The Podcast of Things

Is there such a thing as human nature, or is it just a story humans tell themselves to make sense of the world and justify various relationships of domination? If it does exist, how might it be defined? And does it matter whether or not there is such a thing as human nature?

What is the relationship between Trinity College and its host city of Hartford? How can Trinity students disrupt and work around the extractive, dominating posture that their institution necessarily takes towards Hartford in order to truly support the city? More generally, how can people who want to make positive social change navigate the dual dangers of reformist institutional engagement and the anti-institutional projects that are limited by the absence of the vast resources that institutions possess?

What is SAMI? What do we realistically hope to achieve through this organization? How can we use a critique of mass incarceration to imagine a better future, and how can students work toward that future? What would a just America look like?

Are the differences between African and European political philosophy pronounced or exaggerated? How resonant is 'African Socialism' with actual African societies today in the Malawian context? And does appealing to a uniquely African ethics and philosophy pave a progressive path or reaffirm colonial logics of inherent difference?

Why do we value the lives of humans over the lives of other animals? What is a species? How do we differentiate between categories that are socially constructed and those that are biological fact?

Do prisons work as a remedy for violence? How should prisons and policing be understood as systems of violence themselves? Why are the current punitive systems considered "common sense"?

Do we have any agency over our lives? Is the universe predetermined or random? Does science tell us that destiny and fate are real?

Should we tear down monuments? Can art have objective value? What is art?

What is consciousness? What is the self? Is the mind the same as the brain?