In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Melissa Eddy about the life and chancellorship of Angela Merkel. They discuss Merkel’s general themes and profile, gender and fashion, and her East German origins. They talk about her major achievements, criticisms, interactions with world leaders, her legacy, and many more topics. Melissa Eddy is a journalist based in Berlin who covers German business, economics, and politics for The New York Times. She has covered Chancellor Angela Merkel sin...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 10 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Musa al-Gharbi about the new elite, “wokeness,” and symbolic capitalism. They discuss why we should still care about “wokeness” and cancel culture, history of the four great “awokenings,” and sincerity of those that have “woke” beliefs. They define and discuss symbolic capitalism, people denying their new elite status, defining “woke” and the history of the word. They talk about “wokeness” as a new religion, the anti-woke, DEI, and many more to...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 58 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Chaffetz about the history of the horse and impact with empires. They discuss the origins of the horse and living alongside humans, herding and horse milk, domesticating the horse and riding horses. They talk about the Steppe environment, rise of chariots, the Scythians and mounted combat, horses used within empires, and China’s relationship with horses. They talk about the Kushans, Turks, Chinggis Khan, Timur, WWI, and many more topics. ...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 15 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Updegrove about the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson. They discuss the elusive figure of LBJ, his intuition for politics, and ascending to the Presidency. They talk about the “Johnson treatment,” Civil Rights, Lady Bird, and his war on poverty. They discuss his foreign policy, not running for re-election in 1968, legacy, and many more topics. Mark Updegrove is the president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and serves as Presidential Historian for...
Oct 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Bruce Gordon about a history of the Bible. They discuss the origins of how the Bible formed in the 2nd Century, original audience of the Bible, Codex and canonization and how we got 66 books. They talk about original languages, the Bible as an icon and symbol, different ways of reading and interpreting the Bible, and the impact of the Gutenberg Press. They talk about the King James Bible (KJV), missions, global legacy, and many other topics. Br...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 41 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Renée DiResta about misinformation and digital delusions. They define misinformation and disinformation, rise of influencers, and incentive structures. They discuss audience capture, online ethical responsibilities, the Twitter files, election interference, and many other topics. Renée DiResta is the former technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, a cross-disciplinary program of research, teaching, and policy engagement ...
Sep 23, 2024•56 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alice Driver about immigrants working at meatpacking factories. They discuss moral beauty in immigrants work, immigrants who work in meatpacking factories, and how the factories operate. They talk about onsite medical clinics, the Clintons relationship with Tyson Foods, and challenges during the pandemic. They discuss the class action lawsuit against Tyson Foods, future of the industry, and many more topics. Alice Driver is a writer and author....
Sep 19, 2024•51 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Paul North and Paul Reitter about their new English translation of Karl Marx’s Capital I. They discuss their process editing and translation Capital I, the 2nd German edition and various English and French translations, and the motivations for Marx. They discuss Marx’s thought and Marx’s impact, his main thesis in Capital I, and some of the interactions with Hegel’s thought. They also talk about Marx’s labor theory of value, the enduring legacy...
Sep 16, 2024•1 hr 29 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marlene Laruelle about the rise of Illiberalism. They talk about liberalism, illiberalism, impact of immigration and socioeconomic issues, and the current and future state of the EU. They discuss Le Pen and far-right in France, Orban in Hungary, the AFD in Germany, and state of Central Eurasian countries. They talk about the Russian-Ukrainian war, motivations of Putin, propaganda, peace in Ukraine, illiberalism in the United States, and many ot...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 31 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Josephine Quinn about a 4,000 year history of the world. They discuss why “the West” is not an accurate or helpful framing, civilizational thinking, importance of sailing, and different people groups in one region. They also talked about the importance of ancient/isolated languages (i.e., Sumerian, Ugaritic), the Iberian regions absorbing elements of the Levant in the 2nd Millennium, invention of Greece, Rome and Byzantium, Crusades, the idea o...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 41 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lindsay Chervinsky about the presidency of John Adams. They provide an overview of Adams’s presidency, maintaining the cabinet, the XYZ affair, Alien and Sedition Acts, Fries Rebellion, replacing Pickering and McHenry, Election of 1800, legacy of Adams, and many more topics. Lindsay M. Chervinsky a historian of the presidency, political culture, and the government. She is the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library. She...
