In this episode, we continue discussing "success culture". Does it promote the goal of living a meaningful life, or do those goals come into conflict? What about happiness? Does success and achievement make anyone happy? Toby Napoletano, Hanna Gunn ..read more

In this episode, we discuss "success culture". What is success and is it a worthy goal? Or does it monopolize our lives in unhealthy ways? Toby Napoletano, Hanna Gunn ..read more

In this episode, we dig into the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v Wade, thereby eliminating a constitutional right to an abortion. There are two main questions at issue: Was the reasoning in Roe sound? And then, separately, should it be overturned? We go over the arguments of the majority and concurring opinions, and also the criticisms of the dissent. Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we discuss Adam Mastroianni's "Against All Applications" (https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/against-all-applications?s=r). What is wrong with the application process, both for hiring and for education, and what are the alternatives? Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we continue to discuss some of the ethical problems surrounding machine learning technologies, and particular concerns about their discriminatory uses. We use the Toronto Declaration, which applies a human rights framework to machine learning as our starting point.  Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we challenge the conventional wisdom on both the right and left that it is obvious that we should deport immigrants who are violent criminals. As it turns out, it's not so obvious, because of the serious consequences this has for the communities that the criminals are deported back into, and also because of the historical role that the U.S. has played in the creation of the epidemics of violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we discussed Aldo Leopold's "Land Ethic", the idea that ecosystems--including the water, the soil, the rocks, the plants, animals, etc.--have intrinsic value. The idea sounds quite radical against a backdrop of standard moral theories, but whether the view is true or not, there might be lots of good reasons to adopt it. Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes, Hanna Gunn  ..read more

In this episode, we discuss the idea that a significant portion of the population is being irrational, or "detached from reality", when it comes to politics. What does it mean to be irrational, and what are different ways that one could be irrational? Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we address some of the common (sometimes outlandish) anti-Sanders narratives that have been ubiquitous in recent weeks, especially as it looked like, briefly, he might be the front runner. Would Bernie get anything done as president? Is he electable? Is he a socialist? That and more. Toby Napoletano | Michael Hughes ..read more

In this episode, we (half-seriously) debate the ethics of Christmas. Is Christmas, on the whole, a good thing or a bad thing? Does the uptick in charitable giving outweigh the explosion in consumption? Does Christmas ruin gift-giving? Does the fostering of community justify Christmas ham? Is the celebration of Christmas an act of cultural appropriation? And who has the better ham story? Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes, Hanna Gunn ..read more