The Free Press Interviews

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Free Press interviews always offer something different. We speak to the people who see changes coming. We speak to the people whose stories help us understand society. We speak to the people who are shaping America and the world. These are conversations you wonߴt find anywhere else, delivered with a dose of common sense. Only at The Free Press.

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54 min ago · Bonus • Subscribers Only

War Expert Evaluates Iran, Gaza, China, and Ukraine

Watch now | Can the U.S. win every conflict around the world? John Spencer answers.
4 hr ago · Bonus • Subscribers Only

Governor George Pataki on 9/11: Did the Terrorists Win?

Twenty-five years ago, then-governor George Pataki led New York through the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, one that killed nearly 3,000 people and left the nation’s financial capital in ash and rubble. On September 11, 2001, Pataki closed bridges and tunnels and refused his own security detail’s advice to retreat to an underground bunker in Albany. Later that day, he was sitting across from New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in a makeshift command center in Lower Manhattan. In the weeks and years that followed, Pataki saw a level of national unity that offered the only silver lining to that day. A quarter century later, that unity—even the basic understanding that the United States has been the target of a terrorist attack—has collapsed. That collapse is what I asked Pataki about in our interview. For two decades, he has wrestled with the question he raised in his 2020 book, Beyond the Great Divide: whether the terrorists ultimately won, not on the battlefield but by unraveling the country’s unity from within. We talked about the rise of figures like Hasan Piker, the controversy over NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani’s planned attendance at this year’s memorial, and why Pataki believes America now faces a different kind of threat today: a moral rot eating away at the foundations of Western civilization. The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
27 Aug · Bonus • Subscribers Only

Editors Killed My Story on Trans Athletes. I Resigned.

Matt Calkins spent 11 years as a sports columnist for The Seattle Times. Last week he resigned after the paper refused to publish a column with a pretty basic thesis: that supporting the separation of biological males and females doesn’t make you transphobic. Calkins says the final column wasn’t a one-off, but the breaking point in a pattern of silencing dissenting voices. He describes a newsroom that changed dramatically over his tenure, especially after 2016, when what started as small edits to his columns turned into a pattern of spiked stories, sidelined pitches, and pressure to write pieces that aligned with the worldview of his paper. He says one editor told him to think about being “on the right side of history” after Calkins fought for one of his stories to be published. The piece that finally saw him resign came after a rally outside a Seattle Storm game in support of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham, who has publicly opposed transgender inclusion in women’s sports—a position roughly 80 percent of Americans agree with. Calkins announced his resignation on X and laid out the full story on his Substack, where he’s now publishing independently. Today, we talk about what actually happened behind the scenes—how his newsroom shifted over 11 years, how dissent got handled internally, why this issue has become such a flashpoint in women’s sports this year, and why he finally decided to walk away.
13 May · Bonus • Subscribers Only

WATCH: Haviv Rettig Gur and Coleman Hughes on the New Fight for Western Values

Watch now | A conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur and Coleman Hughes and hosted by Maya Sulkin on Israel, Iran, and the future of Jewish life in the West.
16 Apr · Bonus • Subscribers Only

Elise Stefanik on the ‘Rotten’ Ivy League, Mayor Mamdani, and Why She’s Leaving Congress

Two years ago, in the wake of burgeoning antisemitism after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, Elise Stefanik sat across from the presidents of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania and asked them a simple question: Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s code of conduct? Their non-answers…
15 Apr · Bonus • Subscribers Only

What Does the Government Actually Know About UFOs?

Over the next four weeks, I’m hosting a video series called What Should Smart People Think About UFOs? As the conversation around UFOs has moved from the fringes of conspiracy culture into serious discussion, including at the highest levels of government, I want to speak with experts who have devoted real attention to the subject, to make sense of what …
9 Apr · Bonus • Subscribers Only

Niall Ferguson: Why Iran Thinks It’s Winning

Late last night, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire. But the first day has already proven rocky: Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel all reported missile and drone attacks from Iran; Israel carried out major air strikes against Hezbollah, raising questions about whether Lebanon is included in the ceasefire; and Ira…
3 Apr · Bonus • Subscribers Only

Trump Says We’re ‘Winning’ in Iran. It’s More Complicated.

On Wednesday night, President Trump delivered a 19-minute address on Iran. As expected, he stressed his accomplishments: “In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield. . . . Iran’s navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them. . . are now dead.” And he issu…

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Conversations with Coleman is where deep thinkers and curious minds meet for sharp, surprising, and unfiltered chats. Hosted by Coleman Hughes, writer, thinker, and guy who asks the questions other people dodge - this podcast isn’t about debating. It’s about discovery. Politics, philosophy, race, culture, science: it’s all fair game. If you're done with hot takes and hungry for real-talk, come join the conversation.

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Philosophy
In School of War, CBS News National Security Analyst and Free Press columnist Aaron MacLean sits down with secretaries of state, top military historians, war planners, and key political decision-makers to help understand the lessons of war. Tune in as School of War takes you to the front lines. Aaron MacLean is a former senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Visit our Substack for episode transcripts Follow along on Instagram

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History
Second Thought is a new podcast from The Free Press tackling pop culture with a sharp, open-minded, and funny point of view. Hosted by Free Press co-founder Suzy Weiss and comedian Dan Ahdoot (Cobra Kai, Undercooked), the show cuts through the noise to explain what everyone is watching, talking about, arguing over, and quietly obsessed with—or will be soon. Expect cutting commentary, unexpected guests, and cultural translating for Gen Xers who want to understand their kids, millennials who are starting to feel like boomers, and everyone in between.

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Society & Culture
In our new season, Veteran reporter Joe Nocera investigates a 94-year-old crime that deserves a second look: the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. ---- The Free Press Investigates brings you gripping, deeply reported stories you can't find anywhere else—and the investigations others won’t dare to cover. You can also listen to our first series, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.

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Society & Culture
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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Society & Culture
Sometimes the news moves so fast, you have to look closely to know if you’ve seen it before. And that’s what this show is about. Breaking History breaks down the news, by breaking down history. We cover everything from LBJ and the Roman Republic to Donald Trump and the chaos at Columbia. This twice a month show from The Free Press delivers the best historians, authors, and reporters by mining the archives of human experience to figure out the present. George Santayana wrote, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Tune in to Breaking History to resist the repetition.

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History

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Free Press interviews always offer something different. We speak to the people who see changes coming. We speak to the people whose stories help us understand society. We speak to the people who are shaping America and the world. These are conversations you wonߴt find anywhere else, delivered with a dose of common sense. Only at The Free Press.