Thales’ Well

By Patrick D. O’Connor

Society & Culture Education Philosophy

What's Thales’ Well about?

A podcast exploring Philosophy, Politics, Current Affairs, Literature and Film.

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Thales’ Well episodes:

03.22.2024
On Secular Gurus with Chris Kavanagh
I talk to psychologist Dr Christopher Kavanagh about the phenomenon of secular gurus. We discussed the secularism of latter day gurus, how they differ and compare to traditional cult leaders, what traits it takes to be a secular guru (galaxy...
12.22.2023
On Writing with Lars Iyer
Lars Iyer is back! On this episode I talk to novelist Lars Iyer about the fiction, the writing process, the relation between literature and the world, a writers compulsion to write. We speak about a whole range of writers like...
10.27.2023
On Richard Rorty with Chris Voparil
On this episode I talk with Chris Voparil from Union Institute & University about American philosopher Richard Rorty. We discuss Rorty’s biography, his complicated relation with American Pragmatist philosophy and both analytic and continental philosophy, how Rorty dealt with accusations...
06.10.2023
On Spiritual Freedom with Martin Hägglund
On this episode of the podcast, I talk to Swedish philosopher Prof. Martin Hägglund from Yale University about his book This Life: Why Mortality Makes Us Free. The dominant theme of our conversation was the meaning of freedom. Martin has...
04.27.2023
On Bruno Latour with Joost van Loon
On this episode I talk to Prof. Joost van Loon about French philosopher and sociologist Bruno Latour. We talked about a lot! Joost taught me about Latour’s actor network theory and while we were doing that we ended up chatting...
04.02.2023
On Alexandre Kojève with Hager Weslati
On this podcast I talk to Dr Hager Weslati about the philosopher Alexandre Kojève. Kojève is a hugely influential but not very well-known philosophers. Here Hager and I talk about his life, his philosophy, and his famous lectures on Hegel....
04.02.2023
On the Truth of Snuff with Mark McKenna
A podcast with my colleague Dr Mark McKenna who is an Associate Professor at Staffordshire University. We talked about horror films. Specifically, we talked about the the snuff movie as a form of horror. We also talked about the cultural...
10.13.2022
On the Embrace of Capital with Don Milligan
Don Milligan is back to discuss his new book The Embrace of Capital (Zero Books: 2022). In this , Don recounts and analyses his history of social and political activism interrogating the reasons he thinks working people have a love-hate...
09.09.2022
On Architecture with Graham Harman
On this episode Professor Graham Harman returns to talk about architecture and philosophy. We had a fascinating conversation discussing architecture in relation to the history of philosophy. Graham has tackled just this topic in new book Architecture and Objects (2022),...
09.02.2022
On Nietzsche’s Socialism with Robert Miner
Friedrich Nietzsche is usually considered a staunch critic of socialism. My guest on this episode thinks this picture is a lot more complicated than we suspect. Professor Robert Miner suggests Nietzsche offers a very complex picture of what socialism entails,...
08.26.2022
On Simone Weil with Tiff Thomas
This episode I am talking to Dr Tiff Thomas. We discuss the philosophy, ideas and politics of activist, mystic, worker and educator Simone Weil. Tiff is a lecturer in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University and specializes in Spinoza. He is also...
07.02.2022
On Michel Serres with David Webb
On this podcast I am talking to my colleague Prof. David Webb a philosopher at Staffordshire University. David is the author of Heidegger, Ethics and the Practice of Ontology (Continuum: 2011) and Foucault's Archaeology: Science and Transformation (Edinburgh U.P. 2013)....
05.13.2022
On the Formation of the Modern Self with Felix O’Murchadha
On this episode of Thales’ Well I talk to Prof. Felix O’Murchadha who returns to talk about his new book The Formation of The Modern Self (Bloomsbury, 2022). Felix’s book provides a genealogy of the emergence of the self in...
07.06.2021
On Propaganda with Colin Alexander
This episode I had a fantastic discussion with Dr Colin Alexander about propaganda. We discussed the nature of propaganda, how to identify it, its ubiquity, as well as things we might do to mitigate the effect of propaganda on ourselves...
04.21.2021
On David Lewis and Possible Worlds with Ben Curtis
On this episode, I discuss analytic philosopher David Lewis' concept of possible worlds with Dr Benjamin Curtis. Ben is colleague at Nottingham Trent University. We talked about possible worlds, actual worlds, probability, causation and time. Ben Curtis lectures in Philosophy at...
05.06.2020
On Camus and 'The Plague' with Robert Zaretsky
I had an amazing conversation with Robert Zaretsky who is a Professor of Humanities at the Honors College, University of Houston. We spoke about French novelist and philosopher Albert Camus and his great pandemic novel The Plague. The Plague is currently receiving renewed...
04.24.2020
On Character with Christian Miller
