Dilemma Podcast

Latest Episodes:

S02E17: Atheistic search for god - Seth Andrews Jan 04, 2021

Show notes

Seth Andrews was a Christian Radio host in Tulsa Oklahoma before he began his intellectual journey to atheism. Jay and Seth discuss the philosophies underpinning the religious worldview and how it continues to inform our political landscape.

Jay lays out exactly what the title of this episode means with the help of his favorite Richard Feynman clip.

Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, plans a live event, or has an urgent book or film recommendation at whatjaythinks.com

S02E16: The Silence Beyond Sound - Scott Barry Kaufman Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

Why do we avoid intimacy when we know it is the deepest need we have?

Scott Barry Kaufman is an author, psychologist, and podcast host. His latest book "Transcend" continues the work of Abraham Maslow who introduced the hierarchy of needs. Jay and Scott discuss: peak experience, 1st order and 2nd order desires, the danger of gurus, the vulnerability of intimacy, the higher grumbles, utopias, and much more.

Jay ponders the tragedy of Jonestown and also asks the listeners for a future show idea.

S02E15: Speech on Campus - Sigal Ben-Porath Dec 07, 2020

Show notes

Are the kids alright?

Sigal Ben-Porath and Jay discuss the thorny issues of free speech on college campus by first traversing some philosophical groundwork offered by Hannah Arendt. Together they explore what speech is "beyond the pale", "a waste of time", "too dangerous", or simply disingenuous cover for nefarious politics. Ultimately, the questions of what kinds of responsibilities educational (and housing) institutions have to their students and tenants and what the purpose of school really is become central to the conversation.

S02E14: Thanksgiving 2020 - Mom Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

Jay and his mom Sally talk about old age, being thankful in a strange year, and the lessons they're learning from COVID.

Video posted on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oeboanFZOG8

Happy Thanksgiving from Dilemma

S02E13: The Power of Memes - Susan Blackmore Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

Did Charles Darwin discover something much more fundamental than the origin of species?

A defense and exploration of the field of memetics with Professor Susan Blackmore. Jay and Susan make their way through the common confusions, problems, and good and bad questions to ask about memetics.

S02E12: How To Avoid a Civil War - Mike Selinker Oct 12, 2020

Show notes

Jay goes down the dark paths that might lie ahead spurred by the 2020 US election with Mike Selinker. Mike is an award winning game designer and game theorist who writes frequently about politics. What are the historical analogies that could warn us and help us steer clear of the dangers?

This episode follows the format of Mike's viral essay "A wargame designer defines our four possible civil wars". Available here: https://medium.com/@mikeselinker/a-wargame-designer-describes-our-four-possible-civil-wars-cf5b2e980099

S02E11: Home Field Advantage - Jon Wertheim Sep 28, 2020

Show notes

A look at the philosophical side of sports and what we can learn about human behavior in the time of COVID altered stadiums.

Jay speaks with veteran sports writer Jon Wertheim as they focus in a particular chapter from his book Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Wonall about "home field advantage" and what exactly caused home teams to win so much... before COVID changed everything.

S02E10: Too Much Information - Cass Sunstein Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

What do you NOT want to know?

Jay is joined by the prolific and influential behavior economist Cass Sunstein for a conversation about his latest book: Too Much Information.

Discussed in this episode: The Garden of Eden, Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept metrics, the social media habit, the right to know vs the consequences of information, the usefulness of informing one's vote, the focus of attention and editorial choices, and whether Cass really did "ruin popcorn."

S02E09: What is Art? - SWOON Sep 14, 2020

Show notes

Jay tackles the age old question of philosophically defining art with the incredible street artist SWOON (Caledonia Curry). Together they wonder, can machines make art?

Swoon's recent piece: The Medea

https://swoonstudio.org/#/the-canyon/

S02E08: Your Right To Say It - David Goldberger Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

David Goldberger was raised as a proud Jew. In 1977, he was working as a civil liberties attorney for the ACLU in Illinois when a Neo-Nazi named Frank Collin knocked on his door claiming his first amendment rights were being violated. In this episode David Goldberger revisits the famous Supreme Court case, National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie. Jay and David tease out the complications of free speech and what has changed, if anything, since 1977.

Also discussed in this episode: warning signs from the ACLU, the difficult task of law enforcement, McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission and it's application to social media bans, the heap fallacy as a way to consider legal philosophy.

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