Twitter: @xavierbonilla87
Site: convergingdialogues.podbean.com
336 episodes
2020 to present
Average episode: 102 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Interview-Style
Podcaster's summary: Honest engagements with diversity of thought and topics.
| Episodes |
| 2024-Apr-25 • 86 minutes #336 - The Secular Gospel of Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Dialogue with James Marcus In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Marcus about the life and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. They discuss how the book is formed and how themes are pulled from Emerson’s life, his religious background and relationship with religion over his lifetime, unitarianism, and when do we find our identity. They talk about first and second marriages, self-reliance and individualism, nature, slavery, his legacy, and many more topics. James Marcus is an editor, translator, critic and writer. He was ... |
| 2024-Apr-21 • 82 minutes #335 - Hubert Humphrey: Giant of Liberalism: A Dialogue with James Traub In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Traub about Hubert Humphrey. They define liberalism, background and context of Humphrey and his internal motivations, how he governed as mayor in Minneapolis, and how he was a liberal and a progressive. They talk about his time as a U.S. Senator, a cold war liberal, and his relationship with Lyndon Johnson. They discuss Humphrey’s foreign affairs work, his time as Vice President of the U.S., Senate years post-Vice Presidency, legacy of Humphrey, and ... |
| 2024-Apr-19 • 47 minutes #334 - Recognizing Others: A Dialogue with Michèle Lamont In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michèle Lamont about recognition and interpersonal dynamics. They define recognition and worth, the three avenues of building recognition and ordinary universalism, and what blocks change. They talk about inequality, individualism/collectivism, and challenges of the American dream. They also discuss using media, role of institutions, how we can recognize others, and many more topics. Michèle Lamont is Professor of Sociology and of African and African Ameri... |
| 2024-Apr-17 • 75 minutes #333 - The Genius of Ibn Sina and Biruni: A Dialogue with S. Frederick Starr In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with S. Frederick Starr about the lives and work of Ibn Sina and Biruni. They discuss who were Ibn Sina and Biruni, their time and context, and the correspondence between Ibn Sina and Biruni. They discuss their interactions in the Muslim world, Ibn Sina as vizier, the canon of Ibn Sina and the canon of Biruni. They also discuss work post-canon, how their works were preserved, legacy of both thinkers, and many more topics.S. Frederick Starr is the founding chair... |
| 2024-Apr-15 • 97 minutes #332 - Nostalgia: A Dialogue with Clay Routledge In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Clay Routledge about nostalgia. They define nostalgia, nostalgia being forward thinking, nostalgia with positive and negative memories, and the downsides of nostalgia in pop culture. They discuss nostalgia with self-concept, self-continuity, and self-esteem, nostaglia for understanding existential anxiety and death, best ways to use nostalgia, and many more topics. Clay Routledge is an existential psychologist, writer, and consultant. He is Vice President ... |
| 2024-Apr-12 • 83 minutes #331 - Making Sense of Our Delusions: A Dialogue with Lisa Bortolotti In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lisa Bortolotti about delusions. They talk about why we should think about delusions, delusions as emotional and rational beliefs, defining delusions, clinical and non-clinical delusions, and why we believe delusions. They talk about when delusions cause harm, can people change their delusional beliefs, and many more topics. Lisa Bortolotti is a philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She is Editor in Chief of Philosophical... |
| 2024-Apr-10 • 54 minutes #330 - Deceiving Ourselves: A Dialogue with Ajit Varki In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ajit Varki about the evolutionary origins of denial and self-deception. They discuss the evolutionary perspective of human origins, self-awareness in humans, theory of mind, and how false beliefs and denial evolved. They also discuss lying, self-deception, religion, positive uses of deception, climate change, future of Mind Over Reality theory, and many more topics. Ajit Varki received training in physiology, medicine, biology, and biochemistry at the Chri... |
| 2024-Apr-08 • 74 minutes #329 - Fighting for Women's Rights Around the World: A Dialogue with Sima Samar In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sima Samar about her life and work for women’s rights. They discuss her reasoning for writing her memoirs, history of modern Afghanistan, impact of Islam, and the rule of the Taliban. They talk about her work in medicine and human rights advocacy, women’s rights in Afghanistan, becoming Vice President and Minister of Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan. They also discuss her work on the human rights commission, being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009,... |
| 2024-Apr-05 • 60 minutes #328 - Listening to Prozac: A Dialogue with Peter Kramer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Kramer about Prozac. They talk about the 30th anniversary of Listening To Prozac and antidepressants, origins of antidepressants, classes of antidepressants, selfhood, criticisms of SSRIs and the serotonin hypothesis, risk of suicide with Prozac, future of SSRIs, and more more topics. Peter Kramer is a psychiatrist who practiced and taught psychiatry for over 40 years. He is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. He ... |
| 2024-Apr-03 • 112 minutes #327 - The Invention of Prehistory: A Dialogue with Stefanos Geroulanos In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stefanos Geroulanos about the history of prehistory. They talk about why studying history is important and why it is not final, the emphasis on the nature of man, why Rousseau and Hobbes’ ideas still persist, human nature and equality, and the impact of Darwin. They also talk about the impact of Marx, Neanderthals, thin veneer, and the instincts, Freud’s contribution, Nazi party, how we continue to understand history, and many more topics.Stefanos Geroulan... |
| 2024-Apr-01 • 152 minutes #326 - Puerto Rico: A Natural History: A Dialogue with Jorell Meléndez Badillo In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jorell Meléndez Badillo about the history of Puerto Rico. They talk about the origins of the island of Puerto Rico, Taino peoples, reasons for Columbus coming to Puerto Rico, and indigenous peoples fighting back. They talk about enslaved peoples in the mid 16th century, origins of the term “Puertorriqueños,” impact of race and colorism, and hardship in Puerto Rico in the 19th century. They discuss the Lares revolution, coming to New York, Spanish-American ... |
| 2024-Mar-29 • 85 minutes #325 - Health Problems: A Dialogue with Elizabeth Barnes In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Elizabeth Barnes about the ideas surrounding health. They discuss why we care about health and how we define health, social impact of health, and discussing health publicly. They also talk about shame and stigma with health, disability and health differences, ameliorative skepticism, and many more topics. Elizabeth Barnes is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. Her research interests are divided between metaphysics, political philosophy, ... |
| 2024-Mar-27 • 66 minutes #324 - Paying Attention In A Distracted World: A Dialogue with Christian Madsbjerg In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christian Madsbjerg about perception in the world. They discuss why perception and observation are important, the work of Merleau-Ponty, perception being reality, and intersubjectivity. They discuss the role of the body in phenomenology, phenomenology of space, the “other,” practical ways of paying attention in the world, and many more topics. Christian Madsbjerg is an author, entrepreneur, and academic who focuses on the practical and commercial applicati... |
| 2024-Mar-25 • 72 minutes #323 - Wonderstruck: A Dialogue with Helen De Cruz In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Helen De Cruz about wonder and awe. They define awe and wonder as distinct emotions, awe in other animals, social and cultural aspects of awe, and philosophy being born in wonder. They discuss the history of awe and wonder from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment, theories of emotions, magic and wonder, religion and wonder, Merleau-Ponty and habits, spiritual naturalism, and many more topics. Helen De Cruz holds the Danforth Chair in the Humanities at Sain... |
| 2024-Mar-22 • 84 minutes #322 - Democracy Birthed in Darkness: A Dialogue with Katlyn Carter In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katlyn Carter about the origins of the United States during the revolutionary period. They discuss the concern about secrecy and transparency in government, representative government and representative democracy, pros and cons of democracy, and how democracy is different from 1776. They also talk about shifting from colonies to states, reasons for secrecy in the founding, comparisons with France, Madison’s speed bumps for democracy, how we see transparency... |
| 2024-Mar-20 • 87 minutes #321 - Homer and His Iliad: A Dialogue with Robin Lane Fox In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robin Lane Fox about Homer and his Iliad. They discuss how to best read the Iliad, structure of the poem, and the use of speeches, language, and movement. They talk about the location of Troy, Homer’s authorship, Homer’s description of the Trojan war, Homer’s illiteracy, Iliad’s transcription, genius of Homer, and many more topics. Robin Lane Fox is a historian and Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford, and taught Ancient History at Oxford University from... |
| 2024-Mar-19 • 71 minutes #320 - The Art of Public Conversation: A Crossover Episode with Where We Go Next In this episode, Xavier Bonilla and Michael Callahan have a discussion about their respective podcasts. They discuss why they decided to do this crossover episode, how Converging Dialogues started, how Where We Go Next started, and how they treat guests. They discuss their process for asking questions, motivations for interviews, importance of active listening, their process for each episode, legacy of the podcast, and many more topics. Where We Go Next is a podcast focused on in-depth conversations with th... |
| 2024-Mar-15 • 35 minutes #319 - Somebody's Gotta Win the 2024 US Presidential Election: A Dialogue with Tara Palmeri In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tara Palmeri about the 2024 US Presidential election. They discuss why there is rematch of the 2020 US Presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Biden’s challengers, Biden’s age, and the Democrats “bench.” They talk about feelings mattering more than policy, immigration, predictions, and many more topics. Tara Palmeri is a Senior political correspondent at Puck and host of the Ringer’s election podcast, “Somebody’s Gotta Win.” Previously, s... |
| 2024-Mar-13 • 64 minutes #318 - Virtues and the Founding Fathers: A Dialogue with Jeffrey Rosen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jeffrey Rosen about the impact of Classical Writers on the founding fathers. They discuss why studying the influences of the founding fathers is important, pursuit of happiness, Franklin and the impact of Pythagoras, Adams on humility, and Jefferson as a complicated figure. They discuss Washington’s self-mastery, Hamilton and Madison on moderation, and many more topics.Jeffrey Rosen is President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts W... |
| 2024-Mar-11 • 83 minutes #317 - The Five-Year Presidency: A Dialogue with Christopher Liddell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christopher Liddell about the five-year presidency. They discuss what is year zero and why presidential transitions are important, filling the government, and design, plan, and execution phases of year zero. They discuss the Romney transition, Trump transition, and Biden transition, standardization and flexibility with different presidents, Office of POTUS, first 200 days, the 2024 Presidential election, and many more topics. Christopher Liddell has held s... |
| 2024-Mar-08 • 109 minutes #316 - The Brain From the Inside-Out: A Dialogue with György Buzsáki In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with György Buzsaki about the inside out framework of the brain. They discuss the outside-in vs. inside-out framework for understanding the brain, causation as problematic for self-organizing systems, and perception and action on thought. They mention the Bayesian brain model, reinforcement and reward, brain systems and neural syntax, space and time within the hippocampus, the future of using the inside-out framework, and many more topics. György Buzsáki is a n... |
| 2024-Mar-06 • 103 minutes #315 - Regulating AI Systems: A Dialogue with Robert Trager In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robert Trager about international governance of AI systems. They discuss why questions of AI are important, defining intelligence and machine learning, and provide an overview of the current landscape of AI systems. They talked about the ethics and governance for AI systems, how other governance models have been used, controlling the creativity of AI, civilian AI, military AI, and enforcement rules with military AI. They also mention the alignment problem,... |
| 2024-Mar-04 • 109 minutes #314 - A Central American Exodus and the Reshaping of America: A Dialogue with Jonathan Blitzer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Blitzer about Central American immigrants coming to the United States and the evolving relationship in the region. They talk about the emphasis on Central America and, more specifically, El Salvador, when discussing immigration. They discuss the many narrative accounts of immigrants from El Salvador and some of the background information on El Salvador. They provide some of the history of El Salvador and the many brutal aspects of the 12+ years ci... |
| 2024-Mar-01 • 90 minutes #313 - The Mongol Storm: A Dialogue with Nicholas Morton In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Morton about the Mongol empire. They discuss the background overview of Seljuck Turks, Karwazman Empire, and how the Mongols conquered and governed administratively. They talk about the environmental scope of the Mongols, religious tolerance, centralized hierarchy, the fifth crusade, how the Mongols splintered, and many more topics. Nicholas Morton is Associate Professor of History at Nottingham Trent University. He is a member of the Centre for t... |
| 2024-Feb-28 • 128 minutes #312 - Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and Late Ottoman State: A Dialogue with Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky about North Caucasian Muslims in the late Ottoman period. They discuss the landscape of the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire in the late 19th century. They talk about the diversity of ethnic groups in the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire as a land of refugees, and why Russian troops perpetrated an ethnic cleansing. They discuss the term muhajir, four major migrations from the Caucasus, the Ottoman Empire as a refuge... |
| 2024-Feb-26 • 133 minutes #311 - Shifting Grounds: Territory, Society, and Conflict: A Dialogue with Burak Kadercan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Burak Kadercan about territory and nation states. They define territory and nation states, discuss empire, healthy nationalism, and ethnic groups in territories. They also define borders and discuss Westphalia, mosaic and monolithic order, Ottoman empire, war and conflict, Russia and Ukraine conflict, and many more topics. Burak Kadercan is Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He has hi... |
| 2024-Feb-23 • 72 minutes #310 - Comparative Cognition: A Dialogue with Nicola Clayton In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicola Clayton about cognition across many animals. They define cognition in humans and in animals, intelligence, using magic to understand cognition in animals, embodied mind in animals, and comparative cognition as a type of convergent evolution. They discuss difficulties in using human measures for evaluating animal cognition, New Caledonian crows and their intelligence, consciousness, the future of comparative cognition research, and many more topics.N... |
| 2024-Feb-21 • 79 minutes #309 - Sex, Evolution, and the Female Animal: A Dialogue with Lucy Cooke In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lucy Cooke about the female animals across many species. They discuss why the female species were neglected in Darwin’s studies, binary model of sex, female choice in sexual selection and the social and sexual monogamy in birds and sexual coercion with ducks. They talk about hierarchies with males and females, female dominance in lemurs, menopause, female bonding, and many more topics. Lucy Cooke is a Zoologist, broadcaster, filmmaker, and author. She has ... |
| 2024-Feb-19 • 101 minutes #308 - The Five Million Year History of Humans: A Dialogue with Peter Bellwood In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Bellwood about the five million year history of humans. They discuss the genera and species of humans and the different types of humans that lived together at the same time, genes from early human species, and the four acts of human history. They talk about Hominins arising out of the Miocene, distinct features of Australopithecus, humans in the Pleistocene, Homo Erectus walking out of Africa, Homo Floresiensis, and Neanderthals. They discuss domesti... |
| 2024-Feb-16 • 86 minutes #307 - Many Worlds in the Multiverse: A Dialogue with Paul Halpern In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Halpern about the multiverse. They discuss the cosmological multiverse and many worlds interpretation, impact of Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein for general relativity, gravitational waves, and quantum mechanics. They also talk about different dimensions, dark matter, dark energy, string theory, the multiverse in popular culture, and many more topics. Paul Halpern is Professor of Physics at Saint Joseph’s University. He has a Bachelors, Masters, and PhD... |
| 2024-Feb-14 • 87 minutes #306 - Heidegger's Culmination of German Idealism: A Dialogue with Robert Pippin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robert Pippin about Heidegger’s philosophy in connection with German idealism. They discuss Heidegger’s ideas on the culmination of Western philosophy with Hegel, Heidegger’s emphasis on Being, meaningfulness of being, and present-at-hand and ready-to hand. They talk about the impact of Husserl on Heidegger and their different ideas concerning worldhood. They discuss Heidegger’s ideas on standing presence, unveiling and concealment, imagination and intuiti... |
| 2024-Feb-12 • 84 minutes #305 - The Disillusionment of Suburbia: A Dialogue with Benjamin Herold In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Benjamin Herold about the evolving state of suburbia. They discuss the fast development in Dallas suburbs, Black Americans in suburbs around Atlanta, Multiethnic heritage in Evanston, Illinois, potential multiple futures in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, and the founding families and long history of Compton. They talk about culture and history in each of these locations, centrality of schools in suburbia, cultural issues, covid-19 pandemic, the future of suburb... |
