Four guys with varying experiences in the world of music talk about performing, listening to and working with music. We explore a few questions like - What are the challenges facing the music industry today? How can music shape identity and meaning? Can any genres be considered pretentious or is pretention a myth? Is there a valid argument for "culturally appropriating" music? And can pop music be considered a bad thing?

Drawing from our gigging experiences and academic study we chat about the psychology of music, its appeal as a universal language and how it can be seen as a kind of therapy.

Our thoughts summarised: https://twobeersuntilphronesis.weebly.com/thoughts-on-music.html

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Editing by Connor.

Connor and Jack have an increasingly drunken chat about rising streaming platforms and the decline of movie theatres. Is there something romantically irreplaceable about the experience of going to the movies or does streaming really have it all? How should one behave when attending the pictures? And are these changes actually good for the movie industry after all? Find out… maybe… probably.

Tom Cruise Rant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5n4eJ_TVg

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Editing by Connor.

For our 50th episode we thought we'd try something a little different… Our off the cuff conversation takes us from experience machines to belief in god, free will, happiness and humanism. We ask whether it makes sense to think of a non-religious life as meaningless and whether "unearned" or "false" happiness is desirable (or indeed, even possible). What is the relationship between meaning and happiness and is there something valuable in the pursuit of both? We'd love to have more improvised chats like this and expand on a lot of these ideas in the future.  

Articles by Connor & Nye:  

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Edited by Connor.  

This is what the wait has been for... Two drunk blokes talking about giants.  

Giambattista Vico was an Italian Enlightenment philosopher and historian who, for some reason, believed in giants. Though somewhat obscure, his ambitious work "Scienza Nuova" attempts to combine all humanities into a single subject and explain the cyclical nature of human history and has influenced countless thinkers.

Giants have featured in the mythologies and folklore of virtually every civilization. Human or other-worldly, whether a metaphor for the violent forces of nature or a relic bygone ages, giants are often used to explain magnificent phenomena. We look at common themes from Celtic, Norse and Greek myths. Despite global similarities, giants can differ greatly in their nature. Religious beliefs, storytelling, cultural attitudes and maybe even fossils can help explain how and why giants stand so tall across the stories of humanity.  

Our thoughts, summarised: https://twobeersuntilphronesis.weebly.com/thoughts-on-vico--giants.html

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Editing by Connor.

Why do atheists and theists never seem to convince one another? Why do modern debates about God never work? What exactly is the difference between reason and religion?  

When medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas got their hands on the logic and rationalism of Aristotle they worked to combine their scripture with the reason of philosophy… but would it work? Years later we still try to prove and "unprove" god but perhaps there is another solution. Søren Kierkegaard, whilst struggling with his own faith seemed to suggest a reason why Christians and atheists just can't seem to get along and keep arguing past one another…  

Pencil drawing of Kierkegaard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Søren_Kierkegaard#/media/File:Søren_Kierkegaard_(1813-1855)_-_(cropped).jpg

*Right, so we lost a bit of this episode whilst recording online… we mostly managed to cover it, apologies however for any funny sounding audio in one or two places*

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Edited by Connor.

We've all heard of it but have you ever wanted to find out what Quantum Mechanics actually is? Well here's a Christmas treat! As promised, Nye explains QM from the ground up; starting with the history and context of why and how it was theorised. Going through all the major scientific developments and players leading up to its inception, we break down some of the relevant concepts and round it all off with a bit of a chat.

Apologies for any minor audio issues or repetition of points made in other podcasts.

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Editing, audio & music mastering / production by Nye James.

The Dark Ages; philosophy is all but unknown to this world of staunch faith and brutal conflict. A relatively new religion has arisen in the Middle East, carving out an empire from the Pagan and Christian Kingdoms left in the wake of the collapse of the ancient world. As their culture grows and interacts with others, pioneering Muslim intellectuals are tasked with translating the works of antiquity as they are unearthed from the past....  

In a revolutionary gamble, Al Kindi challenged convention by suggesting that the calculative reason of Aristotle was akin to the revelation found in scripture and faith. Could he convince the pious of his time to adopt philosophy or had he failed before even beginning?  

We've written a bunch of uni essays on these subjects that can be found here: https://twobeersuntilphronesis.weebly.com/the-writing-room.html

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Edited by Connor.  

Philosophy graduates attempt to understand science.  

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Edited by Connor.  

Named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, the Fermi Paradox characterises the contradiction between optimistic probabilistic arguments for the existence of life elsewhere in the universe and the lack of evidence for it. In this podcast Nye explains why most estimates (such as the Drake equation) are so high and covers the suggested explanations for this famous contradiction. In doing so Nye unpacks many of the statistics that highlight the extraordinary vastness of space and the miracle of life itself.

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Edited by Connor.

Outraged by the death of his mentor Socrates, and the thoughtlessness of ancient Greek society, a young Plato set off travelling on his adventures. It was during this time that Plato turned to writing his first dialogues. Using the character of Socrates in some of the craziest ancient fan fiction ever written, Platonic dialogues explored questions of truth, reality, virtue and the soul; often all at once.

While Alfred North Whitehead's statement that "All of philosophy is a footnote to Plato" - may be the philosophical equivalent of saying "stairway to Heaven is the world's best song" - he wasn't far wrong! In exploring these questions, Plato set the ball rolling for topics like epistemology, the mind-body problem, indirect realism and political philosophy. Though his answers may leave something to be desired to the modern reader, Plato's burning questioning and inexorable influence is still nonetheless felt today; from classrooms, counselling and even Hollywood blockbusters like the Matrix.

These early dialogues generally focus on more grounded issues like courage, justice and art and seem to reflect the qualities of the recently deceased Socrates more accurately. However, even at such an early stage, we can begin to see how Plato's method established Western thought itself...

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Edited by Connor.