Best Robinson Erhardt Podcasts (2025)

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255 - Michael Hudson: Trump, China, AI, and the Untold History of Economics 2:37:36

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12h ago2:37:36

2:37:36

Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Micha…

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254 - The Yale US-China Forum: Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, Yannis Varoufakis, Robin Visser, Yascha Mounk, Pei Wang, Daniel Mattingly 2:04:14

15d ago2:04:14

2:04:14

In this special episode, Robinson and Karl Zheng Wang co-host at the Yale US-China Forum. Return guests from the show include Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, and Yascha Mounk. Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior research…

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253 - Peter Zeihan: China’s Fall, America’s Rise, and the End of the World Order 1:07:30

29d ago1:07:30

1:07:30

Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical analyst, futurist, and best-selling author who researches and strategizes around demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security. In this episode, Peter and Robinson focus on revisiting content from his latest book—The End of the World is Just the Beginning—in the context of today’s developments. Mor…

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252 - David Kipping: Alien Civilizations, Megastructures, Spacecraft, and Artificial Intelligence 3:05:21

1M ago3:05:21

3:05:21

David Kipping is a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University, where he runs Cool Worlds Lab and researches planets and moons that revolve around stars other than our own, in addition to his own work on the search for—and theorization about—alien life. In this episode, David and Robinson have a wide-ranging conversation about extraterrestrials. …

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251 - Eliezer Yudkowsky: Artificial Intelligence and the End of Humanity 2:51:13

2M ago2:51:13

2:51:13

Eliezer Yudkowsky is a decision theorist, computer scientist, and author who co-founded and leads research at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. He is best known for his work on the alignment problem—how and whether we can ensure that AI is aligned with human values to avoid catastrophe and harness its power. In this episode, Robinson and…

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250 - Norman Finkelstein: Trump, Israel, Gaza, and the Criminalization of Dissent 3:00:19

2M ago3:00:19

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Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. Norman also appeared on episodes 192, 218, 228, and 244, where he addressed the facts and fictions generated by the Israel-Hamas War, October 6th, allegations of genocide and apartheid, Hezbollah, the Ho…

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249 - Chris Hedges: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Rise of American Fascism 3:00:12

3M ago3:00:12

3:00:12

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times. He has covered numerous wars across the decades, written many books—including America: The Farewell Tour and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America—and has been involved in work for prisoner…

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248 - Richard Wolff: Trump, Hitler, and the End of the American Empire 3:11:18

3M ago3:11:18

3:11:18

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s eighth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In his last appearance, episode #243, he and Robinson discussed 2025 and the first weeks of Trump’s p…

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247 - Garry Nolan: Aliens | The Case They’re Already Here 3:22:24

4M ago3:22:24

3:22:24

Dr. Nolan is the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has published over 350 research articles and is the holder of 50 US patents, and has been honored as one of the top 25 inventors at Stanford University. He specializes in groundbreaking cancer and immunotherapy rese…

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246 - Tim Maudlin: A Masterclass on General Relativity 4:22:07

4M ago4:22:07

4:22:07

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is Tim’s seventh appearance on the show. He last appeared on episode 237 for a masterclass on Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, explaining it from the ground up and elucidating some common misconceptio…

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245 - Leonard Susskind: String Theory and the Black Hole War 2:00:10

4M ago2:00:10

2:00:10

Leonard Susskind is Felix Block Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Along with other accomplishments, he is among the fathers of such revolutionary concepts in physics as string theory, black hole complementarity, the holographic principle, and the string-theoretic landscape. He was also the guest on episode #217, where he and Robinson dis…

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244 - Norman Finkelstein: Donald J. Trump, Mossad Conspiracies in Israel, and the Dying Left 3:42:15

5M ago3:42:15

3:42:15

Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. In this episode, Norman and Robinson sit down for a discussion about Donald Trump, the latest from Israel, Palestine, and Gaza, and the dying Left. Norman also appeared on episode 192, where he and Robin…

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243 - Richard Wolff: Donald J. Trump and the Decline of the United States 3:40:26