| 2024-Feb-08 • 91 minutes #304 - Failures of the Clinton Presidency: A Dialogue with Nelson Lichtenstein In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nelson Lichtenstein about the failures of the Clinton presidency. They discuss his collaboration with Judith Stein for the book, why Clinton focused on economic issues, Al From, Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), and the impact of Ross Perot on the 1992 Presidential election. They talk about important figures in Clinton’s economic team, failures of healthcare, economic negotiations with Japan and NAFTA. They also talk about the 1994 Crime Bill, repealing... |
| 2024-Feb-04 • 95 minutes #303 - The Science of Mental Health: A Dialogue with Camilla Nord In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Camilla Nord about the neuroscience of mental health. They define mental health and how the brain is central to mental health, measuring subjective vs. objective well-being, and chronic pain. They discuss depression, anhedonia, dopamine networks, behaviorism for motivation, and reward and valence. They talk about various emotional theories, gut microbiome, Bayesian brain and predictive processing, placebos, homeopathy, antidepressants, and many other topic... |
| 2024-Feb-01 • 102 minutes #302 - Modeling Social Behavior: A Dialogue with Paul Smaldino In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Smaldino about agent-based models of social dynamics. They discuss why modeling in social sciences are important, quantitative and qualitative data, models and how we define them, and decomposition with complexity science. They also discuss modeling with multivariate questions, importance of theory, modeling with COVID19, modeling in politics, and many more topics. Paul Smaldino is an Associate Professor of Cognitive & Information Sciences and faculty... |
| 2024-Jan-29 • 60 minutes #301 - Directionless Democrats: A Dialogue with Ruy Teixeira In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ruy Teixeira about the current state of the Democratic party. They discuss how Democrats are running in 2024, why Democrats have abandoned the working class voters, and why they have pivoted to college educated voters. They talk about immigration challenges with Democrats, impact of populism on the Right and the Left, Latinos shifting to the Republican Party, cultural issues, and many more topics. Ruy Teixeira is a sociologist and political commentator who... |
| 2024-Jan-25 • 140 minutes #300 - A Leftist Reading of Nietzsche: A Dialogue with Daniel Tutt In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daniel Tutt about the importance of the political left reading Nietzsche seriously. They talk about Nietzsche vs. Nietzscheanism, prolepsis and prophetic/esoteric and exoteric readings, and the Janus face of Nietzschean philosophy. They discuss building culture, caste and class, current leftist readings of Nietzsche, and Losurdo’s four stages of Nietzsche. They also talk about Nietzsche and Marx on religion, reading Nietzsche as a parasite, and many more ... |
| 2024-Jan-22 • 96 minutes #299 - Myths of Migration: A Dialogue with Hein de Haas In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Hein de Haas about migration and many of the myths surrounding immigration. They discuss why immigration is a major issue globally and its connection with nationalism, distinctions between immigration, emigration, asylum seekers, and refugees, and how migration is not at an all-time high. They also talk about internal/external migration, borders, labor demand in the USA, low-skilled vs. high-skilled workers, refugee crisis, hypocrisy on the political left ... |
| 2024-Jan-17 • 175 minutes #298 - Origins of the Just War: A Dialogue with Rory Cox In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Rory Cox about the multiple origins of the just war concept. They give an overview of the Egyptian empire, nile river and its importance for the Egyptian kingdom, and the three major kingdom periods with a central monarchy. They also talk about the Hittites, boundaries of their kingdom, and why they were so short lived. They discuss the Israelites, problems with the Hebrew Bible as a primary source, and the legacy of the Israelites. They also define just w... |
| 2024-Jan-15 • 73 minutes #297 - Social Construction of Our Emotions: A Dialogue with Lisa Feldman-Barrett In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lisa Feldman-Barrett about emotions. They discuss what emotions are and how they are different from affect and feelings. They also discuss the social construction model of emotions with discussion on interoception, exteroception, allostasis and homeostasis. They talk about predictive processing, Bayesian brain, emotions as heuristics, nature of reality, discrete emotions, emotions in relationships, and many more topics.Lisa Feldman Barrett is Distinguished... |
| 2024-Jan-10 • 53 minutes #296 - A Natural History of Cephalopods: A Dialogue with Danna Staaf In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Danna Staaf about the natural history of cephalopods. They discuss the family of cephalopods and their anatomy along with some of the behaviors, intelligence and consciousness with cephalopods, and what convergent evolution tells us about cephalopods. They talk about how cephalopods are able to live outside water, how they live in all bodies of water, impact of climate change, and many more topics. Danna Staaf holds a PhD in invertebrate biology from Stanf... |
| 2024-Jan-08 • 72 minutes #295 - Discovering the Ribosome Structure: A Dialogue with Venki Ramakrishnan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Venki Ramakrishnan about his discovering and mapping the ribosome structure. They discuss his background in coming from India to study physics and then biology, layout of ribosome, DNA, RNA, mRNA, and proteins, what we have learned about the ribosome over the past 50+ years, x-ray crystallography, and his trip to the LMB. They also discuss his experience of seeing atomic subunits of ribosomes for the first time, winning the Nobel Prize, and the future of r... |
| 2024-Jan-04 • 75 minutes #294 - The Philosophy of Twins: A Dialogue with Helena de Bres In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Helena de Bres about the philosophy of twins. They talk about why people are fascinated by twins, binarizing twins, definitions of selfhood, twins and individuality, and the extended mind. They also talk about twins and love, twins and dating, what twins teach people about objectification, and many more topics. Helena de Bres is Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College. Her main interests are on philosophy of literature, specifically the nature of memo... |
| 2023-Dec-31 • 71 minutes #293 - The History of Equality: A Dialogue with Darrin McMahon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Darrin McMahon about the history of equality. They define equality and inequality, hierarchies, equality not being sameness, equality as a value, and equality in other animals. They also talk about the origins of equality, reverse hierarchy dominance theory for equality, cooperation, slavery, religion, the Greeks complicated history with equality, complexity of enlightenment values, equality in the future, and many more topics.Darrin McMahon is David W. Li... |
| 2023-Dec-30 • 59 minutes #292 - Surviving Our Catastrophes: A Dialogue with Robert Jay Lifton In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robert Jay Lifton about resilience, catastrophe, and survival. They discuss psychohistory, his work with survivors of Hiroshima, the death imprint for survivors and his work with Erik Erikson. They talk about Freud’s death drive and differences and similarities to the death imprint. They discuss understanding resilience and surviving COVID-19, individual and collective mourning, surviving the effects of climate change, protean self, survivor power, the re... |
| 2023-Dec-28 • 55 minutes #291 - Cold War Liberalism: A Dialogue with Samuel Moyn In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Samuel Moyn about cold war liberalism. They provide a definition of liberalism, cold war liberalism, and some of the differences between these two forms of liberalism. They discuss some of the lessons from Cold War liberals for liberals today and the rise of neoliberalism and neoconservatism. They discuss the work of Judith Shklar, romanticism for Shklar and Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper and historicism, Hannah Arendt on liberalism, Lionel Trilling on Freud a... |
| 2023-Dec-25 • 73 minutes #290 - Finding Meaning In Our Universe: A Dialogue with Philip Goff In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Philip Goff about the big questions of the universe. They discuss questions such as “why are we here” and “what is the purpose of living?” They talk about how much meaning could we possibly receive from life, value nihilism and value fundamentalism, and where do morals originate? They also discuss panpsychism, consciousness, Integration Information Theory, implications of panpsychism, and many more topics. Philip Goff is a philosopher and professor at Durh... |
| 2023-Dec-21 • 73 minutes #289 - First Steps Towards Ending Mass Incarceration: A Dialogue with Colleen Eren In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Colleen Eren about mass incarceration and the First Step Act. They discuss the current landscape of mass incarceration, jail and prison, and why people have started caring about mass incarceration. They discuss the First Step Act, bipartisan support, ‘94 crime bill, and the history of legislation on incarceration since LBJ. They talk about “mainstreamization,” billionaire involvement, celebrity involvement, impact of the First Step Act, and where future le... |
| 2023-Dec-18 • 74 minutes #288 - Mass Incarceration and The Death of Rehabilitation: A Dialogue with Vincent Schiraldi In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Vincent Schiraldi about mass incarceration, probation, and parole. They discuss the current landscape of mass incarceration, probation, and parole, why there are high rates of incarceration and probation, history of probation and parole, and the impact of Nixon’s war on drugs. They talk about the Martinson report, bias, stereotypes, and racism, and the case example of Meek Mill and high incarceration rates in Philadelphia. They talk about alternative metho... |
| 2023-Dec-14 • 72 minutes #287 - The Blue machine: A Dialogue with Helen Czerski In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Helen Czerski about the Ocean on the Earth. They talk about how there is one ocean on planet Earth, why we ignore the ocean, makeup of the ocean with temperature, salinity, and wetness, and how much salt is in the ocean. They discuss the layers of the ocean, the Mediterranean sea, the shape of water, impact of wind and gravity, the moon’s relationship with ocean tides, 5 gyres, the ocean floor, impact of climate change, and many more topics. Helen Czerski ... |
| 2023-Dec-11 • 106 minutes #286 - Gender Performativity in Biology: A Dialogue with Richard Prum In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Prum about sex, gender, and biology. They talk about why sex and gender are sometimes controversial, defining sex, and sex as history. They discuss the materialist-feminist framework, gender as an extended phenotype, gender performativity, genes and chromosomes, Wolffian and Müllerian ducts, the role of hormones, the future of gender, and many more topics. Richard Prum is an Evolutionary Ornithologist at Yale University. His research interests are ... |
| 2023-Dec-07 • 60 minutes #285 - Polyvagal Theory: A Dialogue with Stephen Porges In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stephen Porges about polyvagal theory. They discuss the importance of safety, the vagus nerve and polyvagal theory, and why the Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) is important. They discuss the various branches, the social engagement system, neuroplasticity, and how the polyvagal theory works with trauma and co-regulation. They discuss the practical and clinical uses of the polyvagal theory, criticisms of the theory, future of the theory, and many more top... |
| 2023-Dec-03 • 128 minutes #284 - Hegel on Being: A Dialogue with Stephen Houlgate In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stephen Houlgate on Hegel’s Logic and his philosophy of being. They discuss the main aims of Hegel’s Logic and the use of categories, why Hegel believed Kant’s Logic is not critical enough, categories of thought and natural kinds, and separating thinking and being. They discuss Hegel and Heidegger on being, Hegel on objectivity and being presuppositionless, and pure being, becoming, and nothing. They discuss Nietzsche and Hegel on becoming, Dasein, Hegel a... |
| 2023-Nov-30 • 86 minutes #283 - Recycling Empire: A Dialogue with Adam Mestyan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Adam Mestyan about the post-Ottoman Middle East. They discuss nation states, recycling empire, international imperialism, and sovereignty. They talk about political order rather than governance, local states, nation states or federations, republics or monarchies, constitutive fictions, British and Ottoman involvement in Egypt, Egyptian sovereignty and the Muslim Brotherhood, the kingdom of Syria, and many more topics. Adam Mestyan is Associate Professor in... |
| 2023-Nov-27 • 119 minutes #282 - Nuclear Doomsday Pending: A Dialogue with Carl Robichaud In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Carl Robichaud about past and present nuclear risks. They discuss why nuclear weapons are still relevant, creation of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, and attempts at regulation after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They discuss Bay of pigs, SALT I & II, START I & II, and the nuclear arms race during the Cold War. They talk about the nine countries that currently have nuclear weapons, nuclear taboo, India-Pakistan tensions with nuclear weapons, Iran deal during the O... |
| 2023-Nov-23 • 90 minutes #281 - Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint: A Dialogue with Peter Sarris In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Sarris about the Roman emperor, Justinian. They give an overview of Justinian, provide the context of the Roman Empire, discuss the rise of Justin and him adopting Justinian and Justinian’s succession. They talk about the lessons Justinian learned from Justin’s reign, urgency and energy early in Justinian’s reign and his emphasis on religious law. They discuss the importance of Armenia, zealous nature of Justinian with his religious laws, the Hagia S... |
| 2023-Nov-20 • 102 minutes #280 - The Four Realms of Existence: A Dialogue with Joseph LeDoux In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph LeDoux about human cognition, consciousness, and existence. They discuss his work with Michael Gazzaniga on split brain patients, the four realms of existence, idea of the self, personality and temperament, and integration information theory. They talk about the extended mind, habits and goal direct behaviors, granular and sub-granular areas of the prefrontal cortex for consciousness, and Tulving’s 3 layers of consciousness. They also discuss cognit... |
| 2023-Nov-16 • 108 minutes #279 - Carbon Accounting and Climate Change: A Dialogue with Kristian Rönn In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kristian Rönn about carbon accounting and climate change. They talk about his work with Future for Humanity and how he created Normative. They discuss the landscape of climate change at the moment, his company Normative, and the differences between net zero and carbon neutral. They discuss carbon offsets, carbon accounting, and ton-year accounting. They talk about scopes 1, 2, & 3, global regulations, cap and trade, greenwashing, impact of AI on carbon acc... |
| 2023-Nov-13 • 106 minutes #278 - Conservation Presidents in the 20th Century: A Dialogue with Douglas Brinkley In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Douglas Brinkley about various conservation presidents in the 20th century. They discuss his process for how he wrote his conservation trilogy, understanding the psychology of Theodore Roosevelt (TR’s) and how conservation was important to him, and TR’s complex relationship with animals that included preservation and hunting. They talk about how TR used the Federal Government to protect natural land, his relationship with Native Americans, and his overall ... |
| 2023-Nov-09 • 94 minutes #277 - The 200 Million Year History of Eves: A Dialogue with Cat Bohannon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Cat Bohannon about the evolutionary history of females. They discuss her background, limited female subjects in many research papers, “morgie” and how milk became important, other features of milk such as bonding, attachment, and the “let-down” reflex. They also talk about the different types of wombs for monotremes, marsupials, and placentals, placenta and the menstrual cycle, and risks of pregnancy. They also talk about the grandmother hypothesis, future... |
| 2023-Nov-06 • 119 minutes #276 - A Segmented History of The Chapter: A Dialogue with Nicholas Dames In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Dames about the history of the chapter. They discuss how chapters have boundaries, define what is a chapter, and talk about literacy form. They also talk about the chapter as temporal units or scenes, Tabula Bembina and the first chapter, capitulation and Augustine, and how the chapter evolved with the history of the Bible. They also discuss the chapter in the 15th century, Locke’s anti-chapter theory, Jane Austen and the significance of chapter w... |
| 2023-Nov-02 • 106 minutes #275 - Animal Consciousness: A Dialogue with Walter Veit In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Walter Veit about animal consciousness. They talk about various frameworks for understanding consciousness, the naturalist approach, cognitive ethology, and pathological complexity thesis. They discuss consciousness arising in the Cambrian period, defining consciousness, free will, consciousness profile, Integrated Information Theory, interacting with animals, and many more topics. Walter Veit is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Reading. He is... |
| 2023-Oct-30 • 97 minutes #274 - A Theory of Everyone: A Dialogue with Michael Muthukrishna In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michael Muthukrishna about energy, cooperation, and global themes. They discuss the broad scope of the book, importance of theory, energy being essential for cooperation, corruption and cooperation, laws of life, cooperation fueling human growth, and some of the negative aspects of cooperation. They also talk about intelligence, immigration, wealth inequality, meritocracy, and many other topics. Michael Muthukrishna is Associate Professor of economic psych... |
| 2023-Oct-26 • 101 minutes #273 - Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne: A Dialogue with Sam Ottewill-Soulsby In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sam Ottewill-Soulsby about Christians and Muslims relationships during the age of Charlemagne. They discuss Charlemagne and his context, the viewpoint of the Muslim world, and the landscape of the Abbasid and Umayyad empires. They discuss prestige diplomacy, frontier diplomacy, importance of Islam and Christianity, four legal schools of Islam, and Carolingian religious values. They also discuss the dynamics with the Abbasid, gift giving, war and peace with... |
| 2023-Oct-23 • 69 minutes #272 - The Darkened Light of Democracy: A Dialogue with Melvin Rogers In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Melvin Rogers about Black American thought and democracy. They discuss the two visions/stories of democracy in America, utility of rhetoric, and whether white supremacy is still a relevant term in present-day America. They discuss Walker’s use of appeal, on freedom, Jefferson on we the people, political loss, Baldwin and race relations, how we move forward, and many more topics. Melvin Rogers is the Associate Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics... |
