Philosophy Talk Starters Podcast
1) Can Architecture Be Political?
It’s common to judge a piece of architecture based on its functional and aesthetic values, and how the two might complement or compete with one other. It’s less common to judge architecture based on i...Show More
2) Henri Bergson and the Flow of Time
More at https://philosophytalk.org/shows/henri-bergson-and-the-flow-of-time. Many people think of time as a series of events, like successive frames in a movie. But French philosopher Henri Bergson (...Show More
3) Are We Living in a Simulation?
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/are-we-living-simulation. With rapid advances in Virtual Reality technology and the like, it’s now possible for us to become absorbed in completely made-up...Show More
4) Wise Women: Hypatia of Alexandria
More at https://philosophytalk.org/shows/hypatia-alexandria. Hypatia of Alexandria, late antiquity public figure and scholar, made significant contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and astronomy. ...Show More
5) What Is Music?
More at https://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-is-music. From classical concerts to commercial jingles, music fills our lives every day. But philosophers disagree about what exactly music is and why i...Show More
6) Jams Baldwin and Social Justice
More at https://philosophytalk.org/shows/james-baldwin-and-social-justice. Sometimes, we struggle to tell the truth—especially when it’s the truth about ourselves. Why did James Baldwin, a prominent C...Show More
7) 572: Weird Wants
Philosophers from Aquinas to Anscombe have claimed that wanting something means seeing the good in it. Even if what you want is bad overall, like procrastinating on important work, you can still desir...Show More
8) 607: The 2025 Dionysus Awards
What movies of the past year challenged your assumptions and made you think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol present the annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provok...Show More
9) 614: Schopenhauer—Living Your Worst Life
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) is considered one of the great European philosophers of the nineteenth century. His most famous work, The World as Will and Representation, presents a pessimistic view ...Show More
10) 571: Making a Better World
Some philosophers think that morality boils down to one idea: we should make the world better for everyone. But who counts in "everyone"—babies, animals, future people? How can we tell what makes the ...Show More