Hotel Bar Sessions

The HBS hosts look under the hood, inspect the engine, and try to figure out what drives us. Perhaps more than any other affect, desire is put to work in so many areas of philosophy. For Plato, it is the beginning of knowledge (or the soul’s search for truth), for Augustine, it is what marks post-lapsarian humanity–“Our hears are restless until they rest in you.” For Hobbes, it is one of the root affects and, perhaps, the root of the war of all against all. More recently, desire has become a focus in feminist philosophy, Foucauldian “geneaology,” philosophies of race, and queer theory, just to name a few central directions. In this episode, the HBS hosts talk about desire.Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-50-desirePlease support HOTEL BAR SESSIONS podcast on Patreon here:patron.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts discuss the role of memory in the constitution of human intelligence, subjectivity and culture/civilization.As we age, we often lose the ability to retain our past experiences. In doing so, we seem to lose a part (or even all) of our selves. What is the role of memory in the constitution of human intelligence, subjectivity and culture/civilization? In this episode, the HBS hosts discuss memory and its relation to personal identity and social identity. This means that we also confront forgetting.Full episode notes at this link: http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-49-memorySupport HOTEL BAR SESSIONS podcast on Patreon here:patron.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts take the red pill.Are we "living" in a computer simulation? What difference would that make? Why would it ever occur to anyone that we are in a simulation? In this episode, the HBS hosts discuss the hypothesis that we are just playing out another being's computer simulation.Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-48-the-simulation-hypothesisSupport HOTEL BAR SESSIONS podcast at Patreon here:patron.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

 The HBS hosts talk about style. Style can simply mean a way of doing something, like dressing, decorating, writing, singing, painting. Often, it seems as if style is an “add on,” something not essential, and often seems closely akin to fakery (we can say someone is “all style, no substance”). But is there something more significant about style? Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-47-styleSupport HOTEL BAR SESSIONS podcast at Patreon. As we often say, we do this for free but it does have costs! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts go where people know troubles are all the same.In this episode, the HBS hosts discuss Bars—as a social, cultural and communal space, bars as a space removed from the regular function of society, yet at the center of  essential social discussions. Why are we “Hotel bar sessions?” Let’s talk about the role the bar plays at conferences and why we say “this is where the real philosophy happens?” What does that say about the bar.Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-46-barsPlease consider supporting our costs at Patreon. As we often say, we do this for free but it does have costs. It would help us out tremendously if you could help us with those costs. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts take turns in the "hot seat" as they fire questions at one another.Can we be honest? Each week the HBS hosts say that one of us is in the "hot seat." But they never get "grilled." This last episode of Season 3, we grill one another through a series of questions. Some are rapid fire with the clock ticking down, some are "would you rather?" questions. And others we take some time to talk. Maybe it is a bit self-indulgent, but it surely will provide more insight into the lives and perspectives of the hosts!Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-45-turnt-up ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts discuss The Godfather Trilogy.The Godfather and The God Father: Part II often make it to lists of the best films. It can be argued The Godfather is America’s response to Shakespearean drama. The complexity of character, deft use of language, and the themes of the film  interrogate fundamental historical, social and human concerns of American life.Full episode notes at this link: http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-44-the-godfather-trilogy/ ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts discuss the nature, origin, and deployment of superstitions.It seems as if superstitions just evidence a misunderstanding of the relation between some cause and some effect. So, training in critical thinking *should* help to allay superstitions… and, yet, it doesn’t. How important are behaviors to superstitions? Do superstitions require a belief in the supernatural? Are there harmless superstitions?Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-43-superstition/SUPPORT Hotel Bar Sessions podcast on Patreon here:patreon.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts talk about optimism and pessimism in its personal, political, and philosophical senses.We tend to think of optimism and pessimism as personal, psychological characteristics. Betty White said that her secret to living to just so shy of 100 was that she never ate anything green and that she was a “cockeyed optimist.” But it seems as if there are non-personal, non-philosophical senses of optimism/ pessimism. There is clearly a political sense–can we work together to amass power to make the world, society, or a particular country better? Or is it all futile? There might also be a philosophical sense–can philosophy make individual or collective lives better or is it impotent?Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-42-optimism-and-pessimism/SUPPORT Hotel Bar Sessions podcast on Patreon here:patreon.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts discuss the ugly underside of tourism.Tourism is a superficial activity that has deep historical and political underpinnings. In A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid argues highlights the power relation within tourism, where the tourist lives a life that allows them to visit the land of the (Fanonian) native. Tourism suggests privilege and power and a shaping of the world that makes a person a tourist. What other types of tourism are there? What are the other implications of being a tourist? What are the economic, political and even ethical ramifications of walking through the history and culture of others.Full episode notes at this link:http://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-41-tourism/SUPPORT Hotel Bar Sessions podcast on Patreon here:patreon.com/hotelbarsessions ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★