Quillette Cetera copertina

Quillette Cetera

Quillette Cetera

Di: Zoe Sankey
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Quillette's Zoe Sankey sits down each fortnight with scientists, writers, activists, and independent thinkers to interrogate the ideas shaping — and dividing — the Western world. From evolutionary psychology and gender to cancel culture, free speech, Islamism, and the collapse of progressive orthodoxies, no topic is too contentious and no question is off limits. Guests have included policy researchers, evolutionary biologists, political dissidents, and some of the sharpest heterodox thinkers writing today. If you're tired of being told what to think, this is the podcast for you. Politica e governo
Episodi
  • Robert Lynch on Why We Laugh and Why Status Rules Us

    Robert Lynch on Why We Laugh and Why Status Rules Us
    Oct 16 2026
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    Robert Lynch went from Wall Street to addiction to a PhD in anthropology, and then to substitute teaching, where an eighth grader defaced his prized fossil with a Sharpie. Zoe Sankey talks to him about status, humour and the apes we pretend not to be.

    Robert Lynch is a bio-cultural anthropologist who studies how biology, environment and culture shape human behaviour and social mobility. He teaches at High Point University in North Carolina and writes the Substack The Laughing Ape.

    Robert tells Zoe how recovery made him more resilient, and why being humbled by a room of fourth graders barely registers by comparison. They talk about the gap between knowing and doing, and what Andre Agassi’s father understood about it; why chimps and even mice laugh; why Robert argues comedy without risk isn’t really comedy; and why a sense of humour ranks so highly in what both men and women want in a partner. Robert also makes the case that America’s national religion is “You think you’re better than me,” and that not every difference is a rank.

    Watch Robert’s narrated essay: What an Eighth Grader Taught Me About Status

    Read Robert Lynch on Quillette:
    The Ape in the Basement
    Naked in America
    What Is the Point of Anthropology?
    Why Is Funny? How America Lost Its Sense of Humor

    Subscribe to Quillette

    Chapters
    00:00 Introducing Robert Lynch
    00:47 Why biological differences matter
    01:00 Evolutionary psychology and human nature
    01:13 Sex drive differences, and taboo
    01:23 Old ideas, modern culture
    01:42 Cancel culture, shaming and where norms go next
    02:00 From Wall Street to academia and recovery
    03:53 The viral fossil essay
    06:10 Status and social signalling
    07:59 Classroom management and teaching culture
    10:02 Adversity, addiction and resilience
    11:57 Laughter across species
    13:58 The cultural roots of humour
    15:56 Why comedy needs risk
    17:57 Humour as a fitness signal
    19:58 Resilience and not taking yourself too seriously
    21:57 How culture and adversity shape humour
    24:07 Humour and suffering
    26:01 Laughter in humans and animals
    27:58 The evolutionary basis of humour
    30:01 Humour, risk and social cohesion
    32:02 Humour in human evolution
    33:59 Why humour matters in life
    35:59 Humour and relationships
    38:02 Is a sense of humour inherited?
    39:58 Talking openly about taboos
    42:06 The future of humour in a changing world

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    1 ora e 17 min
  • Inside Human Rights Watch: Danielle Haas on How NGOs Stopped Being Neutral

    Inside Human Rights Watch: Danielle Haas on How NGOs Stopped Being Neutral
    Oct 2 2026
    Danielle Haas spent almost 14 years as a senior editor at Human Rights Watch, overseeing the organisation’s thematic and geographic research. In November 2023, she left—and in an exit email to colleagues, she set out her concerns about the rigour of the organisation’s work on Israel. Since then, dozens of current and former staff from across the sector have come forward with similar accounts. Together they founded EiGHT, an insider-led initiative pushing for accountability in the human rights and humanitarian world, which this year published a report drawing on testimony from more than 70 people across nine major organisations. Danielle joins Zoe Sankey to discuss how NGO reports actually get made, who reviews them before they go out, what happens to staff who don’t toe the ideological line, and why she believes the sector needs independent outside scrutiny. For more from Danielle, read her recent Quillette essay, “J.K. Rowling vs. Amnesty.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    55 min
  • Zineb Riboua on Iran, the Houthis, Israel and the Battle for the Middle East

    Zineb Riboua on Iran, the Houthis, Israel and the Battle for the Middle East
    Sep 18 2026
    Zineb Riboua is a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East and founder of its China in MENA Project. She joins Zoe Sankey to discuss Iran, the Houthis, Israel, Turkey, Islamism, China’s influence in the Middle East, and the growing ideological divide between the West and its opponents. Why is Iran escalating from a position of weakness? What do the Houthis actually want? And how does the ideology of third-worldism connect Islamists with parts of the Western left? Riboua explains Iran’s strategy of “buying time”, the impact of sanctions and the naval blockade, China’s role as a source of support for Tehran, and the Houthis’ search for new patrons—including their growing interest in al-Shabaab. She also discusses Morocco-Israel normalisation, the changing balance of power in the Middle East, Turkey and Erdoğan’s ambitions, and the prospects for Syria-Israel normalisation. The conversation then turns to Europe and the West: why some young North African men become radicalised after migrating to Europe, the spread of Islamist and anti-Western ideas, and the rise of third-worldism as a political framework. Finally, Riboua discusses the rise of AI doomerism, China’s role in the debate, the politics of degrowth and environmentalism, declining fertility in the Middle East, and what demographic change means for the future of the region and the West. Zineb Riboua: https://zinebriboua.com Read Quillette: https://quillette.com 00:00 Introduction to Zineb Riboua and the geopolitical context 01:57 Iran’s strategy of buying time and recent escalation 03:50 Sanctions and economic pressure on Iran 05:50 Yemen, the Houthis and regional support 09:07 What do the Houthis actually want? 11:57 The Houthis’ religious and ideological motivations 15:00 Arab, Persian and Bedouin identities 17:56 Zineb Riboua on Morocco, Jewish heritage and Israel 22:02 Islamist radicalisation and antisemitism in Europe 26:11 Foreign influence and the rise of third-worldism 28:59 What is third-worldism? 34:08 Israel’s changing geopolitical role 36:06 AI doomerism, China and the “psyop” theory 39:10 AI panic, regulation and geopolitics 43:00 Degrowth, environmentalism and anti-human ideology 45:01 What young people in the Middle East want 47:04 Falling fertility and the region’s demographic problem 48:59 Turkey, Erdoğan and the struggle for influence 52:08 Syria-Israel normalisation and Turkey’s role 54:54 American politics and the future of US support for Israel 58:10 Why Israel matters to American technology and power 59:58 Closing remarks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 4 min
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