| 2023-Oct-19 • 98 minutes #271 - Black Grief/White Grievance: A Dialogue with Juliet Hooker In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Juliet Hooker about the politics of loss and the racial themes connected with loss. They discuss how racial justice is a prominent theme in today’s society, they define loss and how it is political, and discuss anticipatory loss. They also talk about white Americans with Anticipatory loss, symbolic vs. material loss, democracy and political loss, and class and inequality. They also discuss Civil Rights today, Black Maternal health, public grievance, and ma... |
| 2023-Oct-16 • 87 minutes #270 - From Kant to Kink: Demystifying Sexual Consent: A Dialogue with Manon Garcia In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Manon Garcia about sexual consent. They define what is consent, legal and moral consent, qualitative sex and consensual sex, and where power and responsibility fit within sexual consent. They discuss gender norms, consent out of politeness, reciprocal pleasure, consent in marriage, sex as a conversation, and many more topics. Manon Garcia is a philosopher, author, and Junior Professor of practical philosophy at Freie Universitat in Berlin, Germany. She has... |
| 2023-Oct-12 • 100 minutes #269 - Two Much Privilege: Marriage, Parenting, and Economics: A Dialogue with Melissa Kearney In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Melissa Kearney about the two-parent privilege. They define what is the two-parent privilege, the class gap in families and importance of college educated parents. They talk about conservative family values and views on two-parent households, two parents working outside of the home, working moms, stay-at-home moms, and single moms. They talk about the child tax credit, childhood poverty, birth rates, and many more topics. Melissa S. Kearney is the Neil Mos... |
| 2023-Oct-09 • 148 minutes #268 - An Evolutionary Journey of Free Will: A Dialogue with Kevin Mitchell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kevin Mitchell about the evolutionary story of free will. They discuss why biology and genetics help understand free will, different levels of determinism, reacting vs. choosing at the cellular level, and choice with ion channels in the cell. They also discuss dimensions of free will, vision and choice, decision making at cortical levels of the brain, creativity, and metacognition. They engage on personality theories, notion of the self, AI and free will, ... |
| 2023-Oct-05 • 75 minutes #267 - A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind: A Dialogue with Clancy Martin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Clancy Martin about suicide. They talk about his personal experiences and why he wrote the book in such an honest manner. They discuss why suicide is such a taboo topic, why gratitude for life isn’t always enough, practical ways to help when feeling suicidal, and the imminence of death. They talk about freedom and burden of living, assisted suicide, treatment, and many more topics.Clancy Martin is a philosopher and author. He is a professor of philosophy a... |
| 2023-Oct-02 • 85 minutes #266 - The Identity Trap: A Dialogue with Yascha Mounk In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Yascha Mounk about the cultural wars and how identity has become central for society today. They discuss his motivations for writing the book and his perspective on identity and cultural issues. They talk about the lure of the identity trap, the history of the identity synthesis from Foucault, to Said, to Spivack, to Bell, to Crenshaw, and the links between these figures. They discuss the impact of social media, institutional capture, how to engage with id... |
| 2023-Sep-28 • 104 minutes #265 - 700 years of Rivalry Between Rome and Persia: A Dialogue with Adrian Goldsworthy In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Adrian Goldsworthy about the 700 years of rivalry between the Roman and Persian Empires. They discuss the importance of studying past empires, overview of the rivalry, and the Roman and Persia Empires in this 700 year period. They discuss the differences in governing and peaceful co-existing, complexities of Armenia, greatness of Augustus, and the silk road. They also discuss Constantine, Justinian’s reign, the Arab armies and how they quelled the Roman an... |
| 2023-Sep-25 • 54 minutes #264 - The Golden Age of the Roman Empire: A Dialogue with Tom Holland In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tom Holland about the Golden Age of the Roman empire. They provide an overview of Pax Romana, greatness of Augustus, and Nero as a tyrant. They talk about the chaotic year of AD 69 with four emperors, Judean revolt, and Vespasian’s peacemaking abilities. They discuss the importance of Pliny, environmental contexts for peace, the five good emperors and the rule of Trajan and Hadrian, legacy of the Roman empire, and many more topics. Tom Holland is a histori... |
| 2023-Sep-21 • 167 minutes #263 - Climate and the Science of Denial: A Dialogue with David Lipsky In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Lipsky about the history of climate science denial. They discuss how he wrote this book, origins of discovering climate change, Edison and Westinghouse, and the influence of Einstein. They discuss the history of scientists observing climate changes, Nixon and the Clean Air Act and EPA, and Fred Singer and his involvement with the Unification church. They also talk about believing pseudoscience, PR campaigns for science denial for smoking and climate,... |
| 2023-Sep-18 • 83 minutes #262 - Failures of Forgiveness: A Dialogue with Myisha Cherry In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Myisha Cherry about forgiveness. They define forgiveness, discuss how moral systems are important for forgiveness, and discuss the narrow view and the broad view of forgiveness. They also talk about emotions and behaviors, what we do with bitterness, actions or the person, different capacities for different people, canceling others and forgiving public figures, forgiving one’s self, and many other topics. Myisha Cherry is associate professor of philosophy... |
| 2023-Sep-14 • 69 minutes #261 - Collective Memory and Civil Rights: A Dialogue with Hajar Yazdiha In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Hajar Yazdiha about collective memory and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They discuss how we can accruately understand Dr. King’s message and legacy, how we reckon with history, and what a multicultural coalition looks like today. They discuss collective memory, creating culture, primary audience of Dr. King’s message, various groups using Dr. King’s message, and many more topics. Hajar Yazdiha is a sociologist and writer. She is an Assistant Pro... |
| 2023-Sep-11 • 65 minutes #260 - Power and Progress: A Dialogue with Daron Acemoglu In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daron Acemoglu on technology, inequality, and power. They discuss how technological progress is a choice, defining progress, power of persuasion, and needs and innovations. They also talk about innovation, globalization, and automation in the post World War II era, AI and culture, fixing the challenges of technological inequality, and many more topics. Daron Acemoglu is an economist and Institute Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the... |
| 2023-Sep-07 • 83 minutes #259 - Nietzsche's Great Politics: A Dialogue with Hugo Drochon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Hugo Drochon about Nietzsche’s political thought. They talk about why Nietzsche’s political thought has been ignored, Nietzsche’s great politics, Nietzsche’s emphasis on culture, Plato and political philosophy, and how to build a culture. They also talk about philosophy of state, democracy, slavery, caste systems, Nietzsche’s politics in modernity, and many other topics. Hugo Drochon is a political theorist and historian. He has his PhD from Cambridge and ... |
| 2023-Sep-04 • 69 minutes #258 - Beyond the Wall: A Dialogue with Katja Hoyer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katja Hoyer about the history of East Germany. They discuss the culture of East and West Germany and how East Germany originated, East Germany and the relationship with the Soviet Union, and the political makeup of East Germany. They also talk about the significance of Ulbrecht and socialism, creation of the Berlin Wall, and the Stasi in East Germany. They discuss the failed economics in East Germany in the 1980s, similarities between unification in 1871 a... |
| 2023-Aug-31 • 120 minutes #257 - Polyamory and Eugenics: A Dialogue with Diana Fleischman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Diana Fleischman about a wide range of topics including polyamory and eugenics. They talk about how evolutionary psychology is a good framework for understanding relationships, patriarchal and matriarchal societies, history of monogamous and polyamorous relationships and jealousy and polyamory. They also talk about the difficult history of eugenics, decoupling bad from the good, polygenic scores, governmental differences with prenatal care, GWAS, and many ... |
| 2023-Aug-28 • 59 minutes #256 - The Rigor of Angels: A Dialogue with William Egginton In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with William Egginton about the nature of reality through the work by Borges, Heisenberg, and Kant. They discuss what connects these three men, role of interpretation, and different tools to ask big questions about space, time, and reality. They also talk about the origins of reality, change, Hume’s impact on Kant’s thinking, power of theory for understanding science, existence, and many more topics.William Egginton is an author, literary critic, and Decker Pro... |
| 2023-Aug-24 • 59 minutes #255 - Notes on Complexity: A Dialogue with Neil Theise In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Neil Theise about complexity in biology, physics, and consciousness. They talk about complexity with general systems theory, chaos theory, and fractals. They discuss complementarity with cellular biology and quantum mechanics. They also discuss consciousness, what it means to be human, and many more topics. Neil Theise is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. His main research interests are on adult stem cells and the anatomy of ... |
| 2023-Aug-21 • 98 minutes #254 - Trying To "Own the Libs" Since 1967: A Dialogue with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd about conservatives on colleges campuses in the 1960s. They talked about the organization of the book, presentism, the New Right being exported to mass media and politics, and how the New Right was very “Anti.” They discuss Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), movement from college campuses to politics, Libertarians split from conservatives, and the impact on current politics. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd is a historian, writer, and teache... |
| 2023-Aug-17 • 100 minutes #253 - Taking Flight: A Dialogue with Lev Parikian In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lev Parikian about flight in animals. They discuss convergent evolution for flight, four forces of flight, and early flight with mayflies and dragonflies. They talk about vision in dragonflies, beetles, bees and their different uses of their wings and pterosaurs. They talk about birds, flightless birds, speed of hummingbirds, bats, and many more topics. Lev Parikian is an author and conductor. He has written for many publications on birds. He is the author... |
| 2023-Aug-14 • 89 minutes #252 - The Philosophy of Translation: A Dialogue with Damion Searls In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Damion Searls about the philosophy of translation. They talk about decisions in translation, primacy of reading, and trusting the translator. They discuss language proficiency, fluency, dead vs. modern languages, and translating various authors. They also talk about translating Wittgenstein, translation process, how to select a translation, and many more topics. Damion Searls is a translator, author, and philosopher. He has translated works by Proust, Ril... |
| 2023-Aug-10 • 65 minutes #251 - Mental Imagery: A Dialogue with Bence Nanay In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bence Nanay about mental imagery. They define mental imagery, hyperaphantasia and aphantasia, mental imagery as unconscious, predictive processing and representations. They discuss the role of the body, multimodal dimensions, EMDR, metaphysics, phenomenology of perception, and many more topics. Bence Nanay is a philosopher and BOF Research Professor of philosophical psychology at the University of Antwerp. His main interests are on the philosophy and psych... |
| 2023-Aug-07 • 75 minutes #250 - Parfit: A Dialogue with David Edmonds In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Edmonds about the life and philosophy of Derek Parfit. They discuss the enigma of Derek Parfit, impact of his religious family, his work with poetry, journalism, and photography, and his time in the USA and Oxford. They talk about personal identity and the self, Reasons and Persons, utilitarianism, non-identity, equality, On What Matters, and many more topics. David Edmonds is a philosopher and author. He is Distinguished Research Fellow at Oxford U... |
| 2023-Aug-03 • 84 minutes #249 - A Cellular Story of Life: A Dialogue with Alfonso Martinez Arias In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alfonso Martinez Arias about the cell and its importance for organisms. They talk about why many people overemphasize genes and underemphasize cells, provide a basic overview of the cell, and discuss the role of gametes. They talk about cells and embryos, embryonic stem cells, bioethics, science communication, polygenic index scores, cancerous cells, and many more topics.Alfonso Martinez Arias is a developmental biologist and ICREA Research Professor at Un... |
| 2023-Jul-31 • 116 minutes #248 - Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of A Divided Land: A Dialogue with Jacob Mikanowski In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jacob Mikanowski about the past and present history of Eastern Europe. They define the contours of Eastern Europe and why this region is often forgotten. They talk about the Slavs possibly originating from Romania, Ashkenazi Jews, Paganism, Christianity, and Judaism in Eastern Europe. They talk about Muslim majority countries in Eastern Europe, impact of the Ottoman Empire, the “almost empire” of Poland-Lithuania, and Transylvania. They also discuss langua... |
| 2023-Jul-27 • 101 minutes #247 - Kant's Influence on Biology: A Dialogue with Andrew Jones In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andrew Jones about the impact that Kant had on biology. They discuss philosophy of science, Kant’s influence on biology, and how transcendental idealism of Kant impacts biology. They talk about Kant’s idea of the natural world and reality, Straussian interactions with Kant, the need for distinct disciplines, and some spiritualism in biology. They also talk about the impact of judgement on science, Kant and Hume, Kant’s relevance on Darwin, on biological o... |
| 2023-Jul-24 • 60 minutes #246 - Natural Things in Early Modern Worlds: A Dialogue with Mackenzie Cooley, Anna Toledano, & Duygu Yildirim In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mackenzie Cooley, Anna Toledano, & Duygu Yildirim about natural things in early modern worlds. They discuss how they wrote and edited their book together, Bezoar stones and their medicinal purposes, and ambergris and its medicinal purposes along with aesthetic uses. They also talk about coffee in the middle Ottoman Empire and the relationship of coffee with the body. They discuss Felix de Azara as an engineer turned naturalist, use of local terms and label... |
| 2023-Jul-20 • 52 minutes #245 - Oppenheimer: A Dialogue with Kai Bird In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue about the life and impact of J. Robert Oppenheimer. They talk about the elusive nature of Oppenheimer, how he became involved with theoretical physics, and the creation of the atomic bomb. They discuss his involvement with communism, AEC hearings, his last years, the legacy of Oppenheimer, and many more topics. Kai Bird is a historian, journalist, and writer. He is executive director and distinguished lecturer at CUNY Graduate Center's Leon Levy Center for Biog... |
| 2023-Jul-17 • 87 minutes #244 - Psychoanalysis: Past and Present: A Dialogue with Nancy McWilliams In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nancy McWilliams about psychoanalysis and the evolution of psychoanalytic theory and practice. They discuss the origins of psychoanalysis and misconceptions about Freud and the evolution of psychoanalytic theory from drive theory to object relations to self psychology to relational theory. They talk about the strengths and areas of improvement for psychoanalytic clinicians, case conceptualization, level of personality organization, defenses, transference, ... |
| 2023-Jul-14 • 139 minutes #243 - Heidegger's Destruction of Aristotle: A Dialogue with Sean Kirkland In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sean Kirkland about Heidegger’s destruction of Aristotle. They discuss how he came to write on Heidegger and Aristotle together, destruction of the philosophical tradition, and the differences between positive and negative destruction. They provide and overview of Heidegger’s philosophy and provide an overview of Aristotle’s philosophy. They talk about the threefold aspects of Nietzsche, Aristotle’s idea of concepts, and three tactics of the destructive me... |
| 2023-Jul-10 • 83 minutes #242 - Roots of The Black Working Class: A Dialogue with Blair LM Kelley In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Blair LM Kelley about the roots of the Black working class in the United States. They discuss why she wrote the book with some biographical content along with the historical events, class and race for Black Americans, and the impact of slavery for Black working class folks. They talk about the role of the church for building and organizing community, history of Black washerwomen and their involvement with unions, and the great migration. They also discuss ... |
| 2023-Jul-06 • 77 minutes #241 - States of Being: A Dialogue with Frank Putnam In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Frank Putnam about our various states of being. They discuss states of being, the continuous self, and states of being in development. They also talk about different states of being in rapid cycling with those that have Bipolar Disorders, importance of memory, and how critical is personality and the Big-5. They discuss mental disorders within a state model, the fragmented self and therapy, trauma and PTSD, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), psychedelics... |
| 2023-Jul-03 • 70 minutes #240 - The Life and Presidency of James Garfield: A Dialogue with C.W. Goodyear In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with C.W. Goodyear about the life and presidency of James Garfield. They provide an overview of Garfield and talk about the background context and temperament of Garfield. They discuss how he rose to being a General in the Civil War very quickly, his tenure in the US House of Representatives, and his emphasis on Civil Service reform and a Department of Education. They discuss the moderate platform he ran on for President, his assassination, his legacy, and many... |
| 2023-Jun-29 • 100 minutes #239 - On Being Moderately Undefined: A Dialogue with Salomé Sibonex In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Salomé Sibonex about identity, creation, and embracing the ambiguity of life. They share immigration stories, shifting political sides, and being incentivized for being “anti.” They discuss why people believe in their belief systems so hard, being undefined, broad spectrum of opinions, and many more topics. Salomé Sibonex is an artist, writer, and critic. She has written numerous articles on the self, identity, and spans topics in psychology and philosophy... |
