Recent Episodes

Democracy By Numbers

November 1, 2026

Despite adhering to the principle of “one person, one vote,” elections in the United States are often highly contentious: presidents can be elected after losing the popular vote, there is widespread gerrymandering and voter purging, and not everyone has equal representation in the Senate. So…

Death of the Sentence

August 21, 2022

A child’s first sentence is a pivotal moment in her development when she is recognized…

Colorful speech bubbles with internet slang like LOL, OMG, and WTF illustrate the death of the sentence.

The 2022 Dionysus Awards

August 7, 2022

What recent movies artfully explored philosophical ideas and questions, or complicated political or ethical issues…

Montage of film stills from the 2022 Dionysus Awards nominees.

Leibniz

June 26, 2022

The intellectual domain of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz cannot be captured in a single word.…

Leibniz biscuits in various sizes and packaging, alongside a portrait of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

Conscious Machines

June 5, 2022

Computers have already surpassed us in their ability to perform certain cognitive tasks. Perhaps it…

Brain displayed on computer screen, connected to lightbulbs representing emotions like joy, grief, and fear. Conscious machines concept.

Sanctuary Cities

May 1, 2022

In the U.S. there are over 500 sanctuary cities—municipalities that limit their cooperation with the…

US map highlighting locations of sanctuary cities.

The Doomsday Doctrine

April 3, 2022

The doctrine of mutually assured destruction is supposed to deter both sides in a war…

Clock face showing midnight with a fiery apocalyptic scene.

Reading the Troubled Past

March 13, 2022

Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe lambasted Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness as a deeply racist work that…

A collection of Great Books, a classic literature series.

Polyamory

February 13, 2022

In most if not all modern Western societies, monogamy is the dominant form of romantic…

Graphic of diverse hearts; "What Love Is and what it could be

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