Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThomas Hobbes and Leviathan: Fear, the Social Contract, and Absolute Power
Episode 11417
In April 1588, panic over the approaching Spanish Armada sent a pregnant woman in Westport into premature labor, and Thomas Hobbes later said his mot…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Philippa Foot: The Philosopher Who Invented the Trolley Problem
Episode 11416
A runaway train, five workers, one lever: the trolley problem is debated everywhere from internet forums to self-driving car boardrooms. This episode…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Existentialism Explained: Freedom, Dread, Bad Faith, and the Absurd
Episode 11415
Standing at the edge of a cliff, the nausea you feel is not just fear of falling. It is the realization that nothing stops you from stepping forward …
4 days, 2 hours ago
The Golden Rule: Ancient Ethics, Evolution, and Its Hidden Flaws
Episode 11414
Treat others the way you want to be treated sounds like a kindergarten lesson, but this episode dissects the Golden Rule as a biological survival mec…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Maimonides: Refugee, Saladin's Physician, and Architect of Jewish Law
Episode 11413
How does a religious refugee who spent years on the run become the personal physician to Saladin and write the definitive code of Jewish law still us…
4 days, 2 hours ago
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Sociologist Who Became a Civil Rights Warrior
Episode 11412
In 1899, a young Harvard-trained sociologist walked past an Atlanta storefront displaying the burned knuckles of a lynching victim and realized that …
4 days, 2 hours ago
Plotinus: The Mystic Who Refused a Portrait and Shaped Three Religions
Episode 11411
We carve great thinkers into marble and put their faces on money. Plotinus refused to let anyone paint his portrait and would not discuss his childho…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Zhuangzi: One Name, a Taoist Master and an Ancient Zhuang Script
Episode 11410
Search for the founding text of Taoism and you collide with a completely unrelated indigenous writing system used by millions of people, all packed i…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Utilitarianism: The 200-Year Quest to Turn Morality Into Math
Episode 11409
A building is burning and you can save only one person: the Archbishop of Cambrai, whose survival will bring peace and happiness to thousands, or his…
4 days, 2 hours ago
Thought Experiments: How Imaginary Labs Rewrote Science and Philosophy
Episode 11408
A cat sealed in a steel box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter, a vial of poison, and a hammer. Erwin Schrodinger proposed this grim scenario …
4 days, 2 hours ago