Hard Knox with Amanda Knox
Episodes
The Myth of Confrontation
28 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when confronting the person who hurt you doesn’t bring the closure you hoped for? In this episode, Amanda responds to a listener wrest...
Why Men Need a Tribe (Elliott Ackerman)
21 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Elliot Ackerman is a decorated combat veteran, CIA paramilitary officer, and New York Times bestselling novelist. In this episode, he joins Amanda Kno...
A Wee Existential Crisis
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when the thing that gave your life shape is finally, imperfectly, done? In this solo episode, Amanda Knox reads an original essay about...
How Paying for Intimacy Changes Everything (Andrea Werhun)
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Andrea Werhun is an author, filmmaker, and former sex worker whose memoir and documentary Modern Whore challenge how we think about sex, labor, and st...
Musing: Ignorance Is Not Objectivity
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What's the difference between bias and expertise? When a critic dismissed Amanda Knox's commentary on the Lucy Letby case as the grievance of a biased...
Why You Believe Weird Things (Michael Shermer)
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What is truth, and why does finding it actually matter? Amanda sits down with Dr. Michael Shermer, founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, longtime Sc...
Audio Essay: Kill the Buddha and Slay, Diva!
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a stranger on Twitter told Amanda “Jesus, put on some makeup,” she responded with a joke: an AI image of Jesus wearing makeup and a one-word...
Why Prison Forces Us to Ask Hard Questions (John J. Lennon)
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
John J. Lennon is a journalist, author of The Tragedy of True Crime, and a convicted murderer who joined Amanda for this conversation from prison, whe...
Crisis Chemistry or Trauma Bonds?
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris unpack the complicated idea of trauma bonds, from Amanda’s relationship with Raffaele during their wrongful imprisonment to the qui...
Why the Arc of History Still Bends Toward Justice (Timothy Egan)
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Egan is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, National Book Award–winning author, and longtime New York Times columnist who publicly challenged...
How Cringe Becomes Art (Lauren Weedman)
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Lauren Weedman is an Emmy-nominated writer, comedian, and actor known her roles in HBO’s Looking, Hung and Hacks. She is also a renowned solo perfor...
How Television Shapes Public Truth (Warren Littlefield)
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Warren Littlefield is an award winning television producer and former NBC network president whose career spans landmark shows from Cheers to The Handm...
Ask Amanda Anything: Pivots, Joy, Dance Floors
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this Ask Amanda Anything episode, Amanda and Chris tackle big, tender questions about career pivots, privacy, creativity, and what it means to live...
Why Adaptation Is a Human Superpower (Maya Shankar)
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist, writer, and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, whose new book The Other Side of Change explores who ...
Tending Your Garden in a Burning World
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a moment when the news feels relentless and outrage is often treated as a moral obligation, Amanda reflects on what meditation is really for. Is si...
Why Being Right Won't Set You Free (Michael Semanchik & Scott McMahon)
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Semanchik is the executive director of the Innocence Center, and Scott McMahon is an American who spent more than five years imprisoned in the Ph...
New Beginnings
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Hard Knox, Amanda is joined by her husband Chris for an intimate and surprisingly funny conversation about the practice of beginnin...
Why Hope Is Learnable (Scott Barry Kaufman)
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and bestselling author whose work explores creativity, intelligence, and what helps people grow after har...
Who's Right? - The True Meaning of Christmas
27 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris debate the true meaning of Christmas through stories about Charlie Brown, gift giving, religion, pagan traditions, and very strong op...
How Journalism Can Be an Act of Hope (Nicholas Kristof)
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Kristof is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and longtime New York Times columnist whose reporting has taken him from the Tiananmen Squar...
Ask Amanda Anything - Life Advice, Dark Humor, Bad Dates
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Ask Amanda Anything episode, Amanda answers listener questions that range from deeply personal to playfully unexpected, touching on disability...
Why Win-Win Thinking Is So Hard (Liv Boeree)
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Liv Boeree is a former professional poker champion turned science communicator whose work explores game theory, technology, and the incentive systems ...
Old School: Protect Your Heart (Jason Baldwin)
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
By the time he was sixteen, Jason Baldwin had already felt the sting of prejudice from his community in West Memphis, Arkansas. Kids at the trailer pa...
Who's Right? - Excuses
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reach out to us at www.amandaknox.com or amandaknox.substack.com X: @amandakn...
Why Shame Makes the Best Punchlines (Youngmi Mayer)
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Youngmi Mayer is a comedian, writer, and podcaster whose work blends dark humor with deeply personal stories about trauma, identity, and immigrant fam...
