Out of the Cave Podcast: For Those Who Desire to Know

In this conversation, David and Dr. Herbert Lin discuss the attribution problem as it relates to cybersecurity, the cost of being secure in cyberspace, and the internet of things (IoT). 

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Professor Lise Howard from Georgetown University.

Dr. Howard's research and teaching interests span the fields of international relations, comparative politics, and conflict resolution. Her work focuses on civil wars, peacekeeping, U.S. foreign policy, and area studies of sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. She has published articles and book chapters on these topics in such journals as International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, International Peacekeeping, Foreign Affairs, and with Oxford University Press.

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Dr. Jennifer Lavers from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. Dr. Lavers studies the shocking effects of anthropogenic debris on ocean ecosystems, in particular, seabird populations. Her 2017 report on extraordinary pollution levels has served as a global wake-up call on the deteriorating state of our oceans.

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Professor Grace Ledbetter from Swarthmore College. Grace Ledbetter is an Associate Professor and Department Chair, Classics, and Associate Professor of Philosophy.

Professor Ledbetter and David discuss Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Topics include Plato’s place within Ancient Greek philosophy, virtue, and the meaning of education for Plato.

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Professor John Norton from the University of Pittsburgh’s History and Philosophy of Science department. Professor Norton studies the history and philosophy of physics (relativity, quantum theory, and statistical physics), with a special interest in general relativity, and has published extensively on the detailed steps of Einstein's discovery of general and special relativity and also on many aspects of the theory's philosophical foundations.

Among other topics related to the work of Albert Einstein, the conversation explores the situation of physics before and after Einstein's annus mirabilis of 1905.

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Professor Hannah Marcus about her work on Galileo’s letters. Hannah Marcus is an Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her research focuses on the scientific culture of early modern Europe between 1450 and 1700.

Marcus earned her BA at the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD at Stanford University in 2016. Before coming to Harvard she worked as a postdoctoral researcher on the Galileo Correspondence Project, which she directs with Paula Findlen.

Galileo Correspondence Project 

Findlen, Paula, and Hannah Marcus. "The breakdown of Galileo’s Roman network: Crisis and community, ca. 1633." Social studies of science (2017).

In this podcast, David Nicholson speaks with Andrew J. Bacevich about America's perpetual war in the Greater Middle East over the last four decades. It is a military history that details a dereliction of duty on the part of leaders and citizens as well.

Andrew J. Bacevich, Sr. is an American historian specializing in international relations, security studies, American foreign policy, and American diplomatic and military history. His book: America's War For the Greater Middle East: A Military History is the subject of this podcast.