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PODCAST

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

Leading scholars in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (HPS) introduce contemporary topics for a general audience. Developed by graduate students from the HPS program at the University of Melbourne.Lead Hosts: Thomas Spiteri (2025) and Samara Greenwood (2023-2024).Season Five is now here! Episodes released weekly. More information on the podcast can be found at hpsunimelb.org

science philosophy

All Episodes

50:24

S5 E11 - Steven Shapin on the Social Life of...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/10/19

This week, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Steven Shapin, Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Harvard. Shapin reflects on his path into the history and sociology of science and discusses the central concerns of his work: how knowledge is produced, the social foundations of trust in science, the embodied nature of knowledge, and the performance of expertise. He revisits Leviathan and the Air-Pump, co-authored with Simon Schaffer, outlining the Boyle–Hobbes controversy and showing ...

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52:57

S5 E10 - Cordelia Fine on "Patriarchy Inc"

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/10/03

This week, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Professor Cordelia Fine — psychologist, award-winning writer, and professor in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne. Cordelia is one of today’s leading voices on how science and society shape our understandings of gender. In the conversation, Cordelia discusses her new book Patriarchy, Inc.: What We Get Wrong About Gender Equality – and Why Men Still Win at Work. The book challenges two influential views of gender inequalit...

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26:09

S5 E9 - Miriam Solomon on How Stigma Shapes Psychiatry

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/09/19

This week, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Professor Miriam Solomon, Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and a leading voice in philosophy of science, medicine, and psychiatry. Solomon reflects on her intellectual trajectory, from her early studies in the natural sciences at Cambridge and her doctoral work at Harvard, to her later contributions in the philosophy of medicine and psychiatry. She describes how questions about knowledge-making — from consensus conferences to evidence-based me...

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47:35

S5 E8 - Philip Kitcher on Philosophy for Science and...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/09/11

This week, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Professor Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University and one of the most influential philosophers of science of the past half-century. Kitcher traces his intellectual journey from his early years at Cambridge and Princeton, where he studied with Thomas Kuhn, Carl Hempel, and Paul Benacerraf, to his later interventions in public debates over creationism, sociobiology, and the Human Genome Project. These experiences, ...

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34:51

S5 E7 - Lydia Patton on HOPOS

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/08/28

This week, Thomas Spiteri is in conversation with Professor Lydia Patton, philosopher of science and historian of the philosophy of science. Patton traces her unexpected journey from ballet to Kantian philosophy and into the emerging field of HOPOS (history of philosophy of science). She reflects on her years as editor-in-chief of the HOPOS journal, she offers her perspective on the field’s future. Along the way, she highlights the distinctive character of HOPOS as a historically grounded app...

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29:17

S5 E6 - Sarah Blaffer Hrdy on ‘Rethinking our...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/08/21

“I love your field. It is making such an important point about scientists who don't understand the extent to which our own upbringing impacts our starting assumptions. It's those starting assumptions that get you in trouble.” In today’s episode Samara Greenwood returns to interview the pioneering primatologist and evolutionary anthropologist, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, about her latest book Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies. The discussion centres on the shifts Sarah made in he...

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28:59

S5 E5 - Cristian Larroulet Philippi on Measurement in...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/08/13

This week, Thomas Spiteri is joined by Dr. Cristian Larroulet Philipi, who joins us at the University of Melbourne this year as the inaugural RW Seddon Fellow in the History and Philosophy of Science program. With a background in economics and a PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge, Larroulet Philipi was previously a Junior Research Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. His research explores the development and justification of quantitativ...

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46:27

S5 E4 - Heather Douglas on Rethinking Science’s...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/08/07

This week on The HPS Podcast, we’re joined by internationally recognised philosopher of science and professor at Michigan State University, Heather Douglas. Heather’s work has transformed how philosophers and scientists think about values, responsibility, and the relationship between science and society. In recognition of her contributions, she has been honoured as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Institute for Science, Society, and Poli...

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29:00

S5 E3 - Hans-Jörg Rheinberger on 'Epistemic Things'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/07/31

Today on The HPS Podcast, we’re joined by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, distinguished historian and philosopher of science and Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Trained first in philosophy and then in molecular biology, Rheinberger is well-recognised for his work on the history and epistemology of experimentation. His influential work, including concepts like “experimental systems” and “epistemic things,” has helped shape how we understand the materi...

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19:37

S5 E2 - Surekha Davies on Humans: A Monstrous History

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/07/24

Today on The HPS Podcast, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Dr. Surekha Davies, historian of science, art and ideas, and author of the new book Humans: A Monstrous History (University of California Press). Surekha’s research explores how ideas about humanity have been shaped by encounters with what did not seem to fit. She draws on visual, material and textual sources to show how people have imagined and defined the human across time. In this episode, Surekha: Traces her path into HPS, from Star Tre...

