TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Philosophy on the Fringes

Site • RSS • Apple Podcasts
30 episodes
2023 to 2026
Median: 55 minutes
Collection: Philosophy

Description (podcaster-provided):

A couple of philosophy professors, Megan Fritts and Frank Cabrera, try to prove that you can do philosophy about almost anything. Join them as they explore the philosophical dimensions of topics on the outskirts of the academy. From Bigfoot to birthday parties, they take a Socratic approach to phenomena strange and mundane, asking listeners the question: What if we did philosophy on the fringes?

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

➤ Philosophy of mind and consciousness • skepticism, evidence, science vs pseudoscience • prophecy, fate, luck, apocalypse • memory, identity, selfhood • religion, myth, secularism • paranormal, UFOs, conspiracies • ethics of everyday culture

This podcast features two philosophy professors using a Socratic, question-driven style to examine “fringe” topics alongside more familiar parts of everyday life. Across the episodes, unusual or contested phenomena—such as cryptids, ghosts, hypnosis, near-death experiences, past-life memories, prophecies, conspiracy theories, and astrology—are treated as occasions to ask classic philosophical questions about knowledge, evidence, and explanation. Listeners are invited to weigh skeptical and sympathetic interpretations, consider when extraordinary claims are warranted, and reflect on how biases, testimony, and cultural narratives shape what people take to be real.

A recurring theme is philosophy of mind and the self: discussions probe consciousness and inner experience (including limits on describing private experience), memory and misremembering, altered states, pain, and whether personal identity can persist through radical change or even multiple lifetimes. The show also frequently connects these questions to broader issues in philosophy of science, including demarcating science from pseudoscience, interpreting statistical and experimental evidence, and understanding the role of scientific authority in public life.

Another throughline is ethics and political philosophy applied to contemporary practices and social institutions. Topics such as alternative medicine and placebo effects, biohacking and longevity, secularism and religion in democratic societies, sports rules and injury risk, children’s rights and wellbeing, dating-app “gamification,” alcohol and agency, and apocalyptic thinking are used to explore responsibility, freedom, harm, and the kinds of values that guide collective decision-making. Throughout, the conversations draw on both historical and contemporary philosophers and often pair philosophical argument with relevant research and popular sources.

Episodes: