Best Binary Breakdown Podcasts (2025)

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The rise and the danger of binary thinking 10:01

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18h ago10:01

10:01

We live in an age increasingly dominated by black and white thinking. When we leave no room for the complexity and ambiguity of reality, the outcome is going to be perilous.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Montaigne's self-fashioning vs. the curated facade of today's self! 12:09

3d ago12:09

12:09

By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Optimize this! - The cost of constant improvement 9:57

6d ago9:57

9:57

Beneath today's trend of optimizing everything lies some deep philosophical and existential problems.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Three famous philosophers who were practically unknown in their own time! 15:31

10d ago15:31

15:31

Ahead of their age, awaiting ours: Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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The death of expertise is the demise of civilization! 13:00

13d ago13:00

13:00

Our growing distrust of expertise and of universities is terminally stupid. We will all pay the price.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous - Living in attunement with the earth! 13:26

17d ago13:26

13:26

Abstract time and space sever our ties to place, rhythm, and responsibility! Or so argues the philosopher and ecologist, David Abram!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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When Religion becomes Shallow 13:37

21d ago13:37

13:37

When religion becomes shallow it's no longer truly religion. Many philosophers have warned us of this, of religion being reduced to self-serving functions.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Julian Jaynes - The Origin of Consciousness and the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, and AI! 14:15

25d ago14:15

14:15

The American psychologist argued that before modern consciousness, we heard and obeyed the voices of the gods. With AI, is it any different today?By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

1
A human history of intelligence without kindness - A cautionary analogy for the advent of AI 10:08

29d ago10:08

10:08

We've set a bleak precedent for what's to come.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Cicero and Simone de Beauvoir on Old Age - The Self, the Other and growing old authentically! 21:04

1M ago21:04

21:04

Cicero and Simone de Beauvoir offer us two very different visions of growing old and the philosophy of aging!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Eden, Adam and Eve: Thank God for the Fall! - Why paradise is deeply problematic! 13:56

1M ago13:56

13:56

Living an Edenic existence fails to give us what we truly need and want: namely, responsibility, love and meaning!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Byung-Chul Han - The Transparency Society 11:50

1M ago11:50

11:50

According to Han, we live in a culture of constant self-exposure and exhibition. And, despite what we think, it makes us flat, banal and powerless!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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To our Children 7:03

2M ago7:03

7:03

We walk in the shadows we cast. Let's be the architects of a better future.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

1
Samuel Beckett - "I can't go on. I'll go on." 13:31

2M ago13:31

13:31

This is the famous last line in one of Beckett's novels. But it's not just a last line, it's a credo for human existence!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Reclaiming the power of Melancholy! 11:29

2M ago11:29

11:29

We treat melancholy as a pathology, something to be cured or eradicated. But we've lost sight of it's real value!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

1
Alexander Nehamas - Platonic Irony! 13:50

2M ago13:50

13:50

Socrates doesn't just undermine his interlocutors, Plato undermines us! Or so argues the contemporary philosopher Alexander Nehamas!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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The Pathetic Nature of the Sycophant! 11:05

2M ago11:05

11:05

They all gushed over Nero, and they're no different today! It's all very embarrassing and sad.By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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The Absurd and the Sand: A Camusian Reading of Woman in the Dunes 18:44

2M ago18:44

18:44

Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara. It's about a guy who gets trapped in a sandpit and has to keep shovelling sand to stay alive! It's a repetitive and futile situation! Ring any bells?By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Aristotle and Nietzsche - A return to TOUCH in a disembodied age! 12:17

2M ago12:17

12:17

In our age of digitization, our sense of touch has clearly been demoted. For thinkers like Aristotle and Nietzsche, the cost is enormous!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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The Philosopher and his Poodles: Schopenhauer's Ethics of Compassion! 15:36

2M ago15:36

15:36

The German philosopher Schopenhauer believed that compassion was the true foundation of morality. It worked best when it came to his dogs!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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NeonDB: A Serverless PostgreSQL Analysis 28:10

2M ago28:10

28:10

NeonDB is a pioneering serverless PostgreSQL database designed for cloud-native environments, fundamentally characterized by its separation of compute and storage layers. Founded in 2021, it has rapidly grown to manage over 700,000 databases within three years, offering features like instant database branching (allowing writable copies in seconds),…

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The Fissure of Being, or Why You’re Never Whole: Sartre’s Existential Bombshell! 14:18

3M ago14:18

14:18

Why are we not like rocks or cabbage? Because there's a hole or fissure at the heart of our being! Or so says the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Carl Jung, Heidegger, and the California Gold Rush! 13:40

3M ago13:40

13:40

The value of gold used to be largely symbolic. The Gold Rush marks a complete philosophical turning point when it comes to the perceived value of gold! And I think Jung and Heidegger would agree!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Star Wars vs. Star Trek - Why Star Trek is better! 12:00

3M ago12:00

12:00

Star Wars and Star Trek: Which of these is more philosophically interesting? And which of these two universes would you want to live in? I got my answer!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Byung-Chul Han - Why so many of us feel so empty today! 11:16

3M ago11:16

11:16

Han thinks there's a deep existential hollowness lurking beneath the shiny veneer and the noise of modern life. He attributes this to many things about our contemporary society. Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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ASMR - A sensory rebellion against our disembodied age! 11:50

3M ago11:50

11:50

Is ASMR just some superficial Youtube phenomenon? Or is there something important and deep behind its popularity? Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Susan Wolf and Dostoevsky - The Problem with being a Moral Saint! 14:42

3M ago14:42

14:42

On the surface, being a moral saint sounds like a great thing. But, not so fast! The contemporary philosopher Susan Wolf doesn't think so. And both Dostoevsky and Camus have their own concerns about thinking of yourself as morally pure! Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Wisdom as Content, Grifters, and why Socrates wouldn’t have used Patreon! 10:43

