"There IS no Housing Crisis, Akshually ☝️" with economist Cameron Murray
Insane house prices are destroying the middle-class dream of home ownership. Or... are they? Is there actually a housing crisis? Or are most people, in fact, comfortably paying historically-unremarkable mortgage repayments for a desirable product? Economist Cameron Murray argues for this unpopular (you might even say “uncomfortable”) heterodox view. While many of his peers, like our recent guest Peter Tulip, argue that house prices are too high because of a lack of supply, Cameron reckons they’re actually… checks notes… just fine. Josh pushes on this theory, from interest rates to immigration to the politics of property, in a conversation that asks what really drives up the property price tag, what we’re really paying for... and why we just can’t stop talking about it.
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1:46:06
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1:46:06
“Godfather of the Greens”, fmr Senator Bob Brown
He’s been called the most successful environmentalist in Australian history, and one of the most influential in the world. Former Senator Bob Brown co-founded the world’s first Green Party, in Tasmania in 1972. He led the Australian Greens in Parliament for decades and spearheaded a pivotal moment in global environmentalism, when he helped save the pristine Franklin River from being dammed. Senator Brown joined Josh in Sydney to talk about his life of protest and purpose, from heckling President George W. Bush to being openly gay when it was still illegal. They discuss the phoney choice of voting for major parties, the pickle the modern left finds itself in, and why love and wildness are the keys to saving the planet. His new book is Defiance: Stories from Nature and Its Defenders.
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49:26
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49:26
"Gaza 3.0" with Yaakov Katz
It’s the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks, and the Middle East is abuzz with a new plan that would see an independent Palestinian body administer the Gaza Strip. Could the Gaza War end up delivering real peace? What would it take, in Israel, Palestine and beyond, for the horrors of the past two years to give way to something better than the previous status quo? Yaakov Katz is the former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post after devoting many years as the paper’s military correspondent. He was briefly senior adviser to Naftali Bennett (a former - and, many believe, likely future - Israeli prime minister) and Yaakov’s new book is While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East. Yaakov and Josh reflect on the intelligence and military breakdowns that led to October 7th, the clash between Israeli policies and world opinion, the disillusionment of many Jews with the Gaza War, the trauma on both sides, and whether the future for Arabs and Jews might, in fact, be more hopeful than you’ve been led to believe.
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1:23:29
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1:23:29
"Is the UK Falling Apart?" with Dominic Frisby
Is it racist to worry that there are more immigrants in London than white English? Has the UK reached a tipping point in its conversation about Britain’s national identity? What’s going on? Race riots; migrant detention hotels ablaze; the prime minister condemning Elon Musk for using “dangerous and inflammatory” language at a nationalist protest with the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson. What happened to tea cups and crumpets, umbrellas and bowler hats - or even the “Cool Britannia” of the London Olympics? Dominic Frisby is an English comedian, musician, author, and philosophiser about social justice, diversity, finance, economics, and all things cultural. As a Brexiteer (and a return-to-the-gold-standard Bitcoiner), he rejected accusations that he was “far right” with his hit song “We’re All Far Rigt Now”. It broke the internet with tens of millions of views and lyrics like “Worse than Winston Churchill, worse than Enoch Powell, Klu Klux Clan and Jimmy Fallon, we’re all racist now. Oh, the countryside is racist. Dogs and cats are racist. Eating meat is racist... We’re all far right now.” Dominic sat down with Josh to wrestle with crime in London, immigration, race, conspiracy theories, freedom of speech, how to avoid a civil war, and why China is secretly stashing bazillions of dollars in gold.
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36:18
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36:18
“Don’t F*** it up, Australia” with MP Allegra Spender
It’s a fact. The way our governments raise and spend money benefits older, richer people, and disadvantages younger people who are trying to build wealth. If we’re going to hold society together - and keep liberal democracy robust - we need massive economic reform. But what does that mean?Allegra Spender is one of Australia’s most popular members of parliament. She belongs to no political party, although her centre-right group of independents, unofficially called the “Teals”, helped to sweep the conservative government from power in 2022. As a former corporate executive and management consultant, Spender recently joined a major economic reform roundtable to advise the government about radically increasing productivity. Spender emerged with controversial ideas about how to make life better for those starting out… and, in so doing, how to shore up democracy for everyone.
The world has never been more connected. Yet never more divided. We yell at each other from inside our echo chambers. But change doesn’t happen inside an echo chamber. It’s time to get out, to stretch our legs, to step on some land mines. It's time to have an uncomfortable conversation with Josh Szeps.
A DM Podcast
Australia