What makes normal people do terrible things? Are there really bad apples — or just bad barrels? And how should you deal with a nefarious next-door neighbor?
Nov 2016
Dancing With The Devil | Simon Baron-Cohen, Rebecca Roache, Peter Dews
Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesWe think we've grown out of the belief in evil. It's not in our genes and people don't get possessed. But across media and culture, from Star Wars to Isis, evil still holds us strangely captive. Wh ... Show More
44m 18s
Oct 22
Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick
<p>What is evil? Who is evil? Does evil exist? Who decides? Can we scream over turkey at grandma’s house? Let’s chat Critical Ponerology with scholar, professor, author of <i>Evil: A Critical Primer,</i> and a gem of a person, Dr. Kenneth MacKendrick of the University of Manitoba ... Show More
1h 3m
May 2025
The Root of Menticide and Collective Care with Dr. Evan Auguste
Menticide, or the systematic and intentional undermining of a person's conscious mind, effectively "killing" or destroying their independent thought and beliefs, is one of the most effective ways to supress revolutionary change in a society. So how do we protect our communities f ... Show More
1h 25m
Oct 15
How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt? (Update)
<p>Arthur Brooks, an economist and former head of the American Enterprise Institute, believes that there is only one remedy for our political polarization: love. In this 2021 episode, we ask if Brooks is a fool for thinking this — and if perhaps you are his kind of fool?</p><p> < ... Show More
40m 23s
Sep 14
Sept. 14, 2025 "Cutting Through the Matrix" with Alan Watt --- Redux (Educational Talk From the Past): "Mending Your Mind, Blending Your Kind, and You Shall All Serve as One"
--{ "Mending Your Mind, Blending Your Kind, and You Shall All Serve as One"}-- Technocrats - Control of Mind and Mass-Mind - Theory of Evolution - New Soviet Man. Experiments in Human Behaviour - Wires in Brains, Remote Manipulation, Aldous Huxley - "Mental" Patients - Repetition ... Show More
1h 50m
Apr 2025
Why We Follow Orders: The Neuroscience of Compliance and Control
<p>Why do ordinary people carry out extraordinary harm when simply told to do so? From the Holocaust to the genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Cambodia, history shows how obedience to authority can lead to unimaginable acts. But what's happening in the brain when we follow orders—e ... Show More
1h 31m