Reason's Nick Gillespie talked with one of the great pioneers of podcasting, Dan Carlin, the host of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Carlin has been putting his thoughts out there for all to hear since the aughts. His deeply researched and urgently delivered takes on everything from Julius Caesar's wars on the Celtic tribes of Gaul to 20th century Imperial Japan's horrific conquest of Asia are downloaded by the millions.

They discussed Carlin's upcoming live tour, how he would update his 2019 book The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments From the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses in light of COVID-19, and whether he believes we can really learn meaningful lessons from history.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Hardcore History's Dan Carlin: 'History Is Not Like Math'

Today's guest is Nick Cave, the music legend who emerged from Australia in the 1980s. Over the years, Cave has written screenplays, soundtracks, and novels, and has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, from Johnny Cash and Kylie Minogue to P.J. Harvey and Neko Case.

Known for his brooding and meditative mystique, he coauthored the bestselling Faith, Hope, and Carnage in 2022, receiving plaudits for openly discussing his struggles with heroin addiction, his lifelong fascination with Jesus Christ, and his artistic development. Since 2018, he's published The Red Hand Files, where he answers readers' questions in a manner that is deeply vulnerable, touching, and insightful. Wild God, his rave-reviewed new album with his longtime band The Bad Seeds, is out on August 30.

Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with Cave about his unshakeable commitment to free speech, how the death of his 15-year-old son affected his art, his abiding interest in ritual and religion, and why he refuses to join artist boycotts of countries such as Israel.

This interview was recorded on location at the storied Electric Lady Studios in New York City.

0:00—Introduction
1:09—Ad: The Dispatch
2:15—The Red Hand Files
8:13—Connecting with audiences after loss
16:20—The Birthday Party's early days in London
20:10—Is Nick Cave a "goth"?
25:19—Ad: Bank On Yourself
27:09—New album, Wild God
29:53—Transcending cynicism and contempt
33:23—AI, pessimism, and losing avenues of meaning
39:35—Religious yearning and doubt
45:32—Defending free thought and expression
48:25—Kanye West's antisemitism and extraordinary creations of gospel music
50:26—Antisemitism, Jews, and Israel
52:47—Roger Waters, Brian Eno, and Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)
58:33—Brief stint in Los Angeles
59:50—Loss and creation during COVID-19
1:03:10—Social media and censorship
1:05:10—The freeing effects of aging

Today's sponsors:

Bank On Yourself: Bank On Yourself is a proven retirement plan alternative that banks and Wall Street are desperately hoping you never hear about. It gives you guaranteed, predictable growth and retirement income; access to your money for any purpose with NO questions asked and NO government penalties or restrictions; and the peace of mind that comes from knowing the minimum guaranteed value of your retirement savings on the day you plan to tap into them. Go to Bank On Yourself.com/WORD and get a free report about the retirement plan alternative that lets you bypass banks and Wall Street, and take back control of your financial future.
The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a live taping of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. The next event is scheduled for Wednesday, September 11, and features Fox News' Kat Timpf, whose new book is I Used To Like You Until…(How Binary Thinking Divides Us). Tickets are $15 and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and food. Go here for details.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast

Nick Cave: I See The World As ‘Systemically Beautiful’

Today's guest is Amanda Knox, an activist, writer, and host of the podcast Labyrinths. In 2007, while studying abroad in Italy, Knox was accused of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in what the lead prosecutor claimed was a bizarre sex game gone wrong. Despite mishandled DNA, a coerced confession, and a lack of credible evidence, Knox was convicted and spent nearly four years in an Italian prison before being exonerated in 2015. Her case was a media spectacle that sensationalized every aspect of her life.

