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PODCAST · society

Honestly with Bari Weiss

by The Free Press

The most interesting conversations in American life happen in private. This show brings them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating people in the country, every week from The Free Press, hosted by former New York Times and Wall Street Journal journalist Bari Weiss.

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Episodes

  1. How the New Middle East Was Made with Simon Sebag Montefiore

    Last week I had the privilege of sitting down with one of the foremost historians of our time, Simon Sebag Montefiore. As I write this, his work has never felt more urgent. “We’re in a new world of counterhistory,” he said recently. “A new world of counterhistory where neither historical facts…

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  2. Tickets Now Live: Bari Weiss and Simon Sebag Montefiore in NYC

    For the first time in almost a year, Bari is thrilled to host a live Free Press event, on October 1 in New York City. We’d love for you to join us. Many of you will know the name Dr. Simon Sebag Montefiore. He’s a close friend of The Free Press, a renowned historian, and the author of multiple...

  3. We’re All Living in Casey Neistat’s World

    Today, on our inaugural episode of Second Thought, Suzy Weiss sits down with one of the most influential people in YouTube’s history: Casey Neistat. Casey has millions of followers and billions of views to his name—and he saw early on that YouTube would change everything. It certainly changed his...

  4. A Note from Bari on Honestly

    Honestly is taking a pause. We’ll be back soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. What to Expect in 2026 with Niall Ferguson, John McWhorter, Dr. Mark Hyman, Leandra Medine Cohen, Suzy Weiss, and Sarah Isgur

    This past year wasn’t easy—but it was certainly eventful. Donald Trump returned to the White House, issued a record number of executive orders, deployed the National Guard to American cities—like LA and D.C.—imposed sweeping tariffs on all our trading partners, gutted the government with the...

  6. The Birth of Christianity

    It's Christmas Eve. A holiday celebrated by 2.4 billion people around the world, which centers on a 2,000-year-old story about a Jewish man born in Bethlehem who became a rabbi, who the Romans would later execute in Jerusalem. But what most people don’t know is that the first people who believed…

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  7. CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk

    Last week, Bari sat down with Erika Kirk for an hour-long town hall in front of a live audience on CBS. It was an extremely powerful conversation. Erika and Bari spoke about a lot—rising political violence in this very divided country; the way some people justified or excused Charlie’s murder…

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  8. Should We Legalize Assisted Suicide?

    One of the most complex medical, ethical, moral, and religious questions of our era is that of physician-assisted suicide—also known as Medical Aid in Dying, or MAID. Eleven U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have legalized some form of MAID for terminally ill patients. And New York might join…

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  9. Is Designing Babies Unethical—or a Moral Imperative?

    All parents know what goes into raising children: the time spent changing diapers in inopportune places; the hours of worrying—about what to feed them, how to educate them, how to protect them and keep them healthy; the countless hours devoted to dance classes, summer camps, pediatricians, and...

  10. Would America Be Safer Without the Second Amendment?

    Few lines in the Constitution have provoked as much passion—or confusion—as this one: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” What did the Founding Fathers mean by “well regulated”? What…

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  11. Kids Don't Need Phones with Jonathan Haidt

    You probably know Jonathan Haidt as the guy trying to save your kids from smartphones and social media apps. Likely you’ve read The Anxious Generation, which has been translated into 44 languages and sold nearly 2 million copies. One might say that Jon is Elvis for 21st century moms who don't...

  12. Democratic Dissident John Fetterman

    Who owns the future of the Democratic Party? That’s the question on everyone’s mind since last Tuesday night—when the richest city in America elected 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as its mayor. You can see Mamdani’s win as a one-off—a charismatic contender facing a rival mired…

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  13. How We Lost Ourselves to Technology—and How We Can Come Back

    Do you feel uneasy? Do you feel a level of ambient anxiety? Do you feel despair, despite the fact that we live in the most luxurious time and place in human history? The point is, you are not crazy. If you feel these things, you are simply attuned to reality—and it’s not a problem that’s solvable...

  14. Can Reading Fix Men?

    It’s no secret that young men are sort of unwell. They are four times more likely to kill themselves, three times more likely to struggle with addiction, and 12 times more likely to be incarcerated than women. If that weren’t enough, record numbers of men are not getting married, not dating, not...

  15. Palmer Luckey and the Future of American Power

    A former Senate staffer recently told our friend, reporter Dexter Filkins: “The last socialist systems in the world are in Cuba and the Pentagon.” My guest tonight is trying to do something about that. And good luck to anyone trying to get in his way. When people think of defense tech titans…

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  16. Trailer | Spiral: Murder in Detroit

    On October 21, 2023, beloved Detroit community leader Samantha Woll was found brutally stabbed to death outside her home—two weeks to the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. It looked like an open-and-shut case—a hate crime. But swiftly the police ruled that out. Instead they eventually...

  17. How Katie Herzog Drank Her Way to Sobriety

    If you’re listening to this, you probably know someone who has struggled with alcohol addiction, or maybe you’re an alcoholic yourself. It’s one of the most universal human experiences. In 2023, 10 percent of the U.S. population met the criteria for alcoholism. That’s 30 million people. And...