5M ago3:40:26

3:40:26

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s seventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In his last appearance, episode #230, he and Robinson discussed Richard’s arguments against electing…

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242 - Victor Davis Hanson: President Donald J. Trump and the Fate of the United States 1:16:42

6M ago1:16:42

1:16:42

Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented with the National Humanities Medal in 2007. Victor most recentl…

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241 - Raphael Bousso: The Cold Truth About Quantum Mechanics 1:37:34

6M ago1:37:34

1:37:34

Raphael Bousso is the Chancellor’s Chair in Physics at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, where he leads the Bousso Group in research on quantum gravity and quantum information. He is a renowned string theorist famous also for his development of the string theoretic landscape and the Bousso bound in holography. In this episode, Robinson a…

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240 - Peter Godfrey-Smith: Cuttlefish, Octopuses, and the Consciousness of Mysterious Minds 1:31:22

6M ago1:31:22

1:31:22

Robinson’s Podcast #240 - Peter Godfrey-Smith: Cuttlefish, Octopuses, and the Consciousness of Mysterious Minds Peter Godfrey-Smith is a professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He has also taught at Stanford University and Harvard University. Among other topics, he has researched the philosophy of b…

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239 - Ned Block: Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and the Philosophy of Mind 1:35:12

7M ago1:35:12

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Ned Block is Silver Professor at New York University in the Departments of Philosophy and Psychology, where he works on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of neuroscience, and cognitive science. In this episode, Robinson and Ned discuss some of the titans he studied under, ChatGPT and the nature of artificial intelligence, the Turing Test, andr…

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238 - Barry Loewer: What Is The Philosophy of Science? 2:01:01

7M ago2:01:01

2:01:01

Barry Loewer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Before that he did his PhD in philosophy at Stanford. Barry works largely in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of science, and metaphysics. This is Barry’s third appearance on the show. He was last on episode 189 with David Albert, in which Robinson, David, and Barry discusse…

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237 - Tim Maudlin: A Masterclass on Special Relativity 2:03:40

7M ago2:03:40

2:03:40

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is Tim’s seventh appearance on the show. He last appeared on episode 210 with David Albert for a discussion of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. In this episode, Tim and Robinson talk about Albert Einste…

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236 - David Albert: A Masterclass on Time’s Arrow 2:02:11

8M ago2:02:11

2:02:11

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is David’s ninth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last appeared on episode 221 to discuss the m…

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235 - Janna Levin: How to Survive a Black Hole 2:04:23

8M ago2:04:23

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Janna Levin is the Claire Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She is also the Chair and Founding Director of the Science Studios at Pioneer Works. In this episode, Robinson and Janna talk all about black holes and how to survive them. More particularly, they discuss how black holes were discovered both …

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234 - Richard Wolff & Michael Hudson: Karl Marx and the Fall of the West 3:36:49

8M ago3:36:49

3:36:49

This episode came on the heels of a traumatic, eight-interview sprint in NYC. As you’ll see, this one was particularly chaotic, but the stars aligned to make it happen. Camera switches, bathroom breaks, health concerns, equipment malfunctions, and even a robbery didn’t prevent the conversation from coming together. With this in mind, I hope you’ll …

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233 - Judith Butler: Trump & Harris | Israel & Palestine | Sex & Gender 1:23:00

9M ago1:23:00

1:23:00

Judith Butler is Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School and formerly the Maxine Elliot Chair in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. In this episode, Robinson and Judith discuss three broad topics. First, they talk about Judith’s latest book, Who’s Afraid of G…

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232 - Niall Ferguson: Trump v. Harris | Israel v. Hamas | Russia v. Ukraine 1:22:14

9M ago1:22:14

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Sir Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, where he served for twelve years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. In this episode, Robinson and Niall discuss three of the …

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231 - Victor Davis Hanson: The Final Case for Donald J. Trump 1:14:19

9M ago1:14:19

1:14:19

Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented the National Humanities Medal in 2007. In this episode, Robinso…

