There is a massive “authority gap” that exists in the world today, where women are taken way less seriously than men and still treated as less competent. They are interrupted four times as often as men and are overlooked for not being as confident as a bloke (while studies show that men’s perceived additional confidence is mostly “bullshitting”). And, yet, as my guest London-based journalist and broadcaster Mary Ann Sieghart explains, there are only wins to be had by closing this authority gap.Mary Ann both coined the term and wrote the book by the same name and she shares with me that when gender parity is achieved men experience less divorce, less suicide, less addiction, their chances of dying a violent death are almost halved and their happiness increases; while nations with female leaders have less corruption, better health outcomes and experience a spike in GDP. I find this chat wild in its dispelling of the misconception that making the world more balanced is a zero-sum game (that as women achieve gains, men lose out). Quite the opposite! Our chat comes on the 10-year anniversary of former Australian PM Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech…Mary Ann leaves us with a super interesting insight on this, too.Grab Mary Ann’s book, The Authority GapFollow her on Instagram and TwitterHere’s the data on the gender gap in Australia that I refer to. And here’s Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech in full. .....If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if we could bioengineer our bodies to live forever, would we and should we? What if we could avoid all the awkward bits of sex and just neatly copulate with a robot? And what if we never had to go through the bother and pain of pregnancy and could instead use artificial external wombs? Would we? And should we? Transhumanists say these are moot questions because the superhuman or post-human train has well and truly left the station. We’re only decades from these altered, souped up realities. Oxford transhumanist scholar Elise Bohan and I roll our sleeves up to discuss the litany of moral questions that arise from this, like why the hell were we not consulted on this before the train took off? Has anyone stopped to ask if this is what humanity wants or can handle morally? We chat about the singularity, the particularly worrying effects on men and dating and Elise posits a timeframe for AI intelligence taking over from human smarts (!). If ever there was a conversation in history to get us talking about what matters and makes for a flourishing existence, this is it. Take a deep breath…Grab Elise’s book, Future Superhuman: Our Transhuman Lives in a Make-or-Break Century I refer to the book Klara and the Sun by Kazuo IshiguroAnd we reference previous podcast chats with William Macaskill.....If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know the latest IPCC* Assessment Report? The one that came out at the end of 2021 that the UN secretary general dubbed “Code Red for humanity”? Australian climate scientist Joëlle Gergis was one of its lead authors responsible for its 3 million words of truly stark wake-up-call content.This episode I catch up with her at the Byron Writer’s Festival (where she was launching her new book on climate grief) and volley her with questions compiled by my Substack membership community.What does the report predict for Australia in 20 years? What can I tell my Dad when he says “we’ve always had climate warming cycles”? Is carbon capture and storage a furphy? Joelle rallies off the facts, but also shares a beautiful wisdom on climate grief, or “solastalgia” as it’s often called. * International Panel on Climate ChangeGrab Joëlle's book now Humanity's Moment: A climate scientist's case for hope....If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Right, we’re doing something different this episode. Uber-talented radio/TV/podcast host and contrarian Josh Szeps has me on his Uncomfortable Conversations podcast to chat sugar, cannonau wine, class wars, woke-speak, ethics, the decline of innovation in wealthy countries, how men around the world behave on dating apps and the perils of looking like could be on an insurance ad. For some context: Josh is currently the host of afternoons on ABC Radio Sydney and you might also have heard him hosting a bunch of other TV, radio and podcast shows here and in the US where he was a regular on NBC’s Today Show, or the time – earlier this year – when he ‘annihilated’ Joe Rogan during a rambling frustrating chat about vaccines. Check out Josh’s podcast Uncomfortable ConversationsFollow Josh on Twitter and InstagramThat Harvard study I mention? Check it out hereI also mention my podcast ep with Lech Blaine. You can listen here As well as the Will Macaskill chat on Longtermism…listen here ....If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If only we all learned to think more we might solve the problems of the world. This is a thesis British philosopher A.C. Grayling has devoted much of his life to via his 40-odd books, the philosophy college he founded in London and his engagement in global debates on euthanasia, the existence God, Brexit and beyond. In his latest book, For the Good of the World, he applies it to the challenge of achieving global agreement to solve the various global catastrophes we have created. In this fun chat we talk “Graylings Law”, the “hard problem” of consciousness and why tech bros and young men love stoicism; I present him with the ethical quandary of putting lentils in SUV tyre valves as an act of global good; and he shows us how to develop our own life philosophy…by loving, engaging in and wrestling with thinking. He also leaves us with some wild quotes and reads and wisdoms with which to start the process.Purchase your copy of For the Good of the World: Is a Universal Ethics PossibleIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversation. