How much are you a product of your genes, and how much are you a product of your experiences? Or are you a free agent, acting in spite of your biology and environment?

Kathryn Paige Harden is a world-renowned psychology professor who specialises in how genes affect our behaviour. She was nearly cancelled during the era of Peak Woke for her book 'The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality'. Her research, while egalitarian in intent, was demonised as paving the way for eugenics.

Now, Professor Harden reveals even more fascinating links between genes and addiction, appetite, sex and violence in her amazing new book ‘Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness.’

She joins Josh to discuss nature, nurture, free will, dysfunction, genetic predispositions, and what taking acid taught her about being human.

How much influence do you actually have over how you are governed?

Markets reward clickbait. Politics rewards tribalism. Social media rewards outrage. Almost imperceptibly, our public institutions have drifted away from their core purpose of serving your interests.

Economist Nicholas Gruen argues there’s a better model hiding in plain sight. Using as his intellectual models TikTok, Wikipedia, referendums and juries, he shares with Josh a radical but practical idea that could reinvigorate democracy.

You can find his videos on the subject at The Shared Centre (https://www.thesharedcentre.com).

Steven Pinker may be the world’s best-known cognitive psychologist, a public intellectual who for decades has used his fame to help us understand how we think, how we develop language, and how our behaviour is shaped by evolution and biology.

He’s a professor of Psychology at Harvard and his most recent book is a hugely entertaining reflection on social norms, cooperation, outrage cycles, social media pile-ons, sudden political shifts, and moral panics. It’s called When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows, and Pinker joins Josh to discuss echo chambers, status hierarchies, and the corrosion of common ground.

There’s a lot of big events happening in the world at the start of the year, but between bushfires and flash flooding, Australia is grappling with the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack.

Hate speech laws are being tabled in Federal Parliament, pro-Palestinian authors are Writer’s Festivals are being cancelled, and the question of whether Australia’s uniquely successful multiculturalism can survive, is lurking below the surface.

Journalist and digital activist Andrew Lowenthal went live with Josh to discuss censorship, nationalism, identity politics, and the challenge of navigating free speech in a multicultural society.

It’s been an eventful start to the year. Josh went live to share his thoughts on Trump, Venezuela, and the end of American exceptionalism.

Is the success of the gay rights movement guaranteed? Or are there hints that, eventually, gay rights could be reversed?

One of the most peculiar strategies of gay activist organisations has been to hitch their wagon to a revolutionary, non-binary, gender-fluid, LGBTQIA+ ideology. Is it time for gay rights and trans rights to quietly uncouple?

Ronan McCrea is a Professor of Constitutional and European law at University College London whose new book is "The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom". He argues that the combination of the Christian right, socially conservative migrants, and backlash to LGBTQIA+ extremism is putting gay rights at risk. He joins Josh to propose a solution.

One of the most successful comedy performers on the planet, Eddie Izzard (who now goes by Suzy) has spent more than thirty years touring groundbreaking shows at sold-out venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, the Sydney Opera House, London's O2 Arena and Radio City Music Hall.

They've won two Emmys, performed stand-up specials in multiple languages, run dozens of marathons for charity, and even stood for parliament and for the mayoralty of London. In the US, they starred in television shows like The Riches, United States of Tara and Hannibal. Their film roles include Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen and Valkyrie.

Izzard was on Uncomfortable Conversations briefly in 2021, in the persona of Eddie. Now living full-time as Suzy - and on the eve of a global tour of a one-person production of Hamlet(!) and a new stand-up special - it's time for Szeps and Izzard to finally connect in the flesh.

Uncomfortable Conversations is chuffed to be a new Spotify Partner show, and even more grateful to the amazing folks at Spotify for welcoming us to their schmancy studios in London, where Izzard - recovering from a leg injury - hobbled in to discuss humour, wisdom, passion, gender, performativity and ambition.

Tickets to Izzard's Sydney shows are available here [https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/theatre/izzard-hamlet]. Our thanks again to Spotify and the team at the Sydney Opera House for making this conversation possible.

Happy New Year, humans. Here's a funny, reflective start to 2026. Josh sits down with a stand-up comic who suffered a heart attack on stage at the age of 26 and emerged rawer than ever. Sammy Petersen joins Josh to chat about how comedians disarm audiences, whether "punching down" makes sense, and why humour can be both a shield and a form of truth-telling.

The show's community manager, Evan Pivonka, joins Josh to review 2025 through the lens of Uncomfortable Conversations' best, worst and weirdest episodes. They reveal the show's creative and editorial strategies, behind-the-scenes gossip, and Josh's expectations for 2026. Happy new year, humans.

Britain’s infrastructure is crumbling. Petty crime is part of daily life. Illegal immigration costs millions per day. The tax burden is the highest in peacetime history and the economy hasn't grown since 2008.

That’s the argument of Konstantin Kisin, co-host of Trigonometry, one of the world's most popular podcasts. He’s held up as a poster boy for certain elements on the right following a viral speech against woke culture at Oxford, but his diagnosis of Britain's malaise cuts deeper than culture wars. He joins Josh to dissect what's broken, and debate the path forward.

Watch Josh’s appearance on Triggernometry here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgxizmt4bUU

For how many hours can you leave out a Christmas ham? Will turkey stuffing give you the runs? Is it okay to refrigerate hot take-away fried rice? Why does America have the world's worst E. coli? Can soft cheese really kill unborn babies? Why does asparagus make your pee smell?

Every Christmas, families sit down to feasts... and Josh sits down with one of his favourite regular guests, Gary Kennedy. Gary is a food scientist who knows everything about the microbiology of what you eat, and what you shouldn't. Merry Christmas, humans. Bon appetit!