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230 - Richard Wolff: The Final Case Against Donald J. Trump 2:00:41

9M ago2:00:41

2:00:41

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Robinson’s Fashion Empire: http://bit.ly/3XBKqO2 Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s fifth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In episode #127, he a…

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229 - Rashid Khalidi: October 7th Revisited | Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, & The Nakba 1:10:35

9M ago1:10:35

1:10:35

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Robinson’s Fashion Empire: http://bit.ly/3XBKqO2 Some speakers, like Norman (https://youtu.be/vhFm62msNGc), are whip-smart and all I can do is ask a question before letting them take me along for the ride. Others are just as sharp, but the interview is an entirely different experience. I feel silly being this dramati…

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228 - Norman Finkelstein: October 7th Revisited | Israel, Palestine, Hezbollah, & The End of Gaza 3:03:31

10M ago3:03:31

3:03:31

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Robinson’s Fashion Empire: http://bit.ly/3XBKqO2 Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. In this episode, Norman and Robinson sit down for a discussion centered around the anniversary of October 7th, and they sp…

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227 - David Eagleman: Synesthesia, Brain Plasticity, AI, and Conspiracy Theories 1:14:40

10M ago1:14:40

1:14:40

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Robinson’s Fashion Empire: http://bit.ly/3XBKqO2 David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford University who works on synesthesia, brain plasticity, and sensory substitution, among other topics. He is also a bestselling author, the host of the Inner Cosmos podcast, and writer and presenter of the international PBS …

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226 - David Builes: The Metaphysics of Time and Consciousness 1:10:01

10M ago1:10:01

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Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 David Builes is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, where he works in metaphysics and epistemology and has made serious contributions to the philosophies of mind, science, and mathematics. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss the metaphysics of time—including debates about the reality…

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225 - Alexander Nehamas: Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, and the Will to Power 2:05:08

10M ago2:05:08

2:05:08

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Alexander Nehamas is the Edmund N. Carpenter II Class of 1943 Professor in the Humanities, both of philosophy and comparative literature, at Princeton University. He is best known for his work on ancient philosophy, literary theory, the philosophy of art, and his scholarship on Friedrich Nietzsche. In this episode, R…

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224 - Peter Woit: String Theory and the Crisis in Physics 2:03:29

11M ago2:03:29

2:03:29

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Peter Woit is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University, where he researches quantum field theory and quantum gravity. Peter is one of the most well-known critics of string theory, and in this episode he and Robinson discuss his work and research in the area, which is encapsulated in h…

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223 - Michael Graziano: Consciousness, Animal Minds, and the Neuroscience of Suffering 2:31:57

11M ago2:31:57

2:31:57

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Michael Graziano is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University, where he and his lab research the brain basis of consciousness. This is Michael’s second appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In episode #169, they discussed Michael’s Attention Schema Theory of consciousness, in which consciousness is…

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222 - Richard Wolff: Israel, Ukraine, China, and the End of the American Empire 3:03:44

11M ago3:03:44

3:03:44

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s fourth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In episode #127, he and Robinson discussed some of the most profound …

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221 - David Albert: The Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics 2:03:13

11M ago2:03:13

2:03:13

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is David’s eighth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last appeare…

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220 - Michael Hudson: Debt, Economic Collapse, and the End of Civilization 1:34:56

11M ago1:34:56

1:34:56

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among …

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Ask Me Anything | August 2024 1:30:03

12M ago1:30:03

1:30:03

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 This is the August 2024 AMA for Robinson’s Podcast. It is supported by the members of the Patreon. In this installment, Robinson answers questions about metaethics, art history, discipline, fashion, fitness, fantasy world-building, consciousness, fine-tuning, quantum mechanics, and more. OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01…

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219 - Joscha Bach: Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and the Threat of AI Apocalypse 2:15:52

12M ago2:15:52

2:15:52

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Joscha Bach is a computer scientist and artificial intelligence researcher currently working with Liquid AI. He has previously done research at Harvard, MIT, Intel, and the AI Foundation. In this episode, Joscha and Robinson discuss the nature of consciousness—both in humans and synthetic—various theories of consciou…