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is an intense one. It’s with multi-Walkley Award-winning Australian photographer Andrew Quilty who has spent the past eight years living and working in the Afghanistan capital Kabul, documenting the conflict for publications around the world. We talk about the details of the decades-long occupation and go into the story of that day - one year ago - when the Taliban arrived at the gates of Kabul as the allied forces and tens of thousands of Afghans tried to flee in scenes of chaos and tragedy (which he shares in his new book August in Kabul). But, really, this conversation is more about meaning. And what makes life worthwhile when the standard accoutrements are stripped away by destruction and human ugliness? I recommend looking up Andrew's photographs as you listen to him in this episode share his very raw account of life in a war zone, his take on the morality of capturing and sharing images of humans in their worst moments, as well as his very intimate reflections on finding meaning in “homecoming”.Andrew’s book, August in Kabul is out this weekScroll his photographs as you listenWe mention Sebastian Junger’s Tribe… you can grab it here ....If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversations. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious Life Let’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In exclusive pockets around the world rich, white (mostly) men are prepping for end times. They are hoarding resources and building bunkers, putting billions into funding their place on Mars. They could be funding renewable energy projects, or putting their efforts into restoring political stability, you know, finding ways for humanity to survive on our beloved Earth. But no. Irish author and journalist Mark O’Connell conducted something of a perverse pilgrimage of these pockets for his book Notes from an Apocalypse and in this episode I talk with him about how we should feel about such a dividing phenomenon. And, importantly, what we can learn from it…before it becomes our future. Follow Mark on TwitterGrab Mark’s book, Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and BackIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversations. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our existential risk – the probability that we could wipe ourselves out due to AI, bio-engineering, nuclear war, climate change, etc. in the next 100 years – currently sits at 1 in 6. Let that sink in! Would you get on a plane if there was a 17% chance it would crash? Would you do everything you could to prevent a calamity if you were presented with those odds? My chat today covers a wild idea that could – and should - better our chances of existing as a species…and lead to a human flourishing I struggle to even imagine. Longtermism argues that prioritising the long-term future of humanity has exponential ethical and existential boons. Flipside, if we don’t choose the longtermism route, the repercussions are well devastating.Will MacAskill is one of the world’s leading moral philosophers and I travel to Oxford UK, where he runs the Centre for Effective Altruism, the Global Priorities Institute and the Forethought Foundation, to talk through these massive moral issues. Will also explains that right now is the most important time in humanity’s history. Our generation singularly has the power and responsibility to determine two diametrically different paths for humanity. This excites me; I hope it does you, too.Learn more about Will MacAskill’s work Purchase his new book What We Owe the Future: A Million year view If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversations. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wealthy elite once signalled their status with expensive handbags and super yachts. Now they do it with what Rob Henderson calls “luxury beliefs” - so-called politically correct pronouncements that, in reality, only the rich can afford to live by and thusly differentiate them from the rest of us. We’re talking about such wokenesses as “defund the police” and calls for drug legalisation, death to marriage and putting “polyamorous” on your dating profile. Of course, defunding the police is all very well if you can afford to live in a gated community with low crime and security guards. It should be said, Rob, now a moral philosopher at the University of Cambridge, comes at this wild idea from a very unique perspective. He grew up poor, a foster kid who was doing drugs at the age of 9 and who had to learn to decode elite signalling as an outsider once he hit the liberal US university scene. This is a super juicy and confronting thesis, evidence of which I can’t stop noticing everywhere and I loved the way Rob applies the wild idea to online dating, cancel culture and conservative politics.Follow Rob on TwitterCheck out Rob's WebsiteAnd you can read the New York Times op-ed we talk about. His book Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class will be published in the European fall of 2023.We chat about Joseph Henrich’s WEIRD theory and class myths in Australia from my Lech Blaine chat, both ran a few episodes back. If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" page. Subscribe to my Substack newsletter for more such conversations. Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet’s connect on Instagram! It’s where I interact the most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Breaking things up a bit this episode with an AMA from London where I'm staying with my good friend Melissa Hemsley, cookbook author, sustainable food advocate and humanitarian. Mel kindly reads out a bunch of juicy questions: Do you have botox? How do we stay hopeful in the climate crisis when giving up and just enjoying the few remaining "normal years" is easier? Should 16 year-olds be allowed to vote? What about trying mushrooms for anxiety? How do you make friends as an adult? Much of the chat comes back to pulsing between the either/ors we are confronted with, finding the "sweet spot" and making the struggle artful. You can follow Melissa @melissa.hemsley and melissahemsley.com...she runs cooking courses and tutorials.Some of the other names we mentioned:@susanjanekitchen@thehappypear@clerkenwellboyec1I mentioned the link to the beauty products I use https://www.nourishedlife.com.au/search.html?tag=sarah-wilson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.