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Brain in a Vat

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Latest episodes

Political Bias in Academia and the Threat to Democracy | Hrishikesh Joshi

October 20, 2026 · 57 min

Hrishikesh Joshi dissects whether political homogeneity in academia poses a problem for democracy. He ultimately argues that universities wield significant influence over society while remaining largely insulated from democratic control…
Decoding Reactions: Signal and Noise in Personal Interactions | Mark Schroeder

October 6, 2026 · 60 min

Mark Schroeder discusses When Things Get Personal, his account of how we interpret one another and why those interpretations so often go wrong. Our interactions are filled with noise, factors that don’t reflect the person themselves…
The Truth About Honesty, Lies, and Deception | Christian Miller

September 23, 2026 · 58 min

Christian Miller, author of The Honesty Crisis, joins to explore the nature and ethics of honesty. He examines what it means to be honest, when lying can be morally justified, and the difference between honesty and simply telling the…
The Costs of Open Borders | Lionel Shriver

August 25, 2026 · 56 min

Lionel Shriver returns to discuss her new novel, 'A Better Life,' and the philosophical debate over immigration and open borders. Inspired by a proposed New York City program to pay residents to house migrants, the novel turns one…
The Man Who Exposed Jason Arday: Cancelled at Cambridge | Nathan Cofnas

August 10, 2026 · 59 min

Nathan Cofnas, the academic who recently drew widespread attention for exposing plagiarism allegations against Cambridge professor Jason Arday, returns to Brain in a Vat to discuss academic freedom, institutional conformity, and his own…

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Free Speech, Schools, and Children | Jimmy Mullen

August 4, 2026 · 57 min

Former Brain in a Vat producer Jimmy Mullen returns to discuss free speech in schools, exploring how educational institutions should balance student expression with their responsibility to maintain an environment conducive to…
Sexual Ethics on Campus: Consent and Power | Colin McGinn

July 28, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

Colin McGinn joins to discuss sexual ethics on campus. Drawing on thought experiments and his own experiences in academia, McGinn argues that universities too often conflate harassment with consensual relationships while overstating the…
The Philosophy of Pluribus | Spencer Case

June 28, 2026 · 58 min

Spencer Case returns to discuss Pluribus, one of the most philosophically ambitious science fiction series in recent years. The conversation explores whether individuality is worth preserving if giving it up would create a happier and more…
The Time-Meaning Conundrum | Rivka Weinberg

June 14, 2026 · 58 min

Rivka Weinberg returns to argue that time is both the source of meaning and its greatest threat, making meaningful lives possible while also guaranteeing loss and impermanence. The conversation explores the relationship between suffering…
Should You Need Permission to Take Medicine? | Jessica Flanigan

June 14, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

Do adults have a right to decide what goes into their own bodies, even when experts believe they're making a mistake? Jessica Flanigan returns to defend a radical idea: competent adults should have the freedom to access pharmaceuticals…
Can Torture Be Justified? | Stephen Kershnar

May 17, 2026 · 59 min

We welcome back Stephen Kershnar to discuss the ethics of torture. Kershnar argues that some criminals deserve torture because severe wrongdoing can cause a person to forfeit protections against extreme punishment. He critiques the idea…
A World Without Scarcity | Steven Kotler

May 6, 2026 · 60 min

What happens to human beings in a world without scarcity? If all our needs were met, would we actually be better off? Will technological progress lead to utopia or collapse? Humans are living through massive improvements in material…