15 June 2025
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Oct 4, 2019 —
Robert Wright & Bhikkhu Bodhi
- What is the foundation of Buddhist ethics?
- Experiencing not-self
- Buddhism is a synthesis of consequentialism and virtue ethics
- The origins of Buddhism’s concern for animal welfare
- Does the Buddha want you to be vegetarian?
- Why isn’t there more anti-militarist activism among Buddhists?
- Trying to comply with the Buddhist ideal of “right speech”
- Mental defilements and their eradication
- Does Buddhism’s emphasis on equanimity discourage activism?
Jan 3, 2019 —
Aryeh Cohen-Wade & Travis Smith
- Travis’s new book, Superhero Ethics
- The Incredible Hulk and the dangers of individualism
- Why Wolverine embodies honor and integrity
- Batman vs. Spider-Man, dueling reactions to our tragic universe
- Family tragedies in the lives of Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker
- Why adults should take comic books seriously
Nov 3, 2018 —
John Horgan & Owen Flanagan
- Owen’s transition from Catholicism to “quiet skepticism”
- The problem of evil
- The hubris of modern philosophers
- Can we live with the scientific image of man?
- The origin of the universe, life, and consciousness
- Owen: Doubt yourself
- Does philosophy lead to practical wisdom?
- Mind-altering chemicals and free will
TAGS atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | consciousness | ethics | evolution | free will | human nature | mind-body problem | philosophy | psychology | religion | science
May 23, 2018 —
Daniel Kaufman & Richard Thompson
- Richard, a.k.a. miceelf88, joins Dan to talk gender politics
- The difference between sex and gender identity
- The ontological (and legal) issues with fluid gender identity
- Dan: Social identities like gender aren’t “self-made”
- What trans identity means for the civil rights coalition
- Jordan Peterson and gender as the essence of self
- Empathy vs. sympathy in coalition building
Apr 25, 2018 —
Daniel Kaufman & Crispin Sartwell
- Is masculinity treated as a pathology?
- Why girls are outperforming boys in class
- Disentangling gender and sex, culture and biology
- “Girl power” was a success, but at what social cost?
- Crispin’s years as a teen revolutionary
- The modern school as a totalitarian institution
- What really explains high-security schools?
- How safe can we reasonably expect to be in society?
- Is the media distorting our narratives of crime and danger?
Feb 21, 2018 —
Aryeh Cohen-Wade & Catherine Nichols
- Why is pop culture obsessed with good guy vs. bad guy stories?
- Catherine: Modern stories don’t let the villain be fully human
- World War II and the trope of the ragtag band of misfits
- Shakespeare vs. comic book movies
- Storytelling about why we go to war
- What pop culture best represents moral complexity?
Feb 5, 2018 —
William Black & Benjamin Park
- The Mormon Church’s new president, 93 year-old Russell M. Nelson
- The decades-long campaign to incorporate the Church into the American mainstream
- Does the Church clash with academic historical study?
- Untangling the fates of remarried Mormons’ souls
- The LDS Church as a contained society within the US
- Why did the first Mormon women choose polygamy?
Dec 26, 2017 —
Robert Wright & Paul Bloom
- Is “dehumanization” really the root of cruelty?
- How love deludes us
- Paul: Empathy makes us morally stupid
- The weird psychology of the Trump era
- What people get wrong about Harvey Weinstein and dehumanization
- When is objectification morally acceptable?
- Keeping our worst selves in check
- Getting pleasure out of your own pain
Sep 8, 2017 —
Josh Summers & Stephen Asma
TAGS altruism | cognitive science | consciousness | Donald Trump | dreaming | empathy | ethics | evolution | meditation | philosophy
Jul 26, 2017 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ingram
TAGS anger | Buddhism | Donald Trump | enlightenment | ethics | human nature | meditation | mindfulness | spirituality
Jun 28, 2017 —
Robert Wright & Jay Garfield
TAGS Buddhism | enlightenment | ethics | free will | human nature | meditation | philosophy | religion | self
Jun 6, 2017 —
Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
- “Purpose” in science and morality
- What Aristotle thought about purpose in nature
- Why asking “what is it for?” makes sense in biology but not other sciences
- Does form dictate function?
- Is there a “law” of morality?
- The paths to human flourishing
- Why a “scientific” approach to ethics à la Sam Harris doesn’t work
May 15, 2017 —
Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
- Massimo’s new book How to Be a Stoic
- Why we all need a philosophy of life
- Why Stoicism can appeal to Christians, Buddhists, and atheists alike
- Stoic virtues, disciplines, and areas of study
- Cynics—the monks of Stoicism
- Things within and outside your control
- Massimo’s Stoic version of a Dear Abby column
Mar 20, 2017 —
Robert Wright & S. Matthew Liao
TAGS biology | climate change | cognitive science | drugs | ethics | genetics | love | memory | mental health | science | technology | the future | war
Feb 6, 2017 —
Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
- Join the hordes clamoring for Massimo’s forthcoming book!
