UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

Epizode

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  Kathleen Stock: The scandal of Jason Arday 04.08.2026 42min

  Jason Arday, the wunderkind sociologist and youngest ever black professor at Cambridge, has an almost unbelievable backstory. Overcoming illiteracy and autism, he became the jewel in the crown of the university’s pivot towards diversity post-2021. He has been lauded by celebrities, raised millions for charity, suffered abuse from detractors and found time to run hundreds of miles. Or has he? Kathleen Stock, former professor at Sussex University, speaks to UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers about her viral investigation into academia’s ‘DEI darling’ and the plagiarism scandal that shocked Britain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Ross Barkan: Zohran Mamdani is just the beginning 21.07.2026 40min

  Freddie Sayers is joined by UnHerd columnist and author Ross Barkan - a former campaign colleague of Zohran Mamdani - to discuss the New York Mayor’s rapid political rise and the controversies defining his tenure. They unpack Mamdani's anti-capitalist economic policies, his radical stance on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and assess what his brand of democratic socialism signals for the future trajectory of the Democratic Party and American politics as a whole. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Jonathan Haidt: Why Big Tech wants your children 07.07.2026 41min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt about the global momentum toward banning under-16s from social media, exploring the tension between protecting children from addictive platforms and safeguarding free speech from state censorship, while outlining how device-based age checks offer a viable solution where traditional parental controls fail. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Norman Finkelstein: How Israel lost the Right 03.07.2026 29min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks to American political scientist, author, and prominent scholar of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Norman Finkelstein, about the fracturing of the historically ironclad alliance between the political Right and Israel. They explore how a mixture of 'America First' anti-war sentiment and the financial incentives of the podcast economy have made criticising Israel a lucrative tool for Right-wing influencers, from Tucker Carlson to Candace Owens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Jake Sullivan: Trump has handed Iran victory 19.06.2026 38min

  In this exclusive UnHerd interview Freddie Sayers meets Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor under Joe Biden and chief negotiator during the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Jake Sullivan co-hosts the weekly national security podcast ‘The Long Game’ with Jon Finer, former deputy national security advisor under Sullivan.Freddie and Jake analyse the geopolitical and financial implications of the Trump administration's memorandum of understanding with Iran. Could the concessions of the agreement that suspended the conflict to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an unprecedented financial windfall of unfrozen assets, waived oil sanctions, and a controversial $300 billion reconstruction fund mark a significant diplomatic surrender? Or is this another example of the 'art of the deal'? Watch the full conversation now.You can listen to Jake's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-long-game-with-jake-sullivan-and-jon-finer/id1850526014 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Will Pope Leo divide the Right? 01.06.2026 48min

  Freddie Sayers talks to The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles and UnHerd US editor Sohrab Ahmari to explore how Pope Leo XIV’s landmark AI encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is exposing deep philosophical and political fractures within the American populist Right over global technology regulation, transnational governance, and the Trump administration's relationship with the Vatican. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  John Burn-Murdoch: What's causing the fertility crisis? 21.05.2026 29min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks to John Burn-Murdoch, the chief data reporter for the Financial Times, as well as Hernan Moscoso-Boedo and Nathan Hudson from the University of Cincinnati, to investigate a controversial new study suggesting that the global proliferation of smartphones and social media since 2007 has drastically altered young people's behaviour, halved face-to-face socialisation, and accelerated a worldwide collapse in fertility rates that cannot simply be explained by the global financial crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Adrian Wooldridge: Why Labour should keep Starmer 12.05.2026 53min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with journalist, author, and historian Adrian Wooldridge about the systemic leadership crisis facing the UK, exploring how the rapid decline of Keir Starmer's Labour government mirrors the previous Conservative downfall and reflects a broader decay of liberalism that necessitates a radical reinvigoration of the centrist tradition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The stage is set for a new WWI 30.04.2026 40min

  UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks with Odd Arne Westad – Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University – about his new book The Coming Storm, which argues that rather than entering a new Cold War, we are actually reliving the high-tension multipolarity of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a dangerous era where rapid technological shifts, the collapse of globalisation, and the friction between a rising China and a nervous United States mirror the exact structural conditions that caused the world to sleepwalk into the catastrophe of World War 1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Orbán's defeat is not a liberal victory 13.04.2026 27min

