Factually! with Adam Conover
Episodes
You Are Going to Die with Caitlin Doughty
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We know we’re going to die. So why don’t we act like it? This week, Adam is joined by Caitlin Doughty to discuss human composting, aquamation, gre...
Talking About the Weather with Daniel Swain
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones, and why are they mercilessly attacking us? This week climate scientist Daniel Swain joins Adam to discu...
Justice for Animals with Martha Nussbaum
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What, exactly, do we owe to our fellow animals? Which animals are conscious, and how do we tell? How can we know what’s best for animals that cannot...
Viral Justice with Ruha Benjamin
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the problems facing us are so massive and systemic, how can we ever hope to address them as individuals? This week’s guest, Ruha Benjamin, joi...
Snitching with Alexandra Natapoff
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is a snitch, and why is the use of informants so corrosive to criminal justice? This week, Adam is joined by Alexandra Natapoff to talk a...
How DAs are Changing Criminal Justice with DA George Gascón
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve talked a lot about criminal justice reform, but this week, we’re discovering how it’s actually put into practice. Adam is joined by Los An...
Why No One Wins the Lottery with Jon Cohen
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lotteries are the most popular form of gambling. So why the hell is the lottery run by our own government? And do they actually provide a windfall for...
How Viruses Have Shaped Our World with Joseph Osmundson
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Viruses are everywhere. But what exactly ARE they, and why have they been able to reshape our world? This week Adam is joined by microbiologist Joseph...
Why Humans Need Music with Susan Rogers
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What does neuroscience tell us about music’s impact on our species? And why do humans enjoy music at all? This week, sound engineer and neuroscienti...
How the NLRB Defends Workers Rights with Jennifer Abruzzo
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Workers are standing up for their rights across America, but to fight back against corporate power, they need help. This week Adam is joined by the Ge...
How Humans Took Over the World with Yuval Noah Harari
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve got a big one this week: best-selling historian and author of Sapiens and Unstoppable Us Yuval Noah Harari joins Adam to explain how human...
Africa is Not a Country with Dipo Faloyin
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why is one of the most populous, diverse, interesting places on Earth barely covered in the media? Why isn’t the most violent conflict on Earth bare...
The Big Bang of Numbers with Manil Suri
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can you create the universe with nothing but mathematics? This week mathematician Manil Suri joins Adam to explain why and how math is fundamental to ...
Existential Physics with Sabine Hossenfelder
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What does quantum physics have to tell us about the human experience? This week, Sabine Hossenfelder joins Adam to explain how quantum physics affects...
The Science Fiction of Climate Change with Kim Stanley Robinson
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most science fiction about climate change is apocalyptic. But what if we actually used our imaginative powers to invent a universe in which we DO some...
The Congressional Modernization Committee with Reps. Derek Kilmer and William Timmons
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Congress is at a historic low point of dysfunction and voter confidence. Today on the show, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Congressional Modernizatio...
What If? with Randall Munroe
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Would leaving your freezer door open help climate change? What would happen if you slid down a fire pole from the Moon down to Earth? And how has crea...
What’s Happening in Iran and Why? with Reza Aslan
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Iran is currently being rocked by protests against the oppressive theocratic regime that rules the country. What is happening there, and what brought ...
How to Fix the Housing Crisis with Brian Hanlon
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The housing crisis seems like one of the most intractable problems threatening America. But slowly and surely, we’re solving it, and you can be a pa...
How to Solve the Climate Crisis with Bill McKibben
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change is the biggest disaster facing humanity. And yet so often, our solutions seems to be limited to buying slightly better grocery bags and...
How to Organize a Movement with Mie Inouye
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do we fight back against those who are trying to take away Americans’ civil rights? Scholar and organizer Mie Inouye joins Adam to explain how A...
Thinking Seriously About Comedy with Nick Marx and Matt Sienciwicz
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Comedy is one of world’s oldest, most popular art forms, but almost no one thinks seriously about what comedy is or what it’s for. Is comedy inher...
The Facts About Immigration with Leah Boustan
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Americans are trapped in two competing narratives about immigration: That we’re a nation of immigrants, and that outsiders are invading to steal our...
Are We Fucked? with Chris Hayes
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change, racial inequality, and the anti-rights revolution all feel like comets heading towards our inevitable destruction. If you’re depress...
How to Fix Transportation with Secretary Pete Buttigieg
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why is it so hard to get around in America? Why is it so much more expensive to build a mile of transit here than it is in any country? And will we ev...
