Lost in Thought

In this episode, which is actually ripped from a video I made for YouTube, I talk about French Philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault is the Daddy of all things to do with power. I examine the relationship between power and knowledge (discourses). Then, I talk about 'expert discourses' - why do we trust medicine? Why do we (or don't we) have faith in legal/punitive systems? Finally, I look at Foucault's claims about 'surveillance' and I provide some frightening examples of how his claims were remarkably accurate and insightful. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Today I interviewed the most important person in my life - my Mum. She's in London at the moment so we took a break from the lonely and chilly clouds and had a chat. We spoke about her experience of migrating from Macedonia. We spoke about the experiences of racism and exclusion that she faced as a Macedonian in Melbourne. We also spoke about both our experiences with mental health, namely, anxiety and depression - two forces which appear to have heavy presences in both of our lives. Also, I just wanted to thank everyone for all their support thus far. Thank you. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Today I spoke with Dr. Maria Alvarez, Head of the Philosophy Department of King's College London. Maria's philosophy interrogates the question of agency: what are we, how are we shaped by the world, what does it mean to be shaped by the world etc. We spoke about what it means to be a thing that has decisions to make and has those decisions are influenced by the world around us. We also spoke about why people are racist, and why big tech companies need to be careful with our psychology. Anyway, thanks for listening. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Hi it's me. Today I spoke with Ed Fornieles and Omsk Social Club, two artists whose work principally focuses on Role Play (LARP) and embodied experiences. We spoke about the importance of experiencing things as a mechanism to understand oneself and the world around us. We also spoke about what it means to 'be', and how we can explore this question through role play and through the roles we play in everyday life. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Here is a re-run of an interview myself and my friend Liam did with Peter Singer, probably the most influential philosopher of the 21st century. We did the interview in late 2018.  Topics include ethics, uh, ethics, and then how to make good fried potatoes. I'm not joking. Seriously, though, we spoke about AI, climate change, whether cars should be programmed to be utilitarians, and how to stay in a relationship for 50 years. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

I'm back for the second time in under a week. Can you believe it? I can't. So, to turn to the more important question, are you even real? Am I even real? Can I know that you experience things the way I do? Can I imagine what it's like for you to have a mind? These are the kinds of questions I speak about in this episode. It's really cool. It's a real challenge for philosophers (including myself (is it gross to refer to myself as a philosopher? probably...)). Also, I wrote an essay on it. Read it here. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Today I had an incredible conversation with Sanjay, a Reader in Artificial Intelligence at King's College London. We spoke about privacy, Surveillance Capitalism, I went on a rant about how I think Google (yeah! f*** you google!) are taking away my personhood, and Sanjay explained what kinds of things we will have to think about when making AI more and more sophisticated. For example, should we make AI look exactly like us? Should we treat AI the same way we treat other 'people'? Conversations like these are so important. They're not important because I'm in them, but they're important because our species is on the brink of a crisis that we've never had - the crisis of having to live with robots and that kind of stuff. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Australia is burning and so should the consciences of so many. Today I had a conversation (with myself) about how to talk to people who want to eat meat because it tastes good, people who don't care about future generations, people who don't believe they can make a difference etc. I also talk about hedonism. I ask how we should engage with people who don't believe in things which (at this stage) should be irrefutable (e.g. climate change, animals being sentient). Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

2019 is nearly gone. Nearly. Good riddance, no? All drama aside, in this episode I talk about how I think about the past, present, and future. How are we to think about 2020 in a way that doesn't crush us? Is that even possible? I don't really know. I talk about what it's like being a self-destructive-over-ambitious-self-sabotaging perfectionist who regularly feels crushed by the past, disengaged (dégagé) in the present, and fearful of the future. Despite my cynicism and sarcasm and pessimism, thanks for your displays of energy and support. 2019 has been challenging for me but this podcast has helped very much. Thank you. And hey, one last time in 2019 - thanks for listening. Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks

Today I had a conversation with my friend Mina. Mina was raised in the Yorkshire and now lives in London. Like me, Mina is mixed race - she is half Thai // half English. Unlike me, Mina works for an advertising company and thus no longer possess a soul. We spoke about what it's like selling your soul to an advertising company. We also spoke about what it's like growing up mixed race in a world that clings to desperately to whiteness and gets confused when things aren't white. Mina and I have both had many experiences of being racially profiled, being asked 'where we're from... no... where we're really from'. This is a sad conversation about how f****** up the UK is going to be with the recent Tory (Conservative) victory, how f***** up it is when people assume we are fundamentally different to them because we have different skin or hair or eyes or a weird accent so you better f****** listen to this episode because it covers really important ground. Mina is awesome. Check her work out here. (Oh yeah, and the album artwork is by Mina! (and the hands are by me!)). Enjoying Aleks Listens? You can support it on Patreon, https://www.patreon.com/join/alekslistens — for more of my work, visit https://www.aleks.co — or follow me on instagram @alekslistens https://www.instagram.com/alekslistens — or subscribe on YouTube ~~~~ sending love your way, Aleks