The unconscious has become a well-known feature of our human lived experience since Freud. We often refer to unwanted impulses, suppressed thoughts, unconscious desires, and the like.

But what IS the unconscious? Is it just an easy excuse for our behaviour? Or is it a necessary piece of what it means to be human?

Join our diverse and rich panel as they discuss, and disagree, over this question: Josh Cohen is a literature professor and psychoanalyst, Barbara Tversky is a professor of psychology, and Edward Harcourt is a philosopher.

What do you think? Can the unconscious explain things? Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Will we ever reach a conclusive, agreed-upon theory of consciousness?

Over the millennia of recorded history, countless stories, theories, and arguments have emerged to explain the origins of consciousness. And yet, here we are in 2025 - post-Plato, post-Descartes, post-scientific revolution - and still we don't understand the phenomenon of conscious, subjective experience. Which begs the question: will we ever truly know what consciousness is, and how it functions?

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the co-creator, executive producer, writer, and host of 'Closer To Truth', the PBS/public television series on cosmos, life, mind, and meaning that presents leading scientists, philosophers, and creative thinkers discussing the fundamental questions of existence. Join him in conversation with post-realist philosopher Hilary Lawson as they cast their eyes over the hundreds of different theories of consciousness.

Don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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The psychedelic revolution

Will LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine treatments live up to the hype?

For decades, psychedelics were derided as dangerous recreational drugs; now many claim they have the potential to revolutionise the treatment of mental health. With hundreds of clinical trials now taking place, the psychedelic therapeutic market is predicted to be over ten billion within the decade. It has been widely thought that psychedelics are effective at treating mental health because of the way they change brain chemistry. But studies from King's College London and Johns Hopkins suggest this is an error, arguing that it's the psychedelic experience that aids mental wellbeing, not the physical brain changes.

Should we stop focussing on brain chemistry as the solution to mental health? What is it about psychedelic experience that can aid mental well being and will psychedelics live up to their promise and usher in a mental health renaissance? Or is the hype bubble about to burst and should we look elsewhere for the silver bullet to the mental health crisis of our age?

Matthew Johnson is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Shayla Love is a freelance reporter and former senior science writer at Vice News, focusing on psychedelics. Kevin Sabet is the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and he has been described as the "quarterback of the new anti-drug movement".

Don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Indian philosophy and the search for unity

In our everyday lives we act as though we are all separate individuals, but is this really the case?

Jessica Frazer argues that reality is ultimately unified, and that this shift in perspective can change the way we live our lives. It can help you lose your isolated ego and escape feelings of alienation from nature and the universe. You can start to see that you are living out a strange, larger pattern of mysterious provenance and immense creative power that's generating everything you've ever seen.

Jessica Frazier is a professor of theology and religion at Trinity College, Oxford, as well as a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu studies. During her academic career, she has explored key philosophical themes across various cultures, ranging from Indian concepts of 'Being' to 20th century phenomenology. In addition, Frazier is the founding editor of the 'Journal of Hindu Studies' and a frequent contributor to BBC radio.

Don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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From philosophy to science, metaphysics to psychology, the idea of 'nothing' is central to the universe, existence and experience as a whole. But the nature of 'nothing' is even more bewildering than we might first imagine. Parmenides argued that non-being is impossible because thinking about nothing is still something. Join philosopher Peter van Inwagen in this talk as he explores the metaphysics of 'nothing'.

Peter van Inwagen is one of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy. Known for his thought-provoking contributions to metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, and the free will debate, van Inwagen has shaped modern discussions around determinism, the problem of evil, and the existence of God. With key works like An Essay on Free Will and Material Beings, his ideas continue to influence both scholars and curious thinkers.

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The question of free will - and whether we have it or not - is age-old across philosophy, religion, and human thought in general. Having free will allows us to have meaning, responsibility, reward and punishment. Yet discoveries in neuroscience have put our ability to choose, outside of a set of neuronal reactions, in question.

Do we have free will? Or is it an illusion? And, also, do we need free will?

Join our panel of neuroscientist Patrick Haggard, Templeton Prize winning physicist George Ellis, and philosopher of mind and action Jennifer Hornsby as they consider where choice begins and chance ends.

But what do you think? Is free will "real"? Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Žižek: "Trump did what The Left couldn't"

As we look around at the state of the modern world, it's very easy to get disheartened - and that's putting it lightly! From pointless wars and endless suffering to the decline of social bonds and trustworthy institutions, there really is a lot to get you down. Fortunately, maverick philosopher Slavoj Žižek is on the case, arguing that all is not lost - though we must act quickly.

Slavoj Žižek is a world-renowned philosopher, cultural critic and public intellectual. Foreign Policy named Žižek a Top 100 Global Thinker "for giving voice to an era of absurdity”. 

Don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Video games are changing how we think. Many are so realistic that some argue they are becoming reality. In this talk by philosopher James Tartaglia, he uncovers the relationship between games and reality.

James Tartaglia is Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University. His latest book is Inner Space Philosophy: Why the Next Stage of Human Development Should Be Philosophical, Explained Radically (Suitable for Wolves).

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How literature helps us to understand morality, totalitarian politics, and the life of Jesus Christ.

Join the team at the IAI for four articles about great, classic literature, covering world-renowned authors such as George Orwell, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Clarice Lispector, to name but a few.

These articles were written by Michael Marder, Emrah Atasoy, John Givens, and Dana Dragunoiu.

Michael Marder is Ikerbasque Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Emrah Atasoy is a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. John Givens is a professor of Russian at the University of Rochester and the author of 'The Image of Christ in Russian Literature: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Pasternak'. Dana Dragunoiu the author of 'Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts' and 'Simply Nabokov'. 

And don't hesitate to email us at [email protected] with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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In this IAI Studio interview, philosopher and science writer Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the evolution of consciousness and the enduring mystery of the mind–body problem. Drawing on his work with octopuses and other animals, he argues that consciousness emerged gradually through increasingly complex forms of sensory-motor interaction, rather than as a sudden leap. Using cephalopods as a case study, he shows how minds can evolve in radically different ways, suggesting that subjective experience is more widespread,and varied, than we often assume. The conversation touches on ethics, the limits of physicalism, and how studying animal minds can reshape our understanding of our own.

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher of science and a leading thinker on the evolution of consciousness and animal minds. He is a professor at the University of Sydney and the author of several acclaimed books, including Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness and Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind. His work combines philosophy, biology, and firsthand experience with marine animals to explore how subjective experience arises in the natural world. Through his research and writing, Godfrey-Smith offers a compelling naturalistic account of the mind that bridges science and philosophy.

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