I am approaching 80 years old, conservative, finance background, father to three, grandfather to eight, midwesterner…not exactly the demographic for a Jewish, female with a wife(lesbian is too crass a word) former NY Times writer. Bari Weiss is the most insightful interviewer period. I listen to ten podcasts, five regularly, but never miss “Honestly.” I recommend this podcast more often than any other because of the depth of each session. EG I forwarded the interview with Mike Huckabee (who I heretofore considered a lightweight…boy, was I wrong) to six different people including my 20 year old 4.0 grandson who should begin law school next year saying “this interview alone will give you an advanced degree in Middle East issues.”

Bari Weiss pushes propaganda and corrals corrupt creeps like Briana Wu and Douglas Murray to agree with her. A complete mess of a show.

Outstanding interview with Ambassador Huckabee! America and Israel are lucky to have him in this role. He’s one of the Trump picks that’s actually highly qualified for the job!

The most objective and informative new source that I have encountered. My wife and I joined the Free Press as well.

What a fascinating conversation-so glad I listened to this, gives me so much insight

Why do you use the word cakewalk, Bari?

Bari’s interview with Jake Tapper is just odious. I was waiting for Bari to actually get to the heart of this controversy but she only elided over it and never called Tapper out for the hypocrite he is. Tapper wants us all to believe that he is doing a great public service by exposing this great coverup of Biden’s mental incompetence. The truth is that Tapper and legions of his fellow ‘journalists’ were the ones at the heart of propagating this coverup. He and others excoriated anyone who knew and wanted to tell the truth about Biden. They were never interested in seeking the truth and were complicit in hiding Biden’s incompetence, much to the detriment of our body politic. See Glenn Greenwald’s interview with Tucker Carlson on YouTube discussing this in great depth. Tapper is an unrepentant liar seeking some sort of redemption by ‘exposing’ a contemptible story that he was one of the main authors and promoters of.

Edit: you did the Qataris! Do you read the reviews? Hah. Of course not! But the Qatari ep was good. You earned some stars this week Im sure were going to get a good scoop about a Qatari Boeing jet donated to the president, or the crypto dinner, or Bezos funding a $23m Melania documentary. You made a big stink about Hunter Bidens laptop because that was somehow earth shattering news.

Bari Weiss is about as ‘fair and balanced’ as Fox News. She is full on MAGA without wearing the hat. I had high hopes for her so called Free Press. Free? Only if you agree with the MAGA right. If it were really a free press she’d interview people who she disagrees with the same as she interviews those she fawns over. Not that she disagreed with Jake Tapper but her interview with him about his book on Biden got Tapper to cave to her point of view rather than stand up for the context. (About his interview with Lara Trump). His interview with Sam Harris, although mostly the same, was how an interview should go. Thank you Sam. Bari, you’re a smart woman but you are not looking to represent both sides of a story. Please don’t pretend you are. Just own up to it.

I’ve recently discovered this podcast and enjoyed several of the episodes. But then the “global intifada” episode dropped and i’m gone. Zionism is as bad, if not worse, than South African apartheid. Talk about being on the wrong side of history.

What a couple of delusional liars these so called journalists are. They claim to not have any sources to back up what everyone else plainly saw - and not just a one off but every time Biden was in public. But at the same time Tapper would run with unsubstantiated stories about Trump and have that as the lead story for days. Asking other lying liars what they thought about the latest lie about Trump. They will never learn and I sincerely hope this is the last we see of them in serious discussions.

Dull snacking? Time for a remix?Crunchy pretzel chocolate butter toffee yogurt? Bad match for this podcast! Otherwise, great to hear from Dr. Means. She’s going to save this world.

BW doesn’t confront Tapper or Alex about why they didn’t do their jobs and push for the truth. The most important question she didn’t ask was would they have written this book if Kamala the Mamala won. Bari - you’re the same non journalist they are. Your hate for Trump doesn’t allow you to get to the bottom of their corruption. Coward just like them. These people are making money by covering up their corruption so they can “demand transparency from the President” and continue to torture Trump.

Total cowards who were still in coverup mode. Still trying to justify what the democrats and media did. I was surprised Bari wasn’t tougher on them. They saw the same things that the American people saw but refused to say anything. Then they have the gall to write a book about it.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

So many words to describe “love sick”. This lady rationalizes giving in to her desires with complicated terms and words, her first husband and kids pay the price.

Tough questions were asked but no follow up. Politician just allowed to spin with no checks. CNN level interview. Sad!