4M ago10:43

10:43

In our attention-economy wisdom has now become content - ready-made for monetization! Socrates warned against this trend long ago!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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The Cynics - Ya gotta be TOUGH to be happy! 13:26

4M ago13:26

13:26

These ancient philosophers argued that physical toughness was a discipline essential to happiness. Relevant for us today? I think so! If interested, check out my new book series! The second book is available now! www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Learning to Love: Nietzsche, Beauty and the Beast, and Don Quixote! 12:12

4M ago12:12

12:12

Nietzsche tells us that one must LEARN to love. That might sound a bit odd to us. What does he mean and why is it important? Find out more! If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/…

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Astrology - The Zodiac delusion! 14:44

4M ago14:44

14:44

Does astrology make any sense? And if not, why do we still believe in it? If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Jesus and Rousseau on Hypocrisy (or Wolves in Virtue's clothing!) 14:56

4M ago14:56

14:56

What's wrong with hypocrisy? Well, Jesus and Jean-Jacques Rousseau agree on at least one thing that's wrong with it! f interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/…

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Will Durant - The top ten greatest thinkers of all time! 21:07

4M ago21:07

21:07

The distinguished historian Will Durant published a book where he ranked the greatest thinkers ever! See who made the list! If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/…

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Henri Bergson - Overcoming the tyranny of mechanical time! 17:18

4M ago17:18

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The French philosopher Bergson criticized the scientific notion of time, instead turning to what he called lived time. Find out more! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age …

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Anna: A KVS For Any Scale 19:01

4M ago19:01

19:01

This research paper introduces Anna, a key-value store (KVS) designed for scalable performance across diverse computing environments, from single multi-core machines to globally distributed cloud deployments. Anna achieves high performance and adaptability through a partitioned, multi-master architecture utilizing wait-free execution and coordinati…

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Greek tragedy, Pollution and AI! + announcement! 14:48

5M ago14:48

14:48

If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/ The full title is: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital AgeBy Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Conflict-free Replicated Data Types 26:17

5M ago26:17

26:17

This academic paper introduces Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs), which are abstract data types designed for distributed systems where data is replicated across multiple locations. CRDTs allow any replica to be modified without needing immediate coordination with other replicas, ensuring high availability and low latency. The core concept…

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If I could time travel....Cafe, Paris, 1940's! 17:29

5M ago17:29

17:29

If I could time travel anywhere, I’d skip the big battles and royal balls. Drop me in a smoky café in 1940s Paris—existentialism, espresso, and all! If you're not convinced, take a listen!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Don't surrender the flame! 15:55

5M ago15:55

15:55

How should we meet death? With rage! Or so says the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas! And he's not the only one! Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Kafka's A Hunger Artist - The Death of Uncompromising Art! 14:56

5M ago14:56

14:56

What would Kafka think about our attention economy today? And what about the state of our art? Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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CAP Twelve Years Later: How the "Rules" Have Changed 29:47

5M ago29:47

29:47

This content from InfoQ provides insights for software architects and developers through various formats like newsletters, articles, and conference information. It highlights topics in architecture, AI, data engineering, culture, methods, and DevOps. Featured pieces discuss Slack's cellular architecture, data stream processing patterns, cultivating…

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Naomi Klein - The Apocalypse, Mars, and the Bunker Nation! 16:59

5M ago16:59

16:59

Naomi Klein, the Canadian author and social activist, argues for what she sees as the apocalyptic mindset of the far Right. Along with Klein, I offer up a few of my own concerns!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Why We Can't Avoid Making JUDGMENTS—And Why That's a Great Thing! 14:14

5M ago14:14

14:14

So as we all know, there’s the popular or cliched idea that we should be “nonjudgmental”. But by and large, I don’t think that’s right!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Raft versus Paxos: An Understandable Consensus Algorithm 33:14

5M ago33:14

33:14

Raft, a consensus algorithm designed for managing a replicated log in distributed systems. It aims to be more understandable than Paxos, a widely used but complex alternative, while achieving equivalent efficiency and safety. Raft separates key consensus elements like leader election, log replication, and safety, using techniques such as problem de…

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Adorno on Animals - "The degradation of a creature to the status of a mere thing" 15:15

5M ago15:15

15:15

The philosopher Theodor Adorno lays a powerful groundwork for thinking ethically about animals! Find out more!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Humour as Social Critique - Let's keep LAUGHING at POWER! 15:48

5M ago15:48

15:48

Humour can have real revolutionary force! Ask the philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Let's keep laughing at the powerful. It will work!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Neo4j Architecture: Graph Database Internals, Performance, and Optimization 17:42

5M ago17:42

17:42

This compilation of resources offers a comprehensive examination of Neo4j's graph database architecture. It explains how Neo4j differs from relational and document-oriented databases through its native graph storage. The materials describe how nodes, relationships, and properties are stored and indexed for efficient traversal and query processing. …

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Heidegger - The death of the LOVE LETTER in the time of the digital message! 14:08

5M ago14:08

14:08

The love letter has become an extinct species! This is a symptom of a much larger problem - at least according to Heidegger!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Miles Davis - Why LESS IS MORE! 14:21

5M ago14:21

14:21

In our world of more and faster and louder, we might do well to remember that less is often more! Just ask Miles!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb

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Tolstoy vs. Dostoevsky - Some major DIFFERENCES! 17:51

5M ago17:51

17:51

These giants of literature, they're often viewed as similar from afar. But they're not. Especially when it comes to how they see the human soul and the road to salvation!By Kristian Urstad and Stephen Webb