#wethepeople Live

Professor Bret Weinstein is the man at the center of the Evergreen College crisis. At this moment of national angst about racial equity, free speech and campus protests, Bret’s story has exploded everywhere from the New York Times to Fox News—the tale of the unassuming Biology Professor who stood up to radical left-wing students and found himself in the eye of the storm. But... who is this guy? What does he really believe? Josh and Bret sit down, not to discuss what happened—you can hear that elsewhere—but to discuss how his ideas led him here: Ideas about equality, learning, justice, and Ritalin. Put down your radical queer theory textbook, and dive in.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is male privilege? What is female empowerment? Is it misogynistic to criticize feminism? Is it wrong to care about “men’s rights”? The argument has erupted again in Australia amid protests over a new American documentary funded by Men's Rights Activists. The filmmaker, an “ex-feminist” woman, had a controversial TV interview with today's guest, the Aussie television personality Rachel Corbett. Protests erupted. The film's premiere was canceled. Rachel sits down with Josh to hammer out her thoughts about feminism, equality, and and the unfairer sex. An earlier version of this conversation was briefly released in error last week. This episode is now in it's full quality. Enjoy!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“America’s War on Drugs” is a new History Channel show that uncovers how the C.I.A. and the mafia stoked America’s appetite for illegal drugs. The show’s executive producer, Anthony Lappe, sits down with Josh to blow your mind abut the creation of L.S.D., America’s support for South American Nazi revolutionaries, and the current hypocrisy (and racism) of the War On Drugs. Grab a cocktail and a crack pipe, and settle in.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ali Rizvi grew up in Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and moved to North America when he was 24. He now writes about atheism, secularism and Islam. In the wake of the Manchester concert attack and two London terrorist attacks, Ali and Josh dig into the thorny topic of how to reform Islam without tarnishing Muslims. Can the Koran be taken less seriously? Should Western feminists stop glorifying the hijab? Can we quit it with identity politics? And what is the real, deeper damage done by terrorism? Ali’s book is The Atheist Muslim. After hearing this conversation, you’ll wanna read it.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of all the things most of us do every day, one of the most morally significant is eating the flesh of other sentient creatures. Are you conflicted about it? Why? Is it only factory farming which is nasty? Or is it also a problem to eat happy animals? Which ones? Joining Josh to wrestle through the moral mayhem of meat is Paul Shapiro of the Humane Society and the founder of Compassion Over Killing. Grab a burger and settle in.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a big few weeks for the forces of anti-free-speech-ism. Bill Maher should be fired for saying the N-word, apparently. Kathy Griffin already has been. A professor at a liberal college woulda been fired if he coulda been, for not seeing “racism” the same way his students do. Josh sits down with comic Mike Coscarelli and libertarian journalist Anthony Fisher to ask: How much free speech is too much free speech?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dig deep into your brain juice, humans, and geek out about morality and the limits of reason.  It’s Part Two of Josh’s sit-down with the Very Bad Wizards: philosopher Tamler Sommers and psychologist David Pizarro. Is Reason an effective guide to moral behavior? One of the three humans on this show says yes [hint: his name rhymes with Blosh Blepps.] Peter Singer, eat your heart out, coz THIS is how you debate human morality.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behold! The wizards speaketh! Tamler Sommers is a philosopher and David Pizarro is a psychologist who ponder human morality on their podcast, Very Bad Wizards. Josh recently endorsed them on episode 86 of this show, which shot them up the iTunes charts, and now the three are living happily ever after. Josh, Dave and Tamler sit down to get to know each other over a wide-ranging, two-part conversation about podcasting, fake news, how to trust what you know, how to disagree civilly, skepticism, gender studies, campus protests and the Conceptual Penis. It’s like listening in on an awkward three-way first date between nerds.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Put your history hats on, humans. It’s time for everyone's favorite charismatically-rumpled Professor of Democracy & Justice to make the case for, well… Democracy! And Justice! (It’s right there in his job title.) Everyone wants to feel part of a story that’s bigger than themselves. What's yours? Professor Harvey Kaye wants to grab you by the scruff of the neck and shake the story of American Progressive Greatness into you, dagnammit (without saying “dagnammit”, which is a word Josh is pretty sure cartoons just pretend that Americans say.) Jefferson. Washington. Paine. You. And we, the people.