Seth Harp
@sethharpesq
X.com
Ross Douthat @DouthatNYT challenged me to a debate on foreign policy. We recorded a 90-minute segment for his show, Interesting Times, on 1/15/26. But I defeated him so decisively that he refuses to air the footage. What an absolute coward.
Today 11:41 AM
Hi
Is the NYT still planning to publish
the interview I did with Ross three weeks ago?
Today 1:01 PM
Hey Seth, we've been working through the edit and it's looking like we aren't going to be able to make it work. We were kind of pummeled by the news cycle in the last 6 weeks and are going to pivot away from this story. Thanks for the time you put into it and for your expertise.
Unbelievable cowardice on Ross's part and a giant waste of my time. I'm going to make it known what actually happened: Ross challenged me to a debate on foreign policy, got crushed, and doesn't have the intellectual or journalistic integrity to air the footage.
Delivered
Seth Harp @sethharpesq. •6h
Five days after we recorded, an editor of mine asked me how it went. I told her that @DouthatNYT was surprisingly unprepared to defend his point of view, and I suspected even then that they would spike it.
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It seemed to go just fine from my perspective although it did get a little heated towards the end when we debated foreign policy. I was somewhat surprised that Ross wasn't better prepared defend his point of view. They may still decide to spike it, we'll see.
SH
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On Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 at 11:41 AM, wrote:
That's great —how did the interview go?
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Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 5h
I also told an editor at Harper's, on 1/30/26, that I suspected the NYT would spike the interview rather than publish video of me dog-walking @DouthatNYT and making a mockery of his defense of US regime-change wars
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Friday 12:35 PM
It's been more than 2 weeks since I was interviewed for Ross Douthat's show. I murdered him in our debate over foreign policy and was genuinely surprised that he wasn't better prepared to defend his point of view.
Now I'm concerned that he will spike the episode.
Do you have a sense of how far ahead they usually record?
Also I really hope I get to hear this
My sense was that it was about a week
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Seth Harp @sethharpesq. •5h
Ross @DouthatNYT was unprepared to take on a subject matter expert, floundered around, and became irritable and sarcastic towards the end.
But spiking the episode is ten times worse for his journalistic credibility than simply losing a debate, which happens to us all.
Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 5h
...
Ross @DouthatNYT's producer blames their decision to spike our foreign policy debate on the crazy news cycle. But the last three episodes they've aired have been on Roe v. Wade, Covid-19, and young men's church attendance.
OPINION
Interesting
Latest
Feb. 5, 2026
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
The first draft of our future. Mapping the new world order through interviews and conversations.
Every Thursday, from New York Times Opinion.
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Seth Harp @sethharpesq. 1h
I'm hearing that prominent guests are cancelling scheduled appearances on @DouthatNYT's show due to his lack of journalistic integrity. Why would you spend hours, days, or weeks prepping for an interview when you know the show is rigged to ensure that you don't show up the host?
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👀 Apparently, Ross Douthat invited Seth Harp to debate him on Douthat's "Interesting Times" NYT podcast. Harp says that the episode was recorded, Douthat got crushed, and RD/NYT decided not to publish it.
What? x.com/sethharpesq/...