The Book of Minds: Philip Ball on Animals, Plants, AI, and Consciousness
Am I conscious? Yes. How about you, or a chimpanzee or a parrot? Almost definitely. What about an oak tree, a bacterium, an electron, or God? In The Book of Minds: How To Understand Ourselves and Othe...
2 Elo 20221h 16min
Novel of the Apes: On T.C. Boyle's Talk To Me, Amitav Ghosh, and Animals in Fiction
In T.C.Boyle's 2021 novel Talk To Me, one of the main characters is a chimpanzee. It's a fascinating study in how humans respond to other apes, and an ambitious experiment in imagining what it might b...
19 Heinä 20221h 1min
Happy Birthday, Henry David Thoreau: On Walden and Social Justice, with Alda Balthrop-Lewis
Today marks the 205th birthday of Henry David Thoreau, and to celebrate, I brought on Alda Balthrop-Lewis, author of Thoreau's Religion: Walden Woods, Social Justice, and the Politics of Asceticism. W...
12 Heinä 20221h 9min
The Future Is Degrowth, with Aaron Vansintjan
Today's topic is "degrowth": What does it mean? Is it actually desirable? How could we achieve it? And do we really need to confront economic growth if we want to fight climate change and build a just...
28 Kesä 20221h 7min
Steve Brusatte on Our Mammal Past and the Science of Jurassic World
Today's guest is paleontologist Steve Brusatte, author of the new book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us, previously the author of The Rise and F...
21 Kesä 202246min
The Science and Ethics of Animal Dreams, with David M. Peña-Guzmán
Today I talk with David M. Peña-Guzmán about his new book When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness. David is associate professor of humanities and liberal studies at San Francisco ...
14 Kesä 202255min
Obituaries for Extinct Animals, with Hannah Seo
My guest for the 20th(!) episode is science journalist Hannah Seo--we talked about her reporting on the tragic demise of the Christmas Island forest skink and the Bramble Cay melomys, two extinct spec...
7 Kesä 202238min
Kate Soper on the Pleasures of Post-Growth Living
Philosopher Kate Soper explains why going beyond consumerism won't just help the environment--it will make us happier. Together we discuss a slower-paced world with fewer cars, less work, less stuff, ...
24 Touko 20221h 10min
