Podcast
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
Hosted by New York Times Opinion · EN
The first draft of our future. Mapping the new world order through interviews and conversations. Every Thursday, from New York Times Opinion.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
95episodes
Episodes
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A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.
6d ago01:03:07Summary readyWhat’s really driving the humanities crisis in higher education? As enrollment and reading decline, I asked Jennifer Frey, a professor of philosophy, what it was like to run a liberal arts program that was gutted. I wanted to know whether she thinks the age of A.I. could bring back the kind of education she says is fundamental to human formation. 00:00 - Intro 2:08 - Why study the humanities? 5:00 - Do the humanities mean more morality? 15:00 - Shakespeare vs. John Grisham 24:07 - The Tulsa Honors College 34:43 - Left-wing critiques and specialization 44:10 - Is conservatism a friend to liberal arts? 56:32 - Why the humanities are crucial in the age A.I. (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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China Doesn’t Worry About A.I. Like We Do
2w ago00:53:08Summary readyThe United States and China are really the only two countries that matter right now in shaping the A.I. future. As President Trump and President Xi Jinping meet in Beijing, there’s a kind of Cold War atmosphere, with people talking about an A.I. arms race. But who is winning? Are we even in a race at all? Kyle Chan, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, says it’s hard to call it a race because the U.S. and China have very different A.I. goals. 00:00:25 U.S. vs. China in A.I. 00:03:07 Everyday A.I. in China 00:07:41 China's A.I. chip limitations 00:12:14 China's A.I. advantage: energy & deployment 00:16:10 China's public mood on A.I. 00:19:44 AI, job displacement and social concerns 00:23:53 Robots for China's labor shortage 00:26:55 China's view on America's AGI fixation 00:31:16 Distilling A.I. models 00:38:39 U.S. needs more A.I. deployment 00:41:48 U.S. chip policy and the hawk's argument (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat . Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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A Legendary Investor on How to Prevent America’s Coming ‘Heart Attack’
3w ago00:51:04Summary readyA stalemated war. Fractured alliances. A rival waiting in the wings. It feels to me that we’re having an “end of the American empire” moment. My guest this week, Ray Dalio, is an unlikely prophet of doom — the billionaire Bridgewater investor conquered Wall Street by studying history and mastering global trends. He foresaw the 2008 financial crisis,and these days he’s warning that the U.S. is repeating the patterns that ended great empires of the past. 0:00 - Intro 01:24 - The rise and fall of empires through big cycles 08:35 - Geopolitical tensions: China, Iran and the Suez Canal 14:27 - Fiat currency or gold? 24:19 - America’s coming ‘heart attack’ 30:37 - Acts of nature, A.I. and technology 43:37 - ‘Could we have a Japanese future?’ (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Trump Is the End of a 100-Year Experiment
Apr 1600:59:59Summary readyPresident Trump has tested the limits of presidential power since he returned to office — from his assertion of total control over federal agencies to his war in Iran. But so far, many of Trump’s most aggressive moves have been stopped by the Supreme Court. My guest this week is Sarah Isgur, a conservative court watcher, who argues that the Supreme Court isn’t just a firewall against Donald Trump, but the real power center in American politics today. 0:00 - Intro 01:28 - Remaking the presidency: The hundred-year experiment 04:26 - Trump’s legal retribution campaign 09:15 - The Supreme Court’s strategy in the face of Trump 18:15 - “Looming" cases: Tariffs and birthright citizenship 28:23 - Supreme Court internal dynamics 43:32 - The future bench (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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How Ben Sasse Is Living Now That He Is Dying
Apr 901:07:32Summary readyHow would you live if you knew when you were going to die? I sat down with the former Republican senator Ben Sasse to hear how he is facing his own mortality after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. For Sasse, cancer brings pain, but also clarity, sharpening his focus on the state of our politics, his wife and three children, and the God he expects to shortly meet. 0:00 - Intro 01:51 - Ben Sasse’s terminal diagnosis 07:14 - Oncology navigation and clinical trials 16:10 - Sasse’s career in the Senate and reflections on politics 32:55 - What could a civic-minded Senator achieve? 38:15 - Reforming academia and liberal arts 54:49 - Facing mortality: The “final enemy” 59:27 - Advice for the living 1:01:10 - The “prayer of pancreatic cancer” (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Can We Trust the New Testament?
