Honestly with Bari Weiss

I don’t agree with everything especially the defense of J.K. Rowling. But I do absolutely love the differing opinions in this. So refreshing. Smart people having smart conversations. Used to be a knee jerk progressive but now more open to dialogue.

I don’t agree with everything I hear on this show which is just one of the reasons I love it. This show was the first of its kind. It filled a gap no one else was willing to fill. It spoke the truth about media bias when it was not “safe” to do so. And it continues to be great.

Weiss is a master interviewer. I think she is the best at getting people comfortable to answer her very researched questions, and to get an honest answer….Honestly!

I love Honestly! I appreciate the variety of guests and Bari’s willingness to ask tough questions. However, I wish she pushed back on guests’ claims more. For instance, to support his sweeping proposition that all of science is corrupt and too dogmatic, Peter Thiel claimed that people are “not allowed” to question whether methane is more of a warming gas than carbon dioxide. This is an absurd claim—scientists and climate advocates CONSTANTLY raise that methane causes more warming in the short-term than carbon dioxide (although it doesn’t stay in the environment for as long). If this fact is not communicated widely enough it is because the “natural” gas industry has a strong PR campaign to frame their product as less harmful than carbon; it is not because scientists are too dogmatic. Despite Thiel’s incorrect claim, Bari said nothing. I’m involved in climate spaces, so I had the knowledge to immediately know his claim was false. But this made me worry about how many of his other claims are based on untrue premises that I can’t fact check.

This used to be a podcast for levelheaded moderate takes on important issues. But it’s become more like the podcast version of Fox News. It’s become a place for right wing provocateurs to backslap each other. Bari’s recent interview with Peter Thiel was painful to listen to. He said some very kooky things and she did not push back at all. Very sad to see her backslide from a free thinker into just another MAGA acolyte. I don’t blame her because that’s probably what’s best for her ratings. But gosh - what a disappointment for a podcast that started out on such a promising foot.

There are some episodes that I think are fair and do a great job of encouraging respectful discourse, especially the live debates. However, there are some interviews (like the recent Megyn Kelly sit down) that were so disappointing. If Honestly will publish an interview where a guest claims that Alex Jones shouldn’t be totally written off because he’s been right about frogs changing their gender (even though he tortured the Sandy Hook families)…if in that moment the interviewer won’t put that guest in the hot seat (like the summary suggested)…if the interviewer will briskly move on from that…then sadly I think I’m out. There are guard rails, I hope Honestly isn’t throwing them all out for the sake of Free Press. I’m not sticking around to find out.