Within Reason

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#146 The Most Complicated Thing in the Universe: What is the Brain? Mar 08, 2026

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Matthew Cobb is a British zoologist and Emeritus professor of zoology at the University of Manchester.

Get his book, ⁠The Idea of the Brain: A History⁠, Closer to Truth's Map of Consciousness: ⁠loc.closertotruth.com/map⁠.

TIMESTAMPS

(0:00) The Minimal Phenomenal Experience Project

(11:34) Is MPE New Age Meditation?

(17:07) Collecting Reports of Pure Consciousness

(25:48) Lucid Deep Sleep - Thomas’ Experience

(32:19) Does Consciousness Require Complexity?

(39:29) The Power of Meditation

(45:32) Is Meditation Always a Positive Experience?

(53:13) Is a MPE Actually an Experience?

(01:11:21) Your Brain is Not Telling You the Truth

(01:20:08) Analysing Minimal Conscious Experiences

(01:27:26) Is Meditative Enlightenment Unethical?

(01:32:37) Western Ignorance of Eastern Tradition

(01:40:13) “Coming Home”

(01:44:29) The Political Implications of MPE

(01:52:40) Should Ketamine Be Legalised?

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#145 The Algorithm is God Now - The Etymology Nerd Mar 04, 2026

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Adam Aleksic, known online as Etymology Nerd, is an American linguist and content creator who produces videos exploring the origins of words. He began exploring word origins in 2016 through his blog. Aleksic studied at Harvard University, where he gained attention for his educational TikTok videos on linguistics and language in 2023. In 2025, he published Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language.

Buy "Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language": https://amzn.to/3NcOLpw

TIMESTAMPS

(0:00) Will Social Media End Local Languages?
(7:49) Why Does Language Change?
(15:11) What Is Algospeak?
(22:33) We Worship Our Phones
(27:36) Upcoming Slang to Invest In
(33:26) Online Slang That Never Quite Caught On
(38:48) Introducing Adam to British Slang
(47:13) The Origins of Language
(57:22) Punctuation in Text Messaging
(1:06:24) The Latin Mass and Hocus Pocus
(1:13:44) The Message of Algospeak

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#144 Sam Harris - Spirituality for Atheists. Feb 25, 2026

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Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, New York Times best-selling author, host of the Making Sense podcast, and creator of the Waking Up meditation app.

Buy the Waking Up book here.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Tour
(00:32) Is ‘Spirituality’ a Dirty Word?
(04:26) Why Take Reflective Knowledge Seriously?
(29:11) What Is the Self?
(47:04) Why Are There Distinct Selves?
(1:01:22) The Two Hemispheres of the Brain
(1:06:47) The Problem of Emergence
(1:18:41) What’s the Minimal Amount of Consciousness?
(1:34:09) Is AI Lying to Us About Consciousness?
(1:39:15) What Is the Present?

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#143 Hinduism, Consciousness and Advaita Vedanta - Swami Sarvapriyananda Feb 16, 2026

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Swami Sarvapriyananda is a Hindu monk belonging to the Ramakrishna Order. He is the current resident Swami and Minister in Charge, of the Vedanta Society of New York.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Tour
(00:32) An Intro to Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta
(14:31) What Are the Upanishads
(22:08) Where Do the Vedas (Scripture) Come From?
(29:02) What Does “Upanishad” Mean?
(34:36) What Do the Upanishads Teach Us?
(47:07) What Is Brahman, or Ultimate Existence?
(1:02:52) What Is the True Nature of Consciousness?
(1:08:15) Non-Dualism in Advaita Vedanta
(1:18:34) Why Isn’t There Just One Big Consciousness?
(1:29:06) What Is the Self?
(1:36:30) Are Brahman and Atman the Same Thing?
(1:45:25) What Does ‘God’ Mean in Hinduism?
(1:49:07) Does Hinduism Believe Other Religions Are Incorrect?

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Atheist Slogans You Should Stop Using - Joe Schmid Feb 08, 2026

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Joe Schmid is a PhD student in philosophy at Princeton University and creator of the Majesty of Reason YouTube channel. He graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Purdue University in 2022. He has published articles in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of time, and the author of books including "Existential Inertia and Classical Theistic Proofs".

Felipe Leon’s 200 arguments for atheism: https://exapologist.blogspot.com/2023/03/200-or-so-arguments-for-atheism.html

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Tour
(00:32) Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
(07:50) There Is No Evidence for God
(25:27) Who Created God?
(49:44) Science Flies You to the Moon, Religion Flies You into Buildings
(01:02:33) Your Location Determines Your Religion
(01:28:33) Claims Are Not Evidence
(01:32:50) You Can’t Prove a Negative
(01:38:35) What Can Be Asserted Without Evidence Can Be Dismissed Without Evidence
(01:43:51) Faith Is Belief Without Evidence
(01:54:59) Religion Makes Good People Do Bad Things
(01:55:32) Absence of Evidence Is Evidence of Absence
(01:56:31) Theism Is Unfalsifiable
(02:01:03) Science Books Would Come Back, Religions Would Not
(02:12:58) Evolution Disproves God

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#141 Stoicism: Everything You Need to (Actually) Know - John Sellars Feb 03, 2026

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John Sellars is a Reader in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, a visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Member of Wolfson College, Oxford. His books include Lessons in Stoicism, The Fourfold Remedy, Aristotle and his work has been translated into over a dozen languages.

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Tour
(00:32) Did Socrates Found Stoicism?
(08:03) The Three Eras of Stoicism
(17:50) Stoic Logic
(26:19) Empiricism: How the Stoics Got Knowledge
(34:33) Materialism: Only Physical Things Exist
(43:00) How Reason Fundamentally Animates the Universe
(48:43) Did the Stoics Believe in God?
(59:37) Do the Stoics Contradict Themselves?
(01:08:17) Stoic Ethics
(01:24:24) How Did the Stoics Deal With Evil?
(01:36:32) Can You Choose Your Outcome If Everything Is Determined?

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#140 Sean Carroll - The Limits of Scientific Explanation Jan 26, 2026

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Sean Michael Carroll is an American theoretical physicist who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 – Tour

0:32 – Can Science Alone Explain the Universe?

6:08 – The Principle of Sufficient Reason

10:07 – What Are the Laws of Physics?

18:22 – The Fine-Tuning Argument

32:39 – Does the Multiverse Undermine Morality?

36:29 – Free Will and the Multiverse

42:24 – What Is Emergence?

56:21 – What “Stuff” Do Materialists Believe In?

1:02:41 – How Does Consciousness Work on Materialism?

1:17:31 – What Could Move Sean Away from Materialism?

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#139 David Bentley Hart - All Things Are Full of Gods Jan 18, 2026

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TIMESTAMPS:

(0:00) Intro
(0:32) Are All Things Full of Gods?
(8:51) Subjectivity and the Scientific Third Person
(18:56) What is the Materialistic Worldview?
(28:45) Consciousness of the Gaps?
(38:21) What’s Wrong with Emergence?
(1:00:18) Why Panpsychism is False
(1:10:25) Is There a Fundamental Unit of Consciousness?
(1:23:08) Why Are There Individual Selves?
(1:27:43) What’s Special About the Brain?
(1:40:35) Where Does the Self Go After Death?

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