Episode 215: Family “No Contact” (with Kiran Bhardwaj)
Is family “estrangement” a defensible choice?
Episode 214: Food (with Bob Valgenti)
Philosopher and culinary professor Bob Valgenti explains how the history of humanity is the history of gastronomy.
Episode 212: Catastrophic Philosophy
How does philosophy respond to catastrophes? And how does it generate them?
MINIBAR: Algorithmic Nostalgia (with Leigh M. Johnson)
Why do AI’s fabricated memories “feel” so true?
MINIBAR: Uncivil Obedience (with Jennifer Kling)
What happens when we follow the letter of the law, while refusing to cooperate with its spirit?
MINIBAR: Pain (with Bob Vallier)
What can the body, in pain, teach us about the hilarity of our own finitude?
Episode 210: Marilyn Frye’s “Oppression”
How to mark the distinction between being “inconvenienced” and being oppressed.
Episode 209: Nostalgia
What does nostalgia fondly remember, and what might it dangerously enable?
Episode 207: The Enshittification of… everything?
How late capitalism turns every click into crap.
Episode 206: Quiet Resistance (with Tamara Fakhoury)
What can Palestinian rock climbers teach us about resisting differently?
Episode 205: Therapy
What problems arise when “therapy speak” becomes our default social vocabulary?
Episode 204: Furious Minds (with Laura K. Field)
How do we tame the fury of today’s “furious minds”?
Episode 203: Imagination (with Stephen T. Asma)
How can we recover not only the power, but the importance, of imagination for philosophy?
Episode 198: Free Will (with Mark Balaguer)
One bar, three philosophers, infinite choices… or none at all.
Episode 197: How the Manosphere Killed Cool (with Robin James)
Robin James explains how tech bros and manosphere podcasters made “cool” obsolete.
MINIBAR: Cancer
Talia Mae Bettcher talks about her cancer diagnosis and a dark night of the soul.
MINIBAR: In Defense of Metaphysics
Rick Lee explains what metaphysics is and why it’s worth defending.
MINIBAR: Living in Occupied D.C.
What it’s like to live with a President who is too extra.
Episode 195: Arendt’s “Banality of Evil”
“Evil arises from a failure to think.” -Hannah Arendt
Episode 191: Public Philosophy (with Kate Manne)
Who are philosophers talking to when they do “public philosophy”?
Episode 187: Interpretation
Grab a drink and buckle up—this is the kind of philosophical brawl you don’t want to miss.
Episode 186: Panic Now? Tools for Humanizing (with Ira Allen)
The rise of AI, the decay of democracy, colonial legacies, climate disaster, Is it time to panic now?
Episode 185: Private Parts
How can we talk, or think, about “private parts” in a philosophical way?
Episode 184: The Future of the University
Can the University be saved? Should it be saved?
Episode 182: Tragic Temporality (with Sean Kirkland)
Sean Kirkland unpacks living on the edge of “was” and “not yet.”
Episode 181: What is Philosophy?
Same bar, new co-host, perennial question: What is Philosophy?
Episode 180: Foucault’s “Fearless Speech” (Parrhesia)
Who, if anyone, is speaking truth to power?
Episode 179: Are Universals “Real”?
Do universals exist? Are they “real”? And why are we talking about porcupines?!
Episode 178: Totalitarianism (with Peg Birmingham)
Can democracy be saved from totalitarianism?
Episode 177: El roto, Lo huachafo, Lo jodido (with Carlos Amador)
Carlos Amador on Latin American aesthetics, precarity, and what it means to be completely f*cked.
Episode 175: DEI Then and Now (with Paul Breines)
Freedom Rider Paul Breines joins us to talk about the three most dangerous letters in the alphabet.
Episode 173: Unruly Identity (with Falguni Sheth)
Raising a glass to the misfits, rebels, and rule-breakers!
Episode 168: Authority
Is ChatGPT usurping the authority of the “Author”? Or is it just a pretender to the throne?
