Free Press doesn’t allow its subscribers to unsubscribe from their email list. They will keep sending you emails daily. And you can’t block their email either, because they have numerous Free Press accounts. Just an fyi.

Overall a good interview. Bari’s questions were on point. I was disappointed in Axios’ attempt to downplay questions about the media industry’s Biden cover-up. If journalists are naive or unintentionally misled, then they aren’t suited for the job. A trained journalist knows how to investigate - if they don’t investigate or they withhold their findings that’s a choice not an “oops.” From 2020-24, Axios knew to ask questions and call out the dangers of Biden’s decline - why not insist that other outlets hold an equally high and honest standard? I lost some respect for Axios with their minimizing response. Seemed disingenuous.

Hey ‘honestly’, how about an honest discussion about the state of the economy over the last 11 weeks, which has been conveniently ignored during this time. Come on, centrists, give us your best take

Topics such as pronouns would have been salient a year ago. But now it seems there are bigger problems to address rather than retreading all the now-tired themes. We get it - you’re tired of the excesses of the left, and with good reason. How about, however, you perhaps address the excesses of those currently in power. This can be done without espousing a liberal viewpoint. Almost all the newsletters I currently consume are from the Dispatch - a more traditionally conservative publication.

The Free Press is neither free, nor is it credible press. Follow the money.

LOYAL listener but definitely feel like the political topics have been leaning heavily right in the last 3 months and that makes me nervous because this is my go to source for the voice of reason. I recommend this show to my best girlfriends and my kids because it’s well rounded, but HONESTLY not as much as previous. This makes me so bummed because I need this. We need this. Where else are we going to go for truly independent news? It really feels like the tone has shifted and now there is a definite bias toward the right.

Loved the interview with Dr. Jay B. Bari why no lighting round of questions at the end? I love that part.

But the blue hair non-binary crowds might be upset because they are not special anymore.

This podcast may not be perfectly unbiased, but I truly feel Bari tries. And Bari, please use your connections and influence to push hard for public apologies. Dr. Bhattacharya may not need one, but there are some of us who need to hear an admitting of wrongdoing before we can forgive.

I enjoy getting diverse opinions and interviews without agendas.

Bari disclose your largest funders. It’s ethical. Definitely one of the more rigorous debates with credible speakers on the matter, lawyers. The TLDR is that it’s not clear if noncitizens have a first amendment speech rights. Side A advocates they do not, and further the participation of protest activity was coordination with Hamas and therefore a crime, deserving of deportation not protected by free speech. Side B says broadly the opposite. In the 4 short days since publishing everything feels a liiiitle more 1930s Munich. So a lot more international students have been summarily rounded up and disappeared. In the news, Tufts Graduate Turkish student, Rumeysa Ozturk, apprehended. No crime, just wrote an Op-ed. Our school, Minnesota, sent out an email, an international student also apprehended at night at their residence in student housing. Now undergrads are going to have some kooky or abhorrent. These are international students, with fewer constitutional protections than Mr Khalil, but being detained for speech while on US soil is stunning. No matter the nationality. We are a nation without thought crimes, and citizens or not we afford all due process.

A good sign is that all the one star reviews are saying that Weiss is too conservative or too liberal (which says a lot more about the reviewers than the pod). Weiss could put a bit more effort into looking more fairly into MAGA; only interviewing neocons isn’t really representative of the right

TGIF should be regular episodes and all episodes should be audio and video! Overall good guests that Bari brings together often people the NYT will not platform. Probably needs to hear from more Conservative and pro MAGA voices.

Bari Weiss is so transparently biased in her approach to news and guests that this is not a news program at all - it’s just smeary, propaganda on the level of Fox News - if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll love it.

Quit talking to the quacks at the NYT and talk to real people in middle America. We need to go back to the 1950’s and 1960’s when corporations paid 50% tax(which is fair) and families and the middle class were thriving. If it wasn’t for crooked Nixon in the 70’s we’d be way better off now.

The interview with Ezra Cline and some other guy I’m too lazy to look up is a great aperture into the leftist echo chamber trying to recover. They don’t appear to have a single idea ready for implementation that’s more than a buzzword and would win popular support.