Sep 02, 2024•1 hr 27 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Steven Mithen about the evolutionary history of language. They discuss the language puzzle, provide an overview of human evolution, importance of bipedalism, and fossil record gaps. They discuss different human species, how language works, origins and spread of different languages, and the physiology of speech. They also talk about the neurology of language, language evolving over time, language connected with thinking and emotions, future of l...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 11 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Benjamin Nathans about the Soviet dissident movement. They discuss how he complied all of the narratives together, why the Soviet dissident movement matters and how the Soviet legal system was used. They discuss civil disobedience vs. civil obedience, Alexander Volpin, Sinyavsky-Daniel affair, and what rights looked like in the Soviet Union. They talked about the makeup of the dissident movement, the Red Square demonstration, Initiative group, ...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 35 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Brett Loyd on political polling. They discuss what polls can and cannot tell us, sample size, random sampling, flex quotas, weighting variables, and sample characteristics. They talk about question order and wording on polling surveys, phone and online polling, internal vs. external polling and national vs. state polls. They talk about how pollsters got the 2016 election wrong, characteristics of a Trump voter, and education level. They talk ab...
Aug 19, 2024•2 hr 14 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Isaac Nakhimovsky about the holy alliance. They discuss understanding current events through historical events, what is the holy alliance, “friend of mankind,” debates around the holy alliance, La Harpe and Czartoryski, Krug, Kant, and history of religion, league of nations, and the holy alliance today. Isaac Nakhimovsky is Associate Professor of History and Humanities at Yale University. Previously, he was research fellow at Emmanuel College a...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 46 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Elizabeth Saunders on elites dictating foreign policy. They discuss negative public opinion, the elites comprised of military, administration, and legislators, and the differences with hawks and doves. They talk about McNamara and LBJ in Vietnam, Truman, Korea, and Taiwan, and Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq. They also discuss Obama on Syria, future insider’s games, and many more topics. Elizabeth Saunders is Professor of Political Science at Colu...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 43 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Arik Kershenbaum about why and how animals communicate with each other. They discuss the differences between language and communication in animals, respectfully communicating with animals, and the six animals he studied for communication. They talk about howling in wolves, clicks in dolphins, comprehension in parrots, singing in the hyrax and gibbons, chimps, humans, and many more topics. Arik Kershenbaum is a zoologist and College Lecturer at ...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Nick Romeo on different and alternative economies. They talked about reimagining capitalism, improving economic pedagogy in academia, True Price, a living wage, and Job Guarantee program. They discuss the gig economy, purpose economy, scaling alternative economies, and many more topics. Nick Romeo is a Journalist and Author who has focused his writing on economics, policy, and culture. Currently, he is a writer for The New Yorker and has writte...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 35 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with B. Rosemary Grant on her life and work on genetics and evolutionary change. They discuss an overview of her life and research, her childhood and being raised in England in WWII, her interest in genetics, and moving to Canada and meeting her husband. They discuss how she balanced raising a family and her career, her work over 40 years in the Galapagos Islands, retirement and continued research, her legacy, and many other topics. B. Rosemary Gran...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 2 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Anthony Sattin about the history of Nomads on our planet. They discuss humans as naturally nomadic, Göbekli Tepe, Çatalhöyük and early settlements, Uruk and the epic of Gilgamesh, and domestication of horses. They talk about the Persian empire, Scythian empire, and nomadic identity. They discuss the impact of Islam, Chinggis Khan and the Mongol empire, Ottoman empire, Native Americans, future of nomads, and many more topics. Anthony Sattin is a...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 42 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Adam Forrest Kay about the history and current state of quantum mechanics. They discuss the current state of quantum mechanics, overview of modern physics, and the impact of Niels Bohr. They also talk about light and vision, double slit experiment, Fourier analysis, Schrödinger’s equation, Bell’s theorem, and many other topics. Adam Forrest Kay is a postdoctoral associate in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has two P...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 28 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kenneth Harl about the various nomadic empires of the steppes. They discuss the origins of nomadic peoples, Tocharian texts, and why language is essential for understanding nomadic peoples. They talk about the Turkish language, nomadic spread over 35 centuries, the Steppe, and nomadic identity. They discuss the Scythians, impact of China, Kublai Khan, Uyghurs, administrative might of the Mongols, Orkhon valley and Mongolia, legacy of the Nomadi...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 52 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Alexandre Lefebvre about the many facets of liberalism. They discuss morals and values from liberalism, Christianity’s impact on liberalism and Western society, defining liberalism, and the differences between liberalism and conservatism. They also talk about the philosophy of Rawls, swearing, fairness, spiritual exercises, public dialogue, liberalism as a way of life, and many more topics. Alexandre Lefebvre is Professor of Politics and Philos...