Episode 166: Virtue
Is “virtue” an outdated concept? And why is there a bear in this classroom?!
Episode 165: Kant’s Categorical Imperative
What if morality was law-governed in the same way that logic and physics are?
Episode 164: The Significance Impulse (with Josh Glasgow)
What if our cosmic unimportance is itself not all that important?
Episode 163: Justice
The HBS hosts survey theories of justice from the ancients to the present.
Episode 162: Matter and Consciousness in Indian Philosophy (with Tuhin Bhattacharjee)
What can the Indian dualist philosophy Sāṃkhya teach us about matter and consciousness?
Episode 161: Ethics, Democracy, and Phronesis (with Dimitris Vardoulakis)
The HBS hosts discuss what is lost in the critique of instrumental thinking with Dimitris Vardoulakis.
Episode 159: Nature
What do we mean when we say “Nature”? And what, if anything, is “natural”?
Episode 157: The Ethics of Refusal (with Devonya Havis)
When is it right, or even necessary, to say “no”?
Episode 155: Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua)
What can Fanon and Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian crisis?
Episode 154: Aristotle and Feminist Materialism, Troubled (with Emanuela Bianchi)
Philosophy has traditionally associated the feminine with matter, implying passivity. Why? And to what ends?
Episode 153: The Gutenberg Parenthesis (with Jeff Jarvis)
Are we nearing the end of the Age of “Print”? And, if so, what comes next?
Episode 152: Evidence
What counts as evidence? What makes it good or bad? How do we know?
Episode 151: Whose Jesus? (with John D. Caputo)
When did Jesus start hating immigrants and gays, loving guns and capitalism?
Episode 148: The Future of Journalism (with Andrea Guzman)
What happens when AI takes on the role of human journalists?
Episode 147: Overcoming Sexuality (with Nir Kedem)
Can queer theory overcome its ties to sexuality?
Episode 145: Ideology and Self-Emancipation (with William Clare Roberts)
Ideology is said in many ways. Which one is emancipatory?
Episode 144: The Sublime
The ocean and space and “Ode to Joy” are sublime, of course… but what about an excellent lentil soup? In a confusing twist of etymology,
Episode 143: Off-Grid Living (with Eric Mack)
What motivates people to live off-grid in the 21st C? And how hard is it to survive out there? This week, the HBS hosts are
Episode 142: Ideology
What, if anything, is the difference between having ideological commitments and belonging to a “cult”? This episode is a “deep dive” into the very deep waters of
Episode 141: Generative AI
Generative Ai is a still new and emergent technology capable of producing not only text that could be mistaken as human-generated, but also images, video,
Episode 140: Reality TV
The HBS hosts are not here to make friends. They’re here to WIN. We all have our low-brow guilty pleasures and, for millions of Americans,
Episode 139: Friendship
The HBS hosts discuss how friendships are forged, maintained, and sometimes broken. In The Politics of Friendship, Jacques Derrida invokes a statement originally attributed to
Episode 138: Personhood
What is a person? What is a thing? And what difference does that difference make? Although we tend to use the terms “person” and “human
Episode 137: Originality
The HBS hosts ask: what’s so special about originality? Today, originality is being challenged in so many ways: comedians “stealing” jokes, cultural appropriation, remixes, not
Episode 136: HBS Goes to the Movies: “Joe Versus the Volcano” (1990)
Michael Norton explains why “Joe Versus the Volcano” is the perfect existentialist film. Continuing our tradition of going to the movies for the first episode
MINIBAR EPISODE: Will The Courts Save Democracy?
The HBS hosts cross-examine the courts. Former President Trump is currently dividing his time between the campaign trail and the courtroom. Some Americans are outraged
MINI-BAR EPISODE: Meet our new co-host, Dr. David Gunkel!
For this “mini-bar” episode, HBS introduces our newest addition to the co-host gang, Dr. David Gunkel! David Gunkel is an award-winning author, educator and researcher, specializing
Episode 135: Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Bad Faith”
The HBS hosts discuss the many and varied ways we lie to ourselves.