| 2023-Jun-25 • 79 minutes #238 - The Dark Side of Martin Heidegger: A Dialogue with Richard Wolin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Wolin about the dark side of Martin Heidegger. They discuss the black notebooks of Heidegger and what are the nature and intentions of these black notebooks. They dialogue about reading the antisemitic and Nazi themes in these notebooks with Heidegger’s philosophy. They talk about Heidegger being a member of the Nazi party, editing and re-editing his works, his views on race, and the impact these views have on his philosophy. They also talk about t... |
| 2023-Jun-22 • 56 minutes #237 - Evolutionary Psychiatry: A Dialogue with Randy Nesse In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Randy Nesse about evolutionary psychiatry. They define evolutionary psychiatry, critics of evolutionary psychiatry, and how we define disorders. They also discuss emotions mood regulation, disease model of addiction, and many more topics. Randy Nesse is Research Professor of Life Sciences, and Founding Director of The Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University. He is also Professor Emeritus, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, and In... |
| 2023-Jun-19 • 108 minutes #236 - Being Human On Earth: A Dialogue with Lewis Dartnell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lewis Dartnell about his triptych of books on the earth and humanity. They talked about how he came to write his trilogy of books, our essentials for survival, and diversification of hominids. They also discuss plate tectonics, fertile crescent, and East African rift. They talk about the differences and similarities of different human species, importance of the oceans through time, and different materials for different civilizations. They also discuss the ... |
| 2023-Jun-15 • 182 minutes #235 - Syria, Identity, and Activism: A Dialogue with Celine Kasem In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Celine Kasem about the various ways she culturally identifies, her work in Syria, and activism in our current age. They begin by discussing how she became involved in activism and political work in Syria, and Gen Z’s use of digital media tools to spread awareness about issues. They also talk about the various places she has lived, concept of home, ethnic and cultural identities, Circassians, and the various ethnic groups in Syria. They discuss the history ... |
| 2023-Jun-12 • 128 minutes #234 - The Making and Re-making of Sunnism and Shiism: A Dialogue with Toby Matthiesen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Toby Matthiesen about Sunni and Shiism within the Islamic religion. They talk about the “divide” between Sunni and Shia Muslims and how this is not an accurate framing of these groups. They discuss the origins of Islam with the prophet Mohammad and the role of succession, school of jurisprudence, and the Shia century and interactions with the crusades. They also talk about the role of the Ottoman Empire and impact of the Safavids with the Ottomans. They ta... |
| 2023-Jun-08 • 75 minutes #233 - Psychiatry and Anti-Depressants: A Dialogue with Peter Kramer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Kramer about psychiatry and the role of anti-depressants. They discuss the inspiration for his new book and some of the major themes, the Goldwater rule and role of diagnosis, and the importance of truth. They discuss whether therapy is always valued for everyone, past and current depression research, anti-depressants, and many more topics. Peter Kramer is a psychiatrist who practiced and taught psychiatry for over 40 years. He is Emeritus Professor ... |
| 2023-Jun-05 • 132 minutes #232 - Radical and Revolutionary: Alfred Russel Wallace: A Dialogue with James Costa In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Costa about the life of Alfred Russel Wallace. They discuss the radical and revolutionary nature of Wallace, his inquisitiveness about nature since an early age, apprenticeship, trip to the Amazon, and scientific publications. They also talk about his trip to Asia, the interactions with Darwin, spiritualism, social justice, his legacy, and many more topics.James Costa is an entomologist and evolutionary biologist who is professor of biology and execu... |
| 2023-Jun-01 • 77 minutes #231 - The Neuroscience of Music: A Dialogue with Lawrence Sherman & Dennis Plies In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lawrence Sherman and Dennis Plies about the neuroscience of music. They discuss how they wrote the book together, define music, discuss the different parts of the brain involved in music, and the different elements of music. They also discuss musical preferences, differences between composing and improvising, curiosity, memory, truth in art, and many more topics. Lawrence Sherman is a neuroscientist and professor of neuroscience at the Oregon Health and Sc... |
| 2023-May-28 • 75 minutes #230 - Unmasking Libertarianism: A Dialogue with Andrew Koppelman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andrew Koppelman about Libertarianism. They discuss why Libertarianism is so popular, how it is a mutated form of liberalism, Hayek and his views, and on rights. They also talk about taxation, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, role of regulation, Liberalism today, Obamacare, and many more topics. Andrew Koppelman is the John Paul Stevens Professor of Law, Professor (by courtesy) of Political Science, and Philosophy Department Affiliated Faculty at Northwestern U... |
| 2023-May-25 • 101 minutes #229 - Defying the British Empire: A Dialogue with David Veevers In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Veevers about the various perspectives around the British Empire. They talk about why people ignore some parts of history but emphasize others, Irish resistance, how the British colonized North America, and their interactions with various Native peoples. They discuss the British empire and the hegemony in Asia, meeting resistance in Africa, and having a full and complete picture of the history of the British Empire.David Veevers is an award-winning h... |
| 2023-May-22 • 96 minutes #228 - The Possibility of Life: A Dialogue with Jaime Green In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jaime Green about the origins of life, other planets, and meaning. They discuss the origins of life on earth, why humans ask the big questions of life, and life on other planets. They talk about AI, machine learning, utility of sci-fi films, UFOs and many more topics.Jaime Green is a writer, editor, and essayist. She is the series editor for The Best American Science and Nature Writing. She is also a lecturer at Smith College. She is the author of the late... |
| 2023-May-18 • 120 minutes #227 - Without Children: A Dialogue with Peggy O'Donnell Heffington In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peggy O’Donnell Heffington about women’s rights, choice, and children. They talk about some of the reasons why women don’t have children, Millennials having children later, and structural aspects of choice. They discuss the history of abortion, contraception laws, Roe V. Wade, Dobbs ruling, the history and origins of the nuclear family, grandmother hypothesis, public perceptions of people without children, and many more topics. Peggy O’Donnell Heffington i... |
| 2023-May-15 • 143 minutes #226 - The Pandemic Paradox: A Dialogue with Scott Fulford In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Scott Fulford about the economical paradox during the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss what is the pandemic paradox ( spending less and saving more), income vs. wealth, state of the economy pre-pandemic, and the economy during the beginning of the pandemic. They talk about the CARES act, subsequent acts after the CARES act, the American Rescue Plan, childhood poverty, childcare and women’s labor, the work revolution, inflation, and many more topics. Scott F... |
| 2023-May-11 • 80 minutes #225 - Making the Rational Decisions: A Dialogue with Lionel Page In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lionel Page about rational decision-making and behavioral economics. They discuss the history and contours of behavioral economics, work of Kahneman and Tversky, and why an evolutionary framework is important for behavioral economics. They also talk about heuristics, cognitive biases, gains and loses, game theory, Nash equilibrium, cooperation, belief systems, and many more topics. Lionel Page is an economist and Professor of economics at The University of... |
| 2023-May-08 • 123 minutes #224 - Brains As Prediction Machines: A Dialogue with Andy Clark In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andy Clark about prediction processing, embodiment, and reality. They discuss the predictive processing model, Bayesian brain, and the role of human growth and development for the brain. They question what is reality, Friston’s Free Energy Principle, controlled hallucinations, and computational psychiatry. They also talk about reward vs. salience, prediction error, body budget, consciousness, the extended mind, and many other topics.Andy Clark is a Philoso... |
| 2023-May-04 • 59 minutes #223 - The Legacy of Sultan Süleyman: A Dialogue with Kaya Sahin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kaya Sahin about Sultan Süleyman and the Ottoman Empire. They provide an overview of the Ottoman Empire and how Süleyman was a critical leader, his upbringing, succession, and spreading the boundaries of the Empire. They also talk about the importance of the Grand Vizier, conflicts with the Hungarians and Hapsburgs, his legacy, and many more topics. Kaya Sahin is a Historian and Associate Professor of History at Indiana University, Bloomington. His major r... |
| 2023-May-01 • 108 minutes #222 - Cats: An Evolutionary Story: A Dialogue with Jonathan Losos In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Losos about the evolutionary story of cats. They discuss how cats are semi-domesticated and similar around the world. They talk about how cats meow and purr to humans and less so with other cats. They discuss the sociality of cats, feral cats, and the evolutionary history of cats. They talk about the five different groups of cats, where cats originate from, different breeds of cats, genetics, where they roam, the future of cats and many other topi... |
| 2023-Apr-27 • 47 minutes #221 - The Earth Transformed: A Dialogue with Peter Frankopan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Frankopan about a natural history of climate change on the earth. They discuss how the climate was different on earth for billions of years and the impact the past climate has on earth today. They discuss the evolution of Hominids in the Holocene, formation of early cities, trading, domestication of horses in the Steppe, industrial age and fossil fuels, Rachel Carson and the rise of environmentalists, and many more topics. Peter Frankopan is a Histor... |
| 2023-Apr-24 • 92 minutes #220 - Generations: A Dialogue with Jean Twenge In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jean Twenge about the current generations in our society. They discuss how we define generations and why its important, technological changes being central to generational changes, and the ranges of generations. They talk about upcoming trends for Polars/alphas, Gen Z and the connection between increased mental health with increased social media use, and the changing social, economic, and educational dynamics with Millennials. They discuss Gen X as the mid... |
| 2023-Apr-20 • 109 minutes #219 - Women Who Kill: A Dialogue with Marissa Harrison In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marissa Harrison about female serial killers. They discuss media sensationalizing serial killers, morbid curiosity, and defining serial killers. They talk about the average profile of a female serial killer, motives for female serial killers, and mental illness. They discuss psychopathy, PCL-R, and the need for improved mental health services. They also talk about neurobiology of serial killers, future research, and many other topics. Marissa Harrison is a... |
| 2023-Apr-17 • 89 minutes #218 - Neuroscience and Embodiment: A Dialogue with Inês Hipólito In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Inês Hipólito about neuroscience and embodiment. They talk about the different models of the brain, the embodied mind, and Free Energy Principle. They discuss Artificial Intelligence as a living system, Merleau-Ponty’s work on the phenomenology of embodiment, the role of perception, the self, and many more topics. Inês Hipólito is a philosopher, researcher, and lecturer at Berlin School of Mind and Brain. Her research focuses on topics in cognitive neurosc... |
| 2023-Apr-13 • 100 minutes #217 - Longtermism and Our Future: A Dialogue with Richard Fisher In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Fisher about the long view and our future. They talk about how society started thinking more short-term and not long-term. They discuss the historical aspects of longtermism, positive outlooks for different futures, longtermism and capitalism, and how our politics has become more short-term. They talk about the evolutionary framework for foresight and longtermism, deep time both past and future, climate change, and many more topics.Richard Fisher i... |
| 2023-Apr-09 • 113 minutes #216 - Social Constructions of The Self: A Dialogue with Brian Lowery In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Brian Lowery about the social construction of the self. They provide a definition of the “self,” how the self is only understood in the context of others, self as autonomous, and why the self is an illusion. They discuss the idea of a core self, different identities with different communities, switching identities, freedom and free will, and many other topics. Brian Lowery is the Walter Kenneth Kilpatrick Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Un... |
| 2023-Apr-06 • 94 minutes #215 - The Triumphant Spread of Christianity: A Dialogue with Peter Heather In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Heather about the spread of Christianity. They discuss how the spread of Christianity is a story of conversion, the religious landscape at the end of the Roman empire, and the four phases of Constantine’s conversion. They talk about the essential aspects of the Council of Nicea, Augustine’s legacy, and Homoean Christianity. They also discuss the arrival of Islam in the 5th Century, the spread of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxon world, Charlemagne and ... |
| 2023-Apr-03 • 140 minutes #214 - Assyria: The World's First Empire: A Dialogue with Eckart Frahm In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Eckart Frahm about the Assyrian Empire. They give an overview of the various Assyrian periods, discuss the importance of the “fertile crescent,” and talk about the impact of language in Assyria. They talk about the importance of Ashur as a god and as a city, the initial rulers in the old Assyrian period, the middle Assyrian period, and the distinctions between Assyrian and Babylon. They also discuss the fall of Nineveh, Biblical accounts of the Assyrian em... |
| 2023-Mar-30 • 118 minutes #213 - The Reopening of The Western Mind: A Dialogue with Charles Freeman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Charles Freeman about the history of intellectualism in the West. They discuss the preservation of texts after the fall of the Roman Empire, Charlemagne and his interactions with the Papacy, the importance of Augustine on Western thought, and the Great Schism of 1054. They also talk about rationality in the Middle Ages, impact of Islam, importance of Thomas Aquinas incorporating Greek philosophy into Christian theology, and the rise of Humanism. They also ... |
| 2023-Mar-27 • 117 minutes #212 - The World Through Our Senses: A Dialogue with Ashley Ward In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ashley Ward about the senses and understanding our world. They define what a “sense” is and why we focus on the five senses. They question whether we can know reality outside of our senses and discuss the complexity of the human eye and how they human eye is different from other eyes. They talk about the role of beauty and aesthetics, impact of sound and music, taste and how it evolves over time, smell, the importance of touch, and many other topics. Ashle... |
| 2023-Mar-19 • 72 minutes #211 - Armageddon: A Dialogue with Bart Ehrman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bart Ehrman about armageddon and the apocalypse as detailed in the Bible. They discuss why many people have a fascination with the end times and many of the things detailed in the book of Revelation. They talk about the role of interpretation, various views of the tribulation, and where the idea of the rapture originated. They discuss the importance of genre in the Bible, the historical view of Revelation, negative messaging of Revelation, and many more to... |
| 2023-Mar-13 • 91 minutes #210 - Trauma and Justice: A Dialogue with Judith Herman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with Judith Herman about trauma and justice. They discuss how her new book on trauma is connected to her previous book on trauma. They define trauma and its potential overuse, role of dominance and submission before violence in intimate partner violence (IPV), and the role of patriarchy in our society. They talk about modern feminism working for trauma work, acknowledgement, apology, and forgiveness in trauma work, and restorative justice. They also talk abou... |
| 2023-Mar-06 • 53 minutes #209 - Autism: Difference and Disability: A Dialogue with Simon Baron-Cohen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Simon Baron-Cohen about various components of autism. They define autism, discuss the systematizing mechanism and the if-and-then logic, and talk about the empathy circuit. They discuss how the systematizing quotient (SQ) and the empathy quotient (EQ) correspond with research on Big-5 personality and intelligence research. They mention some of the sex differences between between the SQ and EQ, evolutionary elements of invention, autism in present times, an... |
| 2023-Feb-27 • 76 minutes #208 - Introduction to Psychology: A Dialogue with Paul Bloom In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Bloom about major themes in psychology. They discuss how he wrote his latest book, Psych, and some of the origins of the book. They talk about dualism and understanding the brain, consciousness, and why we should still study Freud. They also discuss Piaget’s contributions to psychology, how serious is the replication crisis, core personality, the future of psychology and many more topics. Paul Bloom is a Professor of Psychology at the University of To... |
| 2023-Feb-23 • 65 minutes #207 - Science Communication and Free Speech in Academia: A Dialogue with Nicholas Dirks In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Dirks about science communication and various issues in academia. They discuss his background as chancellor and dean of various academic institutions, problems and solutions for higher education, and why liberal arts are still needed. They also cover free speech and culture wars issues, COVID-19, science communication, and many other topics. Nicholas Dirks is President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences. He was the 10th Chancellor of the ... |
| 2023-Feb-20 • 75 minutes #206 - Mourning the Presidents: A Dialogue with Lindsay Chervinsky In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lindsay Chervinsky about death and mourning of U.S. Presidents. They discuss how the book came about and how certain essays were chosen for the volume. They talk about the themes of race, political party, and family. They discuss the ideas of legacy, and how U.S. presidential funerals compare with other global heads of state. They talk about Washington and his private funeral, Jefferson and his descendants, Taylor and his mixed legacy, and the global impac... |