Finished the audiobook in less than 24 hours. Must read!! Makes you think and realize why we are in this horrible sit uation in our country NOW!

Has anyone made an A.I. Bari Bot? I would definitely not be able to tell the difference. She is perfect. She is her. Her and the Sam Harris robot would be best friends. Dancing in fields of unrivaled reasonableness. Logic is their nectar.

I feel like this podcast markets itself as being unbiased or at least attempting to include more voices than just Democrat… but I’m still waiting for an episode whose tone is not overall very liberal. They allow more voices, which is unusual for modern democrats, but largely those dissenting voices are challenged much more than liberal ones. I still listen to glean what I can, but this is definitely not the unbiased, moderate podcast I hoped it would be. The search continues.

Would love to hear a discussion about the public lands debate that is very important to many Americans, particularly those of us in the West. This is one area hunters, anglers, ATVers, skiers, hikers, climbers, rafters and bikers agree on - they don’t want to lose their public lands. It also touches on how out of touch my fellow dems seems to be (specifically your two most recent hosts) on the build, build, build campaign as well as the current administration. We in the West live differently. Public lands are a huge part of our economy, a way of life, and a bipartisan love. Where I live, public lands consist of 73% of our state (Idaho), 33 million acres. I hope you can cover this topic soon. Thanks for all you do!

I felt compelled to write this review after seeing several negative reviews around various guests but particularly around Batya. I’ve been a fan of Bari since her days at the NYT and she hasn’t missed on any of the regular contributors. While I don’t often agree with Batya, at least in entirety, she brings a much needed perspective that was otherwise lacking from the panels. Bari recently spoke about not pandering to her audience, and that’s what I love about this brand. Don’t listen to the negative reviews and keep offering the wide variety of perspectives on events you long have. Thank you!

Please consider bringing in another voice for the populist movement.

I hate her politics, but Weiss is a lot hotter than I expected based on her terrible voice and opinions.

I first learned of Bari’s work on Bill Maher’s Real Time and always found her analysis of current events, politics, and culture to be both engaging and insightful. When I discovered she had a podcast shortly after October 7th 2023, I was excited to give it a listen. At first, I really enjoyed the show and thought it was an ideologically balanced and informative podcast with a strong focus on the classically liberal value of free speech. Over the past few months though, the show has drifted rightward and some episodes (particular the ones with Batya) just feel like they are intended to serve as gateway drug for Trump sycophancy. The formula is as follows: 1) include a guest that is stridently and uncritically pro-Trump, usually Batya, 2) have a guest or two with alternative viewpoints that are either weakly defended or are too reasonable/civil to get into a debate with the pro-Trump guest, and 3) Bari briefly talks about how she formerly had a more liberal/classically liberal perspective on the topic of the day, but now she is questioning her old views and considering the Trump-aligned view. Seems like this show is trying to redpill people. Eli Lake’s work on Breaking History continues to be good and I will continue listening to it! Might come back to Honestly if they discard the new formula and go back to their classic approach.

In the past I have appreciated the viewpoint of Bari Weiss. I didn't always agree with her views but she was offering a different perspective to that of the far left or right. However, the podcast seems to have taken a turn towards the awful tech-MAGA direction. I think The Free Press is funded by some tech people like Peter Thiel and the recent change in tone makes me think she has been purchased by the right. I no longer feel like her pov is unbiased and have stopped listening.

The discussions, multiple, with Batya Unger-trumpluvver are so ham handed and idiotically biased it makes it difficult to listen to her when she has good points. Which sadly seem to be less and less. Anything Trump does is the greatest this or that. She comes off as a very naive gen Xer who knows very little of the world before she graduated from high school. And Brianna and Christopher pushed back VERY lightly. Kind of a one-sided, non-diverse discussion.

I’ve been listening to Honestly for a while now—despite initially being turned off by Bari’s misinformed views (just listen to her on Joe Rogan’s podcast). However, in recent months, I’ve found myself craving a more diverse panel of co-hosts than the ones they’ve had on. Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate Brianna and Batya, though the latter’s shrill, chaotic voice, with its piercing tones and unpredictable swings, grates like nails on a chalkboard. Every sharp outburst sends my blood pressure skyrocketing, making it almost unbearable to listen. I’ll be unfollowing this podcast, but perhaps in the future, I’ll be back. Thanks for the work you do.