Jun 30, 2024•2 hr 7 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a conversation with Michael Cook about the history of the Muslim world. They discuss Islamic civilization from origins to modernity, early antecedents before Islam, genesis of Islam, and the Prophet Muhammad and his creation of a monotheistic religion and state. They discuss succession after the death of Muhammad and the caliphate, the Umayyid dynasty, the Abbasid dynasty, and how important Islam and the Arabic language were for an Islamic civilization. They t...
Jun 23, 2024•3 hr 22 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tom Chivers about Bayesian probability and the impact Bayesian priors have on ourselves. They define Bayesian priors, Thomas Bayes, subjective aspects of Bayes theorem, and the problematic elements of statistical figures such as Galton, Pearson, and Fisher. They talk about the replication crisis, p-hacking, where priors come from, AI, Friston’s free energy principle, and Bayesian priors in our world today. Tom Chivers is a science writer. He do...
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 17 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Thomas Cech about RNA as a major catalyst in organic systems. They discuss why RNA does not get discussed as much as DNA, basics of DNA, RNA as a catalyst, and the splicing capabilities of RNA. They also talk about transcription, translation, and splicing, RNA as internal catalyst and external catalyst, and the origins of life. They talk about telomeres and extended life, different types of RNA, mRNA vaccines, CRISPR, and many more topics. Thom...
Jun 17, 2024•51 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Wendy Pearlman about the voices from the new Syrian Diaspora. They discuss the various reasons for telling Syrian stories, protests around the world, the ongoing Syrian conflict, concept of home and internal displacement. They also talked about leaving Syria and rebuilding elsewhere, maintaining culture, future of the Syrian diaspora, and many other topics. Wendy Pearlman is Crown Professor of Middle East Studies and Interim Director of Middle ...
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 9 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Eugene Rogan about the 1860 Damascus massacre. They discuss why the 1860 Damascus massacre is still relevant, relationship between Egypt and the Ottomans, Mishaqa as US Vice-Consulate in Damascus, Ottoman Tanzimat Reforms, Druzes and Maronites with rising tensions in Lebanon and Damascus. They also talk about al-Qadir’s influential role, events about the Damascus massacre, defining genocide, aftermath of the massacre, rebuilding Damascus, impac...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 33 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Maxwell Stearns about potential changes to the Constitution. They discuss the general narrative about the US Constitution, overview of his proposed reforms, third parties as spoilers, generational shifting of parties, and history of political parties in the 19th century. They also talked about positive vs. negative rights, gerrymandering, Germany’s Mixed Member Proportionality, problems with ranked choice voting, and many more topics. Maxwell S...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 54 min
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Aziz Rana about the failures of the US Constitution. They discuss the timeframe of 1887-1987, why people resist criticisms of the US Constitution, and creedal constitutionalism. They discuss the positive aspects of the Constitution, empire settlerism and the US state in post-reconstruction era. They discuss the Socialist Party of America, WWI and pro-constitutionalism, the New Deal, and government elites post WWII. They talk about justices with...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 46 min