| 2023-Feb-16 • 98 minutes #205 - A Philosophy of Protest: A Dialogue with Clayton Bohnet In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Clayton Bohnet about protest through a philosophical lens. They discuss what a montage is and why he used it for his book, defining protest, and the functionality of protest. They talk about protest as spectacle, differences between protests and mobs/riots, Kant’s contribution to understanding critique, and many more topics. Clayton Bohnet is a philosopher, writer, and professor. He has Master’s in Psychology from the University of West Virginia and a PhD ... |
| 2023-Feb-12 • 89 minutes #204 - The Problem of Democracy: A Dialogue with Shadi Hamid In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Shadi Hamid about democracy, liberalism, and foreign policy. They discuss democracy and how it is usually defined, what constitutes a “real” democracy, and the differences between liberalism and democracy. They discuss Islam and its various strands, challenges with democracy during the Arab spring, and why the United States chooses to get involved in some countries and not others. They also talk about positive examples of democracy abroad, the future of de... |
| 2023-Feb-09 • 86 minutes #203 - A History of Transplant Surgery: A Dialogue with Paul Craddock In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Craddock about the history of transplant surgery. They discuss the overarching movement of transplant surgery, skin grafting, and blood transfusions. They also talk about the long history of teeth and their various surgeries through time. They talk about vascular surgery, first organ transplants, advances in medical technology and future transplants, and many more topics.Paul Craddock is a cultural historian and award-winning author. He is a Science M... |
| 2023-Feb-06 • 93 minutes #202 - The Culture of Incels: A Dialogue with William Costello In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with William Costello about incels. They define sexuality more broadly and define incels and some of the features of incels. They discuss the importance of sexual selection and how incels are part of online culture and also outside of online culture. They talk about the “manosphere,” modern masculinity, and the different messages that men receive from society. They discuss the cultural perceptions of incels, violence, clinical treatment for incels, and many m... |
| 2023-Feb-02 • 120 minutes #201 - The Invention of Tomorrow: A Dialogue with Adam Bulley In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Adam Bulley about foresight and its evolutionary history. They define what foresight is and how it is different from prospective memory. They discuss how much executive functioning is involved, episodic foresight, abstraction, and theory of mind. They talk about the evolutionary history of foresight, cultural evolution, human development, and predictive models and perception. They also talk about brain systems involved with foresight, new technology, socia... |
| 2023-Jan-30 • 120 minutes #200 - Marketing in the 21st Century: A Dialogue with Pinar Yildirim In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Pinar Yildirim about marketing in our current society. They begin by defining marketing, how marketing influences consumers, and the importance of design and branding in marketing. They also discuss consumer loyalty within marketing and global marketing. They talk about content moderation within social media, public vs. private organizations, Tik Tok and data privacy, and many other topics. Pinar Yildirim is Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton ... |
| 2023-Jan-26 • 70 minutes #199 - Breaking Barriers in Biology: A Dialogue with Joseph Graves Jr. In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph Graves Jr. about his life experiences and research in evolutionary biology. They talk about why he wrote his most recent book as half memoir/half popular science book, his early beginnings in the Jim Crow South, and how he became interested in the biological sciences. They talk about his work on Drosophila and broader research areas in evolutionary biology, his work on race and IQ, and many other topics.Joseph Graves Jr. is an evolutionary biologist... |
| 2023-Jan-23 • 76 minutes #198 - Racial Equity and Selfhood: A Dialogue with Brian Lowery In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Brian Lowery about racial equality and equity, privilege, and selfhood. They discuss the major data points and reasons for continued racial inequities, systemic racism, and different types of privilege. They also talk about the differences between equity, equality, and equality of opportunity. They also discuss the efficacy of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments in academia and in the workforce. They also discuss the self and how one defines... |
| 2023-Jan-19 • 83 minutes #197 - Freely Determined: A Dialogue with Ken Sheldon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ken Sheldon about free will, determinism, the self, and positive psychology. They talk about why studying free will is important, the three horsemen of determinism, grand hierarchy of human interaction, and the illusion of free will. They also talk about the self, self-determination theory, the symbolic self, and many more topics. Ken Sheldon is the Curator’s Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri. He is well-established in the Positive Psyc... |
| 2023-Jan-16 • 108 minutes #196 - Wagnerism: A Dialogue with Alex Ross In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alex Ross about Richard Wagner and his legacy. They discuss why he wrote a book on Wagner and what is Wagnerism, Wagner’s relationship with Nietzsche, and the many interpretations of Wagner. They talk about Wagner’s antisemitism, alternative Wagnerisms, Wagner’s impact on literature, Nazi Germany, and cinema. Alex Ross is a writer and music critic who has been writing for The New Yorker for over 25 years. He writes on classical music from opera to avant-ga... |
| 2023-Jan-12 • 57 minutes #195 - Healthcare and Public Health: A Dialogue with Michael Stein In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michael Stein about healthcare vs. public health. They talk about the narratives around healthcare and public health, biopsychosocial model, and progress of health in the USA. They talk about how to get people to care about the health of their fellow citizens, global health vs. USA public health. They talk about preventative vs. reactionary care, pandemic issues, public health as process and practice, and many more topics. Michael Stein is a physician and ... |
| 2023-Jan-09 • 70 minutes #194 - Stories & Culture: A Dialogue with Kat Rosenfield In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kat Rosenfield about stories and culture. They discuss her process for writing novels and essays, writing a gothic mystery novel, and how she writes strong female protagonists. They also talk about the stories we tell in our society, outrage culture, and many more topics. Kat Rosenfield is a freelance pop culture writer. She is a former reporter for MTV News and has written articles for Entertainment Weekly, Unherd, Vulture, Wired, and many other places. S... |
| 2023-Jan-05 • 89 minutes #193 - Digital Sovereignty's Elusiveness: A Dialogue with Aynne Kokas In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Aynne Kokas about digital sovereignty and our data in the digital world. They discuss the US-China relationship with the tech industry. They define digital sovereignty and data trafficking, discuss ownership and management of personal data, and what are the three risks of data trafficking and three limitations of the US system for data. They also talk about China’s cyber sovereignty and China’s use of military for data surveillance. They discuss digital so... |
| 2023-Jan-02 • 57 minutes #192 - Transfer of Power: A Dialogue with David Marchick In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Marchick about the presidential transfer of power. They discuss the podcast he hosted on the transfer of power and how the book was developed. They talk about presidential transitions, the importance of the Office of Presidential Personnel, and importance of the General Services Administration. They discuss four key features of leading in crisis and discuss the presidential transitions of Presidents Carter, Reagan, and other presidents. They talk abo... |
| 2022-Dec-30 • 189 minutes #191 - Masculinity, Homelessness, and Mental Health: A Dialogue with Christopher Ferguson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christopher Ferguson about masculinity, homelessness, and mental health. They discuss his APA resignation letter and APA’s guidelines for boys and men. They also discuss the challenges and potential solutions for homelessness and institutionalization. They also review some of the political progress over the past two years and many other topics. Christopher Ferguson is a clinical psychologist, professor, and writer. He teaches psychology at Stetson Universi... |
| 2022-Dec-26 • 113 minutes #190 - Deconstructing Derrida: A Dialogue with Peter Salmon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Salmon about the life and philosophy of Jacques Derrida. They discuss Derrida’s place in philosophy and within deconstructionism, the culture and identity in Derrida’s upbringing, and the impact of Husserl, Heidegger, and Levinas on Derrida’s philosophical thought. They talk about Derrida’s emphasis on language, his interactions with Nietzsche’s thought, how he was received in society, his social circle and his enduring legacy.Peter Salmon is a write... |
| 2022-Dec-22 • 166 minutes #189 - The Death of God and The Importance of Appreciation: A Dialogue with David Hoinski In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Hoinski about different philosophical ideas and the importance of appreciation. They discuss the philosophy of the pre-socratics, logos, and the nature and role of philosophy. They also talk about immanence vs. transcendence, reality and the metaphysical, and the emotions of guilt and shame. They discuss Nietzsche’s idea about the death of god, universal and political implications of Nietzsche’s philosophy, capitalism, why appreciation is important a... |
| 2022-Dec-19 • 85 minutes #188 - The Supreme Value of Literary Criticism: A Dialogue with Merve Emre In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Merve Emre about literary criticism and how to engage with literature. They discuss what literary criticism is and why it is important. They talk about different ways of reading, author’s intent, and the contours of literary genre. They also discuss various forms of interpretation, themes of “becoming” in the philosophy of Nietzsche and writing of Mieko Kawakami, and many more topics. Merve Emre is a professor of literature at Oxford University, Critic at ... |
| 2022-Dec-15 • 141 minutes #187 - If Nietzsche Were A Narwhal: A Dialogue with Justin Gregg In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Justin Gregg about animal intelligence. They discuss how one defines intelligence, g, and what intelligence means for humans and animals. They talk about animal minds, communication in animals, and concepts of deception. They discuss theory of mind, minimal concept of death, morality and norms in animals, torture and pain in animals, and many other topics. Justin Gregg is a science writer and communicator. He is Adjunct Professor at Saint Francis Xavier Un... |
| 2022-Dec-12 • 96 minutes #186 - Inside the Mind of A Bee: A Dialogue with Lars Chittka In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lars Chittka about the cognitive abilities of bees. They discuss the individuality and evolutionary history of bees. They talk about the various aspects of vision in bees such as polarization, sun compass, and phylogenetic analysis. They discuss the antennae of bees and how they use this sense. They talk about the sociality of bees, the brains of bees, intelligence, and their personality. They also discuss robot bees, bee conservation, and many more topics... |
| 2022-Dec-08 • 62 minutes #185 - Blood & Iron: A History of The German Empire: A Dialogue with Katja Hoyer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katja Hoyer about the history of the German Empire. They discuss what it means to be German, Prussia and its boundaries, and the importance of the German revolution in 1848. They talk about the character and rule of Otto Von Bismarck, the unification of Germany in 1871, and how the industrial revolution was economically important. They also talk about the changing of the Kaisers, Germany’s involvement in WWI and the aftermath, and many other topics. Katja ... |
| 2022-Dec-05 • 110 minutes #184 - The Cult of Smart: A Dialogue with Freddie deBoer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Freddie deBoer about marxism, education and society. They define marxism, how marxism works today and how it is connected with communism and socialism. They discuss the evolution of the cult of smart, manufacturing and technical jobs, and how educational systems globally are compared to the United States. They talk about capacity and achievement, genetics and the “hereditarian left,” equality and equity, and lack of quality of education. They also discuss... |
| 2022-Dec-01 • 144 minutes #183 - Science Fictions Within The Social Sciences: A Dialogue with Stuart Ritchie In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stuart Ritchie about fraud, bias, and hype within the social sciences. They talk about “trust the science” and some of the challenges of science during the COVID-19 pandemic. The discuss how the scientific method work and some of the dynamics within the scientific publishing world. They talk about how certain campaigns can promote what does and does not get accepted into scholarly journals, the replication crisis, and various fads within psychology. They a... |
| 2022-Nov-28 • 61 minutes #182 - The Moral History of Genetic Engineering: A Dialogue with Matthew Cobb In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Matthew Cobb about the moral history of genetic engineering. They discuss his reasons for writing the book and why one should be worried about genetic engineering. They define genetic engineering and some of the precursor tools before the advent of recombinant DNA. They discuss recombinant DNA, Paul Berg, and Asilomar. They also talk about the genetic history of GMOs, gene editing/CRISPR, the future of genetic engineering, and many more topics. Matthew Cob... |
| 2022-Nov-24 • 198 minutes #181 - Schelling's Idealism: A Dialogue with Ben Norris In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue about the philosophy of Schelling, Spinoza, idealism, and realism. They talk about how he came to write his book on Schelling and Spinoza and how one can define idealism and realism. They talk about the three claims of idealism, Spinoza’s ethics, and the importance of Jacobi’s critiques on German idealism. They also talk about Spinoza’s god, the infinite and finite, modes and attributes of substance, principle of sufficient reason, and Kant’s synthetic judgemen... |
| 2022-Nov-21 • 127 minutes #180 - Sexual Selection, Polyamory, and AI: A Dialogue with Geoffrey Miller In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Geoffrey Miller about evolution, polyamory, and artificial intelligence (AI). They give an overview of natural selection and sexual selection and explain why sexual selection was lost to history for many years. They discuss mate choice, pair-bonding, cold and hot choosers, sexual ornamentation, the ornamental mind, and mate retention. They also discuss polyamorous relationships, the moral and ethical implications of polyamorous relationships, and the role ... |
| 2022-Nov-18 • 140 minutes #179 - Red Wave?: Thoughts on the 2022 US Midterm Elections: A Dialogue with Ben Winegard In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ben Winegard about the 2022 US midterm elections. They discuss the main takeaways and why there was no “red wave” for the republicans. They talk about the Desantis juggernaut and whether abortion was as big of an issue for people to get to the voting polls. They also discuss the importance of the midwest states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. They also talk about the ballot measures, the Senate, House, and Governorships, looking ahead to 2024, and many oth... |
| 2022-Nov-17 • 108 minutes #178 - The Good, The Bad, and The Pathological Nature of Narcissism: A Dialogue with W. Keith Campbell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with W. Keith Campbell about the research on narcissism. They define narcissism and explain the three types: grandiose, vulnerable, and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). They talk about state vs. ... |
| 2022-Nov-14 • 70 minutes #177 - Masculinity In The 21st Century: A Dialogue with Richard Reeves In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Reeves about the current issues for boys and men. They discuss how to talk about men's issues next to women's issues. They talk about the structural issues against men such as in education a... |
| 2022-Nov-10 • 110 minutes #176 - A Minimal Concept of Death: A Dialogue with Susana Monsó In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Susana Monsó about animal minds. They talk about how animal minds are defined and why there is an emphasis on cognition. They also talk about a minimal concept of death and why this is important to ... |
| 2022-Nov-07 • 132 minutes #175 - A Natural History of The Future: A Dialogue with Rob Dunn In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Rob Dunn about the natural history of the future of earth. They discuss the two laws of ecological diversity and how increased ecological diversity is helpful for growth. They also talk about the an... |
| 2022-Nov-03 • 102 minutes #174 - The Art of Living and Dying: A Dialogue with Kevin Aho In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kevin Aho about existentialism, life, and death. They discuss his background and heart attack which was the motivation for him writing his most recent book. They discuss the inevitability of death, ... |
| 2022-Oct-30 • 68 minutes #173 - The Scientific Race to Defeat COVID-19: A Dialogue with David Quammen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Quammen about the origins and treatments for SARS-CoV-2. They discuss the lack of preparedness and missed warnings of SARS 2003. They talk about the two main schools of though on the origins o... |
| 2022-Oct-27 • 63 minutes #172 - Virtues and Character: A Dialogue with Massimo Pigliucci In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Massimo Pigliucci about the nature of virtues and character. They define virtue and why people seek virtue. They describe the differences between virtues and morals and discuss moral relativism. The... |
| 2022-Oct-24 • 54 minutes #171 - A Cellular Symphony: A Dialogue with Siddhartha Mukherjee In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Siddhartha Mukherjee about cellular biology. They define what a cell is and talk about the importance of Leeuwenhoek and Hooke in observing and discovering the cell. They talk about the five basic p... |
| 2022-Oct-20 • 172 minutes #170 - Navigating Friendship: A Dialogue with Hannah Bradshaw In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Hannah Bradshaw about same-sex friendships, opposite-sex friendships, and relationships in society. They discuss some of her background and research, dynamics of male friendships, and dynamics of fe... |
| 2022-Oct-17 • 124 minutes #169 - Hidden Motives, Norms, and The Sacred: A Dialogue with Robin Hanson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robin Hanson about hidden motives, norms, and the sacred. They discuss how one understands motives and why they are hidden. They also talk about bias and not violating norms, free will, status and s... |