- The science of ethics
- Is morality baked into our biology?
- Can primates tell us where morality comes from?
- How Kant and moral psychology complement each other
- Nietzsche’s moral philosophy
- Warning: Chimps and bonobos are not hairy proto-humans!
- The trouble with studying morality in infants
TAGS cognitive science | ethics | evolution | human nature | justice | philosophy | psychology | science | tribalism
Dec 25, 2016 —
Robert Wright & John Paul Lederach
TAGS anger | empathy | ethics | foreign policy | human nature | moral imagination | peace | psychology | religion | violence | war
Dec 6, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Paul Bloom
TAGS altruism | anger | Buddhism | cognitive science | compassion | empathy | enlightenment | ethics | human nature | meditation | moral imagination | Peter Singer | psychology | science
Dec 5, 2016 —
Daniel Kaufman & Massimo Pigliucci
- How do ancient and modern philosophy differ?
- Philosophy as a way of life
- How the scientific revolution changed philosophy
- Has modern ethics gone down the wrong path?
- Why did ethicists turn away from virtues and toward moral rules?
- Do universal ethical principles exist?
- What Sam Harris gets wrong about ethics
Dec 2, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Jay Michaelson
TAGS anger | Buddhism | Christianity | compassion | democracy | Donald Trump | empathy | ethics | happiness | human nature | identity | Islam | Judaism | love | meditation | mental health | mindfulness | moral imagination | politics | psychology | religion | sadness | spirituality | tribalism | Zen
Nov 14, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Kaufman
- Announcing a series of “sixty-second sermons”
- Tribalism and Trump’s success
- Apocalypse now?
- Dan vs. Bob on whether a global community is possible
- The moral dimensions of the election
- The backlash against political correctness
- What it feels like to be an outsider
- A closer look at MeaningofLife.tv’s “sermons” and other local news
TAGS democracy | Donald Trump | economics | empathy | ethics | human nature | identity | moral imagination | nationalism | perception | psychology | tribalism
Nov 13, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Keith Frankish
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | consciousness | ethics | evolution | human nature | memory | mind-body problem | panpsychism | perception | philosophy | psychology | self | technology
Nov 12, 2016 —
David Bryce Yaden & Scott Barry Kaufman
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | consciousness | creativity | ethics | meditation | mindfulness | psychology | spirituality
Nov 4, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Christof Koch
- The search for non-human consciousness
- Consciousness in the organic and inorganic worlds
- Measuring consciousness
- Lucky us: The universe breeds consciousness
- How scientific and spiritual worldviews can enrich each other
- Artificial intelligence is not (necessarily) artificial consciousness
- The Allen Institute for Brain Science and its mission
TAGS Buddhism | cognitive science | consciousness | ethics | evolution | panpsychism | physics | science | spirituality | technology | the future
Oct 19, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Sam Harris
- Sam Harris, mystic and atheist
- The mystery of consciousness
- Is mysticism more like science than like religion?
- How religion makes progress
- Sam’s case for intolerance
- The root causes of extremism
- Religious and secular reasons to do good
- Ways religion may be closer to the truth than atheism
- A secular approach to death
TAGS agnosticism | atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | cognitive science | consciousness | death | empathy | ethics | evolution | history | Islam | meditation | mind-body problem | mindfulness | mysticism | nationalism | New Atheists | perception | poverty | psychology | religion | science | self | spirituality | tribalism
Sep 12, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Robert George
- Why Robby refuses to support Trump
- Is history shaped more by social forces or human agency?
- Robby gives an insider’s view on why Appalachia is Trump country
- The declining influence of religion
- How a lack of humility poisons politics
- Contempt in current political rhetoric
- Robby: Politicians need to get out of the identity politics game
TAGS Christianity | ethics | free will | history | moral imagination | philosophy | politics | psychology | religion | tribalism
Aug 23, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Daniel Ogilvie
TAGS ancient philosophy | death | ethics | history | monotheism | New Atheists | philosophy | psychology | religion | Richard Dawkins | science | soul
Jul 10, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Kenneth Folk
TAGS altruism | Buddhism | consciousness | drugs | enlightenment | ethics | happiness | meditation | mindfulness | perception | psychology | religion | sadness | self | spirituality
Jul 5, 2016 —
Robert Wright & Steven Nadler
TAGS ancient philosophy | atheism | Buddhism | Christianity | Donald Trump | enlightenment | ethics | evolution | Judaism | meditation | mysticism | philosophy | politics | religion
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