Jay Shapiro breaks down arguments being presented by popular thinkers such as Sam Harris and from Zionists who defend Israel. He walks through the complications of deciphering the popularity of Islamism and Jihadism and Hamas and he outlines the mentality of "tribal essentialism".He teases a trilogy of upcoming episodes with Gideon Levy, Richard English, and Miko Peled. In this episode he discusses: Deciphering IDF intentions Settler expansion Roman Abramovich Birthright Zionism as Colonialism T...
Feb 22, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 12
David Livingstone Smith has been studying "dehumanization" for decades and has written three books on the subject. In this episode Jay and Smith apply his findings to the current conflict in Israel and broaden their scope to examine how a rising modern factor of "Distance" interplays with violence.
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Jay Shapiro's personal essay and account of how the disfigurement of American Judaism has forged an existential crisis for something much bigger than survival of the state of Israel.
Oct 25, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 10
A nuanced look at the morality of intentions and self-deceptions in the Israel Palestinian conflict. A look at the moral distinction between collateral damage, intentional civilian targeting, and something much more common and psychologically complex which the Jewish experience makes Israel particularly suspectable to. Referenced in this episode: The Rest Is Politics - Husam Zomlot The Rest Is Politics - Yuval Noah Harari Slavoj Zizek - Bookfair Speech on Israel and Palestine Essay published at ...
Oct 20, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Is there any hope for that strained or broken relationship that's become a causality of the political divide? Is common ground found best by going towards our superficial commonalities or in the direction of our deepest existential fears and hopes? Are the toxic business models of social media too much for us to overcome? Monica Guzman is the blue leaning daughter of two Trump voting Mexican immigrants and is the head of storytelling for Braver Angels - an organization dedicated to healing our p...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 50 min•Season 3Ep. 7
What is it like to be a baseball bat? This episode is a dive into the philosophical approach known as Object Oriented Ontology (OOO) with the author and philosopher Ian Bogost. Ian Bogost is a video game designer, author, and philosopher known for his most recent book Play Anything , but this episode is all about his book Alien Phenomenology: or What is it Like to be a Thing?
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Season 3Ep. 8
How many countries are there? 197? 193? 180? It depends who you ask and who is counting. What constitutes a "state"? How does that differ from a "nation"? Why do certain claims of self determined statehood go unrecognized while others are accepted and others are disputed. How do we respond to Putin's actions in Ukraine? How does the diminished and tarnished role of US global leadership affect world stability? Will Europe step up and fill the void? Is China really the threat that we fear they are...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Does 2+2 really equal 4? What realm of truth am I in when I speak about my pain? What kind of truth claim is it to speak about the existence of "Poland"? How about the existence of ghosts and gods? Spencer Greenberg breaks down his taxonomy of truth claims to help us better understand what we and others might be saying when we declare something to be true. He also lays out his personal philosophy of Valuism, a deceptively simple yet illuminating framework that can guide your behavior and focus y...
Jan 17, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Is it possible that the default position of libertarianism which has so deeply influenced politics, economics, and philosophy since the enlightenment could produce an ecosystem which stalls our ability to handle the existentially daunting task of freedom? Does the political structure of libertarianism dissolve into a fantasy the moment it encounters a problem of the commons like COVID or climate change? Is a conception of libertarianism as a "freedom from" preferrable to a conception of it as a ...
Jan 10, 2022•2 hr 17 min•Season 3Ep. 4
What if much of what we do to our children works directly against what we profess we ultimately want for them? Alfie Kohn argues that things like homework, grades, systems of praise and punishment, reward and sanction, and generally the enforcement of an atmosphere of fierce competition in education all undermine our stated goals. So are the goals wrong? Are the goals false? Or is something much more fundamental to society in need of a major rethink? Alfie Kohn is an accomplished author, speaker...
Jan 03, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Is abortion ever morally permissible? Is it always wrong? Are there any morally valid exceptions? Do any if the answers to these questions demand a certain kind of legal limitation? Where and how do we ground any of these contemplations? In this philosophical dive into the fraught issue of abortion, Jay tangles with Bethel McGrew (Esther O'Reilly) who brings her deeply Christian perspective to the table. Together they look for existential overlap and their deep points of departure. Referenced in...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 57 min•Season 3Ep. 2
You know that strange nagging restlessness that you feel in your core? That difficulty focusing on what's in front of you? That flittering from one path to another to another in the hopes of finally feeling your purpose? That deep dissatisfaction with the ignorance we have about the deepest existential questions of life? This episode is about that restlessness. Benjamin Storey (along with his wife and co-author Jenna Silber-Storey) wrote a fantastic book called Why We Are Restless which traces t...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Do we underestimate the ability of High Schoolers to tackle complex politically charged existential and moral philosophy problems with nuance, intelligence, and compassion? I hope this episode will convince you that we absolutely do. Jay has served as a judge for the High School Ethics Bowl for six years. In this episode he speaks with 5 students who participated this year on the view of the world from high school, their favorite and least favorite cases, their future excitement and trepidation,...
