Description (podcaster-provided):
A podcast exploring Philosophy, Politics, Current Affairs, Literature and Film.
Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Philosophy interviews • political theory, equality, freedom • continental/ancient thinkers • ethics, character, shame • science/technology studies: AI, posthumanism, blockchain • propaganda, conspiracy, post-truth • literature, film, horror, architecture, culture
This podcast is a wide-ranging interview and discussion series at the intersection of philosophy, politics, current affairs, literature, and film. Much of the content takes the form of conversations with academics and writers, using major thinkers and books as entry points into broader questions about how we live, organize society, and understand knowledge.
Across the episodes, a strong emphasis falls on the history of philosophy and its ongoing relevance. The podcast regularly explores figures from ancient philosophy through modern and contemporary traditions, often focusing on themes such as freedom, equality, ethics, education, and the formation of the self. Listeners can expect both introductions to influential philosophers and more focused examinations of particular concepts—such as “spirit,” possible worlds, character, or shame—linking abstract ideas to social and political realities.
Politics and public life are recurring concerns, including discussions of democracy, activism, capitalism, propaganda, and the dynamics of expertise and technocracy. Contemporary informational and cultural problems also appear prominently, such as conspiracy theories, denialism, post-truth discourse, and the psychology of “secular gurus” and manipulation. These topics are often treated through a philosophical lens while drawing on adjacent disciplines like sociology, psychology, political communication, and anthropology.
The podcast also engages heavily with science and technology, especially where they pressure traditional boundaries between human and nonhuman life. Themes include critiques of reductionism and materialism, debates about objectivity, and the social production of scientific knowledge. Emerging technologies—AI, robotics, blockchain, and synthetic biology—are discussed for their ethical, environmental, and geopolitical implications, including questions of agency, personhood, and consent.
Literature and film function as major sites of philosophical inquiry in this podcast. Discussions consider how novels and cultural texts illuminate ethical judgment, violence, trauma, ecology, and meaning, alongside episodes devoted to writing practice, horror and Gothic media, and the philosophical dimensions of cinema and architecture. Some conversations include explicit material involving extreme violence or sexual violence.
|
Episodes:
|
On Jacques Rancière with Stuart Blaney
2025-Sep-16
52 minutes
|
On Freedom with Matt Barnard
2025-Jul-23
86 minutes
|
On Hegel's 'Spirit' with Terry Pinkard
2025-Jun-27
69 minutes
|
On Life, AI and Technosymbiosis with Katherine Hayles
2025-Jun-02
67 minutes
|
On Socrates with Agnes Callard
2025-Apr-18
53 minutes
|
On Remaking Science with Evan Thompson
2024-Dec-09
63 minutes
|
On Secular Gurus with Chris Kavanagh
2024-Mar-22
82 minutes
|
On Writing with Lars Iyer
2023-Dec-22
62 minutes
|
On Richard Rorty with Chris Voparil
2023-Oct-27
61 minutes
|
On Spiritual Freedom with Martin Hägglund
2023-Jun-10
71 minutes
|
On Bruno Latour with Joost van Loon
2023-Apr-27
70 minutes
|
On Alexandre Kojève with Hager Weslati
