Hobbes and the Ideal Citizen
April 5, 2026
Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that without government to control our worst impulses, life…
Government Tagged Episodes
Elisabeth of Bohemia
October 5, 2025
Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia is best known for her correspondence with René Descartes. In her letters,…
American Futures (Ken Taylor Memorial Episode)
November 3, 2024
When Ken Taylor passed away, he was working on a manuscript titled Farewell to the…
John Dewey and the Ideal of Democracy
October 20, 2024
John Dewey is regarded by some as the American philosopher. In the first half of…
Can Streets Discriminate?
January 8, 2023
City streets play an important role in our everyday lives. We commute to work, walk…
The Allure of Authoritarianism
May 22, 2022
In George Orwell’s 1984, the party’s “final, most essential command” was “to reject the evidence…
Sanctuary Cities
May 1, 2022
In the U.S. there are over 500 sanctuary cities—municipalities that limit their cooperation with the…
Is Philanthropy Bad for Democracy?
November 21, 2021
In a liberal democracy, individuals should have the freedom to give money to charities of…
Authority and Resistance
September 12, 2021
Authority can refer to people or institutions that have the political power to make decisions,…
John Rawls
February 21, 2021
John Rawls was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. In…
Machiavelli
May 3, 2020
Niccolò Machiavelli is best known for arguing that people in power should use deception, force,…
A World Without Work
February 9, 2020
Work: a lot lot of people do it, and a lot of people don’t seem…
Post-Truth Politics
January 19, 2020
You’ve probably heard about the dangerous effects of fake news, and the spread of sensational…
Habermas and Democracy
December 1, 2019
Jürgen Habermas is regarded as one of the last great public intellectuals of Europe and…
The Radical Democracy Movement
March 31, 2019
Liberal democracy has its problems, including the fact that in trying to build consensus, it…
The Ethics of Debt
October 14, 2018
According to a report from the Jubilee Debt Campaign, there are currently 24 countries facing…
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