Hotel Bar Sessions

The HBS hosts ask not what is human nature, but what is at stake in this constant recourse to human nature.  The history of philosophy can in part be understood as one long rumination on the question of human nature. Throughout its history philosophers have put forward multiple definitions of what it means to be human and what sets humans apart from other animals: political animal, rational animal, tool making animal, etc., but these definitions have come under scrutiny for both the way they maintain both hierarchies separating humanity from non-human animals  as well as hierarchies within human societies, as rationality, tools, and politics become instruments of exclusion. Is it possible to dispense with the idea of human nature, or is it an unavoidable question, framing how we understand ourselves in relation to not just animals but also our increasingly intelligent machines? In other words, human nature, can’t live with it, can live without it.Full episode notes at this link: http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-77-human-nature -------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts return to the movies and this week we are discussing Casablanca. Shot in 1942, a year after the U.S. entered The Second “World War,” Casablanca makes it onto many lists of the best movies of all time. It is part caper movie, part romance, part war flick, and part resistance movie. These are woven together in a fairly complex plot that is beautifully shot, has gorgeous characters, and has given us some memorable lines. On top of all of that, the entire movie takes place almost exclusively in a bar! The writers of the screen play, Julius and Phillip Epstein (Penn State Alums!) were swept up in the Red Scare, though they were never called to testify in front of the House Unamerican Activities Committee. When asked on a questionnaire whether they belonged to any subversive organizations, they answered “Yes. Warner Brothers”). The film is obviously anti-fascist, pro-resistance, has a complex depiction of its one protagonist who is a woman, Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman, and even portrays a fraught, from today’s perspective, relationship between Rick (Humphrey Bogart), who is white and Sam (Dooley Wilson), who is black. Complex history, complex politics, complex social relations taking place in bar? It’s just like Hotel Bar Sessions!Full episode notes at this link: http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-76-hbs-goes-to-the-movies-casablanca-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

While the HBS hosts are taking a break between Season 5 and Season 6, we're re-playing some of our favorite conversations you might have missed. Enjoy this episode from Season 3 "Whose History?" (with special guest, Dr. Charles McKinney) and check out the full episode notes at this link: http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-31-whose-history/If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, make sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast. You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