2023-Apr-02
73 minutes
|
On the Truth of Snuff with Mark McKenna
2023-Apr-02
65 minutes
|
On the Embrace of Capital with Don Milligan
2022-Oct-13
67 minutes
|
On Architecture with Graham Harman
2022-Sep-09
62 minutes
|
On Nietzsche’s Socialism with Robert Miner
2022-Sep-02
69 minutes
|
On Simone Weil with Tiff Thomas
2022-Aug-26
60 minutes
|
On Michel Serres with David Webb
2022-Jul-02
56 minutes
|
On the Formation of the Modern Self with Felix O’Murchadha
2022-May-13
59 minutes
|
On Propaganda with Colin Alexander
2021-Jul-06
77 minutes
|
On David Lewis and Possible Worlds with Ben Curtis
2021-Apr-21
58 minutes
|
On Camus and 'The Plague' with Robert Zaretsky
2020-May-06
57 minutes
|
On Character with Christian Miller
2020-Apr-24
49 minutes
|
On Plato with Keith Crome
2020-Apr-05
66 minutes
|
On Blockchain with Peter Howson
2020-Apr-04
46 minutes
|
On Online Learning with David Webster
2020-Mar-22
51 minutes
|
On Difference and Repetition with David Deamer
2020-Feb-21
66 minutes
|
On Cormac McCarthy with Julius Greve
2020-Feb-17
48 minutes
|
On Nietzsche with Lars Iyer
2020-Jan-14
59 minutes
|
On Religion and Violence with Felix O'Murchadha
2020-Jan-03
66 minutes
|
On Social Work with Joe Smeeton
2019-Nov-29
55 minutes
|
On Levinas with Will Large
2019-Oct-29
68 minutes
|
On Shame with Luna Dolezal
2019-Sep-28
55 minutes
|
On Denial, Conspiracy and Post-Truth with Keith Kahn-Harris
2018-Nov-30
55 minutes
|
On Dirt with Olli Lagerspetz
2018-Nov-23
57 minutes
|
On Metaphysics, Objects and Decent Politics with Graham Harman
2018-Nov-16
72 minutes
|
On the Geography and Politics of Light with Tim Edensor
2018-Nov-09
57 minutes
|
On Forensic Linguistics with David Wright
2018-Nov-02
57 minutes
|
Horror, Ghosts and Monsters with Sorcha Ní Fhlainn
2018-Oct-26
62 minutes
|
On US Politics, Edmund Burke and Trump with Michael Baranowski
2018-Oct-19
60 minutes
|
On the Law, Consent and MeToo with Heidi Matthews.
2018-Oct-12
69 minutes
|
On Sex Robots and Personhood with Kathleen Richardson
2018-Oct-05
68 minutes
|
On Emile Zola with Dan Rebellato
2018-Sep-28
71 minutes
|
The Philosophy of Football with Stephen Mumford.
2018-Sep-21
64 minutes
|
On the Mind and Panpsychism with Philip Goff
2018-Sep-14
59 minutes
|
A Cultural History of Gay Rights in Britain with Don Milligan
2018-Sep-07
61 minutes
|
Introducing Byung-Chul Han with Austin Hayden Smidt
2018-Aug-31
60 minutes
|
Jessica Jones, Sexual Violence and Overcoming Trauma with Anna Dawson
2018-Aug-24
50 minutes
|
BONUS - Nietzsche and Dr Who with David Deamer
2018-Aug-18
29 minutes
|
Deleuze and Cinema with David Deamer
2018-Aug-17
67 minutes
|
Will Large teaches Patrick about Heidegger
2018-Aug-10
56 minutes
|
Social Justice and Cooperation with Cilla Ross
2018-Aug-03
57 minutes
|
Vitalism and Bergson with Mark Sinclair
2018-Jul-27
38 minutes
|
Trump, Lyotard and_Education with Keith_Crome
2018-Jul-20
55 minutes
|
Transhumanism, Technology and Apocalypse with Mark O'Connell
2018-Jul-13
62 minutes
|
Consciousness, Humanism and the NHS with Raymond Tallis
2018-Jul-06
62 minutes
|
Buddhism, Atheism and Education with David Webster
2018-Jun-29
39 minutes
|
Technology, Capitalism, The Common with Andreas Wittell
2018-Jun-22
49 minutes
|
On Safe Spaces, No-Platforming and Neo-liberalism in the University with Liz Morrish
2018-Jun-15
55 minutes
|
Trump's Intellectual Origins with Timothy Shenk
2018-Jun-08
56 minutes
|
On Idiots, Drones and Wonder Woman with Neal Curtis
2018-May-31
67 minutes
|
Site • RSS • Apple Podcasts