  Freddie Sayers talks with UnHerd’s Aris Roussinos reporting from Hungary about the downfall of Viktor Orban’s long-standing administration at the hands of Peter Magyar, explaining that while the landslide victory for the Tisza party appears to be a win for the European establishment, it is actually a political shift that represents a rebranding of the Right rather than a return to liberalism and serves as a primary example of how the broader European continent continues to drift towards the Right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Iain McGilchrist: How to escape left-brain thinking 12.04.2026 1h 6min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with neuroscientist and philosopher Dr. Iain McGilchrist about the psychological and cultural crisis resulting from our modern reliance on the brain's analytical left hemisphere, a perspective that views the world as a collection of inanimate parts rather than a living whole, while making a compelling case for the rehabilitation of myth and religious tradition as essential pathways to a deeper, relational truth that can protect Western civilisation from the dehumanising effects of purely mechanistic thinking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  John Bolton: Trump should finish the job 10.04.2026 34min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers discusses the ongoing military campaign in Iran with former National Security Advisor John Bolton who delivers a blunt critique of the current administration by arguing that sporadic strikes are a strategic mistake and that the United States must instead commit to a total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the ultimate goal of regime change to permanently neutralise the threat of a nuclear armed Tehran, while simultaneously delivering a scathing personal assessment of President Trump's impulsive decision-making process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  US General: Hegseth will be tried at The Hague 01.04.2026 28min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with retired Major General Randy Manner, a highly decorated veteran with over 35 years of service, who delivers a scathing analysis of the Trump administration's floated military objectives in the Persian Gulf, specifically examining the tactical viability and global economic risks of seizing Iran's Kharg Island oil depot and nuclear materials, while also exploring his deep-seated concerns regarding the qualifications of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the potential strain on the military's constitutional fealty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Joe Kent: Why I resigned over Iran 21.03.2026 39min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers speaks with Joe Kent, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, in his first international interview since his resignation from the Trump administration. A highly decorated Green Beret and CIA veteran, Kent became the most senior official to step down in protest of the ongoing war in Iran, which he describes as a ‘quagmire’ driven by external pressure rather than national interest. In this wide-ranging conversation, Kent alleges that the U.S. was misled into the conflict by the Israel lobby, shares personal reflections on the death of his wife in a ‘manufactured’ war, and raises questions about the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The age of drone warfare has begun 20.03.2026 18min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers speaks with The Economist’s defence editor, Shashank Joshi, to dissect the frightening new reality of ‘democratised warfare’ in the Strait of Hormuz. As Iran utilises low-cost drones, ‘smart mines’, and autonomous suicide boats to threaten 20% of the world's oil supply, Joshi explains the shift from traditional naval battles to a war of economic attrition and investigates whether the price of entry for war has been permanently lowered - and what it means for the future of global stability. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Was closing the Strait of Hormuz part of Trump’s plan? 19.03.2026 27min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers speaks with Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University, Helen Thompson, to dismantle the mainstream narrative surrounding the conflict in the Middle East. Moving beyond the idea that the U.S. is stumbling into war, Thompson reveals a possible strategic plan by the Trump administration to weaponise energy markets against China, while exploring how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz serves American interests in the global AI race, and how a reverse Suez moment is fundamentally redrawing the map of global power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Prof. Robert Pape: Is Iran winning the war? 17.03.2026 34min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers speaks with Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, Robert Pape, to discuss the high-stakes ‘escalation trap’ unfolding between the United States and Iran - breaking down the tactical successes and failures of the US military campaign and analysing how Iran is leveraging its geographical position and control of the Strait of Hormuz through low-cost drone and missile harassment. As Professor Pape draws comparisons to the Vietnam War and 1973 oil crisis, has the Trump administration lost control of the conflict's trajectory, and are we moving toward a dangerous ground power dilemma that threatens the global economy and the stability of the Western alliance? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The boom in British exorcisms 12.03.2026 44min

  UnHerd’s Flo Read hosts an exploration into the global exorcism boom, investigating why demand for spiritual deliverance has tripled in the last decade and why Gen Z, in particular, is leading a resurgence in supernatural belief. A panel featuring historian Dr. Francis Young, Anglican deliverance minister Rev. Dr. Jason Bray, and legal expert Professor Helen Hall unpack the shift to a post-pandemic ‘spiritual marketplace’ where social media-fuelled occultism and ancient theology collide, and address the safeguarding risks and legal complexities of performing exorcisms in a multicultural society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  What happens next inside Iran? 06.03.2026 44min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers hosts a debate on the internal future of Iran featuring two clashing geopolitical perspectives: Professor Edward Luttwak - a strategist and expert on international diplomacy, who argues that the Trump administration is successfully pursuing a strategy to achieve regime change via surgical airstrikes; and Dr Arta Moeini - international political theorist and a realist thinker, who warns that the West is dangerously underestimating the resilience of Iran’s decentralised "total state”, and that direct attacks could fuel a civil war that accelerates a global shift toward a new world order dominated by China. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  War in Iran: How the Neocons won 02.03.2026 42min

  UnHerd's Freddie Sayers and US editor Sohrab Ahmari unpick the ideological fracture within the Republican party following the escalatory US strikes against Iran. From the notable silence of JD Vance to the resurging influence of Lindsey Graham, they explore how Donald Trump’s "Peace Admin" shifted toward a hawk-like interventionism agenda reminiscent of the George W. Bush era, at a decisive moment in the battle for the soul of American foreign policy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.