Masterful analysis of history! You give me hope, Eli.

I have been a listener and reader since the Common Sense days. I love your work. However, I skip all the Batya and Brianna panel episodes now. They are annoying at baseline and lately they have been featured every other episode. It’s getting to be a bit much. Batya supposedly represents Trump voters but she’s really just a lefty who worships Trump because he “represents the workers” or something. Brianna supposedly represents the reasonable Dems but is still consistently insane. Surely you can find a couple other people to represent the “normie” conservatives and liberals. I miss the days when it was more Bari giving thoughtful interview. These Batya-Brianna panels make me feel like I’m listening to CNN or Fox News. And this is coming from someone who voted for Trump.

Don’t tell us how we’re going to feel! You’re going to feel influence. A reporter asked Zelenskyy why he wore the same shirt. He began the shirt thing. The whole time he rolled his eyes, tried to get reporters to ask him a question, and wanted to debate on the world stage. YOUR GOING TO FEEL INFLUENCE ! He kept saying. Then ran to the UK. He never came that day to sign a deal to negotiate. That was very very clear to see.

Why is Brianna Wu on every episode lately? It’s too much. Please bring back Michael Moynihan.

Let me start by saying that I am a subscriber to this podcast, and I listen to it religiously. Over the last few months I feel like it has increasingly turned further and further right, with Batya dominating the conversations to the point that I just turn it off. She’s a hard right MAGA who salivates over Trump and on one episode screamed “that’s LEADERSHIP!!” to the laughter of her co-hosts. I think she’s exemplifying the Right’s version of the hysterical far-Left that Bari is trying to call out. Aren’t we trying to move away from that? Please stay centered. Don’t air voices that can’t stay balanced. We deserve better.

I love Honestly and always recommended it to friends and coworkers. I don’t always agree with the views of the guests, but they are always respectful and knowledgeable so I still like listening to what they have to say and learn from each episode. With that being said I just cannot listen to episodes with Batya on them. It’s really turning me off of the podcast. She is often argumentative and not respectful to others in the way that I expect guests on the show to be, and it’s hard to hear out her opinions because of the way she articulates them. I’m going to take a break from the show. She is just so rude and difficult to listen to

I listened with sympathy and a soft heart when I heard Batya cry about the Israeli children. I was horrified by that story and heart broken. ALSO, I am an American living in Ukraine and her viewpoint on Ukraine made me weep for a different reason. What about our children? Do their deaths not matter as much? So, one nation of people being killed by a war machine is devastating, but another is just a Trump strategy so it’s okay? I can’t believe what I am hearing from this podcast and I will never listen again.

3 things. Bhatia is AWESOME. All the USAID bot-people trashing her here just can’t stand to hear thoughtful, rational, intelligent people on the right. Sorry. This isn’t CNN. You’re going to have to hear ideas you don’t like. 2) I loved hearing the acknowledgment of Reagan’s greatness on foreign policy - especially from democrats. 3) Reagan wasn’t in a hot war with the Soviets. He beat them economically. His proxy war was Afghanistan. That ended well. Trump has two options - escalate a war with a nuclear power and risk WWIII, or negotiate a settlement. Those of you pretending there’s a third are not being realistic. This country has to refinance 25% of our debt in 6 months, at interest rates that are 2x higher than when we borrowed the money. This has to stop.

I really like this show but I have to turn it off when Batya’s annoying and strident delivery comes on. She is not a good representative of a rational person presenting her view on things. She sounds hysterical. Going to take a pass each time she is on going forward.

I love listening to the balanced debates you have in your show and the way you moderate the conversation but please, find an alternative to Batya. Soooo annoying…..

Bari, I was concerned to hear you denigrate democracy as Brianna portrayed it by stating that it was a democracy which elected Hamas. This is not factually true. Hamas’ control of Gaza was born out of a terrorist coup. It is in fact, the opposite of a democratic process. Let’s try not to do anything to denigrate democracy!

Surely this is obvious? How can her commentary be taken seriously? She is practically religiously evangelizing The Way of Trump.

