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‘To isolate Israel or to punish Israel will be the most irresponsible and unacceptable step to boycott Israel, for example. I think it's a huge mistake, because what we need is a dialogue.’

Tim Franks speaks to Israeli author David Grossman about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as concerns grow over the increasingly fragile ceasefire.

The 71-year-old is also well-known as a peace activist, and has been a vocal, long-standing critic of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - expressing concern over the direction the country is being led in.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in August, Grossman described Israel’s actions in Gaza as ‘genocide’, lamenting that he had been forced to reach that conclusion by the ongoing military campaign that began following the events of October 7.

Thank you to the Newshour team for their help in making this programme.

Presenter: Tim Franks

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: David Grossman. Credit Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Suriname is a small Dutch speaking country in South America. It’s been run by a despot racking up debt and oppressing its citizens. But now they’ve elected their first female President who’s promising fiscal transparency, good governance and sustainable development. Meanwhile the impoverished country has discovered oil off its coast and both China and the US are circling like flies. 

• Guest: Zoe Deceuninck, Editor-in-Chief of Parbode, the only Surinamese magazine in the country 
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors working today, and yet moviegoers may admire him for very different things. There are early comedies such as “Slacker” and “Dazed and Confused”; there’s the romance trilogy that started with “Before Sunrise,” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy; and the crowd-pleasers like “School of Rock” and “Hit Man.” Linklater’s “Boyhood,” a coming-of-age story shot in the course of twelve years as its protagonist grew from child to young adult, is almost without precedent. This month, Linklater has two new movies releasing almost simultaneously, both dramatizing historical moments in the lives of creative geniuses. In “Blue Moon,” Hawke plays the Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart at the moment his career is being eclipsed by a rival, Oscar Hammerstein II. “My tagline for this movie, that they’re not going to use on any posters, but it’s my tagline: ‘Forgotten, but not gone,’ ” Linklater tells our film critic Justin Chang. “It’s so heartbreaking . . . to do a film about the end of someone’s career.” In “Nouvelle Vague,” which is almost entirely in French, Linklater depicts the unconventional filming of Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless,” his triumphant 1959 début. “The most important film,” Linklater says, “is the one you make in your head.” 

Justin Chang’s article about Richard Linklater was published on September 27, 2025.

In the age of reason and rationality, what room is there for the transcendent? Authors of the bestselling book God, the Science, the Evidence, Michel-Yves Bollore and Olivier Bonnassies, challenge the materialist consensus and argue that the origins of the universe could still be the work of a creator. They join UnHerd's Freddie Sayers to discuss their research and what it might reveal...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the fourth episode of What Were We Like?, Diarmaid and Catriona talk about Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh’s remarkable offer to swap places with kidnap victim Tiede Herrema while he was in the Áras; and how Garrett Fitzgerald and Noël Browne were being talked up as possible candidates in the 1990 Presidential election. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode covers one of the most famous events in our history. It’s part of the 1798 Rebellion series, but you can dive straight in if you don't want the gripping backstory!

In the closing months of 1796, Ireland was gripped by fear and uncertainty. This episode sees an invasion force of battle-hardened French veterans arrive off the Irish coast, inspiring hope and fear in equal measure.

Meanwhile, a brutal campaign of repression sweeps Ulster as the British authorities unleash state terror on the revolutionary movement during a campaign known as the Disarming of the North.

This episode also marks the first major violence between Crown forces and the wider populace.

Written, narrated and produced by Fin Dwyer

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Additional Research: Stewart Reddin

Voice Actors: Aidan Crowe & Therese Murray

Contact me with your questions at info(at)Irishhistorypodcast(dot)ie.

A list of sources for the 1798 Rebellion is available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/138580354 (the post is not paywalled)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slavoj Žižek is back in a new interview where he takes us through his thoughts on the role of philosophy, the future of sex, his fear and love of AI and, as always, so much more.

Tune in to hear one of contemporary philosophy's most original and darkly comedic minds expose his thoughts on the present and where we are heading - though that is impossible to know.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite consistently landing atop "best podcasts" lists from a variety of sources, "Heavyweight" was canceled in 2023 when Spotify cut their podcast division. Earlier this year, the production company Pushkin announced they'd be reprising the show, which launched its new season in September. Host Jonathan Goldstein discusses the new season and plans for the future.

My guest is Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art and expert in how to overcome the inner force of "resistance"—the self-sabotaging tendency to procrastinate on your life's most important work that keeps you from realizing your professional and creative potential. Steven shares actionable tools for defeating inner resistance that work. His approach is concrete, not based on slogans or inspirational messages. As the author of numerous best-selling books and screenplays, Steven's routines for cultivating discipline and focus, including his physical training regimen (he is incredibly mentally and physically vigorous at 82), are applicable by anyone. He gives you effective practical strategies for how to structure your day, overcome procrastination and self-doubt and do your best, most meaningful work.

Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Steven Pressfield

(00:04:55) Ideas & Resistance, Tree & Shadow Analogy

(00:08:45) Military, Pushing Through Resistance, War of Art

(00:10:14) Physical Training, Tools: Capturing Ideas, Little Successes

(00:16:11) Sponsors: Helix Sleep & BetterHelp

(00:18:36) Ideas, Invocation of the Muse, Goddess

(00:23:19) Writing, Focus, Inner Critic, Perfectionism, Tool: Think in Multiple Drafts

(00:28:21) Writing Session; Workout Analogy & Concentration

(00:32:28) Aspiring Writers & Focused Hours; Work Session Timing; Phones

(00:35:31) Inner Voice; Storytelling, Advertising

(00:39:45) Soul & Growth, Creativity, Your Calling & Voices of Resistance, Suppression

(00:48:10) Loved Ones: Projection, Resistance & Sabotage

(00:51:04) Sponsors: AGZ by AG1 & Rorra

(00:53:52) Angry & Numbing Out, Resistance, Internet; Following Your Calling

(00:59:00) Mentors: Lessons on Focus & Quitting

(01:06:46) Perfectionism

(01:10:42) Contemplating Your Mortality, Family Honor

(01:16:49) Proving Yourself & Competition

(01:22:01) First Movie, Failure, Analyze Feedback?, Tool: Self-Evaluation

(01:28:28) Book Success, One-Hit Wonders; Book Titles

(01:34:22) Sponsor: Function

(01:36:09) Personal Sacrifice; High Achievers & Unbalanced Life; Social Media

(01:44:44) Tool: Turning Pro, Amateur vs Professional Habits, Failure, Feelings

(01:49:32) Cost of Turning Pro, Tool: Taking Oneself Seriously & Others’ Reactions

(01:56:42) Creativity: Practical Advice & Muse; Acts of Faith; Surrender

(02:04:00) Sponsor: David

(02:05:17) Workspace, Uncomfortable Chair, Physical Labor, Complaining

(02:08:13) Forthcoming Book, Book Recommendations

(02:13:46) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

Disclaimer & Disclosures

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How should one live? What should one do? And what do these questions have to do with being a good person? In Unbecoming Persons: The Rise and Demine of the Modern Moral Self (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Ladelle McWhorter reorients these questions through a genealogy of the concept of personhood. That genealogy is in the service of showing us not only that personhood is historically contingent, but that it is also optional. In unbecoming persons, we can feel relief, vital belonging, and exhilaration. We can also embrace an ethos of active belonging, a mode of living that eschews the trappings of personhood for the possibilities of life together.

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