In this episode of International Horizons, RBI acting director Eli Karetny speaks with Alex Priou, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Austin, about how technology and ideology shape the modern soul. From Machiavelli’s “dikes and dams” to Odysseus’s struggle against the Sirens, Priou traces how modernity’s drive for control has left us mat ... Show More
Today
Xiaochang Li, "Divination Engines: Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Making of Algorithmic Culture" (U Chicago Press, 2026)
Since the advent of computers, society has fantasized about conversing with machines. In Divination Engines: Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Making of Algorithmic Culture (University of Chicago Press, 2026), Dr. Xiaochang Li shows readers how that dr ... Show More
40m 3s
Aug 31
Special Episode: Accounting for Computing, or Why We So Badly Need a New Social and Economic History of Everyday Digital Technology Use
This special episode features a short talk Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, gave at the Jefferson Scholars Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia. The event featured a great mix of historians and Science and Technology Studies scholars and was organized by Jacob Bruggeman, who ... Show More
24m 21s
Aug 23
Seth C. Lewis, Rodrigo Zamith, and Tomás Dodds, "Journalism in the Age of AI: From Acceleration to Reimagination" (Polity, 2027)
What if AI’s biggest impact on journalism isn’t replacing journalists, but forcing us to rethink what journalism is for? In this episode, Joanne Kuai speaks with Seth C. Lewis, Rodrigo Zamith, and Tomás Dodds, authors of Journalism in the Age of AI: From Acceleration to Reimagin ... Show More
1h 10m
Mar 2023
Two books warn about the privacy implications of AI and neurotechnology
Today's episode is all about tech. First, Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his new book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and the ways autocratic governments can rely on AI for repressive su ... Show More
18m 15s
Sep 2023
Episode #188 ... Achievement Society and the rise of narcissism, depression and anxiety - Byung-Chul Han
Today we talk about positive power, neoliberalism, narcissism as a reaction to modern life, how technology makes isolation easier, and some tactics to find peace in the digital panopticon. Get more: Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philo ... Show More
32m 32s
Oct 2025
TECH005: What Tech Is Doing to Us with Justin Evidon (Tech Podcast)
Preston and Jevi unpack the double-edged sword of modern technology. They examine how social media, AI, EMFs, and LED lights impact our well-being, and offer real-world privacy solutions like Graphene OS and open-source photo apps. From sleep disruption to self-sovereignty, they ... Show More
54m 49s
Apr 2024
Ghosts in the Machines: Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, & Capitalism
<p>In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religious search for immortality, their hubristic attempts to "build god" and escape de ... Show More
1h 57m
Nov 2020
#226 — The Price of Distraction
Sam Harris speaks with Adam Gazzaley about the way our technology is changing us. They discuss our limited ability to process information, our failures of multitasking, "top-down" vs "bottom-up" attention, self-interruptions and switching costs, anxiety, boredom, "digital medicin ... Show More
44m 18s
Apr 2025
[BEST OF] Ghosts in the Machines: Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, & Capitalism
<p class="date"><em><strong>ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 10, 2024</strong></em></p> <p>In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religiou ... Show More
1h 57m