Tent Talks

In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with the philosopher Quassim Cassam on the topic of extremism. Dr. Cassam is a professor of philosophy at the University of Warwick and has made contributions to many different areas of the field. A lot of his earlier work focuses more on traditional topics in epistemology, like the concept of knowledge, self-knowledge, and transcendental epistemology. Recently, however, Professor Cassam has been doing work in what has been called vice epistemology and has been applying this work to real world issues. He’s written on the topic of terrorism and radicalization, conspiracy thinking, medicine, and most recently, extremism. To learn more about Professor Cassam’s work, visit his website at the following link: https://www.quassimcassam.com/

You can pre-order Professor Cassam’s forthcoming book on extremism at the following link: https://www.routledge.com/Extremism-A-Philosophical-Analysis/Cassam/p/book/9780367343873

In this episode I discuss virtual reality technology. Here are a few links to relevant articles:

In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with my brother Brad Turner about Buddhism, the purpose of life, the possibility of the afterlife, the existence (or nonexistence) of God, the concept of rebirth and nirvana, and the nature of consciousness and the self.

In this episode I discuss the idea that we are currently living in an age of heightened existential risk. Here are links to articles/books that I reference in the episode:

The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity (Toby Ord 2020): https://www.amazon.com/Precipice-Existential-Risk-Future-Humanity/dp/0316484911

In this episode I discuss the topic of artificial intelligence and automation. Here are links to articles that I reference in the episode:

GPT–3 Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3

MIT Task Force Article: https://news.mit.edu/2019/work-future-report-technology-jobs-society-0904

‘What is AI?’ Article: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-ai-everything-you-need-to-know-about-artificial-intelligence/

In this episode I discuss how social media is deranging society and democracy by turning all of human communication into a public performance.

In this episode of Tent Talks, I speak with Professor Susanna Siegel. Dr. Siegel is the Edgar Pierce Professor of philosophy at Harvard University.  She has made significant contributions in many different fields of philosophy, and is especially well known for the work that she’s done in the philosophy of perception.  In this episode I speak with Professor Siegel about work that she’s currently doing in political philosophy.  Specifically, I ask her questions about her analysis of the emotion known as ‘schadenfreude’ and its relation to political polarization, and her analysis of the relationship between authoritarianism and science. Two op-eds that she has written on these topics, as well as another article referenced in the conversation, can be found here: https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/07/31/why-we-revel-in-opponents-adversity-column/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_content=OpinionFeedOpinionTwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter 

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/05/29/does-relying-on-science-science-strengthen-authoritarianism-or-weaken-it-column/

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/deepfakes-and-the-epistemic-backstop.pdf?c=phimp;idno=3521354.0020.024;format=pdf

In this episode of Tent Talks, I have a wide ranging conversation with my friend Darian Spearman about many different topics, including healthcare, 2020 politics and culture, capitalism, social media, and the state of contemporary journalism.

In this episode of Tent Talks,  I speak with professor Michael Morrell about the nature of democracy. Dr. Morrell is currently a political science professor at the University of Connecticut.  He received his PhD in political science from Arizona State University in 1998.   Here I speak with Dr. Morrell about a range a different topics related to democracy, including the question of whether democracy has epistemic value, the distinction between deliberative democracy and agonistic democracy, the effect that social media is having on democratic discourse, the connection between empathy and democracy, the recent rise of populist politics in the United States, and the nature of contemporary political polarization in America.  Find Professor Morrell’s book (entitled Empathy and Democracy: Feeling, Thinking, and Deliberation) at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Empathy-Democracy-Feeling-Thinking-Deliberation/dp/0271036605