The Shawn Ryan Show
Also in Society & Culture
If you like Brain in a Vat, try…
CreepCast
Also in Society & Culture
The Ezra Klein Show
Also in Society & Culture
Stuff You Should Know
Also in Society & Culture
The Dr. John Delony Show
Also in Society & Culture
Brooke and Connor Make A Podcast
Also in Society & Culture
About the show
Thought experiments and conversations with philosophers. Hosted by Dr Jason Werbeloff and Mark Oppenheimer.
Latest episodes
-
Decoding Reactions: Signal and Noise in Personal Interactions | Mark Schroeder
October 6, 2026 · 60 minMark 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 minChristian 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 minLionel 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 minNathan 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…
-
Free Speech, Schools, and Children | Jimmy Mullen
August 4, 2026 · 57 minFormer 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 minColin 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 minSpencer 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 minRivka 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…