| 2022-Oct-13 • 74 minutes #168 - An Economy of Promises: A Dialogue with Bruce Carruthers In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bruce Carruthers about credit, trust, and the American economic system. They discuss the point of emphasis on promise and trust when discussing credit and finances in the United States. They talk ab... |
| 2022-Oct-10 • 154 minutes #167 - Being and Worldhood: The Philosophy of Martin Heidegger: A.Dialogue with Richard Polt In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Polt about the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. They define and discuss Dasein, 3 forms of Dasein, and how it is different from other types of being. They talk about authenticity and inauthen... |
| 2022-Oct-07 • 101 minutes #166 - Infant Cognition and Plants: A Dialogue with Annie Wertz In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Annie Wertz about her research on infant cognition and the interactions with plants. They discuss her background and how she came to study infant cognition and plants. They discuss infant developmen... |
| 2022-Oct-02 • 113 minutes #165 - Platypus, Echidna, and The Magnificent Mammals of Australia: A Dialogue with Jack Ashby In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jack Ashby about the wonderful mammals of Australia. They talk about the distinctions between monotremes, marsupials, and placentals and where they are located around the world. They mention the way... |
| 2022-Sep-29 • 101 minutes #164 - A Natural History of The Red Planet: A Dialogue with Simon Morden In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Simon Morden about the natural history of Mars. They talk about the current data concerning Mars, origins of the universe and how Mars formed. They talk about the importance of the great dichotomy, ... |
| 2022-Sep-25 • 45 minutes #163 - The Power of Our Influence: A Dialogue with Vanessa Bohns In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Vanessa Bohns about her research on influence. They define influence and how it has a reciprocal nature. They discuss who we are influenced by and what are the social norms for influence. They talk ... |
| 2022-Sep-21 • 77 minutes #162 - Expansionism and Tariffs: The Presidency of William McKinley: A Dialogue with Robert Merry In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robert W. Merry about the life and presidency of William McKinley. They discuss the character and temperament of McKinley, his Ohio upbringing, impact of the Civil War, and why tariffs were a huge p... |
| 2022-Sep-19 • 88 minutes #161- The State of Our Culture: A Dialogue with William Deresiewicz In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with William Deresiewicz about wokeness, academia, generational shifts, and the state of our culture. They talk about where one should place their energy and attention to events in society. They talk abo... |
| 2022-Sep-15 • 113 minutes #160 - Iron Will: The Presidency of Grover Cleveland: A Dialogue with Troy Senik In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Troy Senik about the life and presidency of Grover Cleveland. They discuss how one defines a successful president and why this is important to consider when evaluating a presidential legacy. They ta... |
| 2022-Sep-12 • 93 minutes #159 - Our Need to Belong: A Dialogue with Geoffrey Cohen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Geoffrey Cohen about the science around the concept of belonging. They discuss Kurt Lewin's work on social psychology, specifically on his idea of situation building and the importance of the enviro... |
| 2022-Sep-08 • 125 minutes #158 - Ancient Brains, Modern Times: A Dialogue with Douglas Kenrick & David Lundberg-Kenrick In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Douglas Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick about the evolutionary adaptations of the human body and brain. They discuss their pyramid of needs being rooted in evolution and juxtaposing it with Maslo... |
| 2022-Sep-05 • 150 minutes #157 - An Evolutionary Framework for Depression: A Dialogue with Ed Hagen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ed Hagen about evolution, mental disorders such as depression, and suicidality. They begin talking about the power of evolution, providing a defense of evolutionary psychology and the evolutionary ... |
| 2022-Sep-01 • 83 minutes #156 - The Embodied Mind: A Dialogue with Thomas R. Verny In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Thomas R. Verny about his work on the embodied mind. They discuss Thomas' background and motivation for writing his most recent book and how the embodied mind is an extended mind. They discuss the i... |
| 2022-Aug-28 • 82 minutes #155 - The Human Blueprint For A Good Society: A Dialogue with Nicholas Christakis In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Christakis about cooperation, social networks, and tribalism. They discuss how humans are more cooperative and have a propensity for good than many people emphasize. They talk about the soc... |
| 2022-Aug-14 • 53 minutes #154 - Eating Someone: Animal Ethics and Consciousness: A Dialogue with Lori Marino In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lori Marino about the ethics of eating animals and whether they have conscious states. They define intelligence in non-human animals and discuss the brains of whales and how they communicate. They d... |
| 2022-Aug-07 • 104 minutes #153 - Authenticity and Feminism with Simone de Beauvoir: A Dialogue with Skye Cleary In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Skye Cleary on authenticity and the feminism of Simone de Beauvoir. They define authenticity, discuss existence before essence, and dialogue on the "other" and subjectivity. They talk about de Beauv... |
| 2022-Jul-31 • 141 minutes #152 - The Complexities of Gender and Gender Dysphoria: A Dialogue Between Patrick Lockwood and Colin Wright In this episode, Xavier Bonilla moderates a dialogue between Patrick Lockwood and Colin Wright on gender and sexuality. They begin by defining biological sex and defining gender. They spend some time discussing the various complexities around gender ... |
| 2022-Jul-25 • 71 minutes #151- A Hidden Human Species?: A Dialogue with Gregory Forth In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Gregory Forth about the search for a hidden human species. They discuss his background working in Indonesia, an overview of different species of humans, and where the "ape-men" fit into the broader ... |
| 2022-Jul-17 • 100 minutes #150 - The Multiple Configurations of Gender: A Dialogue with Will Beischel In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Will Beischel about the most recent research on gender. They discuss their background for studying sex and gender and then provide an exhaustive analysis of the sex configuration theory. This theory... |
| 2022-Jul-10 • 242 minutes #149 -Female Intrasexual Competition, Attractiveness Privilege, and Free Speech: A Dialogue with Tania Reynolds In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a wide-ranging dialogue with Tania Reynolds about her research on female intrasexual competition, attractiveness privilege, and free speech. They provide a sexual selection overview such as preferences for mate cho... |
| 2022-Jul-03 • 112 minutes #148 - Method Acting: The Most Misunderstood System of Acting: A Dialogue with Isaac Butler In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Isaac Butler about the history of method acting in the 20th century. They discuss who was Stanislavski and how he started his theater studio and system. They discuss the impact of Tolstoy and Chekho... |
| 2022-Jun-26 • 94 minutes #147 - Game Theory and Human Behavior: A Dialogue with Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli on game theory and how this can be used to understand human behavior. They define game theory, discuss how primary and secondary rewards can be used, and explain Nash eq... |
| 2022-Jun-19 • 140 minutes #146 - The Good Enough Life: A Dialogue with Avram Alpert In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Avram Alpert about the good enough life. They define what is the good enough life, pluralism and relativism, and spend time on what greatness is and maybe why it should not be emphasized. They discu... |
| 2022-Jun-13 • 89 minutes #145 - Encounters with Extreme Hate: A Dialogue with Daryl Davis In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daryl Davis about his career as a musician and his encounters with extreme hate groups. They discuss his background in music and how he came to be a professional musician. They talk about writing an... |
| 2022-Jun-09 • 83 minutes #144 - Parrots: A Mirror Reflection?: A Dialogue with Antone Martinho-Truswell In this dialogue, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Antone Martinho-Truswell about parrots and some of their striking similarities with humans. They discuss the importance of the phylogenetic tree, ways in which birds are connected with humans, and ... |
| 2022-Jun-06 • 67 minutes #143 - Intersectional Fortunes of Dinosaurs and Mammals: A Dialogue with Steve Brusatte In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Steve Brusatte about the rise and fall of dinosaurs and the rise and reign of mammals. They discuss how his two books are connected and overlap, first dinosaurs, and how dinosaurs survived the great... |
| 2022-Jun-01 • 125 minutes #142 - The Science of Friendship: A Dialogue with Jaimie Arona Krems In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jaimie Arona Krems about her research on friendship. They discuss the basic features and sex differences between how males and females have relationships. They talk about the different levels and di... |
| 2022-May-30 • 64 minutes #141 - The Life and Presidency of Woodrow Wilson: A Dialogue with John Milton Cooper In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with John Milton Cooper about the life and presidency of Woodrow Wilson. They discuss the impact of the South, racism, and living in the North for Wilson. They talk about why the practice of law was not ... |
| 2022-May-26 • 108 minutes #140 - The Phenomenology of Dreams in Animals: A Dialogue with David Peña-Guzmán In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Peña-Guzmán on dreams in animals. They discuss how we know animals dream, history of studying dreams, and how the sleep cycle works in animals. They talk about how animal dreaming is phenomeno... |
| 2022-May-22 • 64 minutes #139 - Accuracy in Climate Science: A Dialogue with Steven Koonin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Steven Koonin about climate change and how to best engage with climate science. They discuss how people can trust the science on climate from institutions and published data. They mention the differ... |
| 2022-May-19 • 120 minutes #138 - Complacency and Efficiency of the Economic Style: A Dialogue with Elizabeth Popp Berman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla had a dialogue with Elizabeth Popp Berman about the economic style and how it has permeated American economics over the 20th Century. They start the conversation by giving an example of the economic style limiting the ... |
| 2022-May-16 • 83 minutes #137 - Yellowstone and History of the Western United States: A Dialogue with Megan Kate Nelson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Megan Kate Nelson on the western theater of the Civil War and the history of Yellowstone National Park. They discuss the reasoning for fighting in the western theater of the Civil War, location spec... |
| 2022-May-12 • 51 minutes #136 - Know Your Influence: A Dialogue with Zoe Chance In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Zoe Chance about the power of influence. They discuss what influence is and why it is important for humans. They discuss some of the misconceptions of influence, her reframing of Daniel Kahneman's s... |
| 2022-May-09 • 68 minutes #135 - Human Rights and The Syrian Conflict: A Dialogue with Jomana Qaddour and Gissou Nia In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jomana Qaddour and Gissou Nia about many of the human rights atrocities in the Syrian conflict. They discuss the origins and data on the Syrian conflict, a chronology of events in the conflict, and ... |
| 2022-May-05 • 98 minutes #134 - Origins of The Human Brain: A Dialogue with William A. Harris In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with William Harris about the origins of the human brain. They discuss the evolutionary history of the brain, rise of the neuron, and genesis of the neural tube and neuroepithelium. They talk about the p... |
| 2022-May-02 • 63 minutes #133 - The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter: A Dialogue with Kai Bird In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kai Bird about Jimmy Carter. They discuss the context and environment of rural Georgia in the 1920s in which Carter was born. They talk about the impact of racism in his upbringing, importance of hi... |
| 2022-Apr-29 • 108 minutes #132 - The Evolution of Birds: A Dialogue with Douglas Futuyma In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Douglas Futuyma about the evolution of birds. They discuss how evolutionary biology can be a very helpful lens to understand birds. They talk about the importance of the phylogenetic tree for birds,... |
| 2022-Apr-25 • 97 minutes #131- Citizens: A Better Future: A Dialogue with Jon Alexander In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jon Alexander about a citizens story for humanity. They begin by talking about the consumer's story, how reciprocity and interdependence work in a citizens story, and how one sees the subject, consu... |
| 2022-Apr-21 • 108 minutes #130 - Undoing Bias: A Dialogue with Christia Spears Brown In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christia Spears Brown about the various aspects of bias. They give a definition and overview of bias in our current society. They question whether bias can be positive and some of the human differen... |
| 2022-Apr-18 • 110 minutes #129 - The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: A Dialogue with Riley Black In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Riley Black about the last days of the dinosaurs. They discuss what life on earth was like with dinosaurs being very prominent and so successful in diversifying. They mention the importance of fossi... |
| 2022-Apr-14 • 71 minutes #128 - Immigration In The 21st Century: A Dialogue with Nancy Foner In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nancy Foner about immigration and some of the current data on immigration in the 21st century. They provide and overview of current immigration data, discuss the more recent waves of immigration and... |
| 2022-Apr-11 • 61 minutes #127 - The Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza: A Dialogue with Steven Nadler In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Steven Nadler about the philosophy of Spinoza. They discuss Spinoza's definition of god and the connection with nature. They talk about how humans are included within nature and the role of free wil... |
| 2022-Apr-07 • 64 minutes #126 - Dogs Without Humans: A Dialogue with Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff about a canine future without humans. They talk about how dogs could potentially survive and evolve in a post-human world. They mention the difference between breeds v... |
| 2022-Apr-04 • 106 minutes #125 - A Geological History of The Earth: A Dialogue with Andrew Knoll In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andrew Knoll about the geological history of the earth. They discuss how light, gravity, dark energy, and dark matter explain the early origins of the universe and earth. They also talk about the va... |
| 2022-Mar-31 • 90 minutes #124 - Living In the Grey with Neurodiversity: A Dialogue with Jenara Nerenberg In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jenara Nerenberg about the complexities of neurodiversity. They begin by defining neurodiversity and highly sensitive people. They also talk about Jenara's critiques of psychiatry and psychology, sp... |
| 2022-Mar-28 • 99 minutes #123 - The Process of Animal Domestication: A Dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra about animal domestication. They define domestication and how it is a process. They talk about niche construction and the three pathways of domestication. They mention the i... |
| 2022-Mar-24 • 126 minutes #122 - Virtues and Limits: A Dialogue with David McPherson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David McPherson about the virtues of limits. They discuss the six limiting virtues and 4 limits. They discuss the origins of virtues and the two stances of these virtues. They talk about the differe... |
| 2022-Mar-21 • 188 minutes #121 - Unifying the Bayesian Brain Model and Free Energy Principle: A Dialogue with Karl Friston In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with Karl Friston about the Free Energy Principle, Bayesian Brain, and many neurobiological principles. They give an overview of the history of the models of the brain and discuss the evolutionary comp... |
| 2022-Mar-19 • 245 minutes #120 - Is Psychology A Failing Science?: A Dialogue with Patrick Lockwood In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has an extended and wide ranging discussion about emotions, current state of psychology, and sexuality. They discuss emotions and their function, expression of emotions, fear as a spectrum and instinctual vs. l... |
| 2022-Mar-17 • 103 minutes #119 - The Communication of Whales: A Dialogue with Mel Cosentino In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mel Cosentino about whales, their behavior and their communication. They give an overview of the taxonomy of whales, interactions between porpoises and orcas, and how whales communicate. They talk a... |
| 2022-Mar-14 • 78 minutes #118 - The Origins of The East India Company (1/4): A Dialogue with William Dalrymple In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with William Dalrymple about the origins of the East India Company (EIC). They start by discussing his quartet of books on the EIC and his motivations for writing this history. They talk about the origin... |
| 2022-Mar-10 • 150 minutes #117 - Cooperation and The Social Lives of Animals: A Dialogue with Ashley Ward In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ashley Ward about cooperation and the social lives of various animals. They talk about the importance of krill and how they cooperate, locusts and their exchange of serotonin, and the social lives o... |
| 2022-Mar-07 • 84 minutes #116 - John F. Kennedy: The Formation of An American Dream: A Dialogue with Fredrik Logevall In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Fredrik Logevall about the early life of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. They discuss why JFK's story is important for telling America's story. They mention the Irish immig... |
| 2022-Mar-03 • 84 minutes #115 - Should We Care About the Culture Wars?: A Dialogue with Meghan Daum In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Meghan Daum about various aspects of culture and society. They discuss how the focus in society is about many cultural challenges. They talk about generational and technological shifts and the impac... |
| 2022-Feb-28 • 106 minutes #114 - Bridging Divides Through Curiosity: A Dialogue with Monica Guzman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Monica Guzman on the power of curiosity. They discuss the main theses of her book on seeing the humanity of others by using curiosity. They talk about the three challenges of human nature (sorting, ... |
| 2022-Feb-21 • 53 minutes #113 - Building Life Over Billions of Years: A Dialogue with Neil Shubin In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Neil Shubin about the building blocks of life over billions of years. They discuss why the fossil record is so essential for understanding the history of the earth and for understanding the history ... |
