Remember the Metaverse? Aaron's been there. He shares his experiences working at Meta and Google, and we explore the logistical and philosophical dimensions of building virtual worlds ..read more

In this episode, Aaron walks us through the painful process of reinventing himself, a journey that leads him from NYC to the Midwest to LA, from the Ivory Tower to the Googleplex ..read more

Aaron Kagan is a UX Researcher at Google, and what I would call an "Industrial Phenomenologist." Phenomenology is really just the rigorous study of experience, so who better to work on User Experience ..read more

How can we retain our humanity in the age of A.I.? To answer that question, we first have to figure out what makes us human in the first place. Joe Vukov is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Loyola University Chicago. His research explores questions at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience, and philosophy ..read more

At some point in the last decade, you’ve probably thought to yourself: “I don’t have an ideology! But that jerk on Twitter obviously does!” Ideology is always someone else’s problem. Jason Blakely, a professor of political science at Pepperdine University, begs to differ. Our political predicament, as he argues in his new book, Lost in ..read more

You probably know John Mackey the business mogul, but you probably don’t know John Mackey the philosopher. In his new memoir, The Whole Story, Founder and Former CEO of Whole Foods Market John Mackey discusses his life’s journey, from existentialist to grocer to conscious capitalist. John shares the latest developments in his new venture, Love.Life ..read more

Charlie Gilkey is an author, consultant, and executive coach focused on helping people build great teams. Why is belonging so important to an organization’s success, and why is it so hard to build? Charlie draws on his experience as an Army officer, his training in philosophy, and his 15 years of experience working with organizations to help answer questions like this and offer people the practical tools they need to acheive what he calls “productive flourishing.” Atomic habits are great, but team habits are better. LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher LYCEUM ..read more

According to the recently released World Happiness Report, all four Nordic nations are in the top 10, with Finland and Denmark leading the way. What is the secret to their success? In 2020, David Brooks asked the same question: Progressives say it’s because they have generous welfare states. Some libertarians point out that these countries score high on nearly every measure of free market openness. Immigration restrictionists note that until recently they were ethnically homogeneous societies. None of these explanations, it turns out, is sufficient. The answer is education, specifically, ed ..read more

Jason Merchey embodies the Socratic ethos and the philosophical way of life: the humble search for wisdom. He has served in many roles—from clinical psychologist, to real estate investor, to therapy dog trainer—but his guiding passion is the love of wisdom. In his recent book, Wisdom: A Very Valuable Virtue that Cannot Be Taught, he explores this virtue that is so elusive yet so essential to a life well lived. Jason has developed practical tools to help people develop wisdom in their own life, including the Top Values Tool and the Ethical Decision Making Guide. Self-knowledge is a key compone ..read more

Skye C. Cleary PhD MBA is a philosopher and author of How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (St Martin’s Press / Ebury 2022), Existentialism and Romantic Love (Palgrave Macmillan 2015) and co-editor of How to Live a Good Life (Vintage 2020). Her work has been published with The Paris Review, Aeon, The Times Literary Supplement, TED-Ed, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Independent, The Conversation, Business Insider, New Republic, and others. In 2021, she was a Ma ..read more