The MonkeyBuddha Tapes

On February 11th, 2023 I sat down with my Yiayia (Grandmother) Sophia Manta and Thea (Great Aunt) Kalliope Phillips for a much-awaited followup podcast from the episode I recorded with them back in 2019. Last week, Kay passed from pancreatic cancer. She lived a beautiful 92 years full of song, dance, family and stories, and …

Dr. William Howell is the Chair of the Political Science Department at The University of Chicago and a scholar of the American presidency. He studies not presidents, but the structure and powers of the presidency itself, as well as how those powers have been twisted and reshaped by the many individuals to have held the …

How does the culture that we grow up in shape our priorities in life and ability to perceive the world? Where do the psychological differences between cultures come from in the first place? These are the kinds of questions pursued by Dr. Thomas Talhelm, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth …

The MonkeyBuddha Tapes is back, and more wholesome than ever! On January 13th I baked a loaf of bread, drove over to my Yiayia’s house and joined her, my Thea Kay and Aunt Jenine for a wide-ranging conversation about family history, the American Dream, and where to find the best love potions in Chicago. The …

The MonkeyBuddha Tapes has arrived in Chicago! Last week I sat down with Dr. Mark Hansen, the Faculty Director for the University of Chicago’s MAPSS Program, former Dean of the Social Sciences Division, and “one of the nation’s leading scholars of American politics.” I was delighted to find that he was as approachable as he …

Moses is the headteacher of Kasiisi Primary School where he’s tasked each day with providing a quality education to over a thousand students with a staff of around 20 teachers. We get into the challenges faced in such a context, the tradeoffs of balancing formal with informal education, and how to make people happy. Webaale …

When my dad and I were planning the itinerary for our week-and-a-half in Rwanda and Uganda, I made sure to stick “Record a dope podcast” on there. The trip was an interesting chance to watch my dad, whose perspective on things makes up a chunk of my own, encounter many things for the first time …

Marianne has done a lot of things and knows a lot of stuff. I’ve had the pleasure of living with her the last three weeks and learning more than I ever expected about yeasts, bees and cheeses. She’s kicking off an exciting new venture in Boston known as Uncommon Feasts, but we get to far …

Join me for a trip to the (wonderfully soundproofed) radio studio of KRC 102 FM for a conversation with Kahwa Kansengerwa! I’ve spoken before about the expeditious rate of development and widespread fondness for modernization found around Fort Portal — Kahwa is an exception to the rule. A self-proclaimed “traditionalist,” he’s spent the past several …

What should be the role of the state in regulating the free market to ensure price protections for rural agriculturalists? This was NOT the question I expected to break down with today’s guests Manyindo Richard and Tusiime Patrick… but that’s where we arrived at. After considering the classic dilemma of the prince and the pauper …