Five years ago, in response to the Covid pandemic, the government mandated a series of lockdowns, with the closure of schools and businesses and social distancing. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by guests to discuss how such a monumental event could have had affected brain cognition, and whether there have been lasting effects on young people. But he also hears tales of resilience among neurodiverse communities.
The neuroscientist Daniel Yon looks at the cognitive impact of unprecedented events in his forthcoming book, A Trick of the Mind - How the Brain Invents Your Reality (published, June 2025). He explains how times of instability and uncertainty upset the brain’s ability to understand the world, and make people more susceptible to conspiracy theories.
The Covid-19 Social Study was the largest study exploring the psychological and social effects of the pandemic on the UK population. Dr Daisy Fancourt, Associate Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London explains what they learnt about the impact of social isolation. The developmental psychologist at Cambridge University, Professor Claire Hughes, has looked more closely at families with young children, across six different countries, with very different lockdown policies. Although there was a link between family stress related to the pandemic and child problem behaviours, more recent work questions whether the lockdown has had longer term effects.
The artist and zinemaker Dr Lea Cooper has co-curated a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, Zines Forever! DIY Publications and Disability Justice (until 14th September). Zines are self-published works, and Dr Cooper says several on display were created during lockdown, and showcase personal stories of resistance and self-expression.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Part of BBC Radio 4's series of programmes exploring Lockdown’s Legacy
D.J. Byrnes of Ohio’s independent news outlet The Rooster returns to the show. We look at constituent outrage at elected officials, D.J.’s sojourn to DC, Cleveland’s $2.5 Billion stadium debacle, and D.J. relates an incredible story of bamboozling Vivek Ramaswamy.
Then, Eephus director Carson Lund and writer & star Nate Fisher join Will to discuss the film, its inspirations, how they went about shooting it, Meat Raffles, and some of their all-time favorite Baseball Guys.
Find D.J.’s chronicle of Ohio depravity at the Rooster: https://www.rooster.info/
Find showtimes for Eephus @ https://www.eephusfilm.com/
What happens when schools lose their way, and how do we restore faith in our institutions? In this special crossover episode from Sweat the Technique, Doug Lemov flips the script and interviews Ravi. They start with a deep dive into Ravi’s journey from aspiring doctor to political staffer to school founder before taking a step back to explore the erosion of trust in American schools and the deep tensions shaping education today. Ravi then reflects on his own experiences founding schools, the ideological battles that helped him realize it was time to leave, and how his views on school choice have evolved over the past decade. Finally, Doug and Ravi discuss what it takes to build a thriving school system in 2025 and weigh the roles of autonomy, accountability, and community in ensuring lasting success.
Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 321-200-0570
Alex Karp is many things: a cross-country skier, a long-range shooter, a tai chi expert who might be the only man who knows how to wield a sword but doesn’t know how to drive. He’s also a collector of extremely prestigious degrees. His PhD thesis was called “Aggression in the Life-World: The Extension of Parsons’ Concept of Aggression by Describing the Connection Between Jargon, Aggression, and Culture.”
Since 2003, he has also been the CEO of Palantir, a software and data analytics company that does defense and intelligence work. Simply put, it’s a company that stops terror attacks—while also helping make sports cars go faster and pharmaceutical companies build better drugs.
Bari sat down with Alex Karp at UATX to discuss his new book, The Technological Republic, which offers a vision of how Silicon Valley lost its way and how the future of America and the West hinges on it finding its way back—fast. It just debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list.
They also discuss Barnard students occupying a campus building, the religious nature of woke culture, and DOGE.
If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today.
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Congressional Democrats were split over whether to support the bill that would avert a government shutdown. In the end Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted for the bill.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed Washington's ceasefire proposal to end the war in Ukraine with Moscow officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "in favor" and agreed in principle to the plan but has some conditions.
The government of Syria's Mohammad Al Sharaa announced a partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S. backed Kurdish rebel group. The move could be key in Syria's rebuilding.
Matthew Schrag, the Alzheimer’s whistleblower who uncovered one of the biggest medical deceptions in history, joins the show. Plus, Chuck Schumer takes the hits, absorbs the pain, and spares Democrats from a brutal shutdown battle—sometimes being a punching bag is part of the job.
Trump & company aren't even attempting to create a pretext for why they're punishing the free speech of political opponents. They are basically confessing in writing to violating the First Amendment. At the same time, the administration claims it's throwing a Hamas supporter out of the country in the name of fighting antisemitism—while giving jobs to the 'right kind' of antisemites. Plus, MAGA turns on Amy Coney Barrett, Trump sees Canada as 'our Ukraine,' and we're looking at a party that is governing like it will never give up power.
David French joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