Reason's Billy Binion talks with Knox about her views on true crime after her story became one of the biggest examples of the modern era. They also discuss the psychological impact of being imprisoned for something she didn't do; what Knox thinks the U.S. criminal justice system gets right and wrong; and how she reacts to people who still believe she's lying. What's more, she shares a fascinating tidbit about her relationship with the lead prosecutor on her case—something that will be featured more in her new book Free, which is available for preorder.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Amanda Knox: 'I Have Felt Utterly Exploited' by True Crime

Today's guest is Rep. Chip Roy (R–Texas), a fiscal hawk whose commitment to balancing the budget has led President Donald Trump to call for primary challenges against him.

Nick Gillespie sits down with Roy to talk about why he ultimately voted for the president's budget-busting One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), whether the controversial redistricting plan going on in Texas is legit, the expansion of the federal government under both major parties, and where libertarians and conservatives can work together to reduce the size, scope, and spending of the state.

0:00—Intro

0:41—Why we must control government spending

4:20—The OBBBA and the national debt

6:30—Facing off with Trump

9:25—The Federal Reserve's existence and independence

11:00—Reforming the health care system

14:21—Victories from the OBBBA

19:16—The influence of Ron Paul

24:51—Immigration, labor, and assimilation

35:17—Is there a new GOP consensus on foreign policy?

41:50—Texas redistricting

44:28—Cultural identity of Texas

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Chip Roy on Why He Backed Trump's Spending Bill

Curtis Sliwa became famous by stepping in where the government was falling short. As the New York mayoral candidate told Reason's Jesse Walker, the Guardian Angels—the anti-crime patrols that Sliwa launched in New York City in 1979—were born because "the government completely failed us….We filled the gap."

In the years since then, Sliwa has expanded the Guardian Angels to cities around the world, launched a multidecade career in talk radio, confessed that some of his organization's early crime-fighting exploits were hoaxes, and survived a very real assassination attempt allegedly ordered by the Gotti family. Now he's aiming to be mayor, running both as a Republican and on an independent Protect Animals ballot line against the self-described socialist Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the scandal-plagued incumbent, Eric Adams.

Sliwa's thoughts don't always follow predictable lines. On immigration, he cheers crackdowns on "the bad hombres, the drug dealers, [and] the gangbangers" but warns that "everybody should be afforded due process….You don't just pick them up, put them on Air Con, and take them to that gulag in El Salvador. That's not the American way." He shrugs at market solutions for housing—"I don't trust the developers, I don't trust the realtors"—while blasting the city for mothballing thousands of public apartments. He thinks marijuana should be legal and fast food should be more tightly regulated. He's fine with President Donald Trump sending the National Guard to police D.C., but "if he would've tried to do it in New York City, I'd say, 'Whoa.'"

Walker interviewed Sliwa twice in August for a Reason profile—once while Sliwa was campaigning on the subway and in East Harlem, and once in the Manhattan building that houses the candidate's campaign HQ. This is the second of those conversations.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


If You Don't Like Socialism or the Establishment, Curtis Sliwa Wants Your Vote

The Reason Interview goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries who are making the 21st century more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by challenging old, worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.

Today's guest is Lenore Skenazy, a journalist and activist dubbed "the world's worst mom" for letting her nine-year-old son ride the New York subway alone back in 2008. Since then, she's become a regular contributor to Reason and the co-founder, with psychologists Peter Gray and Jonathan Haidt, of Let Grow, which pushes for laws and school programs [ok? - a nonprofit can't "change laws"] to restore independence to kids.

She talks with Nick Gillespie about why kids today are more anxious and less free than they used to be, how fear and over-parenting took over American childhood, and why the free-range parenting movement is finally on the rise.

How can we make The Reason Interview better? Take our listener survey for a chance to win a $300 gift card: http://reason.com/podsurvey

0:00–Intro

1:14–Spend less time with your kids

4:57–Childhood safety myths

10:50–Parental fears of failure

17:05–Generational divides on parenting

20:18–Criminalizing childhood

26:16–Politics and parenting

29:09–Let Grow and local legislation

41:14–What do children actually want?