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30:42

S5 E1 - Samara and Thomas: Reflections and Roads Ahead

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/07/17

After a short break, The HPS Podcast is back! Season 5 opens with a special handover episode. After several years as lead host, Samara Greenwood passes the mic to fellow PhD candidate Thomas Spiteri. Together, they look back on the podcast’s journey, what it has meant to them, and where it’s headed next. Hear from Samara and Thomas as they: Introduce Thomas as the new host and share plans for Season 5Reflect on hosting highlights and lessons learnedDiscuss insights from the 10th Integrated HP...

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30:57

Audience Faves: Daston & Harrison on 'Scientists and...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/05/09

In the lead up to the launch of Season 5, we at The HPS Podcast are re-releasing some favourite episodes from our collection. In this episode Professors Lorraine Daston and Peter Harrison talk to Samara Greenwood on the often complex, sometimes fraught relationship between practicing scientists and the history of science. This episode was originally released on March 07, 2024. The transcript can be found at - S3 Ep1 - Lorraine Daston & Peter Harrison Transcript Thanks for listening ...

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25:25

Audience Faves: Rachael Brown on 'Values in Science'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/05/09

In the lead up to the launch of Season 5, we at The HPS Podcast are re-releasing some favourite episodes from our collection. In this episode we have Dr Rachael Brown talking to Samara Greenwood on challenge the common idea that Science is (and should be) 'Value-Free'. At a practical level, in choosing which phenomena to study, and how best to study them, can science really ever be value-free? Second, would we want it to, even if it could? Isn't it possible that, if used appropriately, values...

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24:30

Audience Faves: Kristian Camilleri on 'The Disunity...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/05/09

In the lead up to the launch of Season 5, we at The HPS Podcast are re-releasing some favourite episodes from our collection. First, we have Dr Kristian Camilleri talking with Samara Greenwood about the relatively recent realisation that this thing we call 'Science' is a less unified phenomena then is typically supposed. The 'disunity' becomes clear when we appreciate that scientific disciplines have developed in divergent ways and often employ very different methods and practices. This...

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35:05

Audience Faves: Hasok Chang on 'Epistemic Iteration'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2025/05/09

In the lead up to the launch of Season 5, we at The HPS Podcast are re-releasing some favourite episodes from our collection. In this episode, Professor Hasok Chang talks with Samara Greenwood about his concept of 'Epistemic Iteration', the idea that scientific inquiries do not start from a solid foundation, but rather begin from an imperfect position, using the outcomes of our further inquiry to refine and correct the original starting point. This episode was originally released on December ...

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28:42

S4 Ep 12 - Joshua Eisenthal et al. on 'Philosophy of...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2024/12/04

Today we have not one, not two, but five fabulous guests who all presented at this year’s conference for the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, or SPSP24 for short. Many philosophers of science we have featured on the podcast, including Hasok Chang, Rachel Ankeny and Sabina Leonelli, were founding members of SPSP. Also, our earlier episode on ‘The Turn to Practice’ in philosophy of science has been one of our most popular. Therefore, it seemed an obvious decision to dedicate ...

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20:41

S4 Ep 11 - Redux: Fiona Fidler on 'Collective...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2024/11/27

"It wouldn’t make sense to leave the entire burden of upholding objectivity in science on the shoulders of fallible individuals, right?" Prof. Fiona Fidler Today, we return to one of our favourite episodes, with the person who first came up with the idea for our podcast – Professor Fiona Fidler. Fiona is head of our History and Philosophy of Science Program at the University of Melbourne and co-lead of the MetaMelb research initiative. In this episode Fiona first discusses her ...

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30:02

S4 Ep 10 - Erika Milam on 'Colloquial Science'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2024/11/20

"These conversations are the focus of fierce debate, not because scientists lack authority, but because these are the intellectual battles worth fighting. These are the stakes on which modern society depends"Our guest today is Erika Milam, Charles C. and Emily R. Gillispie Professor in the History of Science at Princeton University.Through her research, Erika has found it useful to coin the term ‘Colloquial Science’ to describe work that deals with technical scientific topics but is produced ...

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30:35

S4 Ep 9 - Holden Thorp on 'Teach History and...

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2024/11/13

“This is Holden Thorp. I'm the Editor in Chief of Science and thanks to Sam and Carmelina for all they're doing to get the word out about the history and philosophy of science”Today's guest is Holden Thorp, professor of chemistry at George Washington University and Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals.In April of this year, Holden published an editorial in Science with the tantalising title ‘Teach Philosophy of Science’. Holden called for more substantial teaching of history and ...

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27:28

S4 Ep 8 - Nicole C. Nelson on 'Ethnographies of Science'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History,... ·

2024/11/06

Today, Carmelina is joined by Dr. Nicole C. Nelson, Associate Professor in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nicole is an ethnographer of science and a familiar face to many within both Science and Technology Studies, and Metascience. Today, Nicole explains how ethnographic studies can help us to make sense of the world, and how she uses ethnography to construct the story of science in a way that the published record of scientific art...

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75 results

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