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Quantum mechanics, mathematical robustness, dream state deja vu oddities... these are all things that one would expect to find in a simulated world. Wait, so are we in a simulation? Author, investor, and video game pioneer Rizwan Virk joins Jay for a deep conversation taking on the Simulation Theory first made famous by Nick Bostrom. They strike gold when the conversation shifts to the philosophical and psychological implications of the theory rather than the truth of the theory itself....
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 21
What kind of environmental and individual factors lead to the proliferation of conspiracy theories? Jay is joined by co-authors and researchers Hugo Drochen and Annemarie S Walter to discuss their paper "Conspiracy Thinking in Europe and America: A Comparative Study" . Jay opens by telling his personal story of flirtation with conspiracy and pays homage to a good friend who recently took his own life, Ellery Samson....
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Have artificial intelligence fears been overblown? Are we glossing over the much more pressing issue of weaponized quantum computing? Or are these tandem problems? What the heck is a computer anyway and what would make one "quantum"? Jay discusses these issues and more with philosopher, consultant, and co-Founder of the QC Ethics Initiative (QCEthics.org) Sean Holland. In the open, three famous rules of technology from Arthur C. Clarke help Jay demystify the computer with metal buckets, rocks, r...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Michael Scott Moore was held captive by pirates in Somalia for 977. He recounts what philosophies and psychological tactics got him through the experience while he and Jay ponder the moral dilemma of whether or not to pay ransoms to criminals and terrorists. Discussed in this episode: stoicism, a message from the Pope, living with guilt and gratitude, the elasticity of the human mind, and the loose analogy to being held captive by COVID-19. Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up w...
Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 19
On the using of the word "coup" to describe the events in Washington on Jan 6 2021. Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, plans a live event, or has an urgent book or film recommendation at whatjaythinks.com
Jan 09, 2021•14 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Seth Andrews was a Christian Radio host in Tulsa Oklahoma before he began his intellectual journey to atheism. Jay and Seth discuss the philosophies underpinning the religious worldview and how it continues to inform our political landscape. Jay lays out exactly what the title of this episode means with the help of his favorite Richard Feynman clip. Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, pl...
Jan 04, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Why do we avoid intimacy when we know it is the deepest need we have? Scott Barry Kaufman is an author, psychologist, and podcast host. His latest book "Transcend" continues the work of Abraham Maslow who introduced the hierarchy of needs. Jay and Scott discuss: peak experience, 1st order and 2nd order desires, the danger of gurus, the vulnerability of intimacy, the higher grumbles, utopias, and much more. Jay ponders the tragedy of Jonestown and also asks the listeners for a future show idea. S...
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Are the kids alright? Sigal Ben-Porath and Jay discuss the thorny issues of free speech on college campus by first traversing some philosophical groundwork offered by Hannah Arendt. Together they explore what speech is "beyond the pale", "a waste of time", "too dangerous", or simply disingenuous cover for nefarious politics. Ultimately, the questions of what kinds of responsibilities educational (and housing) institutions have to their students and tenants and what the purpose of school really i...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 50 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Jay and his mom Sally talk about old age, being thankful in a strange year, and the lessons they're learning from COVID. Video posted on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oeboanFZOG8 Happy Thanksgiving from Dilemma Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, plans a live event, or has an urgent book or film recommendation at whatjaythinks.com...
Nov 26, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Did Charles Darwin discover something much more fundamental than the origin of species? A defense and exploration of the field of memetics with Professor Susan Blackmore. Jay and Susan make their way through the common confusions, problems, and good and bad questions to ask about memetics. Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, plans a live event, or has an urgent book or film recommendatio...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Jay goes down the dark paths that might lie ahead spurred by the 2020 US election with Mike Selinker. Mike is an award winning game designer and game theorist who writes frequently about politics. What are the historical analogies that could warn us and help us steer clear of the dangers? This episode follows the format of Mike's viral essay "A wargame designer defines our four possible civil wars". Available here: https://medium.com/@mikeselinker/a-wargame-designer-describes-our-four-possible-c...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 12
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. Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he wri...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 11
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." Subscribe to Jay's...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 10
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/ Subscribe to Jay's low key email reminders to keep up with when he writes something new, releases something new, appears as a guest on something, plans a live event, or has an urgent book or film recommendation at whatjaythinks.com...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 9
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. Also discussed in this episode...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 8
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. This conversation was recorded on August 18th, 2020, in New York City's Central Park, 10 days before the death of the star of Black ...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 43 min•Season 2Ep. 7
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. Ultimately, Frankish...
Aug 25, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 6
