
UnHerd with Freddie Sayers
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes

Mar 31, 2022 • 28min
Sajid Javid: Zero Covid has been a disaster
Health Secretary Sajid Javid came into the UnHerd studio to talk to Freddie Sayers and look back at lessons learned from the Covid era.Read the full post here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 24, 2022 • 42min
Francis Fukuyama: Can Putin's war rescue liberalism?
Freddie Sayers meets Francis Fukuyama.Francis Fukuyama is a political scientist and public intellectual, most famous for his 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man which has helped to define how we understand contemporary history. His new book is called Liberalism and its Discontents.Freddie Sayers spoke to Dr. Fukuyama about the war in Ukraine, current trends in Western democracy, and how liberalism can better understand aspects of the human condition it has historically neglected.Read the full article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 21, 2022 • 33min
Bill Roggio: Who is really winning the war in Ukraine?
Getting an accurate picture of who is winning the war in Ukraine has become increasingly difficult in the information age. Log onto Twitter and there are images of burnt out Russian tanks being towed away by Ukrainian farmers and hostage-style videos featuring Russians POWs expressing regret over the invasion; meanwhile, Western news outlets are littered with tales of doughty Ukrainian protesters sending the Russian enemy into retreat and Kyivans discovering a newfound unity in the face of war.But is this a fair depiction of what’s really occurring on the ground? Freddie Sayers sat down with Bill Roggio, a leading military analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, to discuss.Read the Post article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 snips
Mar 17, 2022 • 36min
Samo Burja: Russia Sanctions Will Divide Civilisation
Freddie Sayers meets with Samo Burja.With Western powers increasingly united against Russia, we seem to be witnessing the end of the unipolar world. Financially, culturally and spiritually we have never been so bifurcated. Could this be the end of civilisation as we know it?To find a way through the big issues at stake, Freddie Sayers sat down with Samo Burja, a sociologist and the founder of Bismarck Analysis.Read the post article here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 15, 2022 • 18min
The truth about Neo-Nazis in Ukraine
When Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine it was under the guise of ‘denazifying’ the country. But are there really any Nazis in Ukraine? Or is this just a story spun by the Kremlin? Aris Roussinos joins Freddie Sayers to unpick this contentious topic and seek some insight into Ukraine’s far-Right factions.Read the article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 snips
Mar 10, 2022 • 33min
Investigating Aleksandr Dugin and the "soul of Russia"
Freddie Sayers meets Marlene Laruelle.Aleksandr Dugin, the ultra-nationalist Russian philosopher and erstwhile organiser of the National Bolshevik Party, has been referred to as ‘Putin’s brain’. Professor Marlene Laruelle, the world’s leading expert on Dugin, says his influence is no longer direct. Dugin stated mission is to preserve the "Russian soul" and expand the Eurasian empire in defiance of the West. Today, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and increasingly isolated global position feels like some of these visions have become a dark reality. Freddie Sayers sat down with Laruelle to seek a deeper understanding of the oft-quoted concept of the "Russian soul", what Dugin wants and how Putin might be able to help him get it.Read the Post article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 8, 2022 • 33min
Leonid Ragozin: How I got Russia wrong
Freddie Sayers meets Leonid Ragozin.Leonid Ragozin was reporting in Siberia when Putin began to send troops to the Ukrainian border at Belarus. Despite the menacing signs, he was quick to voice his skepticism about Russia’s intentions to invade. But when tanks rolled into Ukraine over a week ago, Ragozin was left, like many, wondering: why had he got it so wrong?To try to answer this question Freddie Sayers met Ragozin to discuss Putin’s mysterious motivations and what the possible outcomes are for the war in Ukraine.Read the Post here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 2, 2022 • 18min
Justin Bronk: Is the Russian war machine broken?
Freddie Sayers meets Justin Bronk.It has been a week since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and one of many unanswered questions is why Russia has yet to launch the vast majority of its combat aircraft, despite having an advantage over the comparatively small Ukrainian air force. Could Putin be holding back the full might of his army for tactical or political reasons? Or is this failure to launch a symptom of poor planning by the Kremlin?To seek out some technical expertise on this topic, Freddie Sayers spoke to Justin Bronk, Research Fellow for Military Airpower at the Royal United Services Institute.Read the full article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mar 1, 2022 • 28min
Andreas Umland: The real nuclear threat is not from weapons
Freddie Sayers meets Andreas Umland.This week we are being inundated with information about what is going on in Ukraine. And the challenge just to get above the noise and find out what exactly is going on and where it might go next. To dig into some of these questions, Freddie Sayers sat down with Dr. Andreas Umland, an analyst for the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European studies and expert in contemporary Russian and Ukrainian politics.Read the full article here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feb 25, 2022 • 25min
San Francisco parents: How we took back control of our schools
Flo Read meets Siva, Autumn, and Ann.Public schools in San Francisco sent their students home for 18 months during the COVID pandemic, the longest school closure in the country. While children were falling behind at home, the city’s elected school board was tasked with handling the re-opening. But, it seemed, they were too busy trying to pander to progressive demands to get children back in the classroom. A group of parents, angry with the extended shutdown and dithering meetings, launched a campaign to recall three members of the school board. Last week, they won. Florence Read sat down with three parents involved in the recall, Autumn, Siva and Ann, to discuss why COVID has been such a disaster for San Francisco's schools.Read the Post piece here: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.