Episode 134: Companion Animals
The HBS hosts celebrate the paw-some impact of furry companions on our lives.
Episode 133: Psychoanalysis (with Benedetta Todaro)
The HBS hosts take a break from the bar and lie down on the couch.
Episode 131: Academic Freedom
The HBS hosts consider a case study testing the limits of academic freedom.
Episode 130: Immediacy (with Anna Kornbluh)
The HBS hosts discuss the style of “too late” capitalism with Anna Kornbluh.
Episode 128: Breaking Things At Work (with Gavin Mueller)
The HBS hosts discuss how the Luddites were right about why we hate our jobs.
Episode 127: Lying
The HBS hosts parse the difference between mistakes, half-truths, embellishments, and outright lies.
Episode 125: The Phenomenology of Black Spirit (with Biko Mandela Gray and Ryan Johnson)
The HBS discuss Hegel, the black radical tradition, and the history of Philosophy with Biko Mandela Gray and Ryan J. Johnson.
Episode 124: Back to “Normal”
The HBS hosts chat about post-COVID demands to get back to normal.
Episode 123: Real Life Heroes
The HBS reveal their IRL heroes and try to measure just how flawed a person can be while still deserving admiration.
Episode 122: Deconstruction
The HBS hosts dig into the details of one of the most villainized philosophies of the 20th Century.
Episode 121: HBS Goes the the Movies: “The Magnificent Seven” (1960)
The HBS hosts return to the movies to learn why men are cheaper than guns.
Episode 120: Descartes’ Second Meditation
The HBS hosts don their nightgowns, cozy up to the fire, and contemplate wax.
Episode 119: Trust
The HBS hosts discuss the meaning of trust, and how it is built, broken, and restored.
Episode 118: Thought Leaders (with Christopher P. Long)
The HBS hosts ask Chris Long about how philosophers contribute and how best to value their contributions.
Episode 117: Trans Philosophy (with Talia Mae Bettcher)
The HBS co-hosts learn why it’s not just about pronouns.
Episode 116: The Stories We Tell
The HBS hosts explore what is lost when we choose documentation over narration.
Episode 115: Collegiality
The HBS hosts wonder if “collegiality” is a virtue… or just a coded cover for prejudice.
Episode 114: Debt
The HBS hosts wonder why it is so hard for us to think of ourselves as “we, debtors”?
Episode 113: Political Philosophy of Mind (with John Protevi)
The HBS hosts are joined by John Protevi to talk about case studies, COVID, and the political philosophy of mind.
Episode 112: Fan Culture
The HBS hosts chat about the symbiotic relationship between cultural products and their fandoms.
Episode 111: The Problem Spaces of Philosophy (with William Paris)
The HBS hosts are joined by Will Paris to talk about Du Bois, public philosophy, podcasting, and carving out “problem spaces.”
Episode 110: The Uncanny Valley
The HBS hosts discuss why humanlike robots are sooooo creepy.
Episode 109: Jordan Peele’s Horror (with Johanna Isaacson)
The HBS hosts discuss Jordan Peele’s special brand of horror with the author of Stepford Daughters, Johanna Isaacson.
Episode 108: The Subversive Seventies (with Michael Hardt)
The HBS hosts ask Michael Hardt why we so quickly jump from the 60’s to the 80’s in our political imagination?
Episode 106: HBS Goes to the Movies: “Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary” (1997)
The HBS hosts discuss a real human drama.
Episode 100: What’s YOUR Philosophy?
The HBS hosts celebrate our 100th episode by asking each other the question “what’s YOUR philosophy?”
Episode 99: Community
The HBS hosts try to determine who’s in and who’s out. In 1887, Ferdinand Tönnies published a groundbreaking book, Community and Society (an excerpt from
Episode 98: Gossip
The HBS hosts spill the tea about tales whispered, secrets shared, and reputations shaped.
