PODCAST

Hotel Bar Sessions

Leigh M. Johnson, Jennifer Kling, Bob Vallier

A podcast where the real philosophy happens.

education philosophy

All Episodes

55:04

Podcasting and Philosophy

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/10/14

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

53:00

The Last Dance

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/10/07

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

57:35

Artificial Personhood (with Regina Rini)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/09/30

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

59:50

The Rights of Nature (with Stewart Motha)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/09/23

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

55:21

Critics and Criticism (with A.O. Scott)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/09/16

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

57:16

Democracy in Peril (with Linda Alcoff)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/09/09

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

55:59

Fear

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/09/02

The HBS hosts wonder whether the call is coming from inside the house.Fear is a one of the most complex of human affects. It is both physical and psychological. It can be intensely private or shared by entire communities. It is sometimes paralyzing and other times exciting. Fear often seizes us without warning, but we can also "think ourselves into" being afraid. What, if anything, distinguishes fear from dread or anxiety? How are fears managed or overcome? Why do so many people share

60:33

YouTube's Alt-Right Rabbit Hole (with Caleb Cain)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/08/26

The HBS hosts chat with Caleb Cain about his experience being radicalized by the Alt-Right internet.In June 2019, the New York Times featured a story about Caleb Cain, entitled "The Making of a YouTube Radical.” That piece was meant to highlight the subtle, severe, and devastating IRL effects of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, which has been proven many times over to promote what (in internet slang) is called “red-pilling”—that is, the conversion of users to far-right beliefs. Today,

53:11

Rethinking Disability (with Joel Michael Reynolds)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/08/19

The HBS hosts talk with Dr. Joel Michael Reynolds about what bodies are afforded and denied. As we come to recognize more and more the occlusions that occur in, and often constitute, philosophy and its history, attention to an ableist presupposition in philosophy has come to the fore. Much as with feminist theory or queer theory or race theory, disability theory not only works to expose the ableist presuppositions of philosophy but also to alter philosophy for the better by the inclusion of

65:13

Sex Robots (with Kate Devlin)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/08/12

The HBS hosts sit down with Dr. Kate Devlin to talk about social relationships between humans and machines.When most people think about our future with robots, they tend to ask the following three questions: (1) Will robots take my job?. (2) Will they kill us?, and (3) Can I have sex with them?This week, the HBS hosts are joined by Dr. Kate Devlin, Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Digital Humanities at King's College London and the author

62:57

The Blues (with Charles L. Hughes)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/08/05

The HBS hosts ask Dr. Charles Hughes for water, and he gives them gasoline. According to co-host Charles Peterson, the blues is "as American as apple pie and as Black as the Funky Chicken." The blues is a genre of music, to be sure, but it's also an emotion, perhaps even an existential bearing. What makes blues music distinctive? What does it mean to have "the blues"? Can everyone have or play the blues? Should everyone?In this episode, the HBS co-hosts discuss these questions (and more!)

62:54

Memes (with Andrew Baron)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/07/29

The HBS hosts try to go viral with Andrew Baron, creator of KnowYourMeme. Memes: if you get them, you get them... and if you don't, you don't. But how is a meme created? How does it spread? And how does it die? In this episode, we dig into the complex dynamics of memes-- on Dawkins' account, the most rudimentary units of social information-- to see how they do (and don't) imitate so-called "natural" processes in their generation, mutation, adaptation, and replication. With our special

55:05

Reason

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/07/22

The HBS hosts investigate the limits of Reason alone and, more importantly, in real human history.Many, rightly, understand the discipline of Philosophy as primarily defined by its commitment to Reason. But, what is “Reason”? Is it universal? Is it some kind of fundamental human capacity that transcends class, culture, politics, religion, or any other iteration of human difference? What do we make of the fact that, since the 17th C., inheritors of “European Enlightenment” thinkers

64:30

Plagiarism

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/07/15

The HBS hosts attempt to measure the real stakes of cheating. According to a recent study, almost 60% of college/university students in the United States admit to having cheated at least once during their studies. Around 15% of U.S. students admit to plagiarizing intentionally and, of those, less than 1 in 5 is caught or punished for academic dishonesty. Professors regularly report that cheating and plagiarism is on the rise; many blame remote learning for what feels like a "plagiarism

63:29

The Public Intellectual (with Eddie Glaude, Jr.)

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/07/08

The HBS hosts sit down with Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. to talk about what constitutes a "public intellectual."Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr. is the James S. McDonnel Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African-American Studies at Princeton University, and one of America's leading public intellectuals. He is also on the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning

57:19

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/06/17

The HBS hosts try to get to the truth of untruths.Mark Twain famously claimed that there are three kinds of untruth: lies, damned lies, and statistics. In an age of widespread misinformation, where it has become considerably more difficult to distinguish between truths and lies, the HBS hosts make an impassioned plea for us to think seriously about what a lie is, what it is not, and why it matters. We consider the whole menagerie of falsehoods: from trifling fibs ("you look great in those

56:58

Queers

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/06/10

The HBS hosts chat with Dr. Ladelle McWhorter about the evolution of "queer" as an identity category and a verb.Once only used as a slur with unambiguously negative valences, the noun "queer" has been reappropriated by (many) members of the LGBTQIA+ community as referring to a positive, even celebrated, notion of self-identity.... but the history of the term "queer" is complicated. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ladelle McWhorter (University of Richmond) about that complicated history,

57:41

Utopia

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/06/03

The HBS hosts discuss the where, when, and how of utopic imagination.On the one hand, utopia as an ideal place, space, political arrangement, or future has been criticized because it delays action to some, perhaps impossible, future. On the other hand, something like utopia just might be necessary for political struggles. We begin with Cruising Utopia by José Esteban Muñoz and move on to discuss the importance, problems, and possibilities of utopia.Full episode notes at this

56:24

Philosophers on the Internet

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/05/27

The HBS hosts sit down with Justin Weinberg of the Daily Nous to talk about philosophers on the internet.While everyone is on the internet, many philosophers (some of whom may be on this podcast!) seem resistant to blogging, social media, and other forms of web presence. In this episode, we look at philosophers on the internet. What benefits does the internet bring to philosophy and/or philosophers? Is the internet our new “town square?” If so, should philosophy be brought to the town

62:09

Musical Theater

Hotel Bar Sessions ·

2022/05/20

The HBS hosts chat with actor, dancer, and choreographer Blake Zolfo about what makes musical theater so unique.What could possibly make musical theater important or relevant to three philosophers? We all love musicals! The affective appeal of musical theater is clear, even though there are those (philistines?) who do not find it enjoyable. Although Hegel, in his Lectures on the Philosophy of Fine Art claims that opera puts text in the service of music, he also recognizes that the libretto

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