Apr 201:24:09Summary readyEven if you don’t believe he walked on water, the teachings of Jesus still have a certain power. My guest this week, the New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman, calls himself a “Christian atheist.” I asked Ehrman to come on the show to explore Jesus’ message, discuss how the Bible has shaped the morality of the Western world and explain what even the biggest skeptic can learn from one of mankind’s oldest texts. 0:00 - Intro 02:20 - Jesus’s moral teachings 08:15 - Ehrman’s path away from Christianity and faith 21:22 - The historical evidence for Jesus and the New Testament 33:26 - The challenges in interpreting the Gospels 52:07 - The contradictions in the New Testament 01:04:10 - Historical and geographical validity 01:09:25 - The visions and reality of the Resurrection 01:19:21 - A “Christian atheist” (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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How Far Will Trump Go in Iran?
Mar 2600:51:25Summary readyIs the U.S. winning the war with Iran? Even though President Trump claims success, it doesn’t quite feel like it — oil and gas prices are high, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and the Iranian regime is still in place. Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a prominent Iran hawk, explains why “total victory” is within reach in spite of the cost. I pressed him on the gap between Trump’s desire for a quick deal and his desire to end the Islamic Republic. 00:00 - Intro 00:03:49 - Is Iran biding its time until Trump leaves office? 00:07:07 - Three phases to regime change 00:09:42 - Iran's military capabilities and the Strait of Hormuz 00:14:54 - How will the next American president treat Iran? 00:18:48 - The battle for the Strait of Hormuz 00:23:27 - Will Iran attack its neighbors? 00:28:43 - Will Trump cut a deal? 00:38:19 - Does Israel think Trump is its best chance? 00:43:04 - Risk of U.S. alienation from Israel 00:48:01 - The cost of inaction and the Iranian people Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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White Identity Is Galvanizing the Right
Mar 1901:02:39Summary readyThe idea that white people — and white men in particular — face discrimination has become something of an obsession on the American right. It’s a view that my guest this week shares. Jeremy Carl was nominated to a State Department post by the Trump administration, which sparked a lot of controversy. Carl is the author of “The Unprotected Class,” in which he makes the case that white Americans are in danger of becoming “second-class citizens.” I wanted to know what he thinks constitutes anti-white discrimination and whether focusing on it inevitably leads to white nationalism. After we taped this interview, Carl withdrew his nomination, acknowledging that he lacked enough support to be confirmed. 0:00 - Intro 01:59 - Jeremy Carl’s trajectory and State Department Nomination 05:24 - The Civil Rights Act and rise of anti-white Discrimination 12:20 - The impact of immigration on white Americans 24:53 - The "radicalization" of D.E.I. 37:37 - Carl’s provocative language and controversial tweets 51:06 - “White culture” vs. “civic nationalism” 01:01:00 - The fours pillars of “Americanness” (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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The Democrats Could Still Screw This Up
Mar 1201:06:31Summary readyCan the Democrats finally seize on President Trump’s increasing unpopularity and end their slump? It seems to me as though 2026 is providing them ample opportunity. But I wanted to know what they actually stand for. Have they learned anything about immigration? Are they ready for the new politics of artificial intelligence? To find out, I asked someone I consider a true man of the left, Chris Hayes, the host of “All In With Chris Hayes” on MS NOW. 00:00 Intro 02:09 - Democrats: The state of play in 2026 06:46 - How Israel fractures the Democrats 09:19 - Immigration reform beyond the “old consensus” 19:46 - Models for Democratic leadership: Mark Kelly, Ruben Gallego, Rafael Warnock, and Jon Ossoff 27:22 - 2028: Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom and “the Hillary Clinton problem” 30:41 - The politics of attention 36:19 - The challenges of achieving a Leftist society 45:37 - A Leftist case against A.I. 1:04:23 - Will A.I. define the 2028 election? (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times With Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Does the Iran War Put America First?
Mar 500:58:47Summary readyI don’t think a war with Iran is what Trump — or his voters — had in mind when he campaigned on “America first.” My guest this week is Curt Mills, the executive director of The American Conservative, a magazine that champions foreign policy restraint. Mills thinks the war with Iran is a major betrayal of the voters who put Trump in the White House and has the potential to shatter Trump’s domestic coalition. 01:27 - Tracking the Trump administration’s foreign policy shifts and dynamics 08:50 - The different strands of right-wing foreign policy 15:00 - Is the anti-war movement real?: Policy, polling and public opinion 27:49 - Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East’s influence on U.S. foreign policy 40:17 - Why can’t Trump say no to Israel? 46:20 - How does the fallout in Iran impact Trump’s potential 2028 successors and insurgents? (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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