Episode 97: Men and Masculinity (with Nathan Duford)
The HBS hosts chat with Nathan Duford about what men can (and can’t) want.
Episode 96: Gatekeeping
The HBS hosts discuss culture wars, Midwestern housewives, and Kafka.
Episode 95: Punching Nazis (with Devin Shaw)
The HBS hosts ask Devin Shaw whether and how to punch Nazis.
Episode 94: Progress
The HBS hosts ask: how do we know if we’re getting where we’re going?
Episode 93: The University and its Discontents
THE HBS hosts consider the recent spate of legislative assaults on academic freedom.
Episode 91: HBS Goes to the Movies: The Conversation (1974)
The HBS hosts discuss Coppola’s classic treatment of Nixon-era surveillance and paranoia.
Episode 90: The Allegory of the Cave
he HBS hosts consider the merits and demerits of the red pill/blue pill option.
Episode 88: ChatGPT
The HBS hosts try to figure out how much of the ChatGPT panic is warranted.
Episode 86: Fascism (with Alberto Toscano)
The HBS hosts chat with Alberto Toscano about the long shadow of racial fascism.
Episode 85: Bullshit Jobs
The HBS hosts discuss the work of flunkies, goons, duct-tapers, box-tickers, and taskmasters.
Episode 84: Abolition of the Family (with Sophie Lewis)
The HBS hosts ask Sophie Lewis why the “family” is a troublesome institution.
Episode 83: Influencers
The HBS hosts ask themselves why and how they are under the influence of influencers.
Afterthoughts: Season 6, Eps 79-81
The HBS hosts rewind the tapes to reconsider episodes 79-81.
Afterthoughts: Season 6, Eps 76-78
The HBS hosts reconsider what they might’ve missed in the first three episodes of Season 6.
Episode 81: Hospitality (with Michael Naas)
The HBS hosts invite Michael Naas to make himself at home on the podcast.
Episode 80: Attention and Distraction
The HBS hosts focus their attention on… oh, look, a squirrel!
Episode 79: The History of Philosophy
The HBS hosts argue for the merits of studying the history of philosophy.
Episode 78: Revolutionary Mathematics (with Justin Joque)
The HBS hosts chat with Justin Joque about how we might get Bayes’ robot boot off our necks.
Episode 77: Human Nature
The HBS hosts ask not what is human nature, but what is at stake in this constant recourse to human nature.
Episode 76: HBS Goes to the Movies: Casablanca
The HBS hosts return to the movies and this week we are discussing Casablanca.
Episode 75: Podcasting and Philosophy
The HBS hosts– all four of them!– chat about what podcasting can do for Philosophy.
Episode 74: The Last Dance
The HBS hosts reflect on four fantastic seasons with the inimitable Charles Peterson.
Episode 73: Artificial Personhood (with Regina Rini)
The HBS hosts consider the possibility of sentient artificial intelligence with Dr. Regina Rini.
Episode 72: The Rights of Nature (with Stewart Motha)
The HBS hosts discuss legal personhood and rights for rivers, lakes, and mountains with Dr. Stewart Motha.
Episode 71: Critics and Criticism (with A.O. Scott)
The HBS hosts chat with A.O. Scott about the role and responsibilities of the critic.
Episode 70: Democracy in Peril (with Linda Alcoff)
The HBS hosts ask Dr. Linda Alcoff: just how close to the edge of the bed is the United States sleeping?
Episode 68: YouTube’s Alt-Right Rabbit Hole (with Caleb Cain)
The HBS hosts chat with Caleb Cain about his experience being radicalized by the Alt-Right internet.
Episode 67: Rethinking Disability (with Joel Michael Reynolds)
The HBS hosts talk with Dr. Joel Michael Reynolds about what bodies are afforded and denied.
Episode 66: Sex Robots (with Kate Devlin)
The HBS hosts chat with Dr. Kate Devlin about social relationships between humans and machines.
Episode 65: The Blues
The HBS hosts ask Dr. Charles Hughes for water, and he gives them gasoline.
