Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Part of UMass Boston’s Philosophy Department, the Applied Ethics Center promotes research, teaching, and awareness of ethics in public life. In this podcast, Applied Ethics Center Director Nir Eisikovits hosts conversations on the intersection of ethics, politics, and technology.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Applied ethics debates • neurotechnology/BCIs, brain data, neurorights, autonomy • AI, consciousness, governance, privacy • disability and user-centered design • future of work, UBI, meaningful labor • war/diplomacy • public memory, racism, civic dialogue • bioethics/mental healthThis podcast, produced by UMass Boston’s Applied Ethics Center and hosted by philosopher Nir Eisikovits, features interview-based conversations that examine how ethical questions arise in public life at the intersection of politics, technology, and social institutions. Across the episodes, guests from philosophy, neuroscience, engineering, psychology, history, journalism, economics, and international relations help translate specialized debates into public-facing ethical and policy issues.
A major throughline is the ethics of emerging neurotechnology and AI. Discussions focus on brain–computer interfaces, neural data, and the prospect of “mind reading,” alongside questions about privacy, informed consent, agency, autonomy, disability and user-centered design, affective technologies, and the medical and social implications of implantable and non-invasive systems. Related episodes explore governance and regulation in technologically mediated societies, including concerns about surveillance, algorithmic opacity, and how democratic institutions might adapt to AI and virtual reality.
The podcast also returns frequently to political ethics and international affairs. Topics include war and diplomacy (with attention to everyday civilian experience and geopolitical narratives), the nature of international order, and the ethical dimensions of conflict resolution and security. Domestic political themes include polarization and civic dialogue, corruption and conflicts of interest in medicine and psychiatry, and debates about public memory, monuments, and racial justice.
Another cluster addresses the ethics and political economy of work, including alienation, technological unemployment, idleness, meaningful work, and universal basic income. Occasional conversations draw on classic texts and history to illuminate contemporary moral problems and the ways societies interpret suffering, responsibility, and collective life.
