Jul 19

The Odyssey

On this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Christopher Nolan's recent film. The conversation begins with Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey that Nolan consulted and adapted to the screen. Much of the conversation is focused on teasing out the consequences of the changes Nolan ... Show More

1h 25m

Jul 6

Theorizing the World Cup

On this episode, Ryan & Todd theorize the World Cup as a public event that enables the non-expert to see complex theoretical notions, such as Alain Badiou's conceptualization of the event and Jean-Paul Sartre's idea of self-transcendence. The episode also discusses how the World ... Show More

1h 27m

Jun 21

What Is Literature? (Literature and Existentialism)

On this episode, Ryan and Todd complete their Sartre inflected trifecta of episodes by engaging his 1947 essay series What Is Literature? The hosts begin by talking about how much Sartre's method has meant to them respectively before moving on to engage the text's most famous cla ... Show More

1h 20m

Dec 2019

Love

A Thinking Allowed special on 'love'. What are the origins of our notions of high romantic love? Was the post war period a 'golden age' for lifelong love? Has marriage for love now failed? Laurie Taylor hopes to finds some answers with the help of the social historian, Claire Lan ... Show More

28m 56s

May 2011

HoP 031 - Wings of Desire - Plato's Erotic Dialogues

Love, friendship and philosophy in the Symposium, Phaedrus and Lysis

21m 59s

Mar 2001

The Philosophy of Love

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of love. In Plato’s Symposium a character called Aristophanes tells a story about Love. He says that once, near the beginning of time, there were three types of human, one male, one female and one that was part man and part woman. Ea ... Show More

28m 7s

Mar 2001

The Philosophy of Love

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of love. In Plato’s Symposium a character called Aristophanes tells a story about Love. He says that once, near the beginning of time, there were three types of human, one male, one female and one that was part man and part woman. Ea ... Show More

28m 7s

Jul 2015

What Is Love?

A history of ideas. Presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices.Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking 'What is Love?'.Helping him answer it are theologian Giles Fraser, writer Lisa Appign ... Show More

12m 52s

Oct 2024

S5 Ep24: Even Love – Rod Wave

The definition of love.

2m 38s

Dec 2024

History of the Self: Love

How did love – this thing that's supposed to be beautiful, magical, transformative – turn into a neverending slog? We went searching for answers, and we found them in surprising places. On today's show: a time-hopping, philosophical journey into the origins of modern love. (This ... Show More

53m 7s

Apr 2011

Can love be rational?

Carolyn Price and Tim Chappell look at rationality and love.

3m 24s

Nov 2021

#36 The Truth About Love: Beyond the Stereotypes and Clichés

In this episode, I talk about love and what it means in a broad sense. I discuss how it is expressed as an emotion, where and when it applies, who it applies to, how it affects your life, and the essential value it has. I talk about the common idea of love, which is romanticism, ... Show More

21m 39s

Jun 2022

The phenomenology of love

There’s a venerable philosophical tradition devoted to explaining what love is, and it stretches back to the ancient Greeks. It deals with questions like “the problem of particularity” – the mystery of why, if we fall in love with someone because of their physical beauty and attr ... Show More

28m 27s