired of hot takes.

Episodes

The Lie That Killed Comedy for a Decade, with The Babylon Bee’s Seth Dillon
The Lie That Killed Comedy for a Decade, with The Babylon Bee’s Seth Dillon Aug 17, 2026 4452 Seth Dillon is the CEO of The Babylon Bee, a Christian satire site that’s been fact-checked and banned more times than most outlets twice its size. He joins Coleman Hughes to argue that comedy is one of the best weapons against ideas unable to survive scrutiny. He also warns that a new problem has arisen. While the culture has moved on from the joyless era of a few years ago, there is now a comple
Rep. Ro Khanna on Progressive Capitalism, Gaza, and 2028
Rep. Ro Khanna on Progressive Capitalism, Gaza, and 2028 Aug 10, 2026 3293 Ro Khanna represents Silicon Valley in Congress, and he’s spent the last few years building a case that the Democratic Party’s future runs through places like Johnstown and Erie–in his home state of Pennsylvania–not just tech wealth. He calls it progressive capitalism, and he thinks it’s the platform that beats both Donald Trump’s economic nationalism and the socialism of the party’s left flank. H
Democrats Need to Ditch ‘Loser Politics,’ with Matthew Yglesias
Democrats Need to Ditch ‘Loser Politics,’ with Matthew Yglesias Aug 3, 2026 4923 Is there a meaningful difference between a commonsense Democrat and a center-right Republican? Matthew Yglesias thinks so. But he also thinks the Democrats have spent the last decade making it harder and harder to tell. He cofounded Vox and writes the essential Slow Boring Substack. He has been one of the most consistent voices calling for a Democratic politics that is practical and winnable. He j
The Real Reason Americans Are So Sick, with Jillian Michaels
The Real Reason Americans Are So Sick, with Jillian Michaels Jul 27, 2026 4567 Jillian Michaels is a fitness expert who has spent three decades helping people get healthy in a system that is actively working against them. She joins Coleman to make the case that America’s obesity crisis is not a failure of willpower but the predictable result of a food industry designed to addict and a pharmaceutical industry designed to profit. They get into Ozempic and why taking it for van
The Charlie Kirk Killing and America’s Forgotten History of Left-Wing Terror
The Charlie Kirk Killing and America’s Forgotten History of Left-Wing Terror Jul 20, 2026 3741 Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review and author of the new book Blood & Progress, which makes the case that left-wing political violence has a long and largely forgotten history in America. He joins Coleman Hughes to argue that the commonly held belief that political violence is largely a right-wing phenomenon is not just inaccurate but actively dangerous. He believes America has for
In Defense of Elites, with Richard Hanania
In Defense of Elites, with Richard Hanania Jul 13, 2026 4797 Richard Hanania is a political scientist, writer, and author of the new book Kakistocracy: Why Populism Ends in Disaster, which makes the sometimes uncomfortable case that antiestablishment politics, for all their appeal, tend to make countries worse. He joins Coleman to talk about who elites actually are and why they’re usually right, even when they’re sometimes spectacularly wrong.  They a
Dr. Cornel West: Is America Living Up to Its Promise?
Dr. Cornel West: Is America Living Up to Its Promise? Jul 6, 2026 4313 Dr. Cornel West is one of the most distinct voices in American public life. He’s a philosopher, theologian, and moral critic who has spent decades asking the toughest questions about America—what this country is and what it ought to be. He joins Coleman on the 250th anniversary of the founding to get into the state of America in 2026. They get into the founding contradictions, the ethics of manife
Douglas Murray: The Iranian Regime Means What It Says
Douglas Murray: The Iranian Regime Means What It Says Jun 25, 2026 3795 Douglas Murray is back as a columnist at The Free Press, and Coleman wastes no time putting him to work. They get into the Iran deal and why Murray thinks it won’t hold. They also dig into the nature of a regime that has been openly stating its intentions for decades, and a West that keeps refusing to believe them. And they cover what the resignation of British prime minister Keir Starmer reveals
Caitlin Flanagan: Why I Finally Left Los Angeles
Caitlin Flanagan: Why I Finally Left Los Angeles Jun 22, 2026 3848 Caitlin Flanagan joins the show today, now an official columnist at The Free Press. Flanagan, one of the sharpest essayists working today, spent 35 years in Los Angeles before deciding she’d had enough, and tells Coleman why. The answer says a lot about what progressive governance has done to one of America’s great cities. From there they get into territory Flanagan knows well: the state of marria
Coleman Hughes vs. Peter Beinart Debate: Should Israel Be a Jewish State?
Coleman Hughes vs. Peter Beinart Debate: Should Israel Be a Jewish State? Jun 15, 2026 6296 Peter Beinart is a writer and author who has contributed to The New Republic, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. He grew up a committed Zionist and has spent the last decade publicly refuting that position, arriving at the view that Israel cannot be reconciled with the principle of equality under the law. His most recent book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, caused shock waves in th
Is America’s Racial Reckoning Over? With John McWhorter
Is America’s Racial Reckoning Over? With John McWhorter Jun 8, 2026 4080 John McWhorter is back. This time, Coleman and John analyze where America stands on race in 2026, whether the woke moment is genuinely behind us, and what may have replaced it. They also get into why black men are increasingly voting Republican, how mass immigration has subtly shifted the conversation on race, and what the Supreme Court's recent Voting Rights Act decision actually means. Learn mor
Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared of AI
Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared of AI Jun 1, 2026 3453 Aman Verjee has had one of the more unusual careers in finance. He started on Wall Street at Lehman Brothers, joined PayPal in its earliest days and worked alongside Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, and eventually became a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. Along the way he developed an obsession with the history of finance, which led to his upcoming book, A Brief History of Financial Bubbles. He joi

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