Interesting Times: episodes

60 recent episodes from the show's feed. Back to the show

1. Why Are We Having Less Sex? Ask a Pornographer.

   Oct 29, 2026 · 50 min

   Pornography gets the blame for a lot of societal problems, including the so-called “sex recession.” Can porn ever really be ethical? Erika Lust thinks so. The adult filmmaker sees porn as an art form. She’s a self-described feminist who centers women’s desires and fantasies in her work. But how different is the product she’s making? Lust sits down with Julia Yost, senior editor at “First Things,”

2. ‘A Golden Age of Science’ Brought to You by the White House

   Oct 22, 2026 · 46 min

   The Trump administration wants to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence for scientific discovery. But can its plan succeed without prioritizing universities? Guest host Tyler Cowen speaks with Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s top science and technology adviser, about the White House’s new blueprint for American innovation and what it means for the next generation of scientists.

3. What the Frontier Labs Know That We Don’t

   Oct 15, 2026 · 50 min

   Dwarkesh Patel is one of the most important voices in the artificial intelligence world. Deeply embedded in San Francisco’s tech community, he has interviewed nearly every tech chief executive at length. This week’s guest host, Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, sits down with Mr. Patel to discuss why researchers are resigning, whether A.I. could become conscious an

4. That Daily Brain Rot Break Is Taking Us Back to the Dark Ages

   Oct 8, 2026 · 49 min

   Literacy is declining sharply across the West. In the era of vertical video, who has the time or concentration to read a long article — let alone a whole book? As we lose the ability to read long-form text, we might also be losing the capacity for democratic deliberation and self-governance. That’s the argument this week’s guest, the Times of London columnist James Marriott, makes in his recent b

5. We Are Clueless About What’s Coming

   Oct 1, 2026 · 51 min

   Nick Bostrom rose to prominence for predicting artificial intelligence doom more than a decade ago — garnering support from figures like Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Bill Gates. But now he’s retreating from those warnings, focusing his attention on a more complex question: What if A.I. succeeds beyond humanity’s wildest imaginations? Will we be bored out of our minds? Are we too infantile to understa

6. How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections?

   Sep 24, 2026 · 45 min

   Many Americans are losing faith in elections. Proposed solutions from across the political spectrum to restore faith in the process — early voting, mail-in ballot restrictions and voter ID laws — seem to have the opposite effect. But lack of trust in elections is a symptom of a broader problem: America is living through an era of democratic dissatisfaction. That’s what the New York University law

7. Trump Is Getting Even Richer. Is That a Crime?

   Sep 10, 2026 · 43 min

   President Trump made more than $2 billion last year — far exceeding his presidential salary of $400,000. His growing fortunes are raising questions about his allegiance to investors, particularly foreign ones, as he makes policy decisions and shapes the direction of the country. The contributing Opinion writer Christopher Caldwell and the Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith discuss how the presi

8. Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein on the Art of Persuasion

   Aug 27, 2026 · 1h 14m

   “Interesting Times” is on a brief hiatus. Before we return next month, we’re bringing you an interview from “The Ezra Klein Show” with Ross Douthat about his 17 years as a conservative columnist at The New York Times. But Ross and Ezra go back even further, to the nascent days of political blogging. They talk about the seismic changes they’ve witnessed in the media industry over the years and the

9. Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint for a 150-Year Life: Is It Worth It?

   Aug 13, 2026 · 1h 5m

   For my final episode as host of “Interesting Times,” I wanted a fitting finale — a conversation that encapsulates the ambition of this show: examining how seemingly radical ideas are steadily entering the mainstream of American politics, technology and culture. Few ideas are as radical as the hope of significant life extension and the quest to live forever. My guest today thinks he can outrun dea

10. Scott Galloway: America Abandoned Its ‘Unremarkable’ Young Men

    Aug 6, 2026 · 43 min

    What does a liberal solution to the masculinity crisis look like? As men fall behind in the American educational system and the economy, they’re looking for meaning — and often find it in the wrong places. My guest today is Scott Galloway, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business. Galloway is an unlikely masculinity guru — he’s a liberal academic, a business founder and a married father.

