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Philosophical excursions into interesting, and often controversial, topics. Hosted by Spencer Case.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ moral psychology, testimony, advice, responsibility • political philosophy: wokeness, moderation, socialism, Marxism, patriotism • free will, consciousness, skepticism • religion: God arguments, Sikh ethics • tech ethics: AI, surveillance • war, nukes, policing, speech, academiaThis podcast offers conversational “excursions” into philosophy, often centered on contemporary controversies and public-life dilemmas. Hosted by Spencer Case, episodes typically feature in-depth dialogues with philosophers and other commentators, using accessible debate to test arguments, clarify concepts, and probe the practical stakes of abstract ideas.
A recurring focus is moral and political philosophy applied to current institutions and conflicts. Discussions examine legitimacy and limits of state power (including policing, guns, conscription, and nuclear deterrence), as well as contested questions in liberal democracy such as academic freedom, the mission of universities, and how political beliefs are formed and distorted by incentives. Several conversations address polarized cultural and ideological disputes—wokeness, sex and gender categories, pronoun usage, hate speech, and the search for politically neutral language—often highlighting tensions between moral egalitarianism, empirical claims, and norms of inquiry.
The show also spends substantial time on classic “big questions” in philosophy of religion and mind. Listeners will encounter structured argument analysis about the existence of God and debates over free will, moral responsibility, consciousness, and whether the self or conscious experience can be fully explained in physical terms. Epistemology appears through topics like skepticism, trust in experts, induction, and standpoint epistemology, with attention to what counts as understanding and when testimony or advice can guide belief and action responsibly.
Technology and the future form another thread, including worries about surveillance, content moderation, anti-Covid measures, and AI risks such as alignment, alongside ethical questions about genetic enhancement and obligations to future people. The podcast occasionally shifts into roundtables or rant-style formats, mixing philosophical critique with commentary on academia, popular culture, and international affairs (including major geopolitical conflicts). Across topics, the common aim is to explore how philosophical reasoning bears on controversial issues without assuming they can be resolved by slogans or simple moral intuitions.
| Episodes: |
Good and Bad Advice2026-Jan-27 65 minutes |
AI Dangers (The Dark Side of Technology, Part 3)2025-Dec-04 71 minutes |
What is Hate Speech?2025-Nov-25 59 minutes |
Philosophical Horrors2025-Oct-24 81 minutes |
On Moderates and Extremists2025-Sep-16 66 minutes |
What is Wokeness?2025-Aug-15 82 minutes |
Conundrums of Academic Freedom2025-Jul-23 57 minutes |
"You're Under Arrest!" On Ethical Policing2025-Jun-22 91 minutes |
Better Arguments for the Existence of God2025-May-19 94 minutes |
Free Will and Responsibility: Huemer vs. Kershnar2025-Mar-28 66 minutes |
Not-So-Great Arguments for the Existence of God2025-Feb-24 92 minutes |
The Virtuous Gamer2025-Jan-20 81 minutes |
Rant-a-thon 2024! (Part 2)2024-Dec-26 91 minutes |
Rant-a-thon 2024! (Part 1)2024-Dec-20 72 minutes |
Progressive Myths about Sex and Gender2024-Nov-28 73 minutes |
Progressive Myths2024-Oct-20 111 minutes |
Nuclear War, Part 22024-Sep-25 85 minutes |
