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In this episode, I sit down with Julie Walsh, the Whitehead Associate Professor of Critical Thought and Director of the Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College. Her work bridges early modern philosophy, feminist thought, and the ethics of digital technology. At the heart of her research lies a single question: what does it mean to be free?

We explore how philosophy has historically separated reason from emotion, and why this division continues to shape our understanding of enlightenment, knowledge, and identity. Julie reflects on how academic philosophy has often excluded the body—reducing thought to abstraction—and how reintroducing emotion, vulnerability, and positionality can make knowledge more human. We talk about the ethics of curiosity, the limits of objectivity, and why she believes that curiosity itself is a form of privilege.

Our conversation moves from the ethics of scientific research and animal experimentation to the role of philosophy in education and the urgent need to teach ethics and critical thinking earlier in life. We end by reflecting on freedom, embodiment, and how philosophy can guide us through the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence. It is a conversation about humanity, humility, and the meaning of thinking itself.

Chapter:00:00 – Introduction: Meeting Julie Walsh and the philosophy of editing
02:00 – What makes a podcast an artifact of thought
05:00 – Fact versus emotion: how feelings shape belief
09:00 – Disgust, politics, and the emotional roots of polarization
13:00 – Learning to unlearn: emotion, race, and moral growth
17:00 – The power of embodied philosophy and feminist thought
21:00 – Why academic philosophy lost its humanity
25:00 – The ethics of science: ancient DNA and researcher positionality
30:00 – Curiosity as privilege: who gets to explore freely
35:00 – Responsibility, objectivity, and the limits of pure reason
40:00 – Why ethics must guide curiosity and research
45:00 – Animal ethics, empathy, and the cost of experimentation
50:00 – The importance of teaching ethics and philosophy to children
55:00 – The purpose of education: architects vs. gardeners
59:00 – Privilege, exploration, and the meaning of liberal arts learning
1:03:00 – Closing reflections: freedom, embodiment, and meaning

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