Hotel Bar Sessions
ചാനൽ വിവരങ്ങൾ
Hotel Bar Sessions
where the real philosophy happens
സമീപകാല എപ്പിസോഡുകൾ
222 എപ്പിസോഡുകൾ
Eternity
What does it mean to speak of eternity? Is eternity best understood as infinite time, stretching endlessly forward and backward, or as something wholl...

Crowds and Mobs
What makes the difference between a crowd singing in unison at a concert and a mob storming the gates of power?
In this episode, the hosts take...

Free Will (with Mark Balaguer)
When we make choices, are these choices free? That is, are we able to choose one thing over another, to do one thing rather than another, independent...

How The Manosphere Killed Cool (with Robin James)
This week, we're joined by scholar, editor, and philosopher, Robin James, to talk about her provocative recent essay entitled “We’re through being Coo...

The "Expertise" Crisis
Today, there seems to be an intense distrust of experts in all sorts of fields. From medical experts in the Centers for Disease Control and the Depart...

MINIBAR: Cancer
Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar" sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

MINIBAR: In Defense of Metaphysics
Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar: sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

MINIBAR: Living in Occupied D.C.
Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar: sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

Arendt's "Banality of Evil"
This week, the HBS hosts discuss Hannah Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil.
In 1961, Adolf Eichmann was put on trial in Israel for crimes...

Major Life Changes
In this week’s episode, the HBS hosts talk about positive and negative major life changes.
While change is a part of life, major c...

Doomscrolling
We all doomscroll. Often late at night, we scroll through social media or news feeds for a “minute,” which turns into hours. We seem to be chasing bad...

NPC Energy
Are you even playing the game?
In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-hosts Rick Lee, Talia Mae Bettcher, and Leigh M. Johnson dive deep into...

Public Philosophy (with Kate Manne)
Is public philosophy just academic outreach in a new outfit, or is it something else entirely? In this episode, we're joined by Kate Manne (Cornell Un...

Silence
What do we mean when we talk about silence? Is it the absence of sound—or something more complicated? In this episode, we dig into the many meanings o...

The War on "Radical Ideology"
This week, we're unpacking the Trump administration’s war on so-called “radical ideology”—a campaign targeting what it calls “gender ideology” and “e...

Sovereignty
Who or what rules the world today? And by what right?
In this episode, your favorite philosophers-on-tap—Talia Bettcher, Rick Lee, and Leigh M....

Interpretation
The central debate this week? Whether interpretation goes “all the way down.” Leigh stakes out a position, arguing that even the simplest acts of clar...

Panic Now? (with Ira Allen)
Is it time to panic? In this episode, we invite rhetorician Ira Allen to the bar to explore the possibility that, yes, it might be—and that panic isn’...

Private Parts
How can we talk, or think, about "private parts" in a philosophical way?
In this provocative and unexpectedly tender episode of Hotel Bar Sessio...

The Future of the University
Can the University be saved? Should it be saved?
In this sobering and timely episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-hosts Leigh M. Johnson, Rick Lee...

Cringe
In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, your favorite philosophical trio—Leigh Johnson, Rick Lee, and Talia Bettcher—dive headfirst into the squirmy, c...

Tragic Temporality (with Sean Kirkland)
Sean Kirkland unpacks living on the edge of "was" and "not yet."
What if time isn’t just something we move through—but something that shapes us,...

What is Philosophy?
In this season-opening episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Rick Lee and Leigh Johnson welcome new co-host Talia Mae Bettcher, a leading voice in trans phil...

REPLAY: Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua)
What can Frantz Fanon and Friedrich Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
[NOTE: This episode originally aired on October 1...

REPLAY: Trans Philosophy (with Talia Mae Bettcher)
The HBS co-hosts learn why it's not just about pronouns.
[This episode originally aired in November 2023.]
In recent years, society...

Fearless Speech (Foucault on Parrhesia)
Who, if anyone, is speaking truth to power these days?
In the Season 12 finale of Hotel Bar Sessions, we take a deep dive into Michel Foucault’s...

Are Universals "Real"?
Do universals “exist”? Are they real? And why are we talking about porcupines so much?!
In this episode, Leigh, Rick, and Devonya dive headfirst...

Totalitarianism (with Peg Birmingham)
Can democracy be saved from totalitarianism?
In this episode, the co-hosts are joined by political theorist Dr. Peg Birmingham (DePaul Universi...

El roto, Lo huachafo, Lo jodido (with Carlos Amador)
Carlos Amador on Latin American aesthetics, precarity, and what it means to be completely f*cked.
In this episode, the HBS crew welcomes Carlos...

The Establishment Clause
This week, we're pulling up a seat at the intersection of faith, governance, and democracy as we take on the Establishment Clause—that little First Am...

DEI Then and Now (with Paul Breines)
Who's afraid of DEI? And why?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives have become institutional mainstays in corporat...

Decorum
When does decorum keep us civil-- and when does it keep us silent?
From courtroom etiquette to the Oval Office, from department meetings to NFL...

Unruly Identity (with Falguni Sheth)
Who gets to decide who we are?
In this episode, Rick Lee and Devonya Havis pull up a chair with philosopher and political theorist Falguni Sheth...

Ambiguity
When nothing is clear, how do we decide?
Many people prefer their morality to be straightforward—right or wrong, good or bad, clear as day. But...

Trust
Can anyone be trusted anymore?
Trust is the glue that holds our social world together, yet it’s one of the most fragile bonds we have. In this e...

Judgment
Who gets to judge right and wrong? And on what grounds?
In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Leigh, Rick, and Devonya talk about judgme...

Responsibility
How, and for what, are we responsible?
What does it even mean to be responsible? Is it about blame? Credit? Or something else entirely?
L...

Authority
Is ChatGPT usurping the authority of the "Author"? Or is it just a pretender to the throne?
We're opening up the question of "authority" to exte...

Revenge
The HBS co-hosts savor the complexities of a dish best served cold.
Is revenge ever ethical? Can it be a form of justice, or is it always about...

Virtue
Is "virtue" an outdated concept? And why is there a bear in this classroom?!
This week at the hotel bar, Rick, Devonya, and Leigh are digging de...