While the HBS hosts are taking a break between Season 5 and Season 6, we're re-playing some of our favorite conversations you might have missed. Enjoy this episode from Season 4 on "Style" and check out the full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-47-style/If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast. You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts-- now, all four of them!-- chat about what podcasting can do for Philosophy. There are roughly 2.4 million podcasts in existence right now, with over 66 million episodes between them, and recent studies show that 28% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly.  Podcast genres are as diverse as human interests themselves; there are comedy podcasts, social and cultural podcasts, health and fitness podcasts, political podcasts, true crime podcasts (some of which have truly helped to solve crime!), and even a podcast entirely devoted to the pressing question: Whatever Happened to Pizza and MacDonald's?A select few podcasts are wildly popular, with millions of weekly listeners, but the overwhelming majority of podcasts barely reach beyond their creators' close friends and family. (In fact, less than 25% of podcasts have 100 dedicated listeners/subscribers.) So why, oh why, does anyone need another podcast? Much less a philosophy podcast?This week, HBS co-hosts Rick, Charles, and Leigh are joined by incoming (Season 6) co-host Jason Read to answer just that question.  Podcasting seems to be the new frontier of what is sometimes called "public philosophy," and like all practices of public philosophy before it, philosophy podcasting comes with its own unique challenges and possibilities. We try to identify what podcasting is doing for and to the discipline of Philosophy, which philosophy podcasts we think are doing both Philosophy and podcasting well, what this new medium offers, and how we hope it might change not only how philosophy gets produced, but what philosophy gets produced.   Full episode notes available at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-75-podcasting-and-philosophy-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts reflect on four fantastic seasons with the inimitable Charles Peterson. Co-host Charles F. Peterson has been the beating heart of Hotel Bar Sessions for the last four seasons. Throughout that time, he has pushed the podcast to be more and more expansive, in deeper and deeper ways, with his intellect, curiosity, and rapier-like wit. Charles was the mastermind behind many of our best episodes, the connection to some of our best guests, and the source of our most hilarious on-air moments.  Unfortunately, though, Charles is being called away from the mic by his other commitments, and so Season 5 will be his last season as a regular Hotel Bar Sessions co-host. Do not despair! Charles is staying on the HBS team, only now in a primarily off-air mode. He has graciously agreed to join us every few episodes for our "Afterthoughts" series, which will be available exclusively to Patreon subscribers starting in Season 6. (So make sure to sign up to Hotel Bar Sessions podcast on Patreon here!) We've dedicated this week's entire episode to celebrating Charles and his contributions to the podcast. We chat about some of our favorite moments together, and Rick and Leigh prod Charles to talk about his future plans. Although this is not, technically speaking, our "last dance" together, it's the last dance we'll have together in our regular hotel bar seats, so we're sending Charles off with all of the love and respect he deserves.Beginning in Season 6, Rick and Leigh will be joined by our new HBS co-host Dr. Jason Read (@unemplyedneg), and Charles offers a few parting words of advice for his replacement as well!Full episode notes available at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-74-the-last-dance-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts consider the possibility of sentient artificial intelligence with Dr. Regina Rini.The debate about the possibility of emergent AI sentience has staunch defenders both for an against, many more people shrugging their shoulders in the middle, with many, diverse, and non-interchangeable lexicons being used to discuss this phenomenon. Today, we’re going to try to untangle those discursive webs a little bit with Dr. Rini, not so much to settle the question “Is AI sentience possible?” but rather “should we be concerned about sentient AI?” and, perhaps more importantly, what should our concern look like?Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-73-artificial-personhood-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast.You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts discuss legal personhood and rights for rivers, lakes, and mountains with Dr. Stewart Motha.In most discussions about extending rights or legal personhood to non-humans, the focus tends to be on robots/machines or non-human animals. However, given our current global climate crisis, we have good reason to ask: isn't it time to devote more attention to the rights-- and perhaps legal and moral "personhood"-- of natural entities? What sorts of protections might be extended by the law if our notion of personhood were expanded? This is not an easily answered question, of course, because natural entities still face the challenge of being accorded "legal standing" in order to bring suit in their own names. (Names that we humans have given them!) Some progress has been made on this front by organizations like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, who have been granted the right of "representational standing" by various courts, but we're still a long way from practically negotiating our understanding of the difference between physis (nature) and nomos (law) in a way that actually protects Nature.This week, we are joined by Dr. Stewart Motha, Executive Dean of Birkbeck Law School, University of London to discuss the challenge and potential promise of extending legal personhood to natural entities. Dr. Motha is the author of Archiving Sovereignty: Law, History, Violence (2018) and the editor of Democracy's Empire: Sovereignty, Law, and Violence (2007). His research explores the multiple forms and sources of legal norms (heteronomy) as a counter-narrative to liberal accounts of the autonomy of law, including challenges to the opposition between life/non-life. He is the host of the podcast COUNTERSIGN and can be found on Twitter at @MothaStewart.Full episode notes available at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-72-the-rights-of-nature-with-stewart-motha-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast.You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts chat with A.O. Scott about the role and responsibilities of the critic.The critic is frequently seen as a parasite who lives of the creative life of others but not producing a work of art through their criticism. In this episode, we are honored to be joined by A.O. Scott to discuss the role of the critic, the creativity of criticism, and the mutual dependence of art and criticism.A.O. Scott is chief film critic (along with Manohla Dargis) for The New York Times. He also write for The Book Review as well as The Times Magazine. He is the author of Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth (Penguin Books, 2016). In addition, he is currently a distinguished professor of film criticism at Wesleyan University.Full episode notes available at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-71-critics-and-criticism-with-a-o-scott-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast.You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts ask Dr. Linda Alcoff just how close to the edge of the bed is the United States sleeping?A year and a half ago, as an angry, armed mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building in what was, thankfully, an unsuccessful insurrection attempt, many of us watching the event unfold on television asked ourselves: is democracy itself in peril? This is, of course, a question we should have been asking for many years prior to Jan 6, 2021. And it is a question we should still be asking. At the federal level, an activist and regressive Supreme Court is aggressively chipping away at the rights of citizens, and an almost perpetually-stalemated Congress refuses to act on real existential threats (like climate change, COVID, and income inequality). At the state level, more than half of the legislatures have restricted voting rights, gun regulation, and protections for BIPOC, women, LGBTQ people, and the poor. States’ legislatures are busy gerrymandering districts, under-funding public education, over-funding police, and extending corporate welfare tax benefits carte blanche, while at the same time refusing to raise the minimum wage for workers, mitigate the affordable housing crisis, repair crumbling infrastructure, or exhibit even the most minimally-decent concern for the good of their citizens. Meanwhile, the average U.S. citizen is sick, indebted, demoralized, underinformed (or misinformed), and disillusioned. Why vote? Why care? What has democracy done for me lately? Today, we’re going to be talking about the peril(s) that democracy is facing, how we should think about them, and what, if anything, we can do about them.We are honored to be joined by Linda Martin Alcoff, Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. Prof. Alcoff is the author, most recently of Rape and Resistence: Understanding the Compoexities of Sexual Violation and The Future of Whiteness.Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-70-democracy-in-peril-with-linda-alcoff-------------------If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe, submit a rating/review, and follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast.You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★