logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2019
5m 47s

Friendship and the Democratic Process | ...

ON BEING STUDIOS
About this episode

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah offers hope for quiet, sustained culture shift through the “endless shared conversation” of friendship. The writer of the New York Times “Ethicist” column studies how deep social change happens across time and cultures. “If you have that background of relationship between individuals and communities that is conversational, then when you have to talk about the things that do divide you, you have a better platform.”

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a professor of philosophy and law at New York University. His books include Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers and The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen.

Find the transcript at onbeing.org.

Up next
Jul 2019
What did you love? What would you like to hear?
Season two of Becoming Wise is a wrap! We’re so grateful you joined us for these months of reflection and recentering. Before we go away to work on our next season, we’d love to hear from you. What did you love? How can we make the podcast even better? Go to onbeing.org/bwsurvey ... Show More
36s
Jul 2019
Releasing Anger as an Act of Self-Compassion | Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman
The last episode of season two. Robert Thurman and Sharon Salzberg are icons of American Buddhism, and they are joyful, longtime friends. They challenge us to reframe our anger by seeing love for our enemies as an act of self-compassion. “It’s very hard to see love as a force, as ... Show More
7m 45s
Jul 2019
Healing Through Story | Desmond Tutu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of our wisest models on the territory of reckoning with past wrongs that infuse and haunt the present. In the 1990s, he helped galvanize South Africa’s peaceful transition to democracy after decades of white supremacy as the law of the land. He tell ... Show More
5m 56s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2024
How to bridge political divides — from two friends on opposing sides | Samar Ali and Clint Brewer
On paper, law professor Samar Ali and public affairs strategist Clint Brewer seem to come from very different — and perhaps opposing — backgrounds. But their friendship shows why political polarization in the US isn't as intractable as we might think. In an enlightening conversat ... Show More
17m 24s
Feb 2022
#121 | Chaos And Friendships w/ Sammy Adebiyi
<p>Life is hard, but it becomes a lot easier when we struggle alongside others. This week, Dr. Michael Brown and author of <em>A Book About Friendship</em>, Sammy Adebiyi, encourage us to pursue our deepest desire for human connection even (and especially) when times are tough.</ ... Show More
16m 25s
Jul 2020
Friendship: The Other Love of Your Life
This week we’re talking about friendships - how to make them better, if it's okay to take breaks and when emotional labor becomes too much. Tonya Mosley is joined by ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ hosts Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman. They share what it was like to write a co-memoir calle ... Show More
29m 31s
Jun 2021
Nicholas Christakis — How We’re Wired for Goodness
Elemental human capacities like friendship and love, teaching and learning, have tremendous, constant, practical force. We don’t think of these in terms of what has given our species the grit to endure through hard times and even evolve in the long run. They’re lived social intel ... Show More
50m 45s
Aug 2021
Conscious Relationships
Eckhart talks to an international audience in Greece. He brings his renowned wisdom to everyday concerns: like how to quiet an over-active mind, what is the best way to set boundaries with friends and family and how we can use the practice of presence to create conscious relation ... Show More
43m 55s
Oct 2018
Mistaken Identities: The Conflict Over Culture, Class, Gender and Nation with Kwame Anthony Appiah and John Gray
Race, religion and identity are being talked about as never before. While minority groups raise their voices for recognition and inclusion, others feel that their culture is being eroded. In these increasingly febrile times, Intelligence Squared brought together two of the world’ ... Show More
1h 2m
Nov 2016
Colour
<p>The philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations. </p><p>He tells the story of Anton Wilhelm Amo Afer. He was five years old when he was brought from the Gold Coast to Germany in 1707, educated at a royal court and became a ... Show More
56m 33s