But Batya’s take on Russia was just unbelievably dumb

I like the panel style representing all viewpoints, but Batya has to go. Her idealization of Donald Trump brings down the whole podcast. Unlike Brianna who is able to put herself on the other side, Batya can’t contain her child-like obsession with Trump the hero. I almost had to turn this off when she started gushing over Trump defending/standing up for the American taxpayer in the Oval Office …

Loyal listener since Ep. 1. But Batya’s increased presence on panel discussions is making it nearly impossible for me to listen. She’s defensive, bullying, breathless, overly emotional. She speaks faster and louder and over the top of the other guests in order to presumably dominate them. She interrupts and changes the subject, beats a point, chews on a pet issue, makes it about her, often when the rest of the guests have moved on. I cannot CANNOT with Batya. And she didn’t used to be this bad. PLEASE less Batya. More Quilette. More Sevodnick. Measured guests not firing off on breathless emotional rants and disrespecting/ picking fights with the other guests. Journo from Quilette on recent pod or with panels with Wu or Sevodnick, Batya frequently interrupting and bullying and it’s frustrating because I want to hear what the other guests have to say! Her voice -objectively- is also not a great audio, I have to scrub through her, her voice makes me wince and hurts my ears. I know she’s a close friend of Bari’s but that doesn’t mean she should always automatically have a seat at the discussion just because she reps as the stanning Trump fan girl.

I unfollowed everything, from right left and center, and took a break after the election. But I’m back and reviewing for the first time. Bari, Batya, and Brianna are my Charlie’s Angels, their mission is to keep me informed, without suppressing dissenting options and without driving me insane with reactive nonsense. I appreciate you 3 and your willingness to go to bat for what you think and believe without becoming toxic reactionaries. Seems to me that is a super power these days. More power to all three of you.

The Batya Ungar-Sargon/Briana Wu hot takes episodes are not worth the time. Ungar-Sargon is too much of a Trump hype person to offer anything interesting. Either get an equally strident lefty to debate her and go full cable news. Or get a more measured, reasonable person for Wu to discuss with. Wu is often eager to point out where the left is going wrong but gets steamrolled by the Trump hype train. Not interesting or nuanced pod.

Batya’s screeching on the last Zelenskyy-Trump episode was honestly physically hurting my ears. She’s not a good listener—but a great blatherer! Sometimes it gets to be pretty frustrating that nobody rebuts her obvious exaggerations. The thing I don’t get about this Trump argument for befriending Russia is he isn’t explaining anything. Instead he is just vilifying Ukraine and Zelenskyy. Why do that? Nobody mentioned how Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator prior to the meeting. Why do that? I think it’s fair he wasn’t so gleeful to be in the Oval Office. Also wanting an end to the war is very different than supporting Trump’s actions.

I once enjoyed this podcast because it challenged my views and offered perspectives overlooked by other media outlets. Since Trump was elected, I’ve waited to see how Bari might turn her eye on the new administration. I’m entirely disappointed and now realize she’s largely an apologist for broligarch billionaires and MAGA. Many of the ideas she crusades against are no longer mainstream on the left.. yet she continues to present the world to us as though wokeism is the most dangerous movement of all time while entirely disregarding the far more extravagant abuses of our new leadership. Her moment has passed..

Like most of us I have been living in a news echo chamber and really appreciate the varied perspectives Bari airs on the show. However I have to stop listening whenever Batya Ungar-Sargon speaks. I know she has a unique political perspective and I am not opposed to hearing that perspective… she just sounds so unhinged and conspiracy addled and screechy. Please have her write more and speak less.

But, man it’s a hard to listen to that MAGA chick on here. You really understand how cultish and unreasonable they sound when you put one on panel with a few normal people.

Always enjoyed Bari’s and the shows deeper-than-legacy-media commentary and analysis, but I guess the “vibes have shifted”. The variety of smart perspectives seems more like just a variety of perspectives now, with some of the regular guests/hosts laughable at times, maybe even a bit delusional. Finding it harder and harder to listen to, lately, which makes me sad.

I really wanted to listen to this episode but had to turn it off because I don’t enjoy high emotion as I’m trying to learn.