Are we too focused on race? Have recent anti-racist movements like Black Lives Matter abandoned the ‘colourblind’ spirit of the original civil rights movement?

 

Coleman Hughes is an American writer, podcaster and public intellectual known for his criticism of modern social-justice ideas about racism and racial inequality. In this live Festival Of Dangerous Ideas edition of Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps, Hughes articulates his vision for a future where individuals are judged by ‘the content of their character’, not the colour of their skin.

 

Drawing from research and personal insights, he argues for a society that embraces a colourblind ethos, aiming to dismantle divisive narratives and foster a more inclusive culture.

 

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Ding, dong, the psychopathic tyrant of Gaza is dead. Who was Yahya Sinwar? What does his death mean? Should Netanyahu declare victory and end the war? And why is Josh getting in trouble on Twitter over all this... again?

 

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Is political violence “unAmerican”? Or is it as American as Thomas Jefferson, who wrote that "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"?

 

Nick Bryant is one of the BBC’s greatest foreign correspondents. He has a doctorate in American politics from Oxford University and lived for years in Washington D.C. and New York City covering American politics for a global audience. One of his books sits on Joe Biden’s bookshelf in the Oval Office.

 

As we head into the final weeks before the U.S. election, Nick and Josh discuss Trumpism, polarisation and Nick's latest book “The Forever War”.

 

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Australia's response to the pandemic was among the most aggressive -- and controversial -- in the world. What went right? What went wrong? 

 

At last, we have a much-needed accounting of the lessons of Covid, from the Aussie academic who became an unlikely pandemic authority in the U.S. thanks to his position as an outspoken economics professor at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

 

Steven Hamilton's new book is a frank, factual, fierce recap of the Covid years. Written with his fellow economist Richard Holden, "Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race" will be an important tool for the next pandemic.

One year on from the Hamas attack, Josh is sick of biased bickering about why Israel is in the right or in the wrong. Here, he brings you an informed, impartial, big-picture account of where Israelis and Palestinians find themselves.

Marcus Walker is a senior reporter at the Wall Street Journal, and the friend to whom Josh turns when he needs to understand the Middle East. A Brit based in Rome, Marcus has been deployed to Israel as a journalist seven times since October 7th, interviewing the most influential players and embedding himself in the conflict. No one knows the country's mood better.

Enjoy this bracing, eye-opening assessment of the fate of the Jewish state and its Palestinian subjects. 

 

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Damien Cave is the Vietnam bureau chief and global affairs correspondent for The New York Times, covering shifts in power across Asia and the wider world.

 

He has spent most of the past 20 years as a correspondent for The Times. He’s been based in Baghdad and Miami, Mexico City and Sydney, and spent lengthy stints reporting from many other places, including Lebanon, India, Taiwan, Turkey and Cuba.

 

In 2017, He led a team opening The Times’s new Australia bureau, covering a region where both his grandfathers served in World War II, and inspiring him to write a book titled “Into the Rip” in Australia and, in the United States, “Parenting Like an Australian: One Family’s Quest to Fight Fear and Dive into a Better, Braver Life.”

 

Before that, from 2014 to 2017, Damien was a deputy editor on the National desk, advancing the digital development of The Times.

 

In 2007, He was part of a team of finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for our coverage of the war in Iraq. The team also won an Overseas Press Club award that year, his second — the first one was for a humor essay about Paraguay.

Candace Owens is one of the most popular commentators in the world.

 

Initially critical of President Trump, she was a famous critic of Black Lives Matter and became the communications director for the conservative group Turning Point USA. Her talk show on the conservative website The Daily Wire, "Candace", was cancelled earlier this year after she made antisemitic remarks. She now runs her platform independently.

 

Ahead of her Australian tour, Josh wanted to understand what she's up to and what makes her tick. To keep abreast of conversations like this, be sure to join the Uncomfortable Conversations Substack, and check out the YouTube page to watch this conversation in the flesh.

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Do you drink too much? If there was a magic pill that made you not want a second drink, would you take it? You’d at least expect to have heard of it.

 

That’s what the journalist Katie Herzog thought as she sat through AA meetings, feeling like a failure for boozing. Then, she found naltrexone. Josh hasn’t had a drink in four years after having a different epiphany. Here, the two of them wrestle with myths, blind spots and revelations about drinking, addiction, introspection, and being a grown-up.

 

Katie hosts one of the most successful podcasts on the web with Jesse Singal, Blocked & Reported, where they dissect internet craziness.

 

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Imagine being an innocent YouTuber, tricked into receiving millions of dollars from Russia just because you're a Putin hack. That's what the U.S. Department of Justice alleges has been happening, and worse. How are the enemies of liberal democracy shaping the information you see online?

 

Ross Anderson is an expert on right-wing YouTubers, the Life Editor at the world edition of The Spectator, and a regular contributor at The New York Sun. He explains the whole extraordinary shebang.  

 

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Keith Urban is one of the world’s most popular musicians. He started out in Australia, moved to Nashville, worked his arse off, won a stack of Grammys and sold over 20 million albums.

 

He’s about to start a residency in Las Vegas and he'll tour Australia in 2025. His new album is “HIGH”.

 

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