How Fear Distorts Our View of Climate Solutions (Isabelle Boemeke)
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabelle Boemeke is a former fashion model turned climate activist, author and the world’s first “nuclear energy influencer,” known for making o...
Old School: Love and Justice (Anna Vasquez)
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Vasquez was just nineteen when she and three of her friends were accused of a horrific crime that they were completely innocent of. Their case wa...
Who's Right? - Gratitude
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris return for another round of Who’s Right?, this time debating the meaning and future of Thanksgiving. Together they ask how the holi...
How the Genius Myth Misleads Us (Helen Lewis)
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Helen Lewis is a journalist and author whose new book The Genius Myth dismantles how achievement really works. In this conversation, Amanda and Hele...
Who's Right? - Can You Fake It Till You Make It?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this playful and revealing back-and-forth, Amanda and Chris debate the ethics, psychology, and survival-value of improvising your way through life....
How to Discover What You Really Want (Aella)
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this weeks wide-ranging conversation, Amanda Knox and Aella, a writer, sex worker, and self-taught researcher, explore the art of questioning every...
Old School: The Why of the Why (Dylan Marron)
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Most people are pretty bad at having difficult conversations. We don't get much practice--the internet makes sure that we mostly see content from peop...
Who's Right? - Saying "No"
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who's Right is back by popular demand! Between our usual Hard Knox episodes, Amanda sits down with her husband, Chris to debate something serious or s...
How Soldiers Make Sense of an Unwinnable War (Phil Klay)
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Phil Klay is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and National Book Award–winning author of Redeployment, Missionaries, and Uncertain Ground, whose work exam...
Who's Right? - Arranged Marriages
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who's Right is back by popular demand! Between our usual Hard Knox episodes, Amanda sits down with her husband, Chris to debate something serious or s...
How We Evolved to Be Good (Nicholas Christakis)
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Christakis is a Yale sociologist and physician whose research explores how human connection, cooperation, and contagion shape societies. In t...
Old School: The Aha Moment (AJ Jacobs)
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris get lost in the wide world of puzzles with AJ Jacobs, author of the The Puzzler: One Man's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles e...
Who’s Right? - Accept Death or Defy It
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who's Right is back by popular demand! Between our usual Hard Knox episodes, Amanda sits down with her husband, Chris to debate something serious or s...
The Satanic Panic – How Pop Culture Got Possessed (Sarah Marshall)
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Marshall is a writer and podcaster, best known as the cohost of You're Wrong About and creator of The Devil You Know, a CBC podcast series explo...
Ask Amanda Anything - Young Love, Oversharing, Presence
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode Amanda relfects on how to tell your story while protecting a teenager’s privacy, why intentional oversharing can build connec...
How Hyperpersuasion Hijacks Free Will (Rebecca Lemov)
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Lemov is the author of The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyperpersuasion, whose work explores how people are persuaded...
Old School: Excellent Advice for Living (Kevin Kelly)
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There's some wisdom you can only find when you're lost, which has led Kevin Kelly, senior Maverick and co-founder Wired magazine, to get lost intentio...
Ask Amanda Anything - Star Trek Uniforms, Gaslighting, Disengagement
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Ask Amanda Anything, Amanda unpacks the complexity of memory, truth, and the quiet work of setting boundaries with those we love, e...
Why Fear Is the Worst Parenting Strategy (Emily Oster)
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Oster is an economist, bestselling author, and creator of Parent Data, where she uses research to cut through fear-driven myths about pregnancy ...
Ask Amanda Anything - Punchlines, Pain, Permission
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you laugh at the absurdity of your own trauma without minimizing it? Why do we expect people who’ve been hurt to perform grace, and what if t...
Why Comedy Is the Last Refuge of the Honest (Michael Moynihan)
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Moynihan is a journalist, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, and a writer known for his unflinching takes on politics, culture, and free exp...
Old School: Lost in Faith (Megan Phelps-Roper)
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything – Stand-Up, Trust, and Dating After Notoriety
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Ask Amanda Anything: From prison letters to public scrutiny, Amanda reflects on trust, resilience, and what it means to be seen. She shar...
How Hate Becomes a Path to Compassion (R.G. Shore)
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
R.G. Shore, author of The Ocean Inside Me and a meditation teacher who began his practice in prison, joins Amanda for a conversation on resilience and...
How Trauma Rewires Desire (Katie Simon)
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Simon’s latest book, Tell Me What You Like: An Honest Discussion of Sex and Intimacy After Sexual Assault, explores how survivors chart divers...