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218 - Norman Finkelstein: Genocide in Israel and Palestine 2:08:52

12M ago2:08:52

2:08:52

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. In this episode of Robinson’s Podcast, Norman addresses some of the most common arguments made in defense of Israel, such as those purporting to show Israel is not committ…

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217 - Leonard Susskind: String Theory, Fine-Tuning, and the Physics of the Multiverse 1:11:08

12M ago1:11:08

1:11:08

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Leonard Susskind is Felix Bloch Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Among other accomplishments, he is among the fathers of such revolutionary concepts in physics as string theory, black hole complementarity, the holographic principle, and the string-theoretic landscape. It is this last concept that Robinson…

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216 - Raphael Bousso: The Black Hole Paradox, Quantum Gravity, and the Holographic Principle 1:45:30

1y ago1:45:30

1:45:30

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Raphael Bousso is the Chancellor’s Chair in Physics at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, where he leads the Bousso Group in research on quantum gravity and quantum information. He is a renowned string theorist famous also for his development of the string theoretic landscape and the Bousso bound in hologra…

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215 - Anna Lembke: On Philosophy and Psychiatry 1:37:41

1y ago1:37:41

1:37:41

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fel…

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Ask Me Anything | July 2024 1:29:36

1y ago1:29:36

1:29:36

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 This is the inaugural AMA for Robinson’s Podcast. It is supported by the members of the podcast’s Patreon. In this installment, Robinson answers questions about the reality of mathematics, podcasting, moral facts, ice cream, the nature of time, literary books for neophytes, and more. Denying Infinity: https://doi.org…

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214 - Joyce Carol Oates: On Philosophy and Literature 1:00:59

1y ago1:00:59

1:00:59

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Joyce Carol Oates is the Rogers S. Berlind ’52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities at Princeton University with the Program in Creative Writing. She is among the most widely-recognized and respected writers of our time, and has written in a wide variety of media and genres, from poetry and fiction in the former categ…

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213 - Slavoj Žižek: God, Marxism, Philosophy, and Quantum Mechanics 1:16:28

1y ago1:16:28

1:16:28

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. This is Slavoj’s fourth appearance on the show. On episode 109, he and Robinson…

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212 - Deborah Gordon: Ants, Myrmecology, and Collective Behavior 1:01:45

1y ago1:01:45

1:01:45

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Deborah Gordon is Professor of Biology at Stanford University. She is a myrmecologist—an entomologist who studies ants—focusing on how complex behavior emerges from ant colonies, which have no central control. In this episode, Deborah and Robinson discuss some of the distinctive features of ants, how pheromones help …

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211 - Jay Chandrasekhar: Comedy, Creative Integrity, Super Troopers, & Jackass 1:14:56

1y ago1:14:56

1:14:56

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Jay Chandrasekhar is a director, writer, stand-up comic, and actor. Some of his works include directing Super Troopers, Beerfest, and Dukes of Hazzard. He has also directed episodes of Arrested Development, Community, and New Girl. Jay also wrote Mustache Shenanigans (2017) and co-hosts the podcast Mustache Tales. In…

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210 - David Albert & Tim Maudlin: A Discussion of Niels Bohr, Measurement, & Quantum Mechanics 2:03:39

1y ago2:03:39

2:03:39

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director o…

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209 - Peter Singer: Controversial Ideas, Utilitarianism, and Animal Liberation 1:28:11

1y ago1:28:11

1:28:11

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor Emeritus of Bioethics in the Department of Philosophy at Princeton University. He is among the most influential living philosophers, and among the most influential moral philosophers of the last century. Peter is best known for his work in applied ethics on animal welfare and g…

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208 - Victor Davis Hanson: Annihilation, Genocide, and World War III 1:04:53

1y ago1:04:53

1:04:53

Patreon: https://bit.ly/3v8OhY7 Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented the National Humanities Medal i…