Philosophy Takes On The News

A special Q&A panel at a Philosophy and Comedy conference!  (Univ of Kent, May 2023.  Sponsored by the good people at The Royal Institute of Philosophy.)  What are the limits of free speech when it comes to comedy?  Can comedy be a form of philosophy?  Do comedians' moral failings make their performances less funny?  Daphna Baram, Andy White, Alexis Dubus and Julian Dodd on the panel, Simon Kirchin chairing, and plenty of folk in the audience - Robin Ince, Rosie Wilby, Lucy O'Brien, Piers Benn, Graeme A. Forbes......

Public Interest - WhatsApp / Religion in Politics / Hate / IWD.  Julian Baggini and Sophie-Grace Chappell chat with Simon Kirchin. 

A special episode discussing the war in Ukraine on the one year anniversary of its invasion. Angie Hobbs, Aaron Wendland and Gerald Lang chat with Simon Kirchin.  Aaron has organised a series of benefit talks supporting academics and students in Ukraine.  (Details near the top of the show.)  17th-19th March. Hosted here: https://civic.ukma.edu.ua/benefit/ 

Constitutional Reforms / Crypto and Effective Altruism / End of Year round-up plus Hopes and Fears for 2023.  Fiona Macpherson, Vittorio Bufacchi and Gerald Lang chat with Simon Kirchin 

Should we watch the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup?  Human rights / Moral consistency / Personal feelings  / and more, including predictions.  Tom McClelland, Lucy O'Brien, Martin O'Neill and Gerald Lang chat with Simon Kirchin. 

Special episode on the 2022 US mid-term elections.  A run-through of the results plus democracy, trust, compromise, Trump, information, media and all the rest.  Julian Baggini, Fiona Macpherson and Chris Carman chat with Simon Kirchin. 

Political mandates and legitimacy / Negotiations / Art and Protest.  Josh Forstenzer and Gerald Lang chat with Simon Kirchin.

The absolute state of UK politics / AI.  Fiona Macpherson and Chris Henry chat with Simon Kirchin. 

Italian elections / Chess, cheating and limits.  Vittorio Bufacchi and Michael Hauskeller join Simon Kirchin to chat about the news in a philosophically-inspired way.

The Queen - monarchism and republicanism / Govt. business under the radar.  Julian Baggini, Graeme A. Forbes and Tom McLelland chat with Simon Kirchin.