I am talking with Prof. Christian Miller about the nature of character. We discuss different types of character, character psycholgoy, forms of character virtue as well as forms of character vice, the difference between moral habits and instincts, Aristotle's contribution to...
04.05.2020
On Plato with Keith Crome
This time we turn to Ancient Philosophy, and I discuss Plato with Dr Keith Crome. We speak about the pedagogical dimension of Plato's work, and focus specifically on Plato's Republic. Keith argues that to understand Plato, it is essential to understand Plato's...
04.04.2020
On Blockchain with Peter Howson
I am talking with Dr Peter Howson from Nottingham Trent University about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Peter is a Human Geographer, so we talk about the environmental impact of crypto-currency as well as it’s distribution in space. Largely, Peter explains to...
03.22.2020
On Online Learning with David Webster
This time I thought it would be useful to try to do something slightly different. Given that many teachers and lecturers have had on-line learning foisted about them due to the Covid-19 crisis, I thought it would be helpful to...
02.21.2020
On Difference and Repetition with David Deamer
Dave is back! We speak again about French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. This time we try to crack one of his most famous works Difference and Repetition. We talked about some very abstract concepts such as space, time, motion, representation and...
02.17.2020
On Cormac McCarthy with Julius Greve
I discuss American novelist Cormac McCarthy with literary scholar Dr Julius Greve. Cormac McCarthy is known for his often bleak and unwavering take on the Western. He has written over ten novels, as well as plays and screenplays in the...
01.14.2020
On Nietzsche with Lars Iyer
I had tremendous fun talking to philosopher and novelist Lars Iyer. We discussed Nietzsche in light of Lars' new novel Nietzsche and the Burbs. We discussed many of Nietzsche's famous concepts such as übermensh, amor fati and suffering, affirmation, nihilism and eternal recurrence. As...
01.03.2020
On Religion and Violence with Felix O'Murchadha
This month I spoke to Prof. Felix O’Murchadha of the National University of Ireland at Galway about religion and violence. We discussed the nature of religious experience, and more specifically the relation between violation, witnessing and perpetration. This led on...
11.29.2019
On Social Work with Joe Smeeton
This month I am talking to Joe Smeeton. We had a brilliant chat about the nature of social work, anxiety, risk, child protection, the political backdrop to social working in the UK, and just what it is like to be...
10.29.2019
On Levinas with Will Large
I spoke with Will Large about the Jewish philosopher Emmanual Levinas. Levinas is a philosopher who had a unique conception of ethics, one resistant to many of the traditional ways we approach ethics in Philosophy. Many of Levinas' writings were composed...
09.28.2019
On Shame with Luna Dolezal
This month I am talking with Dr Luna Dolezal from the University of Exeter. Luna is Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities, with a particular interest in applied phenomenology, philosophy of embodiment, philosophy of medicine and medical humanities (esp. through literature and...
11.30.2018
On Denial, Conspiracy and Post-Truth with Keith Kahn-Harris
This week I discuss the nature of denial, post-truth, and conspiracy theories with Dr Keith Kahn-Harris. We ended up talking about Holocaust denial, anti-vaxxing, climate change, and the resurgence of flat-earth theory. Keith tries to unpick the similarities and differences...
11.23.2018
On Dirt with Olli Lagerspetz
This week I am talking to Olli Lagerspetz about his recent book A Philosophy of Dirt (Reaktion, 2018). This book is a fascinating exploration of what we mean by dirt, how we can use Philosophy to examine it, and whether dirt is...
11.16.2018
On Metaphysics, Objects and Decent Politics with Graham Harman
This week I had a fantastic conversation with Prof. Graham Harman about his unique theory of Object-Oriented Philosophy. Our discussion was wide-ranging, we discussed Graham’s background, metaphysics, HP Lovecraft, art, architecture, Bruno Latour, contemporary Marxism, and Graham's views on the...
11.09.2018
On the Geography and Politics of Light with Tim Edensor
I had a fascinating discussion with Tim Edensor this week on the geography and politics of light. Tim has a brilliant talent for making us think differently about something we take for granted. During our chat we talked about our...
11.02.2018
On Forensic Linguistics with David Wright
This week I am talking about forensic linguistics with Dr David Wright from Nottingham Trent University. We chatted about how forensic linguistics is used in crime detection, authorship analysis, expert witnessing, aiding policing investigation as well as some of the...
10.26.2018
Horror, Ghosts and Monsters with Sorcha Ní Fhlainn
This week, as we approach All Hallows Eve, we turn to the ghastly, the monstrous, the shocking, the ghoulish, the spooky and the downright eerie. I am talking to Dr Sorcha Ní Fhlainn who is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies...
10.19.2018
On US Politics, Edmund Burke and Trump with Michael Baranowski