| 2022-Feb-17 • 120 minutes #112 - Recalibrating Our Views on Anger and Shame: A Dialogue with Daniel Sznycer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daniel Sznycer about the theoretical and empirical data on anger and shame. They discuss the recalibration theory of anger and the place of social valuation of anger. They also mention some of the r... |
| 2022-Feb-14 • 75 minutes #111 - Are We Evolved to Exercise?: A Dialogue With Daniel Lieberman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Daniel Lieberman about the evolutionary history of exercise. They discuss why evolution and adaptation are important to understand the human body, use of energy, myths of sitting, and how much sleep... |
| 2022-Feb-10 • 89 minutes #110 - The Power of Convergent Evolution: A Dialogue with Jonathan Losos In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Losos about convergent evolution. They begin by defining convergent evolution and what the role of the environment is for convergent evolution. They discuss the importance of phenotypes and... |
| 2022-Feb-07 • 117 minutes #109 - Genetic History of the Americas: A Dialogue with Jennifer Raff In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jennifer Raff about the genetic history of the Americas. They discuss why respect and care for the histories and cultures of indigenous groups should be respected when doing research. They talk abou... |
| 2022-Feb-03 • 217 minutes #108 - Structural Figures of Continental Philosophy: A Dialogue with John Macready In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a discussion with John Macready about many figures and concepts in continental philosophy. They begin the conversation by talking about the two camps of analytic and continental philosophy. They talk about Plato an... |
| 2022-Jan-31 • 118 minutes #107 - Biophysics of the Living World: A Dialogue with Raghuveer Parthasarathy In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Raghuveer Parthasarathy about four basic principles of the living world. They define what is the hybrid discipline of biophysics and why he chose the four physical laws he lays out in his book. They... |
| 2022-Jan-23 • 125 minutes #106 - The Interconnectedness of Scale: A Dialogue with Geoffrey West In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Geoffrey West about scale and sustainability. They begin by discussing scale and how it is typically defined. They give an overview of the major relevant scaling laws including the logarithmic scale... |
| 2022-Jan-17 • 112 minutes #105 - Are Humans Evolved for Cooperation and Kindness?: A Dialogue with Michael McCullough In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michael McCullough on cooperation and kindness with humans. They discuss his professional background and why he wrote his most recent book along with how one can understand kindness and cooperation.... |
| 2022-Jan-13 • 66 minutes #104 - Four Women Who Revolutionized Ethics: A Dialogue with Benjamin Lipscomb In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Benjamin Lipscomb about four women philosophers in the early 20th century who revolutionized ethical studies. They discuss how he came to write this book and how these four women came to know each o... |
| 2022-Jan-10 • 62 minutes #103 - The Horde: Genius of the Mongols: A Dialogue with Marie Favereau In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marie Favereau about the Horde and the Mongol empire. They discuss the Horde and the distinction between the Mongol empire and Mongol exchange. They talk about common misconceptions of the Mongols a... |
| 2022-Jan-06 • 104 minutes #102 - Genes, Moods, and the Self: A Dialogue with Bill Sullivan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bill Sullivan about genes and how they impact various aspects of humanity. They define genes and DNA and the roles of genes within the environment. They also discuss the complicated dynamics of epi... |
| 2022-Jan-03 • 102 minutes #101 - From Darwin to Derrida: A Dialogue with David Haig In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Haig about evolution, causes, and the meaning of life. They discuss how bits of matter can help us understand purpose and value. They talk about the four causes of Aristotle, adaptation, group... |
| 2021-Dec-30 • 115 minutes #100 - In the Shadow of Vietnam: A Dialogue with Mark Atwood Lawrence In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Atwood Lawrence about the foreign policy of the United States in the 1960s. They discuss why his book focuses on other foreign policy elements outside of Vietnam during the 1960s. They mention ... |
| 2021-Dec-28 • 66 minutes #99 - Time of the Magicians: A Dialogue with Wolfram Eilenberger In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Wolfram Eilenberger about four German philosophers at the turn of the 20th century. They focus on the central theme of whether one can separate the ideas from the biography of a person. They talk ab... |
| 2021-Dec-23 • 89 minutes #98 - Puzzling Wonders of Evolution: A Dialogue with Kenneth Catania In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kenneth Catania about various animals that are outliers for evolution. They discuss how evolution helps understand these animals that are outliers. They talk about the anatomy and features of the st... |
| 2021-Dec-20 • 112 minutes #97 - The Neuroscience of Psychotherapeutic Change: A Dialogue with Richard Lane In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Lane about the neuroscience of psychotherapy and enduring change. They give an overview of how the neuroscience of psychotherapy can impact enduring change. They provide an overview of memor... |
| 2021-Dec-16 • 132 minutes #96 - The Complicated Utility of Anger and Shame: A Dialogue with Owen Flanagan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Owen Flanagan about emotions, specifically the emotions of anger and shame. They discuss a definition of emotion and the distinction between feelings and affect. They discuss how emotions are active... |
| 2021-Dec-13 • 116 minutes #95 - The History of Human Emotions: A Dialogue with Richard Firth-Godbehere In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Firth-Godbehere about the history of human emotions. They provide a definition of emotion and how it is different from affect and feelings. They explain emotional regimes, communities, and s... |
| 2021-Dec-09 • 157 minutes #94 - The Neuroscientific and Philosophical Landscape of Self-Regulation: A Dialogue with Stuart Shanker In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stuart Shanker about the neuroscience and philosophical underpinnings of self-regulation. They discuss his clinical and research background in working with children and why he emphasizes a just soci... |
| 2021-Dec-06 • 87 minutes #93 - 500 Million Years of Cephalopods: A Dialogue with Danna Staaf In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Danna Staaf about the history of cephalopods. They discuss the taxonomy of cephalopods and some of their anatomical features. They talk about how scientists understand cephalopods from the fossil re... |
| 2021-Dec-02 • 62 minutes #92 - Is There A Way Out of Toxic Polarization?: A Dialogue with Peter Coleman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Coleman regarding toxic polarization in society. They define toxic polarization and what makes the current moment unique from other moments in social history. They talk about in-group/out-grou... |
| 2021-Nov-29 • 204 minutes #91 - German Idealism: The Philosophies of Kant and Fichte: A Dialogue with Gabriel Gottlieb In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Gabriel Gottlieb about German idealism and the philosophies of Immanuel Kant and Johann Gottlieb Fichte. They define German idealism and where this period sits within the history of philosophy. They... |
| 2021-Nov-25 • 67 minutes #90 - Sovereignty: A Most Presumptuous Claim: A Dialogue with Peter Russell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Russell about Sovereignty. They discuss a definition of sovereignty and the historical arc on the claim of sovereignty. They discuss the idea of a deity giving sovereignty and the importance o... |
| 2021-Nov-22 • 118 minutes #89 - The Macabre Pleasures of Morbid Curiosity: A Dialogue with Coltan Scrivner In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Coltan Scrivner about morbid curiosity. They define curiosity and morbid curiosity along with the origins of morbid curiosity with critiques on terror management theory and negative trait bias. They... |
| 2021-Nov-18 • 74 minutes #88 - Life in the Arctic Tundra: A Dialogue with Laura Galloway In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Laura Galloway about her memoir where she details her experience of living in the Arctic Tundra. They discuss her professional background and reasoning for writing a memoir. They talk about the psyc... |
| 2021-Nov-15 • 105 minutes #87 - The End of Trauma: A Dialogue with George Bonanno In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with George Bonanno on the many aspects of trauma. They discuss the many pitfalls of trauma and a working definition of trauma. They explain what potentially traumatic events (PTE) and acute stress react... |
| 2021-Nov-11 • 88 minutes #86 - A History of Maternal-Fetal Effects: A Dialogue with Sarah Richardson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sarah Richardson about the history of maternal-fetal effects. They discuss why human developmental plasticity is important for intrauterine growth and how this impacts the evolution of post-natal gr... |
| 2021-Nov-08 • 187 minutes #85 - Earth: The Annals of Our Home: A Dialogue with Henry Gee In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Henry Gee about the history of the earth. They start by discussing Henry's background and reasons for writing the book. They discuss the big bang and origins of the earth along with how the sun and ... |
| 2021-Nov-04 • 117 minutes #84 - The Phenomenological Materialism of Hannah Arendt: A Dialogue with Samantha Rose Hill In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Samantha Rose Hill about the life and philosophy of Hannah Arendt. They begin by mapping out some of Arendt's early childhood and life experiences, specifically the death of her father. They discuss... |
| 2021-Nov-01 • 88 minutes #83 - The Pleasures of Suffering: A Dialogue with Paul Bloom In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Bloom concerning suffering, pleasure, and meaning. They discuss the reasoning for Paul writing his new book on the darker side of pleasure and make the distinction between chosen and unchosen s... |
| 2021-Oct-28 • 162 minutes #82 - The Gene‘s-Eye View of Evolution: A Dialogue with Arvid Ågren In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Arvid Ågren about the genetic implications of evolution. The discuss his background and reasons for writing his book. They explain the gene's-eye view of natural selection and how one can still unde... |
| 2021-Oct-25 • 102 minutes #81 - Media‘s Gentrification of the Working Class: A Dialogue with Batya Ungar-Sargon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Batya Ungar-Sargon about journalism and the working class. They begin by discussing the history of journalism and the past emphasis of the working class being the main audience. They discuss why mas... |
| 2021-Oct-18 • 96 minutes #80 - Wrestling With Our Social Taboos: A Dialogue with Charles Murray In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Charles Murray about statistics, cognitive abilities, and social-political issues. They begin by providing a statistical overview of the bell curve, standard deviations, and the overlap of group mea... |
| 2021-Oct-14 • 119 minutes #79 - Plagues Upon The Earth: A Dialogue with Kyle Harper In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kyle Harper about the history of plague and disease on the planet. They begin by talking about his reasons for writing his latest book and the two main theses of the book. They talk about the five t... |
| 2021-Oct-11 • 107 minutes #78 - Nuanced Feminism in Modern Times: A Dialogue with Kat Rosenfield In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kat Rosenfield about women, men, feminism, metoo, cancel culture, and free speech issues. They begin the conversation by discussing why Kat writes about cultural issues and the current state of femi... |
| 2021-Oct-07 • 92 minutes #77 - Balanced and Healthy Group Identities: A Dialogue with Dominic Packer In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Dominic Packer about group identities. They start the conversation by discussing his partnership with Jay Van Bavel and their reasons for writing the book. The define identity and why it is an impor... |
| 2021-Oct-04 • 175 minutes #76 - The Evolving Complexities of Higher Education: A Dialogue with Nicole Barbaro In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicole Barbaro about higher education. They discuss Nicole's work in higher education and the importance of mentorship for professional development. They provide a definition of education and its bo... |
| 2021-Sep-27 • 119 minutes #75 - Social Implications of Our Genetic Lottery: A Dialogue with Kathryn Paige Harden In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kathryn Paige Harden about genetics and their interactions with the environment. She explains her background and reasoning for writing her book. They lay the groundwork for the conversation by consi... |
| 2021-Sep-23 • 75 minutes #74 - Whales: The Mysterious Giants of the Ocean: A Dialogue with Nick Pyenson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nick Pyenson about whales and their environment. They begin the conversation by talking about the importance of science communication and Nick's role in science communication with his research and b... |
| 2021-Sep-20 • 114 minutes #73 - The Evolution of Beauty: A Dialogue with Richard Prum In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Richard Prum about aesthetics, birds, and the evolution of beauty. They provide an overview of sexual selection and the aspects of sexual ornamentation and mate choice. They discuss Fisher’s two-fac... |
| 2021-Sep-16 • 152 minutes #72 - Let‘s Talk About Sex(ual Arousal, Desire, & Disgust): A Dialogue with Courtney Crosby In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Courtney Crosby about sexual arousal, desire, and disgust. Courtney provides some of her background and how she became interested in evolutionary psychology and studying sexual disgust. They define ... |
| 2021-Sep-12 • 54 minutes #71 - The Fiscal Legacy of Calvin Coolidge: A Dialogue with Amity Shlaes In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Amity Shlaes about the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. They discuss Coolidge’s background and environment raised to be frugal and fiscally conservative. They talk about his pat... |
| 2021-Sep-09 • 70 minutes #70 - A Conservative Case for Liberal Education: A Dialogue with Jonathan Marks In this episode, Xavier Bonilla had a dialogue with Jonathan Marks about liberal education and how educational institutions need reform. They discuss his main thesis of the book and why he decided to write the book. They define and discuss the origin... |
| 2021-Sep-06 • 126 minutes #69 - Jungles: Our Fading Home: A Dialogue with Patrick Roberts In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Patrick Roberts about tropical forests and their impact on the planet and for humans. They begin with a historical overview of the earth’s periods and how tropical forests are seen in each period. T... |
| 2021-Sep-02 • 122 minutes #68 - Uncovering the Inner Experience of Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Dialogue with Shioma-Lei Craythorne In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Shioma-Lei Craythorne about Body Dysmorphic Disorder and some of the research on this disorder. They provide a definition of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) along with the Diagnostic and Statistical ... |
| 2021-Aug-30 • 130 minutes #67 - Zealous Search for Truth in Documentary Filmmaking: A Dialogue with Nadia Gill In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nadia Gill concerning truth, persuasion, and culture in documentary filmmaking. They talk about her background and shift from law to documentary filmmaking. They discuss the importance of telling th... |
| 2021-Aug-23 • 76 minutes #66 - Testosterone: Understanding Without Judgment: A Dialogue with Carole Hooven In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Carole Hooven about the hormone Testosterone and its impact on men and within society. They discuss her new book and reasons for writing the book. They talk about sex hormones and the sexual reprodu... |
| 2021-Aug-19 • 115 minutes #65 - A Balanced Black History in Education: A Dialogue with Charles Love In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Charles Love about education, Black history, and current political challenges. The talk about his background and work in education. They talk about the challenges with the current Critical Race Theo... |
| 2021-Aug-16 • 74 minutes #64 - Lifting the Veil of Islam: A Dialogue with Yasmine Mohammed In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Yasmine Mohammed about the complexities of Islam around the world. They begin with a synopsis of Yasmine’s story with Islam and how she responds to her story not being representative of Islam. They ... |
| 2021-Aug-12 • 90 minutes #63 - The Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas: A Dialogue with Simon Critchley In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Simon Critchley on continental and analytic philosophy, the philosophy of Levinas, and applied philosophy. They discuss what continental and analytical philosophy are and their similarities and diff... |
| 2021-Aug-09 • 66 minutes #62 - De-Stigmatizing Mental Illness: A Dialogue with Lucy Foulkes In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lucy Foulkes around mental illness and some of the facts and messaging regarding this topic. They define mental illness and discuss the differences between acute and chronic symptoms. They talk abou... |
| 2021-Aug-05 • 118 minutes #61 - Can Evolution Explain Morality?: A Dialogue with Allen Buchanan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Allen Buchanan about the origins of tribalism and morality. They discuss his reasons for writing about tribalism and ideology along with providing a definition of tribalism and how it manifests in s... |
| 2021-Aug-02 • 114 minutes #60 - The Self-Conscious Emotion of Shame: A Dialogue with June Tangney In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with June Tangney about shame and the various components of this emotion. They provide a definition of shame and how it is a distinct emotion from guilt. They discuss how the same event can be implicated... |
| 2021-Jul-26 • 120 minutes #59 - Genetic Balancing of Nature and Nurture: A Dialogue with Kevin Mitchell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kevin Mitchell on genetics, neuroscience, and variation in development. They discuss why developmental variation is important to understanding genes and environment through the trajectory of the lif... |
| 2021-Jul-22 • 127 minutes #58 - Suicide: The Most Known Unknown: A Dialogue with Kathryn Gordon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kathryn Gordon about the challenging topic of suicide. They discuss the current data and statistics on suicide in the United States. They talk about the connection between suicide and mental illness... |
| 2021-Jul-19 • 62 minutes #57 - The Emotional Lives of Black Women: A Dialogue with Inger Burnett-Zeigler In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Inger Burnett-Ziegler about the emotional lives of Black women and how Black women can have authenticity and empowerment. They discuss Inger's background and her reasoning for writing her book. They... |
| 2021-Jul-12 • 77 minutes #56 - A Defense Against Illiberalism: A Dialogue with Jonathan Rauch In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonathan Rauch about the constitution of knowledge and how to defend against illiberalism. They discuss Jonathan’s background and how we have arrived to many of the societal themes today. They discu... |
