Factually! with Adam Conover Headgum
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- Comedy
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Comedian Adam Conover talks to exceptional experts, revealing shocking truths and thought-provoking new perspectives. It’s an investigative comedy podcast for curious people who never stop asking questions.
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Journalism is Collapsing with Matt Pearce
The profession of journalism is facing a crisis. Recent years have brought devastating layoffs to nearly every major news outlet, with local newspapers shuttering daily. As these institutions crumble, we're faced with a question: what does a world without journalism look like? This week, Adam is joined by journalist Matt Pearce, who recently experienced large-scale layoffs at the LA Times. Together, they discuss the industry's apparent demise, the irreplaceable role of boots-on-the-ground reporting, and speculate on journalism's future.
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How the Algorithm Warps Our Culture with Kyle Chayka
The internet once felt novel and exciting, with new mysteries waiting to be discovered around every corner. These days there's a different mystery: who is actually deciding everything that you end up seeing? Journalist Kyle Chayka, author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, has been watching how platform algorithms have been invisibly been guiding culture, and how they've been failing us. In this episode, Adam and Kyle discuss what algorithms get wrong about what people want, how that warps our culture, and how creative people have started making content to serve the mathematical needs of platforms instead of actual human beings.
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Why Big Tech is Ruining Our Lives with Brian Merchant
Express skepticism about technology and you might be labeled a "Luddite." However, the true story of the historical Luddites offers a fascinating perspective on the relationship between workers and technology. In this episode, Adam chats with tech journalist Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, about the historical Luddites and their fight against wealthy elites replacing the working class with machines—a struggle made only more relevant by the state of the tech industry today.
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How to Grow from Trauma with Dr. Edith Shiro
The conversation about trauma is everywhere, and it seems like our culture is finally grappling with the concept openly. But here's the thing: if we don't get what trauma really is, on a psychological or biological level, it can be hard move past it. In this episode, Adam sits down with Dr. Edith Shiro, the author of The Unexpected Gift of Trauma: The Path to Posttraumatic Growth, to talk about what trauma truly means, the misconceptions around it, and the tools required to grow from it.
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Free Will Absolutely Does Exist with Dr. Kevin Mitchell
Is free will a scientific fact? Dr. Kevin Mitchell, neuroscientist and the author of Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will, certainly thinks so. While some, like recent guest Robert Sapolsky, argue that biology and physics can explain away free will, Kevin begs to differ. Join Adam and Kevin in this episode as they dive into how evolution paved the way for free will and unravel the common misconceptions surrounding the "I" that makes choices.
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Capitalism Has Mutated Into Something Worse with Yanis Varoufakis
Capitalism has changed. A century ago, capitalists amassed untold wealth by manufacturing goods, but today, our economy appears to be dominated by massive tech corporations that don't actually produce anything. Instead, these tech giants offer platforms—such as search engines, AI, or marketplaces—through which they extract profits from users. Adam speaks with Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece, about his book Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, exploring how this new form of capitalism jeopardizes our livelihoods and what measures we can take to safeguard our future from big tech.
Customer Reviews
Podcast willing to tackle difficult subjects
Adam has thought provoking conversations with exceptional guests. Some of the most informational podcasting on the internet
Info you won’t get elsewhere
I watch and listen to everything Adam creates. He’s smart but modest, has great guests, and is fun and funny. I love that an episode titled FREE WILL DOES NOT EXIST was followed by an episode titled FREE WILL ABSOLUTELY EXISTS.
The episode with Rashid Khalidi
The episode with Rashid Khalidi during the week of Jan 15 helped fill in quite a few holes I had in understanding what’s going on in Israel. I just downloaded the book and I hope that will fill in more and lead me to other information. My thanks to Adam for having this conversation and being open to learning along with all of us.