Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Fragile Succession of the Singaporean Social Contract
Season 1 Episode 323
For decades, Singapore’s stability has rested on a simple bargain: limited political freedom in exchange for competent, predictable rule by the Peopl…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Jordan Peterson and the Theology of the Bro Hero
Season 1 Episode 322
Jordan Peterson’s latest book promises a wrestling match with God—but leaves many readers struggling to follow along. Dense with biblical exegesis, p…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Radical History and Politics of English Pronouns
Season 1 Episode 321
Tiny words are carrying an outsized political weight. Pronouns—once barely noticed—have become flashpoints in cultural debates, prompting claims that…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Defying Modernity: The Global Rise of Fundamentalism
Season 1 Episode 320
Religious fundamentalism is often framed as a relic of the past, but it is better understood as a modern response to rapid change. From its origins i…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Fat of the Land: The Grease Clogging Mexico City
Season 1 Episode 319
When Mexico City floods, the problem is not just rain from the sky but grease in the ground. As the sinking megacity struggles with aging sewers and …
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Middle Way to a Slimmer Sangha
Season 1 Episode 318
In Thailand, even the monks are struggling with a modern excess. Bound by rules that limit when and what they can eat, many monks have become overwei…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Chemical Clergy: Psilocybin and the Divine Experience
Season 1 Episode 317
What happens when faith meets chemistry? A recent study at Johns Hopkins invited religious leaders with no prior experience of psychedelics to underg…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
Shores of the Middle Kingdom: China’s New Beach Culture
Season 1 Episode 316
China’s beaches are filling up—but not in the way Western visitors might expect. Once reserved for elites, coastal leisure has become a mass phenomen…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Governance of the Asian Megacity
Season 1 Episode 315
Asia’s urban future is being written not in Tokyo, but in fast-growing megacities like Jakarta and Dhaka, which now dwarf it in population. These cit…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
The Waxing and Waning of Genius
Season 1 Episode 314
Genius, it turns out, has a shelf life. Artists and scientists once hailed as towering figures can fade as tastes shift and disciplines specialize, w…
6 months, 2 weeks ago