| 2021-Jul-08 • 101 minutes #55 - Evolve & Restart: A Dialogue with Luis Lopez-Portillo In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Luis Lopez-Portillo about behavioral and cultural change for self-improvement. They begin the dialogue with an overview of Luis' personal and professional background. They talk about his background ... |
| 2021-Jul-05 • 100 minutes #54 - Can We Have An Ethical Artificial Intelligence?: A Dialogue with Alentina Vardanyan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alentina Vardanyan about the organizational behavior and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). They discuss her transition from psychology to behavioral approaches within AI. They define intellige... |
| 2021-Jul-01 • 291 minutes #53 - Starmanning and Superman: A Dialogue with Angel Eduardo + Guests In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Angel Eduardo about many of his recent essays on starmanning, race, and Superman. They are joined by cameos from Christopher Ferguson, Wilfred Reilly, and Stephen Clouse about these topics. ... |
| 2021-Jun-28 • 95 minutes #52 - Menopause: A Cultural Syndrome? - A Dialogue with Susan Mattern In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Susan Mattern about menopause. They start by discussing her reasons and motivations for writing her most recent book, The Slow Moon Climbs: The science, history, and meaning of menopause. They expla... |
| 2021-Jun-21 • 62 minutes #51 - The WEIRDest People in the World: A Dialogue with Joseph Henrich In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph Henrich about WEIRD people and cultural evolution. They start the conversation by defining what WEIRD means and some of the essential features of WEIRD people. They talk about cumulative cult... |
| 2021-Jun-14 • 81 minutes #50 - The Phenomenology of Soren Kierkegaard: A Dialogue with Amber Bowen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Amber Bowen about Soren Kierkegaard's philosophy. They discuss Amber's background and involvement in studying Kierkegaard and her dissertation on the phenomenological self in Kierkegaard's philosoph... |
| 2021-Jun-07 • 94 minutes #49 - The Self-Conscious Emotion of Pride: A Dialogue with Jessica Tracy In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jessica Tracy about the self-conscious emotion of pride. They begin the discussion by defining emotions and describing their evolutionary function. They talk about the basic emotions and the self-co... |
| 2021-Jun-03 • 105 minutes #48 - Our Social Instinct for Cooperation: A Dialogue with Nichola Raihani In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nichola Raihani about our social instinct for cooperation. They begin by discussing the first part of her book which details the genetic aspects of making one's body function and how cooperation is ... |
| 2021-May-24 • 157 minutes #47 - Evolution Misconceptions and the Myers Briggs: A Dialogue with Laith Al-Shawaf In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Laith Al-Shawaf about common misconceptions surrounding evolution and the faulty statistical science for the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Evolution is the first topic. They discuss the common... |
| 2021-May-17 • 135 minutes #46 - The Humanism of Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy: A Dialogue with Paul Grant & Ellen Inverso In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul Grant and Ellen Inverso about Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) . They provide an overview of Aaron Beck’s cognitive model both theoretically and in clinical practice. They discuss the... |
| 2021-May-10 • 133 minutes #45 - Walking Upright: The Importance of Bipedalism: A Dialogue with Jeremy DeSilva In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jeremy DeSilva about the importance of bipedalism. They discuss the evolutionary history of hominoids, hominins, and hominids. They talk about the earliest evolution of bipedalism in other species. ... |
| 2021-May-03 • 79 minutes #44 - The Mathematical Power of Neuroscience: A Dialogue with Grace Lindsay In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Grace Lindsay about the computational approach that can be used to understand the brain. They discuss what computational neuroscience is and provide a brief overview and review of neuroanatomy. They... |
| 2021-Apr-29 • 177 minutes #43 - Feminist Existentialism: A Dialogue with Talia Welsh In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Talia Welsh about feminism, existentialism, and the nature of work. They discuss feminist theory and ask if feminism adds a chapter to philosophy or should revolutionize the field? They talk about w... |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 63 minutes #42 - The Dark Side of Sexual Evolution: A Dialogue with David Buss In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Buss about evolutionary psychology and his new book on sexual deception, harassment, and assault. They discuss his background and how he founded and developed the field of evolutionary psychol... |
| 2021-Apr-22 • 125 minutes #41 - Source Bias, Trustworthiness, and Persuasion: A Dialogue with Laura Wallace In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Laura Wallace about source bias, trustworthiness, attitudes, and persuasion. They discuss what sources are and how bias is defined. They talk about perceived bias and its importance along with the s... |
| 2021-Apr-19 • 183 minutes #40 - Applied Phenomenology: Hegel, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty: A Dialogue with John Russon In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with John Russon about the major thinkers in phenomenology and how their ideas can be applied in everyday life. They begin the conversation with an overview of Hegel's philosophy and discuss sexual intim... |
| 2021-Apr-15 • 143 minutes #39 - The Impact of Parenthood and Divorce: A Dialogue with Manon Van Scheppingen In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Manon Van Scheppingen about the most current research on marriage, divorce, and parenthood. They start with an overview of life transitions in young adulthood and what those transitions look like in... |
| 2021-Apr-12 • 119 minutes #38 - Education: A School Psychology Perspective: A Dialogue with Jessica Koehler In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jessica Koehler about education, school choice, and school psychology. Jessica discusses her background and how she became involved with school psychology and how it led to her current work. They di... |
| 2021-Apr-07 • 66 minutes #37 - Cognition, Consciousness, and Cephalopods: A Dialogue with Alex Schnell In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alex Schnell about cognition, intelligence, and consciousness in cephalopods. They briefly discuss comparative psychology and its use alongside other fields. They discuss the evolutionary basics of ... |
| 2021-Apr-04 • 57 minutes #36 - The Evolution of Modern-Day Conservatism: A Dialogue with Rick Perlstein In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Rick Perlstein about conservatism, politics in the United States, and past and present social-cultural issues. They discuss his motivations for writing his four books on modern Conservatism in the U... |
| 2021-Apr-01 • 83 minutes #35 - Understanding Moral Extremism: A Dialogue With Spencer Case In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Spencer Case about extremism and morality. They discuss his background, how he got into philosophy, and leaving Mormonism. They define moral extremism and discuss it as a vice and detriment of chara... |
| 2021-Mar-29 • 138 minutes #34 - A More Person-Centered Journalism: A Dialogue With Monica Guzman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Monica Guzman about journalism, culture, and Latinos in the United States. They discuss how she became involved in journalism and how the current state of journalism is at both the national and loca... |
| 2021-Mar-25 • 56 minutes #33 - Leaving Race Behind: A Dialogue with Thomas Chatterton Williams In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Thomas Chatterton Williams about race and our current social challenges. They talk about Thomas' reasoning for writing his memoirs and the major theme of race. They talk about the one drop rule for ... |
| 2021-Mar-22 • 54 minutes #32 - COVID-19: The Malady of Our Time: A Dialogue with Nicholas Christakis In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Christakis about the COVID-19 global pandemic. They discuss how he wrote his latest book, Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live, while the pande... |
| 2021-Mar-18 • 146 minutes #31- Crisis! The Current State of the Social Sciences: A Dialogue with Lee Jussim In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lee Jussim about stereotypes, bias, and the current state of the social sciences. They talk about the scientific data on stereotypes, good and bad stereotypes, and how one understands stereotypes. T... |
| 2021-Mar-15 • 124 minutes #30 - The Hidden Source of Consciousness: A Dialogue with Mark Solms In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Solms about consciousness, emotions, and how we understand the human psyche. They begin by discussing how Mark become involved in neuropsychology and psychoanalysis and how he combines these tw... |
| 2021-Mar-11 • 124 minutes #29 - Video Games, Madness, and Our Society: A Dialogue with Christopher Ferguson In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christopher Ferguson about violence in mass media such as video games, madness with historical and political figures, and the implications for our society. They discuss the standard view of violent ... |
| 2021-Mar-08 • 66 minutes #28 - Genetics, Race, and Populations: A Dialogue with Razib Khan In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Razib Khan about genetics, how to understand populations and racial categories through genetics, and some of the social implications. They start by discussing the basics of genetics, the differences... |
| 2021-Mar-04 • 86 minutes #27 - Mixed Race Identity and Pragmatic Conservatism: A Dialogue with John Wood Jr. In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with John Wood Jr. about race, ethnicity, and conservatism. They discuss John's background both publicly and personally and the Braver Angels Organization. They dialogue about how biracial/multiracial pe... |
| 2021-Mar-01 • 128 minutes #26 - Getting Personal with Nietzsche and Heidegger: A Dialogue with David Hoinski In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Hoinski about the personal implications of philosophy and some of the major works of Nietzsche and Heidegger. They discuss how philosophical ideas are connected with each philosopher's life an... |
| 2021-Feb-25 • 146 minutes #25 - Postmodernism, Phenomenology, and Lived Experiences: A Dialogue with Bret Alderman In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bret Alderman concerning postmodernism, phenomenology, and lived experiences. They provide an overview of postmodernism and deconstructionism along with explaining why language is central for this p... |
| 2021-Feb-22 • 104 minutes #24 - Deserts: Free Will and Moral Responsibility: A Dialogue with Gregg Caruso In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Gregg Caruso about free will, moral responsibility, and retributive justice. They begin with discussing the motivation and process for writing his new book with Daniel Dennett. They provide a defini... |
| 2021-Feb-18 • 89 minutes #23 - The Underrated Magnum Opus of George Washington: A Dialogue with Lindsay Chervinsky In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lindsay M. Chervinsky about George Washington's creation of the cabinet. They discuss how Washington created the cabinet and constructed the framework for future presidents. They talk about the init... |
| 2021-Feb-15 • 121 minutes #22 - Statistical Value of Personality: A Dialogue with Allie Choate In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Allie Choate about the statistical aspects of measuring personality. They start the conversation by giving a general definition of psychopathology and p-factor. They discuss some internalizing and e... |
| 2021-Feb-11 • 126 minutes #21 - Evidence-Based Treatments and Elimination Disorders: A Dialogue with Camilo Ortiz In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Camilo Ortiz about evidence-based treatments and elimination disorders within clinical psychology. They discuss the differences in degrees and programs between PhD's and PsyD's in clinical psycholog... |
| 2021-Feb-08 • 65 minutes #20 - The Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty: A Dialogue with Talia Welsh In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Talia Welsh about the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Talia provides her background in philosophy and with Merleau-Ponty specifically. She also discusses her work in gender and feminine studies. The... |
| 2021-Feb-04 • 196 minutes #19 - The Labyrinth of Attachment Theory: A Dialogue with Nicole Barbaro In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicole Barbaro about evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, and challenges with higher education. They give an overview of evolutionary psychology and some of the changes over the years. They a... |
| 2021-Feb-01 • 91 minutes #18 - The Audacity of Race Data: A Dialogue with Wilfred Reilly In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Wilfred Reilly about the complex data around race in the United States. Wilfred provides some of the current statistics on racial groups and how this can be received in a mixed way in the media. The... |
| 2021-Jan-28 • 165 minutes #17 - Fire and Vultures: A Dialogue with Iona Italia In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Iona Italia about her personal memoirs, mixed-race identity, and current social issues. Iona discusses her various experiences around the world and how they have shaped her identity. Specifically, s... |
| 2021-Jan-25 • 132 minutes #16 - Pragmatic Conservatism or Classical Liberalism: A Dialogue Between Bo Winegard and Nicholas Wolfinger In this special episode, Xavier Bonilla moderates a dialogue between Bo Winegard and Nicholas Wolfinger about the similarities and differences between conservatism and liberalism. They discuss immigration and the varying narratives on mass migrations... |
| 2021-Jan-21 • 141 minutes #15 - Marriage, Divorce, and Single Motherhood: A Dialogue with Nicholas Wolfinger In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nicholas Wolfinger about marriage, divorce, and single motherhood. They start the conversation with an overview of sociology today and some of the differences between quantitative and qualitative me... |
| 2021-Jan-18 • 228 minutes #14 - Nietzsche Contra Freud: Towards A Nietzschean Psychology: A Dialogue with Tyler VanOstrand In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a in-depth dialogue with Tyler VanOstrand on his recently finished thesis discussing the divergence between the ideas of Nietzsche and Freud. At the start of this dialogue, Tyler provides a summary of the juxtaposi... |
| 2021-Jan-15 • 156 minutes #13 - Philosophy As An Attitude: A Dialogue with Sanjana Rajagopal In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sanjana Rajagopal about her experience in philosophy, the ideas of Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt, and philosophy in general. Sanjana talks about what led her into studying philosophy as a woman... |
| 2021-Jan-08 • 186 minutes #12 - Stress, Psychology, and Self-Help: A Dialogue with Simona Efanov In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Simona Efanov about the neurophysiology of stress, clinical psychology, and the dangers of self-help psychology. They discuss the various definitions of stress and talk about the aspects of positive... |
| 2021-Jan-02 • 164 minutes #11 - Important Enough To Refute: A Dialogue with Stephen Clouse In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stephen Clouse about political theory, philosophy, and Aristotelian concepts in general and for current day application. They talk about the differences between political philosophy and political sc... |
| 2020-Dec-27 • 153 minutes #10 - Cold Takes: The Battleground of Ideas and Latino Diversity: A Dialogue with Angel Eduardo In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Angel Eduardo about the need to focus on ideas and also about viewpoint diversity with the Latino community. They discuss the distinctions between words and ideas and the value of intentions along ... |
| 2020-Dec-23 • 162 minutes #9 - Make Psychotherapy Great Again: A Dialogue with Ashley King In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ashley King about the various components of psychotherapy and some of its challenges currently. They provide an overview of the major therapies and talk about the practice of "circling." The practic... |
| 2020-Dec-18 • 134 minutes #8 - Bias, Replication, and Free Will: A Dialogue with Cory Clark In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Cory Clark about bias within the social sciences, the replication crisis, and the concepts of free will and determinism. They start by defining the social sciences and discussing the challenges and ... |
| 2020-Dec-12 • 175 minutes #7 - Truth and Compassion: Evolution, Biological Sex, and Gender Identity: A Dialogue with Colin Wright In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Colin Wright on topics of evolution, biological sex, and gender identity. They provide an overview of evolution and understanding it as fact and theoretical mechanism. They explore how Darwin outlin... |
| 2020-Dec-07 • 138 minutes #6 - Sex, Critical Race Theory, and The Social Sciences: A Dialogue with Rod Graham In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Rod Graham about sex work, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and the social sciences in general. They discuss Rod's research on cyber security and criminology. They talk about his research in sex work, pa... |
| 2020-Dec-03 • 123 minutes #5 - The Necessity of Awe: A Dialogue with Jonah Paquette In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jonah Paquette about the emotion of awe. They talk about the positive and negative aspects of awe. They discuss the taxonomy of awe and subsequent emotions. They talk about moving awe from a state t... |
| 2020-Nov-25 • 111 minutes #4 - Can We Have Diversity of Thought on Race?: A Dialogue with Brittany Talissa King In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Brittany Talissa King about race and the wide diversity within this topic. We discuss Brittany's background within the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and her evolution with various thinkers. We d... |
| 2020-Nov-15 • 125 minutes #3 - Is Pragmatism the Real Progressivism?: A Dialogue with Ben Winegard In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ben Winegard about centrism, pragmatic institutionalism, and how these impact society. They discuss experts and their use and limits. They talk about epistemic humility, the working class, and trans... |
| 2020-Nov-09 • 103 minutes #2 - Conservatism, Trumpism, and Immigration: A Dialogue with Bo Winegard In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bo Winegard about Conservatism and some of its implications for today's society. They talk about Bo's past academic history, academic integrity, and intellectual honesty. They discuss Trump, the 202... |
| 2020-Nov-02 • 149 minutes #1 - Freud, War, and the Will to Power: A Dialogue with Tyler VanOstrand In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tyler VanOstrand about various philosophical and psychological theories and themes. They talk about Freud and the power of his theory, Freud's model derived from Plato's model of the psyche, differe... |