Recent Episodes

Liberty and Justice for Who?

October 11, 2026

Many democracies are founded on the ideals of 18th- and 19th-Century British Liberalism: the idea that human beings deserve the right to self-government because we are born free, equal, and capable of rationality. Yet Liberalism was used to justify colonialism, which deprived people around the…

Is Optimism Rational?

December 8, 2024

When the odds are against you, believing in yourself can be a source of strength—but…

Animated boy standing in floodwater, looking optimistic.

Spinoza

November 24, 2024

Baruch Spinoza was a 17th century Dutch philosopher who laid the foundations for the Enlightenment.…

Two portraits of Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), philosopher.

What Is Ideology?

October 13, 2024

Political polarization seems to be deepening, both in the U.S. and around the globe. Some…

Word cloud showing various "-isms" including nationalism, feminism, and capitalism, illustrating different ideologies.

Cancel Culture

September 29, 2024

Revoking support or a platform from someone who is perceived to have behaved badly has…

Abstract image depicting tangled speech bubbles, illustrating the complexities of cancel culture.

The 2024 Dionysus Awards

August 11, 2024

What movies of the past year challenged your assumptions and made you think about things…

Gold statuette: 2024 Dionysus Awards Nominees

Karl Popper

July 28, 2024

Karl Popper is a landmark figure in the philosophy of science.  His notion of “falsifiability”…

Close-up portrait of philosopher Karl Popper, hands to his face.

Righteous Rage

June 16, 2024

Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote that anger is a form of madness. Other philosophers share this…

A man in a suit expresses righteous rage, hands clasped to his chest.

The Legacy of Freud

May 5, 2024

Did you really want to eat that last piece of cake, or were you secretly…

A collage of portraits of prominent figures in psychology, including Sigmund Freud, illustrating the legacy of psychoanalysis.

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