A back and forth interview with Jack Symes of the Panpsycast Philosophy podcast on his new book Philosophers on Consciousness: Talking about the Mind. We start with our reflections on doing public philosophy and how we respond to criticism, the move on to the philosophy of consciousness. We end with a discussion of how we think about our minds might impact our thoughts on morality and I'm challenged with a trolley problem: One human being vs five Vulcans who think, but do not feel pleasure or pain. Audio version of this video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UG3vf3OWcA&t=3197s

For the last episode of 2021 I take on audience questions on political elites, islamic terrorism, orthodox marxism, and the US left and Joe Biden.

I'm joined by Noah Feldman to discuss his latest book The Broken Constitution. We discuss how the American constitution was made in debates and compromises over slavery and remade by Lincoln.

Robert Talisse returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book - Sustaining democracy. We also discuss liberalism and the role of imagination in politics (and this time we agree!)

American technology policy expert Alec Ross joins the podcast the discuss the future of the world economy and the political risks of failing to address inequality and concentrations of corporate power.

Why do theories of the end of the political and economic order feel so intuitive to some people, and so unintuitive to others? I draw on early Christian history and dehumanization theory to create a novel account.

Magdi Semrau joins me to discuss the politics of covid. Are the many restrictions due to the pandemic philosophically justifiable? Why have the political left and political right interpreted the crisis so differently and what does this tell us about the nature of conservatism and the future of liberalism?

Is modern social justice activism a threat to free speech, or the project of liberal democracy more broadly? Thomas Prosser and I offer differing interpretations of this new ideological project.

A short promo episode for my first book- 'What is Freedom? conversations with Historians, Philosophers, & Activists' published with OUP, out November, and available to pre-order now.  Featuring a foreword by Cecile Fabre and an introduction by me, the book includes contributions from Elizabeth Anderson, Mary Frances Berry, Ian Dunt, Michael Freeden, Nancy Hirschmann, Omar Khan, Dale Martin, Orlando Patterson, Phillip Pettit, John Skorupski, Peter Tatchell, and Zephyr Teachout. Pre-order on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0197572227/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_DTPBVTGX5YJHMPE1ZBQ0 OUP:  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/what-is-freedom-9780197572221?lang=en&cc=us (Patreon's won't be charged for this, it's not a full episode)

Is J S Mill's liberty principle bad political philosophy because he fails to define harm? I try to give this 'conventional' read a fair shake while also giving you my own view that the principle is . . . good, actually. On Liberty by Aquarusa - https://aquarusa.wordpress.com/2021/08/02/on-liberty-1859/ Website - https://www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com Patreon -