  18. The Hostage Release and the Future of Gaza

    At 3:22 a.m. ET on October 7, 2023, Bari texted her producer: “Candace, there’s war in Israel.” At that moment, Hamas men still roamed southern Israel, and the details were far from clear. What we knew was that Israel had been attacked and that videos were beginning to make their way from…

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  19. María Corina Machado’s Fight to Free Venezuela

    Congratulations are not usually in order for someone who has been forced into hiding, someone whose children are scattered across continents for their safety, someone whose supporters are sitting in prison cells for the crime of believing in democracy. But our guest today, María Corina Machado,...

  20. Niall Ferguson on October 7 and Our Changed World

    This week commemorates the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023. That morning, Hamas invaded Israel. They slaughtered some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Forty-eight hostages, some alive and some dead, are still being held in Gaza. In these last two years, the world has changed. In...

  21. He Spent 491 Days as a Hamas Hostage. This Is How He Survived.

    Two years ago today, five terrorists broke into Eli Sharabi’s safe room on Kibbutz Be’eri. He had been sheltered there for hours with his wife, Lianne, and teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, reading horrific texts flooding in from neighbors and hoping somehow his family would be spared. They…

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  22. The Future of The Free Press

    An announcement from The Free Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  23. How One Man Overcame His Autism

    Leland Vittert is one of America’s most recognizable television correspondents. You’ll know his face from years of frontline reporting in places like Egypt, Libya, Israel, and Ukraine. You may have followed his tumultuous exit from Fox News in 2021, after clashing with the network over its…

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  24. Inside the Mossad

    If you’re anything like us, you’re a sucker for a good spy show: Homeland, Tehran, Fauda, The Bureau. We’re fascinated by the life of spies—the secret meetings in Beirut cafés, the wigs and false identities, the double and triple lives, always one step away from exposure, risking everything for...

  25. Woody Allen on Life and Death

    You know the name Woody Allen. Everyone does. He’s made some of the most acclaimed films ever made: Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors—he list goes on and on and on. He’s made an astonishing 50 movies. You see his influence everywhere, from sitcoms to stand-up to just…

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  26. Charlie Kirk’s Murder and the Rise of Political Violence

    Yesterday, in broad daylight, in front of a crowd of 3,000 people at Utah Valley University, Charlie Kirk was shot dead. Kirk was not just a husband, not just a father, and not just one of the most prominent young conservative voices in the country. He made his name doing something fundamental to...

  27. Justice Amy Coney Barrett

    When Amy Coney Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court, she was in some ways an unlikely choice. She was living in South Bend, Indiana, not New York or D.C. She went to Notre Dame Law School, making her the only justice that didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. She’s the mother of seven kids. And, at...

  28. Conversations with Coleman: Three Hostages Families Disagree on How to Get Their Loved Ones Home

    Everyone wants the war in Gaza to end. The reason the war is not over is because about 50 people are still being held hostage by Hamas. Twenty of them are alive, but on the brink of death. About 30 of them have already been killed, and their bodies remain in Hamas captivity. There are differing...

  29. Breaking History: The Invention That Changed Everything

    Ever travel to Europe in the summer and suddenly feel very “ra ra ra” about America? It’s not because of American culture, or food, or architecture. The thing people miss first and foremost is AC. Yes, air-conditioning. It’s an American treasure and of course, fodder for many dad jokes. But…

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  30. The Radical Right Is Coming for Our Sons

    You might have heard of the new term: “woke right.” It’s the idea that the illiberalism that has swallowed the progressive left—what we often refer to as “wokeness”—has come for the right. Here’s how we think about the dynamic: Over the past two decades the woke left said: “Everything is…

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  31. Why Amanda Knox Forgave the Man Who Sent Her to Prison

    On November 1, 2007, a man named Rudy Guede broke into a random home in Perugia, Italy, then raped and killed Meredith Kercher—a 21-year-old exchange student from the University of Leeds. You might not even remember the names Rudy Guede and Meredith Kercher. But one name you will remember is...

  32. Why Unions Went for Trump

    The question of who represents the working class is probably the hottest debate in American politics. Is it Republicans? Democrats? Or socialists like Zohran Mamdani? Pundits can debate that question all they want, but the undeniable test is: Who do the unions believe stands for working people?…

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  33. Jeffrey Epstein and Conspiracy America

    Here’s one fun question to ask at a dinner party: What is your favorite conspiracy theory? There’s the idea that the CIA killed John F. Kennedy. The moon landing was fake, and 9/11 was an inside job. Covid was designed by the Gates Foundation to control the world—and the Covid vaccine had a...

  34. Could Rahm Emanuel Be Our Next President?

    Rahm Emanuel is giving every indication that he’s running for president in 2028—including by coming on Honestly yesterday. Emanuel, now 65 years old, has spent decades making a name for himself as one of the Democratic Party’s fiercest and most effective partisans—a true knife fighter, and you’ll...

