Episode Details

“The challenge is that we have to become philosophers ourselves, in a way. We have to learn to ask better questions and more questions than we had to before.” – Monica McCarthy

Monica McCarthy (@MissMMcCarthy) is an actress, writer, and host of The Happier Hour podcast and live show, which aims to make philosophy useful and accessible. For more about Monica, you can check our her website or watch her TedX talk, Philosophy: The Life Hack of the Future.

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf speaks with Monica about the “definition” of philosophy (3:00); where people should start when seeking to embrace philosophy (16:00); travel as a metaphor for discussing philosophy (22:00); Western philosophy and common assumptions about it (32:00); and key takeaways from Monica’s podcast (50:00).

Notable Links:

• Tim Ferriss (author / entrepreneur)
• Ryan Holiday (author)
• Alain de Botton (author / philosopher)
• Socrates (philosopher)
• Søren Kierkegaard (philosopher)
• Ludwig Wittgenstein (philosopher)
• Simone de Beauvoir (philosopher)
• Jean-Paul Sartre (philosopher)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (philosopher)
• Albert Camus (philosopher)
• David Hume (philosopher)
• Epicurus (philosopher)
• Avicenna (philosopher)
• Stoicism (school of philosophy)
• Existentialism (school of philosophy)
• Nero (Roman emperor)
• Massimo Pigliucci (professor of Philosophy at CUNY-City College)
• At the Existentialist Café, by Sarah Bakewell (book)
• The Good Place (television show)
• Trolley Problem (thought experiment)
• The School of Life (educational company)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.