CIVIL SOCIETY & DEMOCRACY
with Robert Talisse
Is politics everything? Have we lost our civil society institutions? Is there any hope left for a shared liberal consensus? I take on these questions, and more, in part 2 with Robert Talisse. I also celebrate the podcast's 100th episode and preview my upcoming solo series 'Ideologies of the Ancients.'
LISTEN
DISAGREEMENT
with Robert Talisse
What are we ultimately disputing when we disagree politically? Is progress across moral and political divides possible, and if so when? I get into a spontaneous lively conversion with Robert Talise on the epistemic foundations of political pluralism.
LISTEN
THOMAS HOBBES
with Arash Abizadeh
An introduction to the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes with Arash Abizadeh. We cover 'the two faces of ethics', the laws of nature, natural and artificial persons, representation, and theology.
RIGHTS & NEO-LIBERALISM
with Samuel Moyn
What was the role of rights in the ideologies that created welfare states in the 40's and 50's? Why did rights discourse become dominant at the same time as the conservative revolution in the 70's and 80's? I'm joined by Samuel Moyn to discuss this, and more.
LISTEN
FEMINISM, ART, & RAPE
with Nancy Princenthal
How did issues of rape and sexual violence emerge as central concerns for second-wave feminists? I discuss the intellectual history of feminism, the role of art in that history, & its legacy today, with PEN award-winning author Nancy Princenthal.
CONSTITUTIONAL HARDBALL
with David Faris
Should democrats be considering potentialy disruptive ideas like court packing, adding states, or abolishing the filibuster? Would doing so be justified, and can we win if we dont?
ACTIVISTS, ELITES, & THE LEFT
I develop an original account of internal party divides. Using the 2016 primary, the 2019 UK election, and the Tea Party movement as case studies I try to offer a fresh take on many of the most contentious disagreements we have on the left.
CRACK COCAINE
with David Farber
I'm joined by the historian David Farber to discuss the social and political history of the crack epidemic. We discuss the drug's history, the panic surrounding it, the political response to it, and how that informed our current politics.
THE OVERLAPPING CONSENSUS
with Kevin Vallier
Can politics move beyond a state of institutionalized aggression? Should liberalism be justified by appeals to a conception of the good or to public reason?
RUNNING AS A BERNIECRAT
with Chris Armitage
I'm joined by congressional candidate Chris Armitage. We discuss his run, criminal justice reform, the progressive movement, Bernie's candidacy, the Bernie or bust phenomenon, and optimism for the future.
CAMPUS POLITICS
with Stanley Fish
Should academia be political? Does social-justice have a place on Campus? Does anti-foundationalism imply a particular view of these culture war issues? Stanley Fish and I discuss.
A PROGRESSIVE SENATE
with Senator Sherrod Brown
Has the Senate been a barrier to progressive reform in America? Is it an institution at odds with our current political culture? I discuss this as well as impeachment, partisanship, and post 2020 with the senior senator from Ohio, Sherrod Brown.
IMMIGRATION & SELF-DETERMINATION
with David Miller
Do we have special obligations towards fellow citizens? Is self-determination valuable? Can national identity be threatened by large scale immigration? I'm joined by David Miller to discuss these, and other, issues.
INEQUALITY Q&A
I take on a range of audience questions and comments from my economic equality episode: Diminishing marginal returns, poverty vs inequality, long run growth, and the morality of capitalism.
BREXIT, CONGRESS, & CULTURE
I develop an original account how how different political cultures, & different ways of conceptualizing politics, have developed in the US and UK. How they have recently become inversions of each other. And argue that the current chaos is the shape fo things to come.
ECONOMIC EQUALITY
Is the current distribution of economic resources in the US morally defensible? How should a mature moral or political theory think about this? I give my personal views.
AUDIENCE QUESTIONS
I field listener questions including: language, ideology, booking guests, volunteering, and am I an anti-white racist?
POPPER VS ADORNO 2
Positivism and Pluralism
What is ‘Positivism’ and why was it so important so Adorno to label Popper as one? Popper’s response, and what can we learn from this failure to communicate?
POPPER VS ADORNO 1
Context & History
I revisit an acrimonious exchange between two very different public intellectuals. The first part sets the stage with the intellectual history.
MILL VS RAWLS
Should we justify liberalism from appeals to political precepts or normative understandings of human nature? I consider two ways of thinking about liberalism's philosophical foundations
STATECRAFT with Cécile Fabre
How do we enforce rights under uncertainty? Does America's long history of human rights violations prevent it from acting as a force for good today?
PROPERTY RIGHTS, SANCTIONS, & AID with Cécile Fabre
Cécile Fabre returns to the podcast to discuss her latest book, Economic Statecraft. We discuss rights, property rights, free trade, sanctions, conditional aid, and conditional borrowing.
HUMILIATION in Neo-Republican Ideology
I develop an original account of humiliation and argue that including it in the neo-republican ideological project enriches its structure and makes it more intuitive and relevant.
TIME, POLITICS, & CITIZENSHIP
With Elizabeth Cohen
Time. Founding moments. legitimacy. Commensuration. Liberal Democracy. The State. Immigration. Criminal Justice.
BERNIE, HILLARY, & TRUMP
With Angie Maxwell
The historical and ideological factors behind Trump's meteoric rise in 2016, divisions on the left, & I go on a rant.
THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY
With Angie Maxwell
How did appeals to racism, sexism, and religion shape American party politics and conservative ideology?
DIVERSIFYING THE CANNON
With Elizabeth Anderson
Who should we read in the history of political thought, and much, much more.
CORPORATE GOVERNMENT
With Elizabeth Anderson
Is corporate power of form of government? How does it affect our lives and freedom? Professor Elizabeth Anderson joins the podcast discuss.
SPACE & POLITICS
With Ryan D Enos
Social geography. Space. Politics. Immigration. Race. Segregation. Racism. Trump. 2020. Ideology. Integration.
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FREEDOM
Does the positive freedom / negative freedom distinction make sense? Is Isaiah Berlin right that positive freedom tends to lead to authoritarianism?
LISTEN
THE SURVIVAL OF EUROPEAN LIBERALISM
With Ian Dunt
Brexit. Liberalism. J S Mill. Free speech. Living truths. Liberal democracy. Europe. Tony Blair. Journalism. Consent of the governed. Far right parties. Anti-liberalism. The future of Europe.
LISTEN
ARE IDEOLOGIES TRUE?
Is anyone really 'right' about political values, or does essential contestability imply a strong relativism?
LISTEN
SEASON 3
POSTMODERNISM, 2020,
and other audience questions.
Machiavelli. Power. Stability. Postmodernism. Unions. Meritocracy. Prediction. Polling. Trump. 2020.
LISTEN
MACHIAVELLI 3
Chaos, Freedom, and Glory
Freedom. Radicalism. Civil rights. Progress. Chaos, Stability. Power. Order. Ideology.
LISTEN
MACHIAVELLI 1
History and Ideology
Freedom. Radicalism. The Renaissance. Machiavellianism. Republicanism. Ideology. Interpretation. Class Conflict
LISTEN