Nuclear War2024-Aug-17 92 minutes |
Come on, man! Debating the Joe Biden presidency2024-Jul-20 91 minutes |
Consciousness and the self2024-Jun-18 84 minutes |
Death and Immortality (Thinking About Death Part 2)2024-May-22 80 minutes |
Thinking about Marxism2024-Apr-29 79 minutes |
Debating Israel/Palestine2024-Mar-31 96 minutes |
Is it Ok to Own a Gun?2024-Feb-24 74 minutes |
Thinking about Death, Part 12024-Jan-25 92 minutes |
Rant-a-Thon 20232023-Dec-20 134 minutes |
Political Beliefs (with Oliver Traldi)2023-Nov-19 69 minutes |
Discriminating for the Greater Good Part 2: Law and Affirmative Action2023-Oct-30 90 minutes |
Trust and the liberal order2023-Sep-29 71 minutes |
Gender, Pronouns and Linguistic Negotiation2023-Aug-07 80 minutes |
American Patriotism2023-Jul-01 83 minutes |
Wokeness in Science: Critiquing a critique2023-Jun-09 74 minutes |
Thought experiments (Special Brain in a Vat co-production)2023-May-21 75 minutes |
Sikh Metaphysics and Ethics2023-Apr-21 71 minutes |
Creating Future People2023-Mar-30 97 minutes |
Unreasonable Doubt: Rejecting Skepticism2023-Feb-25 93 minutes |
The Dark Side of Technology, Part 22023-Jan-28 70 minutes |
Rant-a-thon spectacular (2022)2022-Dec-25 95 minutes |
Black Friday Special episode: Famine, Affluence and Morality, Part 22022-Dec-09 68 minutes |
Black Friday Special episode: Famine, Affluence and Morality, Part 12022-Dec-01 72 minutes |
Realism, idealism, and the War in Ukraine2022-Oct-27 113 minutes |
Self-Contempt and the Decline of Civilizations2022-Sep-17 77 minutes |
Parenting and Philosophy2022-Aug-21 80 minutes |
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Is everything becoming political? (Remastered) 2022-Aug-03 64 minutes |
Let's talk about Socialism2022-Jul-18 103 minutes |
The University Disaster2022-Jun-11 86 minutes |
SPECIAL EPISODE: Moral Experts2022-May-19 111 minutes |
The Problem of Induction and the Uniformity of Nature2022-Apr-21 91 minutes |
Hypocrisy and Bad Intentions2022-Mar-15 87 minutes |
Why Philosophy?2022-Feb-20 80 minutes |
Killing in War2022-Jan-26 91 minutes |
Should borders be open?2022-Jan-01 105 minutes |
Beauty, Ugliness and Morality: Some moral quandaries of art2021-Nov-30 97 minutes |
SPECIAL EPISODE: Debating abortion2021-Nov-01 97 minutes |
The Dark Side of Morality2021-Oct-13 65 minutes |
Discriminating for the greater good2021-Sep-23 116 minutes |
Religious and atheistic experience2021-Aug-31 73 minutes |
SPECIAL EPISODE: What's the Deal with Critical Race Theory?2021-Jul-14 104 minutes |
The metaphysics of bitcoin2021-Jun-14 74 minutes |
Dangerous ideas: an interview with Francesca Minerva2021-Apr-28 55 minutes |
Some conflict, she says: An interview with Holly Lawford-Smith2021-Apr-02 82 minutes |
What is knowledge (and who cares)?2021-Mar-30 71 minutes |
Thinking about Disagreement2021-Jan-26 88 minutes |
Conquering Anger and Fear2020-Dec-26 66 minutes |
The Limits of Scientific Authority2020-Oct-07 78 minutes |
Has liberalism failed?2020-Sep-01 76 minutes |
The Virtue Illusion: Are you as good as you think you are?2020-Aug-07 69 minutes |
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You're cancelled! 2020-Jul-19 65 minutes |
Philosophical Dispositions2020-Jul-06 67 minutes |
What's the deal with relativism?2020-Jun-06 60 minutes |
Compassion and Rationality: An interview with Jacy Reese Anthis2020-May-20 61 minutes |
Is Everything Becoming Political?2020-May-08 66 minutes |
Do you have a right to your opinion? Clifford, James and the ethics of belief2020-Apr-21 58 minutes |
What good is free speech?2020-Mar-29 63 minutes |
The dark side of technology2020-Mar-25 54 minutes |