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UnHerd

Freddie Sayers from online magazine UnHerd seeks out top scientists, writers, politicians and thinkers for in-depth interviews to try and help us work out what’s really going on. What started as an inquiry into the pandemic has broadened into a fascinating look at free speech, science, meaning and the ideas shaping our world.

Due to popular demand here is a podcast version of our YouTube — available to watch, for free here or by searching ‘LockdownTV’.

Enjoy! And don't forget to rate, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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UnHerd with Freddie Sayers

UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with writer and philosopher Matthew Crawford about the creeping tyranny of the "Smart City"—a vision of the future where urban life is optimised by data, and human unpredictability is treated as a "bug" to be fixed. But what is the spiritual cost of a "frictionless" existence? As tech giants begin to govern like nation-states and cars become subscription services that can be throttled from afar, Crawford asks the question: are we building paradise, or a "glorious, collisionless" prison? From the defiance of skateboarders to the ULEZ "Blade Runners" destroying cameras in London, they discuss the fight to reclaim the "unruly felicities" of a life truly worth living.
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Matthew Crawford: The truth about 'Smart Cities'

UnHerd's Freddie Sayers dives into the legal and political firestorm surrounding President Trump's threatened lawsuit against the BBC. He is joined by three expert guests to unpack the case from every angle: Professor Burt Neuborne, founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, analyses the US legal arguments and whether Trump can actually win; Joshua Rozenberg, legal journalist and the BBC's former legal correspondent, discusses the internal crisis at the BBC and its "perceived liberal bias"; and Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, explores the wider "chilling effect" of such lawsuits on press freedom.
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Will Trump destroy the BBC?

UnHerd's Freddie Sayers talks with Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford, Sir Dieter Helm, about the great climate "self-delusion." As global leaders, royals, and celebrities jet into Rio for the 30th UN Climate Summit (COP 30), Helm - one of the world's most respected climate economists - argues the entire Net Zero project, championed by the very elites at the summit, is built on smoke and mirrors, and reveals: why 30 years of COPs have been ineffective; the core deceit politicians have been telling the public for decades; how the West's green policies are actually helping China while leading to our own self-sabotage; and why the UK's "clean energy" dream is a fantasy that is leading to economic ruin. What is the real path forward, and is it too late to fix the mess we've made?
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Prof. Dieter Helm: The madness of our climate policy

In the wake of the Huntingdon train stabbing and ensuing online reaction, UnHerd's Freddie Sayers sits down with journalist for The Times Fraser Nelson to analyse the growing perception of a violent, migrant-driven crimewave in the UK. Responding to disputed data from the Ministry of Justice that foreigners are convicted of up to 23% of sex crimes, as well the rise in low-level crime and isolated atrocities, Nelson argues against the narrative and details how violent crime, including knife attacks and murder, has actually been in a steep decline, reaching multi-decade lows even as immigration has doubled. Is the migrant crimewave real or is there a stark disconnect between the statistical reality and the public's fear?
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Debate: Is there a migrant crimewave?

If the polls are to be believed, Zohran Mamdani—a self-described democratic socialist—is poised to become the next mayor of New York City. His history as a police abolitionist, calls for wealth redistribution, and fierce criticisms of Israel have rankled the Big Apple’s old guard, while galvanizing many young Gothamites, including a majority of young Jews.

So: should we fear Mayor Mamdani?

Join UnHerd for an exclusive in-person debate at our Manhattan headquarters, featuring our columnist Ross Barkan and progressive activist and whistleblower Lindsey Boylan (in support of Mamdani) versus the New York Post’s Miranda Devine and National Review’s Caroline Downey (in opposition).

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The Zohran Mamdani debate

In this first episode of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau debunk two failed economic orthodoxies shaping our world. First, they dismantle the narrative that Europe is helping Ukraine - and striking a powerful blow against Russia - by raiding Russia’s frozen assets. More than this being legally questionable, is it also economically and geopolitically self-defeating? Next, they expose the "battle" between central banks and anti-establishment crypto rebels as a false choice, revealing it as a dangerous illusion that serves the powerful. Far from being revolutionary, are stablecoins turbo-charging financial instability for the next global crash?
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Should Europe seize Russian assets? Is a crypto crisis looming?

UnHerd's Freddie Sayers speaks with Helen Andrews, former senior editor at The American Conservative and author of Boomers, to discuss her provocative and widely-debated article in Compact Magazine "The Great Feminization". They discuss: why female group dynamics (consensus-seeking, covert undermining, social ostracism) are the engine behind cancel culture; the threat a "feminised" legal system poses to the objective "rule of law," replacing evidence with emotional sympathy; and why this shift wasn't a meritocratic victory, but the result of "social engineering" that makes it "illegal for women to lose." Is this the unspoken truth behind our institutional collapse? Watch the full, explosive conversation with Helen Andrews.
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Helen Andrews on the Great Feminisation

In the age of reason and rationality, what room is there for the transcendent? Authors of the bestselling book God, the Science, the Evidence, Michel-Yves Bollore and Olivier Bonnassies, challenge the materialist consensus and argue that the origins of the universe could still be the work of a creator. They join UnHerd's Freddie Sayers to discuss their research and what it might reveal...
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Can science prove that God exists?

On what would have been her 100th birthday, Freddie Sayers chairs a spirited debate on Thatcherism and the Iron Lady’s place in Britain’s story. How should we understand her legacy in 2025? Did she transform the country for the better — or does she bear responsibility for many of today’s problems? In this all-star debate, journalists Peter Hitchens and Suzanne Moore go head-to-head with former Conservative politician and Spectator editor Michael Gove, and political analyst Reem Ibrahim, in a lively clash over the most divisive figure in modern British history.
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Hitchens & Moore vs. Gove & Ibrahim: The Thatcher Debate

Freddie Sayers sits down with Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham, Eric Kaufmann, to discuss his latest report on “The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity among Young Americans”, which reveals a significant and surprising shift in the landscape of gender and sexual identity among Generation Z. Professor Kaufmann explains his findings, which show a sharp drop in both trans and queer identification since 2023. Drawing on data from large-scale surveys of US undergraduates, he details how the share of trans-identified students has nearly halved in just two years. Their discussion explores the data, including trends in elite institutions, and delves into the potential reasons for this decline. Is it linked to changes in mental health, the growing distance from the pandemic and lockdowns, or the so-called “anti-woke” vibe shift?
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Deep dive: Is this the end of trans?

What the governments and media are saying in public is quite different to what they may be saying in private. Anatol Lieven, former war correspondent joins us to discuss the question of Crimea and how different the discussions in private are compared to what we hear in the public eye.

Read the Post here

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Anatol Lieven: The truth about Crimea

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