Interesting Times

This is such a unicorn these days. Hosted by someone self-identifying as a conservative this podcast has guests from both sides of the aisle and both extremes. I find it one of maybe three podcasts that truly allows their guests to speak and also genuinely pushes back when they lapse into rhetoric or false claims. I was saddened to hear the current host will be leaving and I sure hope it’s of his own volition for personal reasons as I doubt the NYtimes can find another calm, balanced, open-minded host to present these topics in a way that doesn’t send me angrily searching for something else to listen to. This is one I will deeply miss. Very sad.

I have completely enjoyed your interviews. I understand your next show will be your last episode hosting Interesting Times. Thanks for all the amazing interviews you’ve brought our way which offered insight into so many people and topics I may not have heard otherwise. Your content and your style will be dearly missed.

Thank you to Ross Douthat for skillfully disagreeing with your guests! You do a great job of putting people at ease and picking the right moments to push them. This podcast requires the listener to actually use their brain and evaluate the arguments being made, rather than just offering one confident and comfortable perspective, as so much media does these days. I hope this show continues to run for a long time and doesn’t stop pushing the edges of people’s perspectives.

If you look up the reviews for Interesting Times, you’ll find they are highly polarized. For some, that might be a red flag, but for me, it’s one of the reasons I queue it up every Thursday morning. In a media landscape where everyone is expected to pick a team, or take on some outlandish conspiratorial take, Ross is a rare voice. He consistently offends both the dogmatic left and the dogmatic MAGA crowd because he is willing to stand on principle rather than chasing cultural fads or political whims. He doesn't offer easy comfort to either side, and that intellectual independence is incredibly refreshing. Ross hosts genuinely thoughtful, nuanced conversations. He isn't afraid of friction or provocative ideas, but he approaches them with a rigor that keeps the dialogue constructive, exploring complex issues without platforming people who are just looking for cheap, performance-driven airtime. The recent episode with former Senator Ben Sasse, reflecting on our fractured political climate and his own mortality following a terminal diagnosis, is some of the most profound and grounding audio I have heard in years. It is a masterclass in what a podcast can be when it refuses to play by the rules of outrage culture. Highly recommended.

This show turns my stomach with the way they try so hard for this light, friends-laughing-and-chatting-over-beers kind of banter, when they’re talking about really dark and heavy stuff. The jokey tone feels extremely forced and performative. And Ross’s mean-spirited trolling and both-sidesism gets more tiresome by the second. He is so defensive and petty. And his fellow hosts laugh it off like it’s somehow endearing. Grow up, all.

I have been listening to this podcast since it was The Argument, and I used to really love hearing both sides having a civil discourse. Now it has become decidedly more one-sided and not at all balanced, even with the episode titles, like “will THIS a lose Biden the presidency”. Stop the clickbait and get back to having real, necessary conversations. Adding onto my review from earlier. I will be unsubscribing from this podcast. There are no actual liberal points of view—in covering the conventions, they basically say that Kamala hasn’t given an interview so no matter what she can’t be good, with no one offering any other opinion. Funny that some people are saying that this proves that NYT has a liberal bias—that’s not it at all. This proves to me that NYT is not showing both sides. I’m very sad to lose this podcast, it used to be good.