How to Do Nothing with Jenny Odell (Re-Broadcast)
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of our move to Starburns Audio, we’re taking a week off and running a Factually classic. In this interview from 2019, Adam speaks with Jenn...
Animal Crisis with Lori Gruen and Alice Crary.
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How can we best help animals, when it’s we humans who cause their suffering? Animal Crisis authors Alice Crary and Lori Gruen join Adam to explain...
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals with Stephen Brusatte
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In times of turmoil, it can be useful to take a longer view of history. Like, a LOT longer. Paleontologist and author of “The Rise and Reign of the...
Governing Trans Identity with Paisley Currah
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Trans people have existed as long as, you know, people have. But the barriers to legal inclusion and equality are still higher than most people realiz...
Asian American Histories Of The U.S. with Catherine Choy
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Asian Americans are an essential part of the history of this country, but the true story is all too little told, especially in a time of rising anti-A...
Popping the Crypto Bubble with Nicholas Weaver
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Crypto is crashing, which makes it the perfect time to ask whether blockchain technology is actually — you know — useful for anything. Computer sc...
The Real Problem with A.I. with Emily Bender
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is artificial intelligence a problem, or is the real problem how we’re using the term in the first place? Linguistics professor Emily Bender joins ...
Psychiatry’s Desperate Remedies with Andrew Scull
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Despite our efforts, we seem to be no better at treating mental illness than we were hundreds of years ago. Desperate Remedies author Andrew Scull jo...
What Happened to Criminal Justice Reform? with James Forman Jr.
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, America went through a national reckoning about our racist criminal justice system. Just under two years later, has all that progress evapora...
Robots, Robots, Robots! with Kate Darling
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When we picture robots, we normally think of an artificial being created in our own image. But what if this were deeply misleading? Author ofThe New B...
Junk Science and the Criminal Justice System with Chris Fabricant
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our criminal justice system gives the impression of being impartial and fact-based, but in reality, it’s anything but. Innocence Project lawyer and ...
The G Word and the Truth About Our Government with Michael Lewis
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Adam’s new series The G Word is out this Thursday on Netflix! To commemorate the premiere, this week The Fifth Risk author Michael Lewis turns the...
The Right to Repair with Aaron Perzanowski
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do we really own the devices we buy? ‘The Right to Repair’ author Aaron Perzanowki joins Adam to explain how companies are using their power to co...
How Religion Evolved with Robin Dunbar
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of debunking religious beliefs, what if we investigated where religion comes from, and why it’s virtually universal across human cultures? ...
The Latest Science on Climate Change with Sarah Burch
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The IPCC Report is one of the biggest, most important scientific projects ever undertaken by humankind, bringing together thousands of scientists from...
A People’s History of Climate Change with Eugene Linden
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve known about climate chance since the 80s. So why has action been so slow? Journalist and author of Fire and Flood, Eugene Linden, joins Ada...
The Great Stewardess Rebellion with Nell McShane Wulfhart
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 1960’s are often depicted as the the golden age of air travel, but the reality for the stewardesses who worked the skies was far from gilded. “...
The Long, Slow Death of the Internet with Cory Doctorow
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The early Internet was open, exciting, and deeply optimistic. So how did we end up, just a few decades later, with one that’s closed, exploitative, ...
The Power of Poop with Lina Zeldovich
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we have such a cultural aversion to human poop, when it’s so fascinating and useful? Stay with us: in this episode, science journalist Lina Z...
Why Do Men Rule the World? with Dr. Alice Evans
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world and for most of history, human societies have been dominated by men. Why? Professor and author of the forthcoming “The Great Gender...
China's Kingdom of Characters with Jing Tsu
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
China is now one of the world’s most powerful nations. But how did its unique and formidable language shape its rise? Jing Tsu, the author of Kingd...
Why Is Housing So Expensive In America? with Jenny Schuetz
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why is housing so expensive, when other human needs like food are relatively cheap? Brookings Senior Fellow and author of Fixer-Upper, Jenny Schuetz, ...
Reconsidering Reparations with Olufemi Taiwo
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The American conversation about reparations is sadly narrow. But what if reparations could address not just the sins of the past, but the injustices o...
What Americans Don’t Get About China with Kaiser Kuo
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Despite how much our media talks about China, most Americans don't really know all that much about it. What is China’s view of itself and its recent...
Indigenous Science with Jessica Hernandez
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What would our world look like if we paid more attention to the knowledge indigenous communities have discovered about the world around us? On the sho...
