Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchRevisiting the "father of capitalism"
Sean Illing talks with Glory Liu, the author of Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher became an Icon of American Capitalism. Smith is most…
3 years, 1 month ago
Can effective altruism be redeemed?
Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with Holden Karnofsky about effective altruism, a movement flung into public scrutiny with the collapse of Sam Bankman-…
3 years, 1 month ago
The roots of homelessness
Sean Illing talks with writer and reporter Jerusalem Demsas about the causes of homelessness in America. They discuss our ideas of home ownership, an…
3 years, 1 month ago
Can race be transcended?
Sean Illing talks with author Thomas Chatterton Williams about race and identity in America. Thomas has analyzed racial identity through the lens of …
3 years, 1 month ago
Is ethical AI possible?
Sean Illing talks with Timnit Gebru, the founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute. She studies the ethics of artificial intelligence and is a…
3 years, 1 month ago
What do we owe animals?
Guest host Sigal Samuel talks with philosopher and author Martha Nussbaum about her new book, Justice for Animals. Martha discusses several different…
3 years, 1 month ago
Best of: America's philosophy, with Cornel West
Sean Illing talks with Cornel West about the American philosophical tradition known as pragmatism. They talk about what makes pragmatism so distinctl…
3 years, 2 months ago
Best of: The necessity — and danger — of free speech
Sean Illing talks with Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan about his new book The Paradox of Democracy, which he co-authored with media…
3 years, 2 months ago
The church of celebrity
Guest host Alissa Wilkinson talks with Katelyn Beaty, author of the new book Celebrities for Jesus, about how the dynamics of fame, influence, and ne…
3 years, 2 months ago
Men and boys are struggling. Should we care?
Sean Illing talks with author, researcher, and Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard V. Reeves about his new book Of Boys and Men, which docume…
3 years, 2 months ago