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Josh had a penny for every time he's seen someone gushing breathlessly about "the i-word" in recent weeks, he'd have multiple pennies. And he'd be rich! But what is impeachment? How does it work? Has President Trump done anything impeachable? And if he has, would impeachment be politically wise? Would it be just? Josh taps the wits of Keith E. Whittington, a politics professor at Princeton, and Andrew Heaton, a producer and host at Reason TV, to debate how we remove elected leaders in America -- and whether we should. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kmele Foster of FreeThink Media is our guest this week. He doesn’t like Jake Tapper. Because Jake Tapper believes in objectivity. But doesn’t Kmele? Doesn’t Josh? Wait, what? Can’t journalism be objective? Josh and Kmele wrestle with the question until Josh’s mind is blown. If independent thinking is your bag, enjoy Kmele Foster of FreeThink Media on #WeThePeople LIVE.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Harris and Josh wrestle with such mind-expanding questions as what it means to be self-aware, whether computers will ever feel, and whether consciousness might be woven into the very fabric of the universe. Plus, Josh quizzes Sam on the controversial things he wishes he’d never said (or does he?). Pour yourself a glass of the finest ayahuasca, and enjoy.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James West and Ben Dreyfus are young renegade reporters who work as Senior Editors at the non-profit investigative news magazine Mother Jones. They recently attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner which President Trump ducked. They join Josh to discuss the public's cynicism towards the press, and journalists' relationship to power. (Plus, news of the firing of James Comey, the FBI Director, breaks while we're recording.) Is "fake news" real? Is Bob Woodward a schmuck? Is the White House Correspondents' Dinner more than a vapid, back-slapping schmooze-fest? Yes, maybe and no.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free speech. Campus protests. Black Lives Matter. Snowflakes. Sam Harris is one of America’s most insightful and controversial public intellectuals. He sits down with Josh to discuss his life, his creativity, and his podcast. What is the impact of distractedness on our minds in this hectic world? How does Sam write? How does he find his muse? What does he regret? It's all here in Josh's laid-back one-on-one interview with one of #WeThePeople's favorite guests.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a live Brooklyn lollapalooza, three commanding comics join Josh to discuss being black,female and/or just weird in the first 100 days of Trump's America. Join Corinne Fisher, Myq Kaplan and Chris Hamilton as they make debate healthy again. Weee!!!!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#WeThePeople LIVE has been picked up by Slate's Panoply network and we're celebrating with a return to our roots: Bantering live in a Brooklyn bar. Slate Political Gabfest host David Plotz joins Mike Pesca of Slate's daily podcast, The Gist, and FreeThink's Kmele Foster. They drink gin. They argue with Josh. And they celebrate the first 100 days of our glorious new president. It’s a panel! It's a party! It's a podstravaganza! CONGRATULATIONS, AMERICA.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three big stories are coming out of EuropaLand this week, and Josh wants to figure out what they mean for you. First, the UK just announced a surprise early election; second, France goes to the polls next week in an election that could blow up the E.U. and see a victory for the Far Right; and third, Turkish voters just handed their president quasi-dictatorial powers. Slate’s June Thomas and FreeThink’s Kmele Foster help Josh unpack the deeper significance of these seismic shifts across the pond. Switch on your book-learnin’ noggins, humans, and enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world has gone gaga over a viral video of an innocent passenger being dragged violently off a plane. Why? Why are we so transfixed? Why are airlines so crappy, and cops so aggressive? Why are corporations so cynical, and why do we stand by? Josh convenes a special #WeThePeople Flying-In-America Summit with a trio of sassy travel experts to debate #Bumpgate, state violence, corporate BS, and what this means for us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Trump has fired missiles into Syria after its dictator, President Assad, gassed civilians. The alt-Right is furious. The Left is, too. Who better to burst the anti-Trump bubble than a smart hawk like Eli Lake? He and Josh break down the most important foreign policy question of our time: What The F*# To Do About Syria? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should Democrats give a damn about hillbillies? They seem to feel they should. Since Trump, there’s been much hand-wringing about how to escape the liberal bubble and understand the white rural working poor. “Quit it”, says Frank Rich, the editor-at-large for New York magazine and executive producer of Veep on HBO. He was the titan of the New York Times opinion pages for two decades, and he’s as thoughtful and provocative as ever. Make debate healthy again? Maybe. Or maybe not with rednecks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices