Ross Douthat is a conservative NYT opinion writer.  I'm a liberal, but he is one of the conservative thinkers for whom I have the most respect.  He has integrity, he is respectful of guests on his podcast (his podcast is "Interesting Times", though the link I'm sharing is from his appearance on fellow NYT opinion writer Ezra's Klein's podcast).

This is a really big deal.  He is a serious journalist, extremely bright, curious, thoughtful, and probing.  He is not a softball interviewer.

The relevant portion is the last 10 minutes or so or the podcast (it may actually be the last 7 minutes or so but I don't feel like checking at the moment).

He notes earlier in the podcast that one of the character traits he has that he feels has served him well in his profession is his credulousness - a certain willingness to accept the plausibility of things even before definitive proof arrives - which, while it of course leads him to dead ends sometimes, it also allows him to pursue things others may not be interested in or willing to do.

  
He's at a point in his life where he feels that he understands less and less about what is even happening in reality in the world (sound familiar!?).  UFOs have piqued his interest and he feels have not yet received any kind of sufficient explanation.  So while he is of course going to 60 Minutes primarily because this would be the pinnacle of his career and would give him a chance to better understand what is happening in the world by having access to conversations with people he thinks could help shed some light, a really core interest of his over the last few years has become UFOs.  

His is a practicing Catholic.  Do not let this turn you off to him.  He is not dogmatic.  I find him quite thoughtful even if of course I don't agree with everything he says.  

  
Some of his discussion of UFOs:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/13/opinion/disclosure-day-ufo-religion.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/13/opinion/disclosure-day-ufo-religion.html)

[https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/opinion/ufo-government-religion-conspiracy.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/opinion/ufo-government-religion-conspiracy.html)

[https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ross-douthat-3/](https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ross-douthat-3/)

Ross Douthat of the NYT going to 60 Minutes primarily to investigate disclosure