With the upcoming US elections I thought it would be a good time to see what a political philosopher has to say about it all. I am joined by Michael Baranowski who is a political scientist from Northern Kentucky University. We...
10.12.2018
On the Law, Consent and MeToo with Heidi Matthews.
This week I had a really interesting discussion with Prof. Heidi Matthews about law, consent, and the MeToo movement. Heidi is an Assistant Professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. She co-directs the Nathanson Centre on Transnational...
10.05.2018
On Sex Robots and Personhood with Kathleen Richardson
This week I talk to Dr Kathleen Richardson about sex robots and notions of personhood, consent, loneliness and inter-dependence between humans. Kathleen is a professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University. She completed her...
09.28.2018
On Emile Zola with Dan Rebellato
This week I am talking about the great French novelist Emile Zola with Prof. Dan Rebellato of Royal Holloway University. We talk about Zola's life, his novels, the place of philosophy in his work, and Zola's famous "J'accuse...!" which is...
09.21.2018
The Philosophy of Football with Stephen Mumford.
This week I am talking about football with Prof. Stephen Mumford. We talk about how football makes you think, the role of causes, dispositions, luck, space and of course victory. Stephen also explain why football is a far superior game...
09.14.2018
On the Mind and Panpsychism with Philip Goff
This we talk about all things mind. Philip Goff is a philosopher and consciousness researcher at Durham University. He works mainly on the problem of how to integrate consciousness into our scientific worldview. Goff’s 2017 book Consciousness and Fundamental Reality...
09.07.2018
A Cultural History of Gay Rights in Britain with Don Milligan
Dr Don Milligan gives us a cultural history of the gay rights movement in Britain. Don taught a course on the theory and practice of anti-capitalism at Manchester Metropolitan University. His researches examines how commercial society gives rise to political...
08.31.2018
Introducing Byung-Chul Han with Austin Hayden Smidt
This week I am talking to Austin Hayden Smidt about the German-Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han. Han is not well know in the Anglophone world, so we took this opportunity to try and introduce some of the key themes of his philosophy. This...
08.24.2018
Jessica Jones, Sexual Violence and Overcoming Trauma with Anna Dawson
Anna Dawson is an award winning teacher and lecturer in Film and TV studies at Nottingham Trent University. She has worked in the film industry, as a film journalist, and written study guides about the Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. She researches genre,...
08.18.2018
BONUS - Nietzsche and Dr Who with David Deamer
Dave and I like to talk. And we did. Here we are talking about Nietzsche, and Dr Who.
08.17.2018
Deleuze and Cinema with David Deamer
Here I talked with my friend Dr David Deamer about French Philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Dave explains to me what Deleuze was about, and then we go on to talk about how Deleuze is important for understanding cinema, and what Deleuze teach...
08.10.2018
Will Large teaches Patrick about Heidegger
Here Dr William Large from the University of Gloucestershire talks about one book, Martin Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time. Here we try to get to the bottom of this endlessly fascinating book, looking at some of the key moments from the text...
08.03.2018
Social Justice and Cooperation with Cilla Ross
In 1844 the Rochadale Pioneers established the principles of the cooperative movement. This was the spark that created the development and growth of the cooperative movement. Coops can be found in all parts of the world today, from business to housing,...
07.27.2018
Vitalism and Bergson with Mark Sinclair
Mark Sinclair is a philosopher and scholar at Roehampton University. He specialises in the history of modern philosophy, especially in it's French incarnation. We spoke about about the history of vitalism in Philosophy, looking at some of it's key figures:...
07.20.2018
Trump, Lyotard and_Education with Keith_Crome
Keith Crome is scholar of ancient philosophy, postmodernism and education. He is a Philosophy lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan Univeristy. He is a specialist in the 20th Century thinker Jean Francois Lyotard, and has composed a monograph on this topic entitled Lyotard...
07.13.2018
Transhumanism, Technology and Apocalypse with Mark O'Connell
I spoke with Mark O'Connell about the impact of the philosophy of transhumanism. Mark is the author of a lovely book called To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers -which I reccommend you all read. This book blends philosophy, literature,...
07.13.2018
Transhumanism, Technology and Apocalypse with Mark O’Connell
I spoke with Mark O'Connell about the impact of the philosophy of transhumanism. Mark is the author of a lovely book called To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers -which I reccommend you all read. This book blends philosophy, literature,...