Episode 64: Memes (with Andrew Baron)
The HBS hosts try to go viral with Andrew Baron, creator of KnowYourMeme.
Episode 63: Reason
The HBS hosts investigate the limits of Reason alone and, more importantly, in real human history.
Episode 61: The Public Intellectual (with Eddie Glaude, Jr.)
The HBS hosts sit down with Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. to talk about what constitutes a “public intellectual.”
Episode 60: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
The HBS hosts try to get to the truth of untruths.
Episode 59: Queers (with Del McWhorter)
The HBS hosts chat with Dr. Ladelle McWhorter about the evolution of “queer” as an identity category and a verb.
Episode 58: Utopia
The HBS hosts discuss the where, when, and how of utopic imagination.
Episode 57: Philosophers on the Internet (with Justin Weinberg)
The HBS hosts sit down with Justin Weinberg of the Daily Nous to talk about philosophers on the internet.
Episode 56: Musical Theater
The HBS hosts chat with actor, dancer, and choreographer Blake Zolfo about what makes musical theater so unique.
Episode 55: National Identity
The HBS hosts wrestle with Fukuyama’s “Why National Identity Matters.”
Episode 54: Algorithms
The HBS hosts discuss the pervasiveness and perversity of algorithms in our lives.
Episode 53: Metaphysics
The HBS hosts get to the bottom of what is real, what exists, and what is virtual.
Episode 52: Immortality
The HBS hosts talk about the striving to live forever in physical, psychical, and social dimensions.
Episode 51: Moral Subjectivity
The HBS hosts unpack Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals, Section 13, to uncover how we arrived at morality and moral subjectivity.
Episode 50: Desire
The HBS hosts look under the hood, inspect the engine, and try to figure out what drives us.
Episode 49: Memory
The HBS hosts discuss the role of memory in the constitution of human intelligence, subjectivity and culture/civilization.
Episode 46: Bars
The HBS hosts go where people know troubles are all the same. In this episode, the HBS hosts discuss Bars—as a social, cultural and communal
Episode 45: Turning Up the Heat
The HBS hosts take turns in the “hot seat” as they fire questions at one another.
Episode 43: Superstition
The HBS hosts discuss the nature, origin, and deployment of superstitions.
Episode 42: Optimism and Pessimism
The HBS hosts talk about optimism and pessimism in its personal, political, and philosophical senses.
Episode 39: Work
The HBS hosts sit down with Dr. Jason Read to talk about the experience of work in the 21st C.
Episode 38: Social Media
The HBS hosts talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media. Social media dominate much of our current lives. Sometimes this
Episode 37: Transcendence
The HBS hosts talk about transcendence, the good kind and the bad kind.
Episode 36: The Global South
The HBS hosts discuss philosophy and theory in relation to the global south with Prof. Surti Singh.
Episode 35: Legally Right, Morally Wrong
The HBS host discuss the criminal justice system’s failure to produce morally right outcomes.
Episode 34: Cancel Panic
The HBS hosts discuss so-called “cancel culture” and the panic surrounding it.
Episode 33: Thought Experiments
The HBS hosts discuss the pedagogical pros and cons of thoughts experiments.
Episode 32: American Christianity
The HBS hosts wonder whether there is a uniquely “American” form of Christianity.
Episode 31: Whose History? (with Charles McKinney)
The HBS hosts chat sit down with Dr. Charles McKinney, Jr. to talk about whose history is (and isn’t) being taught.
Episode 30: Robots (with David Gunkel)
The HBS hosts discuss how robots and intelligent machines are upending our social, moral, legal, and philosophical categories.
Episode 29: Defending the Humanities
The HBS hosts present their best defense of humanities-based education and, in doing so, try to justify their existences.
Episode 28: Generations
The HBS hosts discuss whether or not generational tags– “Boomer,” “GenX,” “Millennial,” and “Gen Z”– are useful descriptions or just gerrymandered groups.