45:17–How Skenazy became the "World's Worst Mom"

48:12–Childhood autonomy in pop culture

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


How We Criminalized Childhood

In this special live episode of The Reason Interview, Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch reflect on the shocking murder of Charlie Kirk and the broader implications it carries for American politics. They discuss how his killing fits into rising concerns about political violence and what it signals about the nation's increasingly volatile climate.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Charlie Kirk and America's History With Political Violence

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and visionaries who are making the 21st century more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by challenging worn-out ideas and orthodoxies.

Today's guest is Joe Dolce, whose new book is Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration.

Dolce argues that psychedelics aren't just the province of hippies or tech bros anymore. They are powerful and increasingly popular—and legal—tools for therapy, self-discovery, and play.

He talks with Gillespie about everything from the misunderstood role of ketamine in Friends star Matthew Perry's death to why ibogaine may be the only substance on Earth that can stop addiction cold, to how we went from "Just Say No!" campaigns to mail-order magic mushrooms in just a few short decades.

How can we make The Reason Interview better? Take our listener survey for a chance to win a $300 gift card: http://reason.com/podsurvey

0:00—Intro

1:25—What do psychedelics teach?

7:02—Psychedelic safety and ketamine myths

13:01—How psychedelics work and ibogaine effects

19:12—Microdosing

23:00—Psychedelics and altered states

28:10—Generational perceptions of psychedelics

30:59—Cultural acceptance of psychedelics

42:22—The future of psychedelics

48:34—Drug legalization and access

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Psychedelics Are Not Just for Hippies and Tech Bros

In this episode of The Reason Interview, Nick Gillespie is joined by Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, author of the new book Beyond Control, to discuss the evolution of gun and drug laws in America. They examine how decades of prohibitionist policies have backfired, undermining liberty and justice without delivering safety.

This was originally recorded live on September 4, 2025.

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Why Banning Drugs and Guns Never Works

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie goes deep with the artists, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and visionaries who are making the world more libertarian—or at least more interesting—by championing free minds and free markets.

Today's guest is Ben Wizner, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He says that President Donald Trump's second term has brought an all-out assault on free speech—targeting comedians, immigrants, universities, and even law firms that take the "wrong" cases.

Gillespie and Wizner put Trump's actions in the context of past presidents and discuss whether the ACLU has strayed from the days of defending the free speech rights of American Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, Unite the Right protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in New York.

They also discuss the legacy of Edward Snowden, with whom Wizner worked, and whether government spying on citizens has gotten better since the whistleblower revealed illegal mass surveillance of Americans during the Obama administration.

0:00—Introduction

1:04—Free speech under Trump

5:33—Comparing Trump to Biden on free speech

9:42—Have Americans become more comfortable with censorship?

16:21—The Federal Communications Commission and Jimmy Kimmel

25:43—What are Trump's standards for protected speech?

28:46—ACLU cases protecting the speech of immigrants

40:12—Why the ACLU defended the NRA

45:02—Has the ACLU remained committed to its mission?

53:52—Protecting the rights of students on college campuses

55:46—Snowden and the state of mass surveillance

Subscribe at YouTube: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Visit the archive: https://reason.com/tags/reason-podcast


Can the ACLU Serve Progressives and Conservatives?

Founded in 1968, Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Our podcast offerings include:

The Reason Roundtable
Every Monday, the libertarian editors of the magazine of “Free Minds and Free Markets”—Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Peter Suderman—discuss and debate the week’s biggest stories and what fresh hell awaits us all.

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie
Want to know what comes next in politics, culture, and libertarian ideas? Reason’s Nick Gillespie hosts relentlessly interesting interviews with the activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians who are defining the 21st century.

The Soho Forum Debates
Reason presents a libertarian-themed debate series recorded monthly before a live audience in New York City. Moderated by former Barron's Economics Editor Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum features Nobel prize winners, radical thinkers, and other public intellectuals facing off over the future of bitcoin, veganism, sex work, illegal drugs, electric vehicles, abortion, robotics, government debt, and other controversial topics.

Popular tracks tagged #the reason interview with nick gillespie