The Great Resignation and the Rebirth of American Labor with Hamilton Nolan
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As we head into the third year of the pandemic, US workers are organizing and unionizing like it’s the early days of the Industrial Revolution. But...
Is Virtual Reality… Real? with David Chalmers
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We spend more time in digital, virtual spaces than ever. But are those places really real? If they are, does that mean we could be living in virtual ...
The Philosophy of Games with C. Thi Nguyen
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Playing games is a fundamental human activity. But despite their ubiquity, they’ve never gotten the serious study from scholars they deserve. Why do...
Death to Medical Debt! with Allison Sesso
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our abusive, for-profit healthcare system has left Americans swimming in harmful medical debt. On this week’s episode, Adam meets someone who’s do...
How Modern Medicine Has Failed Women with Elinor Cleghorn
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A deeply embedded idea in our culture is the sexist notion that men are the “default” human, and women the unknowable “other". Nowhere is this m...
The Downfall of the NRA with Tim Mak
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The NRA has been unbelievably successful in achieving its goals. Now, it's falling apart. How is that possible? On the show today is National Public R...
The Mass Disappearance of Insects with Akito Kawahara (Re-Release)
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Factually we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes. Entomologist and professor Akito Kawahara joins Adam to discuss why insects ...
Does Pfizer Have Too Much Power? with Hannah Kuchler
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Even though the COVID-19 vaccines were born of publicly-funded research, our privatized medical system has left them to for-profit companies like Pfiz...
How Water Shaped Humanity with Giulio Boccaletti
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As humans, we like to believe that we shape the natural world. But in reality, its laws and patterns have deeply structured our own society. To tell t...
George Orwell's Love of Nature with Rebecca Solnit
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Orwellian” has become such an overused adjective that we’ve forgotten what George actually believed and cared about. In her new book, Orwell's ...
The Intertwined History of America and Cuba with Ada Ferrer
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s impossible to discuss the history of Cuba without talking about the history of America; the stories of the nations are simply too intertwined. ...
Revolutionary History with Mike Duncan
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
No periods in history are more fascinating than those moments when the status quo is overthrown and everything changes. This week, podcaster and autho...
A New History of Humanity with David Wengrow
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When telling the history of our species, why do so many writers keep regurgitating the same centuries-old just-so story? If we had a more accurate, tr...
What is Xenophobia Exactly? with George Makari
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings have long been afraid of the "other." But is this fear ingrained in our psyche, or a product of our surroundings? And where does the word...
Why Single Party Rule is Bad For Democracy with Stan Oklobdzija
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Once one party totally controls the government in a state or city, it should be easy for that party to pass all the laws it wants to, right? Well, wro...
How Genres Shape Music with Kelefa Sanneh
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many musicians and fans reject genre labels as narrow-minded restrictions on what music can be. But what if the opposite is true? What if our notions ...
On Animals and Humans with Susan Orlean
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling author and acclaimed journalist Susan Orlean joins Adam to discuss our complex, often contradictory relationships with the animals we love...
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Went Mainstream with Tara Haelle
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fear of vaccination has been around since the first vaccine over 200 years ago. But now the anti-vaccine has grown from a fringe phenomenon to a mains...
The Joy of Sweat with Sarah Everts
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're talking about sweat. Yes, sweat! Science journalist Sarah Everts is on the show this week to unpack her new book, The Joy of Sweat: Th...
Labor under Big Tech with Veena Dubal
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The job market is now dominated by tech monopolies that are using their power to lower wages and squeeze workers. Luckily, the workers are finally fig...
Confronting a Future without Roe v. Wade with Mary Ziegler
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The right to an abortion has been in legal limbo in America for years. What does the passage of SB8 in Texas mean for abortion access in this country,...
The Spectacular Social Lives of Crows with Anne B. Clark
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Crows may seem like garbage birds that only live to pick through trash on your street, but they're actually some of the most intelligent animals on Ea...
The Future of Money with Eswar Prasad
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the rise of mobile payment services and cryptocurrencies, money is at a moment of profound transformation. What is happening to money now, and wh...
Our Anti-Monopoly Moment with Zachary Carter
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've suddenly gone from a world with little antitrust enforcement to one in which strong anti-monopoly action has broad bipartisan support. How did t...
The Science of Addiction with Judith Grisel (Re-Release)
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Factually we're re-releasing one of our favorite episodes, in which Adam and renowned behavioral neuroscientist Judith Grisel discuss the...
Watching Paradise Burn to the Ground with Lizzie Johnson
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The California Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. This week investigative reporter Lizzie Johnson is o...
