Show Notes
Freddie Sayers debates the killing of Renee Good by ICE Agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis with civil liberties attorney Jenin Younes and UnHerd’s US editor Sohrab Ahmari, examining the incident through the lens of the "Rashomon effect" where observers draw diametrically opposite conclusions from the same evidence. Was the shooting a catastrophic violation of civil liberties and potentially an illegal execution, or does the responsibility lie with Good for obstructing a lawful federal operation and “weaponising" her vehicle, a view echoed by the Trump administration's branding of the event as an act of domestic terrorism. The discussion concludes with YouGov’s David Montgomery, who reveals how the broader American public view the use of force, and what significant long-term political risks the incident may yield for the Republican project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from UnHerd with Freddie Sayers
This week, riots and looting have spread across French cities after protests over education spiralled out of police control. To some, this is a cautionary tale of unbridled immigration and a warning to other European powers. But look closer and there might be more to the story than you'd find on an X feed. To analyse the mood on the ground and the wider context of the crisis, Freddie is joined by historian of French culture Andrew Hussey and writer Philippe Lemoine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks to MIT evolutionary engineer Kevin Esvelt about a suspicious biological researcher's death in Irkutsk, Russia, using the incident to explore the escalating biosecurity risks posed by engineered pandemic weapons, vaccine-evading pathogens, and AI-accelerated gain-of-function research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dr Iain McGilchrist has dedicated decades of neuroscience research to unravelling the inner workings of the human mind. But now, a new form of ‘consciousness’ has come to compete with the very idea of being a person. Could artificial intelligence overtake its creators? Join the psychiatrist, philosopher and author of the bestselling book The Master and His Emissary, for a live on-stage conversation with UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers talks to Oxford philosopher Professor Nick Bostrom about the escalating concerns over artificial intelligence, weighing whether catastrophic warnings from industry insiders reflect genuine existential fears or commercial strategy, while analysing technical threats like deceptive alignment and autonomous AI coordination alongside the broader economic, geopolitical, and societal risks of managing superintelligence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Freddie Sayers talks to UnHerd columnist and co-host of The Econoclasts Wolfgang Munchau about the political earthquake triggered by the hard-Right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) historic election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, examining why young voters and non-voters are turning away from the centrist consensus, the total failure of Germany’s political ‘firewall’ strategy, the collapse of Friedrich Merz’s leadership within the CDU, and how a rising wave of hard-Right governments across France, Italy, and Germany could ultimately paralyse the European Union. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.