"Australia's Covid Response" with Economist Steven Hamilton

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”.   For more stimulating content and to join the Uncomfy Convos multiverse, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

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.    To get the whole shebang, get your own personalised premium podcast feed at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

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. http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

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.   To get more content like this and to join in the fun of the Uncomfy Convos multiverse, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

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.     To get more content like this and to join in the fun of the Uncomfy Convos multiverse, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

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”.   Don’t miss the YouTube page to see Keith and Josh bantering in the flesh. And get more amazing conversations by popping your email address into our Substack supercomputer.   http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

Can governments regulate “misinformation”? Or is that just a pretext for controlling what you can say? Were “the Twitter Files” a bombshell revelation of censorship, or a paranoid beat-up? How should Big Tech have grappled with issues like Russia, Covid, and the FBI?   Andrew Lowenthal worked with Matt Taibbi for months on the Twitter Files. He helped to create the Westminster Declaration to oppose any restrictions on online speech.   He used to work with leftie NGOs fighting for the digital rights of dissenters across the Asia-Pacific, until he saw his activist colleagues drift away from free speech towards the opposite – what he calls "anti-disinformation".   He now runs a digital civil liberties initiative called liber-net which argues that, under the cloak of countering misinformation, the powers-that-be suppress information, ideas, and opinions expressed by everyday people. Andrew is an Australian based in Europe and he was kind enough to stop by the Uncomfy Studios on a recent trip to Sydney.   Watch the in-the-flesh video on the YouTube page (subscribe while you’re there) and if you’re not a paid Substack subscriber, enjoy this preview of a much longer, gripping convo.   To get the whole shebang, get your own personalised premium podcast feed at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ http://tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations  

Missy Higgins is one of Australia's most successful musicians. She exploded onto the scene in 2004. Her debut single launched at No. 1, her first album debuted at No. 1, and, barely out of her teens, she won the ARIA, Australia's Grammy, for Best Pop Release.    Tabloid speculation swirled about her sexuality. Josh wants to know how she now thinks about gayness, love, fame and failure. Her new album, released exactly on the 20th anniversary of her first, is The Second Act.    To get more content like this and to join in the fun of the Uncomfy Convos multiverse, hit the Substack page at https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/subscribe http://youtube.com/@JoshSzeps_ http://twitter.com/joshzepps http://instagram.com/joshszeps/ tiktok.com/@uncomfyconversations