Apr 2025
Amy Zhang, "Circular Ecologies: Environmentalism and Waste Politics in Urban China" (Stanford UP, 2024)
After four decades of reform and development, China is confronting a domestic waste crisis. As the world's largest waste-generating nation, the World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, the volume of household waste in China will be double that of the United States. Starting in ... Show More
1h 7m
Feb 8
Peer Schouten, "Roadblock Politics: The Origins of Violence in Central Africa" (Cambridge UP, 2022)
Peer Schouten, of the Danish Institute for International Studies, has written a breathtaking book. Roadblock Politics: The Origins of Violence in Central Africa (Cambridge, 2022). Schouten mapped more than 1000 roadblocks in both the Central African Republic and the Democratic Re ... Show More
53m 33s
Feb 3
Lisa Min et al. eds., "Redacted: Writing in the Negative Space of the State" (punctum books, 2024)
When it comes to the political, acts of redaction, erasure, and blacking out sit in awkward tension with the myth of transparent governance, borderless access, and frictionless communication. But should there be more than this brute juxtaposition of truth and secrecy? Redacted: W ... Show More
1h 25m
Aug 2025
Episode 146, The Philosophy of Comedy (Part II - The Ethics of Humour)
In 2021, Netflix released His Dark Material, a Christmas stand-up special by Irish–British comedian Jimmy Carr. The show sparked international outrage. Toward the end of the set, Carr delivered what he called a 'career ender' – a joke about the Holocaust, in which he described th ... Show More
37m 44s
Aug 2025
Episode 146, The Philosophy of Comedy (Part I - The Nature of Humour)
In 2021, Netflix released His Dark Material, a Christmas stand-up special by Irish–British comedian Jimmy Carr. The show sparked international outrage. Toward the end of the set, Carr delivered what he called a 'career ender' – a joke about the Holocaust, in which he described th ... Show More
54m 18s
Nov 2024
Nick Butler, "The Trouble with Jokes: Humour and Offensiveness in Contemporary Culture and Politics" (Policy Press, 2023)
In this podcast, Nick Butler explores humour's complex and often controversial role in shaping modern political discourse, examining how jokes can challenge and reinforce power structures. Whether you're interested in the intersection of humour and politics or curious about the c ... Show More
32m 45s
Nov 2
Episode 148, 'Divine Commands' with Paul Taylor (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)
Most people believe in moral facts – that is, there's something about torturing and murdering innocent people that makes it wrong, which goes beyond just a feeling. Yet it's hard to locate morality anywhere in the natural world. For this reason, many have understood God to be the ... Show More
37m 53s
Oct 2025
Episode 148, 'Divine Commands' with Paul Taylor (Part I - The Euthyphro Dilemma)
Most people believe in moral facts – that is, there's something about torturing and murdering innocent people that makes it wrong, which goes beyond just a feeling. Yet it's hard to locate morality anywhere in the natural world. For this reason, many have understood God to be the ... Show More
31m 41s
Nov 2024
Ep. 208 | Funny Business: The Science and Satire of Humor with Ian Brownhill
Science still hasn’t cracked the code on what humor truly is. While we can’t pinpoint exactly what makes something funny or why we laugh at the strangest moments, we do know that humor plays a powerful role in shaping our relationships, communication, and even how attractive we f ... Show More
36m 1s
Oct 2021
Ep186 - Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas | Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life
<p>Humor is serious business. And that's a fact backed by cold, hard research. Humor builds bonds, defuses tension, boosts innovation, and bolsters resilience through hard times. That's why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach a class called "Humor: Serious Business", at Stanf ... Show More
1h 2m
Mar 2024
Travis Rieder, "Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices" (Dutton, 2024)
In a world of often confusing and terrifying global problems, how should we make choices in our everyday lives? Does anything on the individual level really make a difference? In Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices (Dutton, 2024), Travis Rieder tack ... Show More
37m 33s
Feb 2018
Gelotology (LAUGHTER) with Lee Berk
<p>The. Study. Of. Laughter. It exists, and it's called gelotology. In one of the oddly more somber episodes, Alie sits down with Dr. Lee Berk, a doctor who is "serious about laughter" and has dedicated decades to hunting down how humor affects the body. Learn about what makes a ... Show More
55m 10s
Apr 2021
Five: Prof Will MacAskill on moral uncertainty, utilitarianism & how to avoid being a moral monster
Immanuel Kant is a profoundly influential figure in modern philosophy, and was one of the earliest proponents for universal democracy and international cooperation. He also thought that women have no place in civil society, that it was okay to kill illegitimate children, and that ... Show More
1h 52m
What good is a good sense of humour especially when the humour may be ethically questionable? Although humour seems a valuable part of a good conversation and indeed a good life, jokes have never seemed more morally problematic than they do now. How can we then evaluate quips, gibes, pranks, teasing, light mockery, sarcasm when they can all too often be mean ... Show More