What's Thales’ Well about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Thales’ Well episodes:

On Secular Gurus with Chris Kavanagh

On Writing with Lars Iyer

On Richard Rorty with Chris Voparil

On Spiritual Freedom with Martin Hägglund

On Bruno Latour with Joost van Loon

On Alexandre Kojève with Hager Weslati

On the Truth of Snuff with Mark McKenna

On the Embrace of Capital with Don Milligan

On Architecture with Graham Harman

On Nietzsche’s Socialism with Robert Miner

On Simone Weil with Tiff Thomas

On Michel Serres with David Webb

On the Formation of the Modern Self with Felix O’Murchadha

On Propaganda with Colin Alexander

On David Lewis and Possible Worlds with Ben Curtis

On Camus and 'The Plague' with Robert Zaretsky

On Character with Christian Miller

On Plato with Keith Crome

On Blockchain with Peter Howson

On Online Learning with David Webster

On Difference and Repetition with David Deamer

On Cormac McCarthy with Julius Greve

On Nietzsche with Lars Iyer

On Religion and Violence with Felix O'Murchadha

On Social Work with Joe Smeeton

On Levinas with Will Large

On Shame with Luna Dolezal

On Denial, Conspiracy and Post-Truth with Keith Kahn-Harris

On Dirt with Olli Lagerspetz

On Metaphysics, Objects and Decent Politics with Graham Harman

On the Geography and Politics of Light with Tim Edensor

On Forensic Linguistics with David Wright

Horror, Ghosts and Monsters with Sorcha Ní Fhlainn

On US Politics, Edmund Burke and Trump with Michael Baranowski

On the Law, Consent and MeToo with Heidi Matthews.

On Sex Robots and Personhood with Kathleen Richardson

On Emile Zola with Dan Rebellato

The Philosophy of Football with Stephen Mumford.

On the Mind and Panpsychism with Philip Goff

A Cultural History of Gay Rights in Britain with Don Milligan

Introducing Byung-Chul Han with Austin Hayden Smidt

Jessica Jones, Sexual Violence and Overcoming Trauma with Anna Dawson

BONUS - Nietzsche and Dr Who with David Deamer

Deleuze and Cinema with David Deamer

Will Large teaches Patrick about Heidegger

Social Justice and Cooperation with Cilla Ross

Vitalism and Bergson with Mark Sinclair

Trump, Lyotard and_Education with Keith_Crome

Transhumanism, Technology and Apocalypse with Mark O'Connell

Transhumanism, Technology and Apocalypse with Mark O’Connell

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