Long-form conversations with scientists, writers, historians, and public intellectuals on the ideas shaping — and dividing — the Western world. Mostly hosted by Jonathan Kay — Canadian journalist, author, and Quillette editor whose books include Among the Truthers, a landmark investigation into conspiracy culture. Kay brings a rare combination of intellectual range, genuine curiosity, and willingness to push back, whether the subject is evolutionary biology, cancel culture, geopolitics, or the philosophy of free speech. Non-dogmatic, evidence-driven, and unafraid of controversy.
Politicising the Humanities: Sociology as Case Study
Jonathan Kay speaks with University of Hawaii professor Ashley Rubin, co-author of the recently published Special Commission Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences. 00:00 Introduction: the Vanderbilt report 02:30 Do professional associations speak for the field? 05:35 What gets on the conference programme—and what doesn't 06:10 Why everyone picks on sociologists 08:05 The variables you're not allowed to test 11:15 "Prisoner resistance": how a concept got out of hand 14:00 A Marxist editor and the fear of seeming conservative 17:25 What the report does and doesn't claim 18:50 The Yale trust report and grade inflation 22:40 Activists, ringleaders and the silent majority 25:50 Inside the ASA boycott 28:45 Should sociology split into parties? 31:50 Durkheim on why disciplines need shared rules 34:30 Authoritarianism from your own side Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The ‘Sex Recession’ is Real
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay talks to Debra Soh, author of Sextinction: The Decline of Sex and the Future of Intimacy, about neuroscience, hypergamy, elephant seals, politicised sex research, the perils of polyamory, and the sex-repellent scourge of ’phubbing.’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
First Nations Chief, Podcast Pundit, Indigenous Gadfly
Jonathan Kay speaks with Aaron Pete, leader of the Chawathil First Nation in British Columbia, about his community’s socioeconomic challenges, intra-Indigenous politics, the legacy of residential schools, and progressive taboos surrounding of “unmarked graves.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Great Canadian Unmarked-Graves Social Panic (2021-2026)
Mia Hughes and Stella O'Malley of the Beyond Gender podcast interview Quillette's Jonathan Kay about the progressive ideological manias spawned during the Justin Trudeau years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why the Enlightenment Matters
Iona Italia talks to lawyer and historian Adam Wakeling about the enduring importance of Enlightenment values and how to defend them today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Case Against State-Sanctioned Euthanasia
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Kathleen Stock about her new book, Do Not Go Gentle—in which she argues that governments should be denied any institutional role in facilitating the death of their citizens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An Ivy League University Looks Inward
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Yale Law School professor Sarath Sanga, co-author of a surprisingly candid new report explaining why the American public is losing trust in the country’s colleges and universities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Last Straight Woman
Senior Writer and Podcast Producer Iona Italia talks to writer Phoebe Maltz Bovy about her latest book: 'The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Fighting Antisemitism a Waste of Time?
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who encourages Jews to focus on bolstering their community instead of lecturing right-wing bigots and progressive political extremists who can’t be reasoned with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Girls in an Online World
Iona Italia talks to writer Freya India about her book 'Girls: Gen Z and the Commodification of Everything.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Documenting a Decade of Academic Meltdowns
Podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with filmmaker Ric Esther Bienstock about her new CBC/BBC documentary, Speechless—which explores the rise of censorship and mobbings on campus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Search for Truth
Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to author Michael Shermer about his new book, Truth: What It Is, How to Find It, and Why It Still Matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Historical Case for Israel
In a new book, U.S. District Court Judge Roy Altman traces Jews’ indigenous presence in the holy land over the last 3,231 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Ayatollahs' Assassins
Iona Italia talks to Roya Hakakian about her book ‘Assassins of the Turquoise Palace’ and the past and present crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
When Everyone Knows Every Knows...
Iona Italia talks to cognitive psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker about his new book on Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Has the Gay Rights Revolution Gone Too Far for the Gay Community’s Own Good?
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with University College London law professor Ronan McCrea about his new book, The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Extraordinary Exploits of Agent Zo
Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to historian Clare Mulley about her biography of Polish war heroine Elżbieta Zawacka, aka Agent Zo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Will Post-Islamist Iran Get a Royal Restoration?
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with Iranian-Canadian human-rights activist Kaveh Shahrooz about whether Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran, might rise to power as a new Prince of Persia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Catching a Serial Killer
Managing Editor Iona Italia talks to Maureen Callaghan about her book American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why We Need to Talk About Transgender School Shooters
Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay speaks with journalist Adam Zivo about the 10 February school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia—a mass murder perpetrated by a trans-identified male gunman who was initially identified by police and journalists as a woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Producer's note
Steal the structure. Not the show.
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