11. How Older Americans Hoard the Future

    Jul 30, 2026 · 53 min

    American leaders are staying in office past their prime. Boomers are reluctant to relinquish control — from political offices to corner offices — to the detriment of their juniors. In a society where the elderly hold so much power, should younger generations revolt? My guest today is Samuel Moyn, a professor at Yale Law School, and he argues that American democracy is distorted by the power of the

12. Iran, China, Canada? A Defense of Trump’s Grand Strategy

    Jul 23, 2026 · 1h 3m

    Is President Trump’s grand strategy unraveling? The United States is at war with Iran, China is ascendant, Russia and Ukraine are stalemated and American allies are openly questioning our commitment to them. Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, joins me to discuss the state of America’s foreign policy and he makes the case that Trump’s approach to our allies and adversaries

13. A Vision of a ‘Society Without Capitalism’

    Jul 16, 2026 · 58 min

    Democratic socialists are having a moment. But can they actually remake the Democratic Party — and the American economy — in their image? My guest today, Bhaskar Sunkara, is longtime democratic socialist, and he makes the case that socialism has a universal appeal that transcends our current politics and will ultimately triumph against capitalism.

14. ‘ I'm Worried About Weimar America’

    Jul 9, 2026 · 1h 2m

    The work of Rod Dreher has a consistent theme: doom. He believes the collapse of Christianity has ushered civilizational decline in Europe, that we’ve traded our humanity for comfort, and he worries that totalitarianism is around the corner for the United States. “I’m worried about Weimar America,” he tells me. “It may not be Hitler 2.0, it may not be Stalin 2.0. It might be something all American

15. The Unifying Speech We Won’t Get This Independence Day

    Jul 2, 2026 · 7 min

    My fellow Americans: On this 250th anniversary of our great republic, I think we’re unlikely to have a unifying address from any politician. So, I thought I’d get a little dressed up and offer one myself.

16. Is it Time for a New Sexual Revolution?

    Jun 25, 2026 · 55 min

    The growing alienation between men and women is, to my mind, one of the biggest stories of our time. It’s warping our politics and culture through the rise of misogynistic influencers on the right and a growing sense of feminist despair on the left. My guest this week believes that our problems today can be traced back to the sexual revolution. She argues that it reset relations between the sexe

17. JD Vance on the Morality of the Trump Administration

    Jun 18, 2026 · 1h 1m

    “If you think this is a bad deal, what is your alternative?” Critics of JD Vance think that his key role in the Iran negotiations may end up being an albatross around his neck. (“If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” President Trump said in France this week.) But in our conversation, the vice president seemed buoyant and eager to play the salesman, insisting that the deal is better than the pa

18. Better Sex, Better Hair, Better Sleep: ‘Humanmaxxing’ Is Here

    Jun 11, 2026 · 1h 12m

    We can enhance athletic performance, lose weight with a pill and even take psychedelics to alter consciousness. At what point does all this self-optimization become self-obsession? When does it get in the way of our humanity itself? My guest this week is the German biotech entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, who believes scientific breakthroughs to extend our lives — and even put us in touch with t

19. Anna Paulina Luna Wants Everything Disclosed

    Jun 5, 2026 · 1h 21m

    In an era defined by deep institutional distrust, a new trend within populist conservatism has emerged. It’s a sense that the federal government is keeping secrets and protecting the powerful at our expense. My guest this week is Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a conservative Republican from Florida who has quickly established herself as a political troublemaker. She’s challenging fellow lawmake

20. Our Military Is Built for the Wrong Century

    May 28, 2026 · 60 min

    The future of high-tech warfare has arrived. Just look to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran to see how much drones and robots have remade the modern battlefield. Is the U.S. positioned to win wars in this new era? What are the ethical constraints of waging autonomous warfare? My guest this week is Christian Brose, the president and chief strategy officer of Anduril, a defense technology company bu