Pure lies and propaganda. No facts

Best

Why isn’t Bari constantly talking about the rule of law and all the corruption going on with Trump. Why aren’t we talking about the huge transfer of wealth going only to the rich? Does Bari secretly have a hidden agenda? Is she being paid under the table to push these hidden agendas? Are the Russians paying her like they paid some of Bari’s close friends? This podcast doesn’t seem like it wants to get the whole truth. But partial truth mixed in with lies has always been Bari’s forte.

I love listening to Bari Always interesting Always provocative One of the few places you can hear a civil discussion between two opposing sides

Loved the infomercial that Bari put on for mayor to be Cuomo. Mainstream media has come to Honestly.

Cuomo was evasive and non responsive. Sad that he is the only one marginally better than Adams.

in the second trump era the free press is quickly becoming a juggernaut, in my eyes. lots of big gets—jay bhattacharya, marco rubio on the podcast, usha vance interview in print. just to name a few. i’m a paid subscriber because i believe in the mission. and this is the podcast i’m listening to the most these days. i love love loved the episode about apple in china. yesterday i listened to the interview of governor cuomo, which was by the way hilarious and made, in my opinion, a lot of great points. but why did bari not press cuomo on the sexual harassment allegations? maybe it was going too far, for him to leave office over them. maybe we need to correct course culturally, but i wanted to hear him answer it, now that he’s running for office again. bari also did not bring up the allegations against jed rubenfeld, when interviewing amy chua (this was in front of a live audience, so maybe it was to not be cruel). but i wonder, does bari get guests to come on by promising them she will avoid certain topics? i’m not sure. if so, i would find it hypocritical, as the free press runs articles about how legacy media has failed to ask the hard questions. it’s in the air right now(—who knew about biden’s decline, and when did they know it.) no kid gloves for cuomo, please! no more dancing around the full truth. americans are yearning to trust again.

My favorite podcast! I love Bari, she is a phenomenal interviewer, and has phenomenal guests.

I’m very impressed by Bari & her very astute insights on world events!

Unfortunately this podcast is now running full on commercials and it feels and sounds more like television or radio than podcasts. Major vibe shift. Please go back to reading the adverts instead of the obnoxious commercials!

Bari was a left wing activist before she launched this pod. I applaud her move to the center in this highly entertaining broadcast.

Thank you so much for replaying this conversation, especially in light of the recent nomination of Casey as Surgeon General. Besides being highly informative, it brings a sense of optimism and empowerment to anyone interested in taking control of her health and the health of her family. Not to mention the potential of restoring faith and trust in the Public Health institutions after the disaster of Covid.

I used to love this podcast. As an “independent” or centrist with views that land on both sides of the aisle, it was nice to have a thoughtful, insightful podcast that wasn’t overly biased in once direction. However, during the election it became clear that the FP had fallen victim to audience capture and was quick to point out what I would consider mild infractions on the left, while letting the right get away with murder. Since Trumps election it has only gotten worse. The FP bends over backwards to be charitable to Trump, and it’s gotten pretty gross. And Batya Ungar Sargon is just plain vile. Trump could hang someone in the village square and she’d say it was a solid move. Reporting “both sides” is one thing, but what The FP is engaging in is a classic false equivalence.

I used to love this show, and still love Bari’s balanced perspective. But Batya is a one-trick pony and super annoying. If there’s one more episode featuring her, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to unsubscribe.

This episode portraying the conflict in the Holyland as a binary between good and evil is reductive and silly. Down right wrong. Yes Hamas is evil, Hamas should be eradicated. But the Free Press is supposed to be unbiased, so lionizing the war crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the current regime of the Israeli government and army and calling them “the side of good,” and not so subtly implying that being anti-Netanyahu is anti-Semitic is insulting and dangerous. Can you at least for one minute recognize the war crimes committed by the Israeli state? Or does that hurt your “unbiased” feelings? Is it just so simple that anti-Israeli military action=anti-semitism. Hamas is evil, but that doesn’t excuse Israel from atrocity.

I’m trying to be charitable but I can’t—she’s nuts. Please find someone else to represent the Trump supporters.

Bari and the FP’s other interviewers are brilliant, articulate, nimble, and even-tempered with a dash of humor, even when guests are not. For example: Batya Unger-Sargon. I understand she and Bari are friends, but she’s fallen off a cliff and no longer offers a thoughtful right-leaning pov. Her hyped-up, high-pitched screeching, aggressive, condescending, even nasty attitude, and sometimes inaccurate or twisted use of facts are more appropriate for Fox, Newsmax, or Breitbart than The Free Press. For me, an Independent L-leaning-in-some-areas-R-leaning-in-others voter, having her on the podcast defeats the purpose of why I go to Honestly: to gain new insights and build an intelligent, balanced perspective. I appreciated Batya in the past, when she served as a thoughtful counterpoint to a left-leaning guest, but now, as others have commented, she’s gotta go. Sorry Bari, but she no longer contributes much of anything constructive to an informed and intelligent conversation, and her voice and attitude make me want to screech back at her and change the channel. Seriously, if I wanted to listen to talkers like her, I can easily turn on Fox. I like to think that Honestly and The Free Press are more highly evolved than that.