How Belonging Shapes Democracy (Yascha Mounk)
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yascha is a professor at Johns Hopkins University, the Founder of Persuasion and the host of The Good Fight podcast, known for his work on democracy, ...
Old School: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (Dr. Kari Nixon)
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything - TV Portrayal, Italian Fluency , Han Solo or Indiana Jones
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Ask Amanda Anything: How it feels to watch your own life turned into television. Why false confessions still shape the way justice fails....
How to Drink Your Way Sober (Katie Herzog)
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Katie Herzog is a journalist, podcaster, and author of Drink Your Way Sober, a candid and science-based look at alternative paths to recovery. In this...
Ask Amanda Anything - Betrayals, Storytellers, and Balance
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Ask Amanda Anything: Why do betrayals from old friends still cut so deep, even years later? How can a lie about something small spiral in...
How Sugar Dating Complicates Consent, Power, and Perception (Brook Urick)
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brook Urick became the public face of Seeking Arrangement, the dating site that brought sugar babies and sugar daddies into the mainstream—and into ...
Old School: A Religious Conviction in Aliens (Michael Shermer)
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything - Public Judgement, Surveillance Culture, and Empathy
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week Amanda responds to your questions and reflects on how public judgment can shape your identity, why dramatization can spark empathy, how wron...
How to Stay Sane in a Media Storm (Jake Tapper)
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, CNN anchor and novelist Jake Tapper joins Amanda in a wide-ranging converasation about navigating public scrutiny, maintaining person...
Bonus Episode: Seven Songs Podcast
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Hard Knox...music! We’re sharing Amanda’s guest appearance on Life in Seven Songs, a podcast where guests tell their life stories thr...
How to Forgive the Unforgivable (Anthony Graves)
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Graves spent 18 years in prison—12 of them on death row—for a crime he didn’t commit. In this conversation, he shares how he survived so...
Bonus Episode: Honestly with Bari Weiss and Amanda Knox
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As a bonus for our Hard Knox listeners we are sharing Amanda’s recent appearance on the podcast Honestly with Bari Weiss. Bari is a journalist, auth...
Why Trusting Your Gut Is Harder Than It Sounds (Zosia Mamet)
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zosia Mamet is best known for her starring role as Shoshanna Shapiro in the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series Girls. In this episode Zosi...
How to Turn Scandal Into Strength (Monica Lewinsky)
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox—self-described “Sisters of Ill Repute”—have each reclaimed their own narratives in the face of withering publi...
Ask Amanda Anything - Advice for Jurors, Judging One's Soul, Favorite Meal
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reach out to us at www.amandaknox.com or amandaknox.substack.com X: @amandaknox IG: @amamaknox Blues...
How to Be Good Without Being Boring (Dessa)
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dessa is a genre-defying rapper, writer, poet and thinker. In this sharp and witty conversation she talks with Amanda about why being a “good person...
Old School: Acknowledging the No (Chris Ballew)
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything - Navigating Conflict, Responding with Intention, Power Dynamics
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Amanda explores how to navigate conflict without getting trapped in outrage cycles, and why responding with intention matters more th...
Why Getting Lost Might Be the Point (Rick Steves)
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rick Steves is a renowned travel writer, television host, and guidebook author known for turning tourism into a tool for cultural connection, personal...
How to Turn a Slur Into a Symbol (Simon Tam)
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Tam shares how naming his band “The Slants” launched him into a decade-long legal battle over identity, free speech, and what it means to re...
How Strength Becomes a Cage (Melissa Arnot)
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you let go of control when survival once depended on it? In this candid and searching conversation, world-renowned mountaineer Melissa Arnot ta...
Old School: The Point of No Return (Roz Savage)
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything - Living Without a List, How to Find Common Ground, Parenting for Independence
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda reflects on what it really means to be an adult, how to foster trust without control, and why setting boundaries that keep kids safe doesn't me...
How Iranian Women Are Leading a Revolution (Zahra Amanpour)
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why are Iranian women leading the fight for freedom—and how have they sustained that fight for over four decades? In this powerful conversation, Zah...
Ask Amanda Anything - Forgiving Guede, How to Become Fluent, How to Tell Your Own Story
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Ask Amanda Anything, Amanda discusses Rudy Guede's new trial and why she no longer needs to confront her friend’s killer to find ...
Why Monogamy Isn’t Morality (Dan Savage)
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sex advice legend Dan Savage joins Amanda for a conversation about desire, trauma, and why our culture still freaks out over butt stuff. They dig into...