  35. Giga-Yachts, Flo Rida, and Bunkers. . . What Could Go Wrong?

    Depending on who you ask, some would call the ultrarich “shameless”; others might say “aspirational.” For example: Mukesh Ambani, the Indian centibillionaire, has a room of snow in the Indian tropics—to say nothing of his skyscraper home, 168-car garage, and 600-person-staff. And celebrations for...

  36. Why Young People Love Socialism

    Just two weeks ago, New Yorkers voted en masse for a self-proclaimed socialist—someone who once called for “seizing the means of production.” This is, of course, Zohran Mamdani, who dominated in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor with a definitive victory over Andrew Cuomo. He has...

  37. Is Anyone a Genius?

    Love him or hate him, many consider Elon Musk to be a modern-day genius. He co-founded PayPal, which transformed how people purchase things. He became the CEO of Tesla, which revolutionized electric vehicles—and made it cool to drive them. He founded SpaceX, accomplishing what only superpower...

  38. The Words That Made America

    America is turning 250. And we’re throwing a yearlong celebration of the greatest country on Earth. The greatest? Yes. The greatest. We realize that’s not a popular thing to say these days. Americans have a way of taking this country for granted: a Gallup poll released earlier this week shows…

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  39. Is Iran’s Nuclear Program Damaged or Destroyed?

    When we last recorded Saturday night, the U.S. had just announced its strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The U.S. had entered the war. The restrainers had seemingly lost. In the following hours, President Donald Trump said the mission was a “spectacular military success.” And Defense Secretary...

  40. The U.S. Bombs Iran’s Nuclear Program

    On Saturday night at 7:50 pm ET, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had entered the war against Iran when he posted: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A...

  41. Niall Ferguson and Dexter Filkins: Who Will Win the Israel-Iran War?

    It’s the fourth day in the war between Iran and Israel. Many questions hang in the air. Chief among them: Will Israel be able to fulfill its main goal in the war—to end Iran’s nuclear program? Will it put troops on the ground to do so, specifically to blow up Iran’s most important nuclear site?…

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  42. Iran Strikes Israel, Oil Fields Ablaze, and Will the U.S. Enter the War?

    As we taped this episode of Honestly, it was 3 a.m. in Israel. Sirens wailed across the country as Iranian missiles rained down on Israeli towns. At the same time, Israel was striking military and nuclear sites inside Iran, and oil fields were aflame. Meanwhile in Washington, reports were…

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  43. Naftali Bennett and Michael Oren: Israel and Iran at War

    In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel pulled off a historic strike on Iran. As I record these lines, Iran is reporting a “massive explosion” in Isfahan, in a province that is home to several nuclear facilities. In Israel, where Shabbat has begun, the government has ordered all synagogues…

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  44. Amb. Mike Huckabee on Gaza Aid, Iran, and MAGA’s Foreign Policy War

    There are people who have résumés we might call “diverse” or “wide-ranging.” And then there are people like Mike Huckabee who, at age 69, has seemingly crammed several lifetimes’ worth of careers into one. He was a televangelist. He was governor of Arkansas for over a decade. He ran for president...

  45. How Qatar Bought America

    In the past few weeks, Qatar has been all over the news with flashy headlines of a $400 million luxury jet that the country gifted to President Donald Trump. It symbolized their opulence and eagerness to please the U.S. But 40 years ago, Qatar was a country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of…

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  46. The Biden Cover-Up and the Failure of the Press Corps

    In 2023 and 2024, there were many things that were unsayable. Perhaps the most unsayable—at least in legacy media circles—was that the President of the United States was not capable of being president, because he was no longer mentally fit. Those people who did break the taboo—who dared to notice...

  47. How to Examine Your Marriage and Your Life

    A lot of people fall in love outside of their marriages. Some have affairs. Some leave their wives or husbands. But not a lot of people are Agnes Callard. Agnes did something really unique. She fell in love while she was (seemingly happily) married with two children. She told her husband. They…

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  48. Welcome to the Global Intifada

    Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were staffers at the Israeli Embassy. They had just planned a trip for Sarah to meet Yaron’s parents. He had recently bought an engagement ring. Then on Wednesday night, they were murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The...

  49. Debate: Will the Truth Survive Artificial Intelligence?

    The late biologist E.O. Wilson said that “the real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous.” Wilson said that back in 2011, long before any of us were talking about large language models…

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  50. Andrew Cuomo on His Past and New York’s Future

    When you think about great political comebacks, maybe you think of Donald Trump, or Richard Nixon, or “comeback kid” Bill Clinton. You might soon add Andrew Cuomo to that list. In 2020, Cuomo was at the top of the world. He had been governor of New York for a decade. He had an illustrious career…

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

The most interesting conversations in American life happen in private. This show brings them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating people in the country, every week from The Free Press, hosted by former New York Times and Wall Street Journal journalist Bari Weiss.

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The most interesting conversations in American life happen in private. This show brings them out of the closet. Stories no one else is telling and conversations with the most fascinating people in the country, every week from The Free Press, hosted by former New York Times and Wall Street Journal...

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