Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchHow Rhetoric Shapes Your Opinions
Episode 426
Robin Reames breaks down the major techniques of rhetoric, pulling back the curtain on how politicians, journalists, and "journalists" convince us to…
2 years ago
Accomplishment and Happiness (Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker)
Episode 425
We push ourselves toward the highest-paying, most prestigious jobs, seeking promotions and public recognition. As Adam Gopnik points out, the result …
2 years ago
Should We Prepare for Nuclear War? (Annie Jacobsen)
Episode 424
Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen investigated this ticking-clock scenario, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civili…
2 years ago
An AI... Utopia? (Nick Bostrom, Oxford)
Episode 423
Nick Bostrom's previous book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, changed the global conversation on AI and became a New York Times bestse…
2 years ago
Life on Mars? (Robert Zubrin)
Episode 422
When Robert Zubrin published his classic book The Case for Mars a quarter century ago, setting foot on the Red Planet seemed a fantasy. Today, manned…
2 years ago
Robots and the People Who Love Them
Episode 421
Shermer and Herold discuss: social robots, sex robots, robot nannies, robot therapists • flying cars, jetpacks and The Jetsons • Masahiro Mori • emot…
2 years ago
The Formation, Diversification, and Extinction of World Religions
Episode 420
Thousands of religions have adherents today, and countless more have existed throughout history. What accounts for this astonishing diversity?
This e…
2 years ago
The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Uncertain
Episode 419
In an era of terrifying unpredictability, we race to address complex crises with quick, sure algorithms, bullet points, and tweets. How could we find…
2 years, 1 month ago
The End of Race Politics (Coleman Hughes)
Episode 418
As one of the few black students in his philosophy program at Columbia University years ago, Coleman Hughes wondered why his peers seemed more pessim…
2 years, 1 month ago
How to Repair America's Broken Democracy
Episode 417
Order the Artificial Intelligence issue of SKEPTIC magazine at
https://www.skeptic.com/magazine/archives/29.1/ (available in print or digital format)…
2 years, 1 month ago