Old School: It's OK to Be OK (Samantha Geimer)
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Old School, where we revisit some of our best episodes from previous years with some current reflections on why these episodes are still fa...
Ask Amanda Anything - Punching Down, Change Your Past?, Does It Get Better?
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the first episode of Ask Amanda Anything, Amanda opens up about everything from the gendered double standards in her wrongful conviction to that ti...
Why The Truth Matters More Than Winning (Marcia Clark)
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Marcia Clark is a former prosecutor best known for leading the O.J. Simpson trial. Today, she’s a bestselling crime novelist and legal commentator w...
Introducing: Hard Knox
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After years of telling stories—my own and others—I realized I wanted to spend more time on the ideas underneath the narrative arcs. So I’m launc...
#126 - Out of the Labyrinth
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After five years of exploring life’s twists, turns, and dead ends, Amanda and Chris are wrapping up Labyrinths—but not without one last walk down ...
Best Of: Everyone's Biased, But Me (Itiel Dror)
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Itiel Dror is used to facing resistance to his work. It comes with the territory when you're a neuroscientist studying cognitive bias in experts: ...
Who's Right? - Saying Goodbye
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris explore the emotional complexity of saying goodbye, unpacking why goodbyes can be so difficult, the rituals that help us let go, and ...
#125 - The Cost of Disbelief (Dr. Aleksandra Treglown)
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Aleksandra Treglown has spent years listening to children recount the worst moments of their lives—only to watch their truths be ignored. In thi...
Best Of: Modeling Cruelty, Modeling Courage (Emily Wilson)
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Wilson traveled the world over the course of her modeling career. But one photoshoot always...haunted her. She was accustomed to be valued for h...
Who's Right? - Work/Life Balance
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris return from yet another whirlwind of work and travel to ask: can you really have work-life balance when your life is your work? In th...
#124 - Circling the Rabbit Hole (Stephanie Kemmerer)
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie Kemmerer spent years spiraling through conspiracy theories—from 9/11 truthers to reptilian overlords—before a single, personal conversat...
Best Of: Defending a Monster (Shannon Smith & Molly Blythe)
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When defense attorneys Shannon Smith and Molly Blythe agreed to represent Olympic doctor Larry Nassar, who pled guilty to sexually abusing young gymna...
Who's Right? - Video Games
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris go head-to-head on the great screen-time debate. Are games a mindless escape or a meaningful form of play, connection, and creativity...
#123 - Warrior Pose (Ashley Spence)
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley Spence’s life was shattered at 19 after a violent assault by a stranger—but that’s not where her story ends. In this episode, she shares ...
Best Of: Revelations of an Opened Marriage (Minda Lane)
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A year shy of turning 40, Minda Lane realized she wasn't happy in her marriage, and she proposed to her husband Jack that they try out polyamory. She ...
Who's Right? - First Impressions
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris and Amanda explore why our snap judgments often miss the mark, what it takes to see people clearly, and what happens when a terrible first impre...
Free: My Search for Meaning. A Live Book Discussion.
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For today's episode of Labyrinths we are stepping outside the studio to bring you a live recording of Amanda discussing her new memoir, Free: My Searc...
Best Of: The Pleasure of Pain (Mistress Cyan)
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda was accused of orchestrating a sex-game gone wrong that ended in murder. But what does a sex-game gone right look like? Amanda and Chris connec...
Who's Right? - Friendship
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris dive deep into the messy, meaningful, and often awkward realities of adult friendship—from ghosting to bro weekends to birthdays. I...
Bonus Episode: A Slight Change of Plans | Is Amanda Knox Finally Free?
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re sharing an episode of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans that Amanda recently appeared on. On A Slight Change of Plans, Dr. Maya Shankar ble...
#121 - Off the Record (Ashleigh Banfield)
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Ashleigh Banfield has survived war zones, 9/11, and the brutal churn of network news. But her most disorienting challenges have been deeply...
Who's Right? - Social Media Detox
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amanda and Chris debate dopamine addiction, digital identity, parenting without smartphones, and the existential question: are we just curated content...
Best Of: Blood Money - Part 1: One Bloody Thing After Another
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
True crime has become a massive industry that takes real life suffering as grist for the content mill. Is it possible to tell such stories in an ethic...
#120 - Smoke and Mirrors (Mike Rothschild)
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Investigative journalist Mike Rothschild recently lost his home in the L.A. Fires. Drawing from his personal experience, he joins us to discuss how mi...