Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
What is Philosophy? Why should we bother with it? Sit down with Danny and Dr. Mike in the comfort of their local pub, as they grapple with the big ideas in a unique and accessible way! Dive into our archive of earlier episodes here: https://castbox.fm/channel/id3766780?country=gb Send us an email: [email protected] Check out our article about the podcast here! Get into Mike and Danny's heads for free! https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/10/03/the-philosophy-wtf-podcast-philosophy-outside-academia/Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Accessible pub-style philosophy • personal identity, essence, culture • memory and persistence over time • ageing and leisure • free will, determinism, morality, genetics • existentialism: meaning, absurdity, authenticity, misinformation • AI, ChatGPT, Turing test, creativity, social media powerThis podcast is a conversational philosophy show framed as two hosts talking in a pub-like setting, aiming to make big ideas accessible through humour, everyday examples, and references to popular culture. Across the episodes, the dominant focus is on questions of selfhood and what it means to be a person over time. The discussions repeatedly return to personal identity, including how identity might be grounded in memory, continuity, the body, social roles, or deeper “essences,” and what happens to our sense of self as we age and change.
A recurring thread is the relationship between human agency and the forces that shape choice. The hosts explore free will and determinism through moral responsibility, social pressure, biology, and genetics, treating decisions not just as private acts but as phenomena influenced by culture, evolution, and shifting ethical standards. These themes overlap with existentialist concerns about meaning, authenticity, despair, and the burden of choosing in a world that can feel unstable or “foundationless,” including the way online life and self-presentation affect how people understand themselves.
Technology appears as both a topic in its own right and as a pressure on identity and agency. Artificial intelligence is discussed through classic thought experiments about machine understanding and tests of intelligence, alongside contemporary concerns about social media control, misinformation, and whether automated systems displace human creativity and artistic production. Related conversations consider how data, analytics, and consumer systems categorize people, and how markets and lifestyle expectations can influence what individuals think they need in order to be “complete.”
The show also touches on identity as a social and political phenomenon—culture, nationhood, belonging, and gender—often using philosophical figures and frameworks (from ancient philosophy to modern continental thinkers) to structure the discussion while keeping the tone informal. Overall, listeners can expect extended, multi-part explorations that connect traditional philosophical problems to ordinary experiences, current events, and cultural narratives.
