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 c...
Anthony Bourdain was Josh's hero. Laurie Woolever was, as Bourdain called her, his "lieutenant". A writer and culinary graduate, Laurie had worked for another gigantic cooking celebrity, Mario Batali, before he was brought down for alleged sexual harrassment. She spent almost ten years as Bourdain's right-hand-gal. The two of them wrote two books together, one of which they were halfway through when Bourdain died by suicide in 2018. Laurie posthumously published "Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography". Josh asks Laurie about her life with Bourdain, his struggles, her addiction, his death, and whether his romanticism and hedonism brought him down. Laurie's new memoir is called "Care and Feeding". Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page. http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations
--------
1:11:24
PREVIEW: "What Is the 'Patriarchy'?" with Prof. Cordelia Fine
Do males and females differ in what we want out of life? In what jobs we want to do? In how much we want to look after babies, or run a tech start-up, or sweep the living room, or be a CEO? Or are biological preferences just an excuse to justify inequality? Cordelia Fine is a feminist academic who studies scientific explanations of sex differences and workplace inequality. Her books on gender have won prizes at the Royal Society, been recommended by the Sunday Times, and cited as among the Top Ten books on women of the past thirty years. Professor Fine has a psychology degree from Oxford, a Master of Philosophy from Cambridge, and a PhD in Psychology from University College London. She's now a professor of the History & Philosophy of Science at Melbourne University. Her latest book is "Patriarchy, Inc." Josh and Cordelia debate biology, culture, sexism, masculinity, transgenderism, the patriarchy, and what gender equality should look like in the 21st century. Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page. http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations
--------
38:46
JUST JOSH: The Woke Catastrophe of “Snow White”
If you want to see what's wrong with not being offensive, watch Snow White. The new Disney re-make is so committed to not offending anyone that it’s a social-justice jumble. Snow White isn’t white as snow; her love interest isn’t a prince; the dwarves aren’t “dwarves”; but there IS a dwarf in a non-dwarf role; Snow White doesn’t need a man; the man doesn’t “stalk” her; she’s a bad-ass independent gal; the word “dwarf” isn’t mentioned. It’s a mess. As Australian politicians introduce sweeping hate-speech laws, Josh argues that Snow White gives us a glimpse of the dystopian cultural wasteland that awaits us if we try never to offend. Hey, it may be a long bow. But Szeps is committed to drawing it. Enjoy. Watch this conversation between Josh and his own thoughts on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page. http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations
--------
28:49
BOB CARR on Diplomacy, Statesmanship and Grief
Even if you're not Australian, you want to listen to this conversation with one of the nation's most iconic statesmen. Bob Carr is a former foreign minister of Australia (i.e. the secretary of state) and, before that, the longest-continuously-serving Premier of NSW, Australia's most populous state. He's an intellectual powerhouse, an icolonoclast, a champion debater, a student of American history, of geopolitics and of diplomacy. For the first portion of this conversation, he and Josh discuss Australian issues - nuclear submarines, his tenure as state leader. But the second half is a delightful rumination on power, Trump, the liberal world order, China, success, legacy, and grief. Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page. http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations
--------
1:40:32
PREVIEW: “Does Ukraine Still Matter?" with correspondent Misha Zelinsky
What are Trump and Putin cooking up for Ukraine? Can the Europeans sideline it? What options does Ukraine still have on the table? And does any of this really matter to non-Europeans any more? This week, the ceasefire talks that President Trump boasted he'd wrap up in 24 hours fell apart, again. Russia says it wants an end to the war, if Ukraine effectively surrenders. Trump now admits Putin might be "dragging his feet". Misha Zelinsky lived in Ukraine for the first year of the war, reporting from the conflict. A Fulbright Scholar and national security expert, he has the honour of being personally sanctioned by the Putin regime. Misha and Josh assess where the conflict currently stands, what Ukraine's options are now, and whether it still matters to the rest of us. His recent book is "The Sun Will Rise", a fictional story inspired by his time in Ukraine. In this conversation, we reference: Josh's conversation with the former President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, here. Josh's conversation with Wall Street Journal reporter Marcus Walker on Ukraine here. Watch this conversation on YouTube. And you’re missing out on our best ad-free content if you haven’t popped over to the Uncomfy Convos Substack page. 𝕁𝕠𝕤𝕙 𝕊𝕫𝕖𝕡𝕤 (@joshzepps) on X Instagram (@joshszeps) Josh Szeps on TikTok
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