Dilemma Podcast

We often hear about racism, sexism, classism, and other familiar kinds of discrimination. But there is a bias which might dwarf them all, discrimination against unattractive people.

Jay Shapiro speaks with philosopher, author, and researcher Francesca Minerva on the topic of "Lookism" and introduces John Rawls' famous "Veil of Ignorance" thought experiment to consider just how challenging this type of discrimination is...

What does travel mean? Why has formal philosophy largely ignored the question? Just how strange is it to release a book on travel in the time of a global lock down and what exactly is the world missing right now? Jay introduces Frank Jackson's famous "Mary's Room" thought experiment to consider the notion of experience vs imagination in the context of travel.

Jay and Emily swap travel stories of giant Pringles cans in Ghana and Christmas villages in Alaska...

Are virtual worlds any different than real worlds?

A mother is reunited with her deceased daughter in virtual reality for a South Korean TV show.

Jay Shapiro speaks with Associate Professor and author Candi Cann about the ways in which technology is intersecting with death and grief rituals. Professor Cann's book on the subject is available here.

Find a bonus conversation with Adelle Archer, the founder of eterneva diamonds at dilemmapodcast...

“Illusionists deny that experiences have phenomenal properties and focus on explaining why they seem to have them”

In part 1 of this 2 part interview Jay discusses what exactly is meant by this statement from renowned philosopher of mind and author Keith Frankish...

In part 2 of this conversation, Keith Frankish and Jay talk about the implications of the illusionists view of mind and consciousness. They forecast the moral, social, and political fallout of a world which would embrace illusionism while lamenting the confused state of conversations being exported to the public on this subject.

Jay recalls a depressing experience in Iceland with a Buddhist monk ill-equipped to handle deserving inquiries into the mysteries of mind and death...

Chloe Valdary, Coleman Hughes, and Jay Shapiro consider the analogies and lessons of Marvel's Black Panther.

Discussed in this episode: tensions with policing, Black Lives Matter, the original Black Panther movement of the 60's, the differing philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and the eternal task of the superhero to resist our darkest impulses...

David Goldberger was raised as a proud Jew. In 1977, he was working as a civil liberties attorney for the ACLU in Illinois when a Neo-Nazi named Frank Collin knocked on his door claiming his first amendment rights were being violated. In this episode David Goldberger revisits the famous Supreme Court case, National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.  Jay and David tease out the complications of free speech and what has changed, if anything, since 1977...

Jay tackles the age old question of philosophically defining art with the incredible street artist SWOON (Caledonia Curry). Together they wonder, can machines make art?

Swoon's recent piece: The Medea

https://swoonstudio.org/#/the-canyon/

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What do you NOT want to know?

Jay is joined by the prolific and influential behavior economist Cass Sunstein for a conversation about his latest book: Too Much Information.

Discussed in this episode: The Garden of Eden, Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept metrics, the social media habit, the right to know vs the consequences of information, the usefulness of informing one's vote, the focus of attention and editorial choices, and whether Cass really did "ruin popcorn...

A look at the philosophical side of sports and what we can learn about human behavior in the time of COVID altered stadiums.

Jay speaks with veteran sports writer Jon Wertheim as they focus in a particular chapter from his book Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won all about "home field advantage" and what exactly caused home teams to win so much... before COVID changed everything...