• 17 minutes 44 seconds
    Monima Chadha on Responsibility Without Selves

    Buddhist philosophy rejects the idea of the self. How then can there be any moral responsibility? Monima Chadha, Professor of Indian Philosophy at Oxford University, explains.

    This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations

    18 May 2026, 5:04 pm
  • 17 minutes 12 seconds
    Carissa Veliz on Prophecy

    Predictions aren't quite what they seem to be, according to Carissa Véliz, author of the book Prophecy. They often are intended to persuade you of the inevitability of a certain outcome, and may be self-fulfilling to some degree. Yet they look like simple factual claims about what is likely to happen. We need to be far more aware of the role of prediction in our everyday lives, according to Véliz.

    11 May 2026, 11:00 am
  • 26 minutes 42 seconds
    Chike Jeffers on Douglass and Du Bois

    Frederick Douglass and W.E.B Du Bois were two prominent African-Americans who made a significant impact on the civil rights movement in the US. Douglass is particularly associated with the 19th Century abolitionism, and Du Bois with 20th C. pan-Africanism. In this interview Chike Jeffers puts them in their context and introduces some of their key ideas.

    This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.

    20 April 2026, 1:28 pm
  • 15 minutes 57 seconds
    Alexander Guerrero on Lottocracy

    Democracy isn't working so well, so why not use a lottery system to choose representatives instead? Alexander Guerrero discusses his version of this old idea in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

    24 March 2026, 5:01 pm
  • 21 minutes 55 seconds
    Tarun Khaitan on Decolonising Institutions

    Narendra Modi has spoken of "decolonising" India including its post-colonial constitution Are philosophical criticisms of this constitution well-founded? Tarun Khaitan of the London School of Economics discusses.

    This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.

    26 February 2026, 9:44 am
  • 15 minutes 29 seconds
    Janet Radcliffe Richards on What is Philosophy?

    Philosophers argue endlessly about what philosophy is. Janet Radcliffe Richards suggests that a simple way to approach this question is to examine what we think about inconsistencies. She uses an example from medical ethics, the question of whether selling of organs should be permitted, to make her point.

    24 January 2026, 4:47 am
  • 15 minutes 33 seconds
    Chike Jeffers on Africana Philosophy

    David Edmonds talks to Chike Jeffers of Dalhousie University about Africana Philosophy.

    This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.

    1 January 2026, 6:57 pm
  • 23 minutes 50 seconds
    Angie Hobbs on Plato on Power
    11 December 2025, 9:06 am
  • 21 minutes 2 seconds
    Samuel Scheffler on Grief and Time

    Grief is affected by the passage of time in a way that some attitudes and emotions aren't. Samuel Scheffler explores why this might be so in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

    21 November 2025, 5:22 pm
  • 21 minutes 36 seconds
    Edouard Machery on Variations in Responses to Thought Experiments

    Philosophers who use thought experiments often believe their own intutions in response to them are unviersal. But that's not always so. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Edouard Machery discusses his research on this topic, and some of his surprising conclusions.

    This episode was made in association with the Institute of Philosophy and supported by the Ideas Workshop which is part of the Open Society Foundations

    2 November 2025, 5:32 pm
  • 23 minutes 11 seconds
    Lewis Gordon on Frantz Fanon

    Frantz Fanon, who was born in Martinique, died aged 36. He nevertheless made very significant contributions to the discussion of racism and colonialism, influenced strongly by the existentialist tradition. In this episode of the Philosphy Bites podcast David Edmonds discusses Fanon, his ideas, his cultural background, and his impact, with Lewis Gordon, author of What Fanon Said.

    17 October 2025, 7:45 am
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