Think Hard

Think Hard

By Danielle LaSusa & José MuñizSociety & CultureEducationPhilosophy
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Think Hard episodes

  • #51: Buying Happiness
    Danielle is wondering how to make decisions about how to spend her money,
    which leads to the larger question of what constitutes the good life. What
    purchases will make us happy, and how do we know what to choose? José
    offers some budgeting wisdom.
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  • #50: Of Heroes and (Epistemological) Hostages
    José and Danielle discuss conspiracy theories. Why is it that some,
    otherwise rational, people get hooked into crazy conspiracy theories like
    the anti-vax or flat earth movements? José suggests that perhaps it’s
    because they’re tired of feeling like alienated sheep and want to start
    feeling like heroes in their own lives—and, he adds, we are all susceptible
    to this pitfall.
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  • #49: Shut Up, and Punch Your Ticket
    Danielle and José discuss whether philosophy can help save the crappy high
    school public education system. They talk about the real goals of high
    school public education, whether and how schools can actually teach
    critical thinking, and what kind of education will actually serve students
    for the world in which we live.
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  • #48: Why Shouldn't I Punch a Chimpanzee?
    We welcome special guest Paul Waldau, recently retired Professor in the
    Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation Department and Director of the
    graduate program in Anthrozoology at Canisius College and author of Animal
    Rights, to talk about the relationships we humans have with non-human
    animals. How has viewing humans as special or distinct from other animals
    damaged our world? Should we view animals as having some of the same rights
    that we humans have, and if so, why?
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  • #47: Real (Estate) Criticism
    José and Danielle respond to some listener criticism of episode #45:
    Everybody Has to Live Somewhere. They talk about what they got right—and
    wrong—in that episode, and they reflect more generally on how engaging with
    criticism can enrich and deepen our understanding of the world, each other,
    and ourselves.
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  • #46: Hush! I’m Committing Cultural Violence
    Museums are weird, or so says Danielle. In fact, she thinks that they are
    glaring evidence of the racist imperialist history of the West, and because
    of that, she finds it hard to find the serenity and aesthetic transcendence
    that we have all been trained to expect there. José thinks that we have a
    chance to define ourselves and connect with others by engaging (quietly,
    please!) with these very same objects. They fight it out.
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  • #45: Everybody Has to Live Somewhere
    José and Danielle consider our ethical responsibility when we participate
    in gentrification. Is gentrification simply a natural process of changing
    neighborhoods, or do we have some responsibility for its negative impact
    on—and displacement of—poorer residents?
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  • #25: On Racist Jokes (Funny Ones)
    Is it ok to laugh at racist jokes? Does it make you racist? Does it matter
    who is telling the joke? José tries to stake a position between calling out
    racist jokes as harmful, and not becoming so politically correct that we
    take ourselves too seriously. Also, Danielle and José each tell—and laugh
    at—some racist jokes.
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  • #44: Change Like a Mother
    Special guest Lucy Collins joins Danielle and José to talk about motherhood
    and death. They explore the idea that motherhood allows women to be
    uniquely in touch with death, aging, and change. This experience is full of
    vulnerability and a confrontation with one’s life experience that cannot be
    ignored.
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  • #43: If My Therapist Could See Me Now
    This episode, José and Danielle talk about how to have difficult
    conversations. José suggests that the classic way of thinking about
    conversations—as the communication of information or beliefs—does not
    actually get the best results. Instead, if we are to find truth,
    connection, and a shared public life, we need to learn to identify and
    communicate emotional feelings, a much more difficult task.
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About Think Hard

From the publisher's feed

Philosophy is sometimes seen as impractical and impenetrable, but on Think Hard, two trained philosophers have accessible and lively conversations about contemporary culture, politics, and society.…