Philosophy Talk Starters

Feb 25 2025 500 ep. 10 mins 2.8k
Philosophy Talk Starters Podcast artwork

Bite-size episodes from the program that questions everything... except your intelligence. Learn more and access complete episodes at www.philosophytalk.org.

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607: The 2025 Dionysus Awards

Feb 25 2025 13 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/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 our annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provoking movies of the last twelve months, including: • Best Movie About Religious People Who Aren't Entirely What Th

80: W.E.B. DuBois

Feb 22 2025 8 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/web-du-bois. Sociologist, historian, philosopher, editor, writer, and activist, W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. The first African-American Ph.D. from Harvard University, Du Bois died in Ghana after having renounced his American citizenship. In between he co-founded the NAACP and wro

606: The Philosophical Worlds of Borges

Feb 11 2025 10 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophical-worlds-borges. Argentinian writer Jorge Luís Borges wrote some of the world’s most brilliant, mind-bending, and philosophical stories. Drawing on sources from Europe, India, China, and Persia, these stories tackled topics like time, reality, selfhood, and art. Yet Borges also said "I don’t think ideas are important."

605: Alan Turing and the Limits of Computation

Feb 06 2025 9 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/alan-turing-and-limits-computation. Alan Turing was a 20th-Century English mathematician and cryptologist who is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science. In 1950, he published a definition of a computer that is both universal, general enough to apply to any specific computing architecture, and mathematically r

554: Liberty and Justice For Who?

Feb 01 2025 10 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/liberty-and-justice-who. 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 world of the right

553: Climate Change and Collective Action

Jan 25 2025 10 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/climate-change-and-collective-action. Catastrophic storms, floods, droughts, and fires are increasing in frequency all over the globe, and the polar ice caps are melting twice as fast as initially predicted. Despite this, we struggle to take meaningful action that could avert—or at least mitigate—the impending climate disaster. So w

555: How to Create Virtuous Leaders?

Jan 18 2025 10 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/how-create-virtuous-leaders. Ancient philosophers like Socrates and Plato believed that an education focused on developing good character could create virtuous leaders who work for the people, not their own benefit. Nowadays, though, it seems too many politicians are power hungry, corrupt, and out of touch. So how do we train our leader

604: Elizabeth Anscombe

Jan 08 2025 9 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/elizabeth-anscombe. Elizabeth Anscombe made hugely influential contributions to contemporary action theory, moral theory, and philosophy of mind. She also famously protested Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb when he was awarded an honorary degree at Oxford. Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Rachael Wiseman from th

552: Who Owns Culture?

Jan 04 2025 11 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/who-owns-culture. Fashion designers, musicians, and Halloween costume wearers have been accused of engaging in cultural appropriation. In some cases, the alleged appropriator is quick to apologize; in others, they defend their actions as a way of appreciating a different culture. So why is cultural appropriation such a morally fraught i

603: The Examined Year—2024

Dec 24 2024 18 mins  
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/examined-year-2024. What happened over the past year that challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? Josh and Ray talk to philosophers and more about the events and ideas that shaped the last twelve months: • The Year in Philosophy with Justin Weinberg, creator and editor of the Daily Nous • The Year in