What Happened in Hong Kong? with Victoria Hui
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In just a few years, the Chinese government has wiped out the political freedoms once promised to Hong Kong. How did this happen, and what is next for...
Is My ADHD Real? with Stephen Hinshaw
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since he was diagnosed as a kid, Adam has wondered if ADHD is a serious psychological condition, or a false diagnosis pushed by an overzealous in...
Is AI Really Inevitable? with Glen Weyl
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everywhere you look, some pundit is claiming that AI is soon to replace humanity. But is that really inevitable - or are we choosing to make it happen...
How The Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax with Jesse Eisinger
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Jesse Eisinger joins Adam to explain how he and his colleagues at ProPublica exposed how little billionaires pay in taxes – often, nothin...
Your Ring Doorbell is Working with the Cops with Johana Bhuiyan
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
LA Times reporter Johana Bhuiyan joins Adam to explain how Ring built a private surveillance empire by promising kickbacks to an unlikely accomplice: ...
Seashells Contain an Ocean with Cynthia Barnett
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Seashells may seem like a small topic for a book, or a podcast. But when we look into them deeply, we find that they reveal startling truths about our...
What Do We Owe Wild Animals? with Emma Marris
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What are our moral obligations to nature, and the wild animals that live in it? Should we vaccinate them? Should we feed them when they're starving? S...
Why Self-Driving Cars Aren’t Coming Any Time Soon with Dr. Missy Cummings
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tesla and other automakers have convinced the public that fully automated vehicles are just around the corner. But what if … they aren’t? Dr. Miss...
12,000 Years of Humans Altering Earth with Dr. Jacquelyn Gill
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As nature lovers, we prize the idea of places untouched by human influence. But new research shows that such places were few and far between as long a...
The Unheralded Story of Native Americans in Comedy with Kliph Nesteroff and Adrianne Chalepah
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Despite their limited representation in the media, Native Americans have had a profound influence on American comedy. So why isn't Charlie Hill a hous...
Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics with Carlo Rovelli
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Quantum mechanics is over a century old, yet most of us still struggle to truly understand it. This week theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli is on the...
Why Trust Science? with Naomi Oreskes
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We know that not all American trust science. But why, exactly, should they, when scientists are fallible humans, just like the rest of us? Acclaimed s...
Premium Preview: Questions & Adam
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're bringing you a FREE episode of Adam's STITCHER PREMIUM show, Questions & Adam. In it, Adam chats and answers questions with comedian frien...
The Truth about the Americas in 1491 with Charles C. Mann
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week Adam welcomes an author whose book blew his mind more than perhaps any other. Americans are typically taught that prior to the arrival of Eu...
Toil and Turmoil in the Video Game Industry with Jason Schreier
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you love video games, working in game development sounds like a dream job — especially since the industry now grosses more than movies and sports...
Democracy is in the Details with Tomas Lopez
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Voting rights are under assault around the country. And while we tend to see “democracy" as a big, abstract noun, it’s the smallest, most mundane ...
What is Crypto Art, and Why? with Everest Pipkin
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It had to happen eventually: We’re doing an episode about crypto. This week artist and technologist Everest Pipkin joins Adam to discuss Bitcoin, th...
Why Facebook Refuses to Fix the Misinformation Crisis It Created with Karen Hao
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Facebook pushes dangerous misinformation to billions of people every day. So why can’t it… stop? This week, MIT Technology Review’s Senior AI Re...
100th Episode! Samantha Bee Talks Comedy and Information
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's Factually's 100th episode! To celebrate, Adam is joined by Full Frontal host Sam Bee to discuss the art of combining fact with farce. They talk t...
Why Is the Fertility Rate Falling? with Dr. Shanna Swan
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are a lot of causes of the declining global birth rate – education, freedom, and even the decline of subsistence agriculture. But what if one ...
The High Cost of Cheap Clothes with Dana Thomas
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Clothes today cost a fraction of what they cost our grandparents — but why, and at what cost? Journalist and author Dana Thomas joins Adam to break ...
Why “Critical Thinking” Can’t Beat Misinformation, and How to Fight It with Michael Caulfield
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re flooded with misinformation, and new research shows that cliches about “thinking critically” and “doing your own research” are counter...
The Case for Medicare for All with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why is America's health care system so effed up, and what can be done to fix it? Author, physician, and civil servant Dr. Abdul El-Sayed joins Adam to...
How Amazon Reshaped America with Alec MacGillis
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist and author of "Fulfillment", Alec MacGillis, joins Adam this week to discuss how Amazon’s unprecedented and wide-spread growth has reshap...