Estes, Jim. "Kelp Worlds: Trophic Cascadia (Part 1)." Future Ecologies 2.7 (February 13, 2020) ["How did nuclear testing accidentally reshape our understanding of food webs and marine ecology? Why did sea otters bounce back from near-extinction on some parts of the Pacific coast, but are still absent in others? We speak with Dr. Jim Estes (a godfather of the field) about a series of serendipitous events that led to the re-writing of textbook ecology."]
Fontainelle, Earl. "So What is Western Esotericism, Anyway?" The Secret History of Western Esotericism (September 5, 2017) ["This episode introduces the SHWEP project, designed to be a tool for anyone wishing to explore the often misunderstood or overlooked byways of western culture; the aim is to be accessible to anyone with an interest in the history of ideas, while maintaining a standard of evidence-based, reliable, and balanced scholarship which will make the podcast useful to high-level academic specialists as well. The SHWEP is a long-form historical investigation, starting from as far back in history as we can go and attempting to trace the genealogies of important streams of esotericism all the way from the beginning to the present day. By engaging in dialogue with leading experts and specialists in every branch of the amazing field of western esoteric studies, SHWEP aims to provide the most complete, detailed, and up-to-date resource for studying these currents available anywhere outside of formal academe."]
Franks, Mary Ann. "We the People: Free Speech." Throughline (July 25, 2024) ["The First Amendment. Book bans, disinformation, the wild world of the internet. Free speech debates are all around us. What were the Founding Fathers thinking when they created the First Amendment, and how have the words they wrote in the 18th century been stretched and shaped to fit a world they never could have imagined? It's a story that travels through world wars and culture wars. Through the highest courts and the Ku Klux Klan. Today on Throughline's We the People: What exactly is free speech, and how has the answer to that question changed in the history of the U.S.?"]
Fredericksen, Paula. "Ancient Christianities." Converging Dialogues #387 (November 25, 2024) ["In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paula Fredriksen about the various Christianities in the early 1st and 2nd centuries. They discuss how there are many Christianities, contradictions within the New Testament, integration of Jews and pagans in the Mediterranean in the 1st century, and Jewish diaspora. They also talk about the crucifixion of Jesus, the idea of Israel, and persecution of early Christians. They discuss early eschatology, early church fathers, Constantine, Asceticism, and many more topics. Paula Fredriksen is fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Aurelio Professor of Scripture emerita at Boston University and Distinguished Visiting Professor emerita in the Department of Comparative Religions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has degrees from Wellesley College, Oxford University and Princeton University and is published widely on the social and intellectual history of ancient Christianity and on pagan-Jewish-Christian relations in the Roman Empire. She is the author of numerous books, including the most recent, Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years."]
Gordon, Lewis. "Black Consciousness." Overthink (November 19, 2024) ["Do you need black skin to be Black? How might concepts such as white privilege be limiting our understanding of how racism works? In Episode 117 of Overthink, Ellie and David chat with philosopher Lewis Gordon about his book, Fear of Black Consciousness. They talk through the history of anti-Black racism, the existential concept of bad faith, why Rachel Dolezal might have Black consciousness, and Frantz Fanon’s experience of being called a racial slur by a white child on a train. From the American Blues to the Caribbean movement of Negritude, this episode is full of insight into Black liberation and White centeredness. In the bonus, Ellie and David go into greater detail about how Black liberation is connected to love."]
Mander, Jerry. "Privatization of Consciousness." Monthly Review (October 2012) ["A. J. Liebling famously said, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed, but only if you own one.” Freedom of speech is also guaranteed. But only if you have a few million dollars for an effective media strategy. Soapbox oratory doesn’t sway the public anymore. But the powers of advertising go well beyond the amount of money spent. The true power is in the nature of moving-image media, projected for hours every day into human brains. It’s a form of intrusion we have never before in history had to face. Even now in the Internet age, the powers of television and advertising are undiminished and insufficiently examined or discussed."]
Mastroianni, Adam. "The Illusion of Moral Decline." Big Brains (November 21, 2024) ["Adam Mastroianni wondered if people are really becoming less moral in today's world, so he set out to find an answer, and published his findings in the journal Nature, “The Illusion of Moral Decline.” While the title may be a giveaway for his findings, he asks: If people are becoming less moral, why do we all feel the same way—and what can we do to shake this “illusion?”]
Rushkoff, Douglas. "Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires." Author Events (August 26, 2022) ["Acclaimed for their intersectional explorations of cyberculture, religion, currency, and politics, Douglas Rushkoff’s 20 bestselling books include Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Present Shock, and Media Virus. He also is the host of the Team Human podcast, writes a column for Medium, and created the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. A professor of media theory and digital economics at City University of New York, Queens College, he was selected as one of the world’s 10 most influential intellectuals by MIT, was the first winner of the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity, is a recipient of the Marshall McLuhan Award, and has received many other accolades. In Survival of the Richest, Rushkoff reveals the flawed mindset that has led out-of-touch tech titans to prepare for a societal catastrophe they could simply avert through practical measures."]
Suton, Koraljka. "Villeneuve’s Arrival: A Deep Exploration of the Importance of Language, the Nature of Time and the Dichotomy of Human Existence." Cinephilia and Beyond (November 18, 2024) ["Being a linguist, Louise knows very well that language is the foundation of civilization. It is “the glue that holds a people together,” as she states in her book, making it possible for us to communicate effectively and find common ground. Language helps us bring forth our internal landscapes in ways that are extremely basic and deeply profound. Much like music, it enables us to convey and share with one another the intricacies that make up the human experience, which, in turn, gives us a chance to feel seen and understood. This striving for true understanding is not just inherent in Louise’s vocation as a linguist but is also one of her core qualities as a person. Unlike the majority of the world and its leaders, she is not the least bit interested in playing zero-sum games but rather seeks to utilize our ability for meaningful interpersonal connection so as to arrive at a win-win. Even though the aliens in Arrival are as unhuman-like as it gets, both in terms of language and appearance, Louise’s primary objective is, and remains throughout the film, to truly understand them. And, in doing so, bridge the gap between the ‘self’ and ‘other’. How does she do it? By connecting with them—being to being. This delicate unfolding is touching and awe-inspiring to behold."]
Wells, Sam. "Being With." Everything Happens (November 19, 2024) ["How do you stay close to someone whose pain you can’t fix, whose questions you can’t answer? In this episode, Kate sits down with her dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, a longtime advocate of “being with,” a theology that goes beyond advice and into the sacred space of simply staying. Sam–vicar at London’s St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, an astonishingly wise thinker, and one of Kate’s favorite people on Earth–invites us into a deeper courage: to show up without trying to tidy things up. In this beautifully honest conversation, Kate and Sam talk about: 1) Why love can be so hard. 2) What it means to let go of the need to “help.” 3) The surprising beauty of just… showing up. For everyone exhausted by easy answers, this episode is a hand to hold in the dark."]
West, Stephen. "Why the future is being slowly cancelled. - Postmodernism (Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism)." Philosophize This! #203 (June 16, 2024) ["Today we continue developing our understanding of the ideas that have led to what Mark Fisher calls Capitalist Realism. We talk about tolerant relativism, postmodern artwork, the slow cancellation of the future, Hauntology and Acid Communism."]