Outstanding interview with Douglas Murray. He is such an interesting and informative person. Thank you Bari for having him on your podcast.

As a moderate, this used to be my favorite conservative-leaning podcast. While I love Bari and Brianna, giving so much voice to Batya really ruins it. It’s not interesting to listen to people who find no fault in anything their side does. I will no longer download when she’s on. Please bring back more open minded conversations.

Love this show. Tired of hearing from the same two republican/democrats for both sides. Please expand who you’re interviewing for these two sided episodes. We know how these two feel. Let move on or at least rotate in a few different people.

Love the free press, always listen to support the free press because it’s a great operation. That being said I’ve heard enough from these two commentators. They just don’t represent a wide enough range of ideas/opinions to put on as often as they are. I’m sure they are wonderful people and everyone needs a job but nothing they say is surprising or informative at this point.

I’ll come back if things improve, but I couldn’t put it better than Stephen Pinker on April 13, 2025: “Sad to agree… that the Free Press (for which I had high hopes) has "descended into MAGA-lite." Yes, PC-SJW-Critical-Woke-Intersectionality is bad, but some perspective, please: Blowing up the international order, sucking up to autocrats, wrecking the world economy, sowing doubt about vaccines, spreading medical quackery, strangling lifesaving foreign aid, pardoning violent rioters, preventing data collection, spewing nonstop lies, & extorting the press, law firms, and universities is worse.”

Seems like every time Bari interviews someone from the right — and I really want to hear these and understand their point of view — the guest is super emotional and doesn’t answer the questions. Batya was true to form.

Good on you for bringing Batya into the mix. It is really hard to find people who have principles and also support Trump, because Trump tends to demand personal loyalty over principles. But Batya honestly seems to care about American workers (though I think her ideas about how to help them are very counterproductive, and I disagreed with them when the Democrats held them). I don’t understand, though, how she can be for the US’s support of Israel, but toe the Trumpian line on Ukraine and Russia. Is it just that she’s Jewish, or is there a principle at work here? Either we should support little democracies around the world or we shouldn’t. I find myself agreeing with Brianna a great deal, as well as Bari, though I am an old guard Reaganite conservative, fiscally, morally, and in terms of foreign policy. Edit: Aaaaactually, after listening to the most recent episode, I’d say Batya cares about her ideal of an American worker—but not as much as she hates the caricatured wealthy people in her mind. She’s happy to destroy the economy if it means hurting the right people. Somehow, despite hating entitled, spoiled, rich folks who are taking advantage of the poor, she forgets that her hero, Donald J., is, well…an entitled, spoiled, rich guy who is taking advantage of the poor (and pretty soon that will be everyone).

Thanks, Bari, for trusting your audience with a range of voice and perspectives. But if Batya’s primary role is to defend Trump, is there no Trump supporter you could invite who can bring a bit more openness, humility, and groundedness to the conversation? Also, when you are going to have Alex O’Connor on your show? I was hoping you’d pair him with Ross Douthat for a conversation on religion.

Thank you for bringing on Brianna Wu to insert reality into a conversation with Batya Ungar-Sargon. Every time I see Batya is going to be a contributor to ANYTHING I already know what she’s going to contribute: egregious denial and gaslighting.

Goodness gracious, can we possibly get ANY other conservative than Batya?

Since I found this podcast, I get more and more attached to it, because it almost always looks at all sides of an issue, or is at least open to hearing them. However, B.U.S. is 100% Trumpian and can Never see any thing negative about him and what he’s done. As someone who did not vote for him in 2024 (I voted for neither and Did vote for him in 2016) but was relieved Harris did not win, it’s impossible to say that everything he’s done is right. She’s exactly the type of guest that should not be included on this podcast.

Love honestly, love the FP, but for the love of god can we stop with Batya. Please bring in a different pro Trump voice. I find her insufferable

:( do better

I don’t always agree, but DANG she does such a great interview. I appreciate when Bari herself doesn’t agree & doesn’t back off but she is never ugly. She seems genuinely curious. Fascinating guests.

Thank you, Bari, for your curiosity, and your willingness to interview people with different viewpoints than yourself. I have learned so much.

Just listened to the episode with the new head of the NIH. I didn’t know anything about him, except what I heard on the news (biased, of course) How refreshing to hear it straight from him. Thank you, Bari, for an insightful episode.