Embrace The Void

My guest this week is Jason Storm, Francis Christopher Oakley Third Century Professor of Religion and chair of science and technology studies at Williams College. He is author of the new book The Genealogy of Genealogy, an ironically critical analysis of a concept commonly thrown around word on the academic left. The Genealogy of Genealogy: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo265...

My guest this week is Nathanael-Israel Israel, author of the book Boldest Scientific Formula of God and Creation , where he claims to have formulated a theory proving which god is the one true god. We discuss the details of that theory as well as additional claims he makes about non-Christian faiths. Boldest Scientific Formula: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1969961015?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plp...

My guest this week is Dr. Steve Novella, one of the founding hosts of Skeptics Guide to the Universe. We discuss the recent issue with one of the SGU cohosts making public posts of an extreme and dehumanizing nature and how to craft guidelines for both what happens on air and for deciding who to collaborate with in general. Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam Wik Sibling Pod: Philosophers in Spa...

My returning guest this week is Jeff Sebo, associate professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Philosophy, and Law, Director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection, Director of the Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program at New York University. He’s recently coauthored two articles on AI Wel...

My guest this week is Fabrizio Bernardi (@fabriberna.bsky.social), a Sociologist at UNED in Madrid who works on educational inequality, social mobility, and social demography. He’s also the editor at European Sociological Review and has co-authored several articles on luck. We discuss how sociology has dealt with luck and how his work seeks to improve that approach. Music by GW Rodriguez Editing b...

My guest this week is Dr. Kathryn Ford, a postdoctoral research fellow at Brunel University where she’s currently working on a project called Spirits and Sources which focuses on issues around belonging among spiritual folks. We discuss the costs and benefits of these sorts of approaches and what it can feel like to live in spaces focused around spirituality. Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam...

My guest this week is Aidan McGlynn, a senior lecturer in philosophy at University of Edinburgh and author of the book Epistemic Injustice: An Introduction. We discuss the various facets of epistemic injustice, the impact it has on people's lives, and how we should think about debates over objective truth. Epistemic Injustice: https://www.routledge.com/Epistemic-Injustice-An-Introduction/McGlynn/p...

My guest this week is Darrel Ray, an organizational psychologist and founder of Recovering from Religion, the Secular Therapy Project, and the Institute for Secular Leadership. Darrel has a new leadership course aimed at helping secular community organizers gain practical tools for thinking about everything from big picture mission questions to the nitty gritty of setting up meetings and delegatin...

My guest this week is Matthew Sheffield, a writer, producer, and media entrepreneur. He hosts The Theory of Change podcast on The Flux network and when he’s not writing about our current political chaos he’s working away at an equally hard problem, that of consciousness in the age of AI. Matt's recent article on AI and consicousness: https://plus.flux.community/p/its-like-this-why-your-perception...

My guest this week is Alex Guerrero, a professor of philosophy at the Rutgers University and author of the book Lottocracy: Democracy without Elections. We talk through the major problems with democracy and how a lottocracy might avoid them, as well as unique concerns of its own. Lottocracy: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lottocracy-9780198938989 Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam Wik...

My returning guest this week is C. Thi Nguyen, a professor of philosophy at the University of Utah, and author of the new book The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game .  We discuss the nature of games, why it's problematic to build a society based on keeping score, and whether or not the real monster is always capitalism. Enjoy! The Score: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/...

My guest this week is Matt McManus, an assistant professor in Political Science at Spelman College, and author of The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism. We discuss his new book and why both liberalism and socialism are essential to move towards a flourishing society. The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism: https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Theory-of-Liberal-Socialism/McManus/p/book/97...

My guest this week is anarchist activist William Gillis, author of the book Did the Science Wars Take Place? The Political and Ethical Stakes of Radical Realism. We cover the many flavors of anti-realism Gillis lays out in his book, and which ones seem harmfully prevalent on the left. Enjoy! Did the Science Wars Take Place? https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/william-gillis-did-the-science-war...

My returning guest this week is the most pleasant of bureaucrats ever to serve the the blood god, associate professor of philosophy at the London school of economics and political science Liam Kofi Bright. Folks might not know this, but when Liam isn’t verifying verification or whatever epistemologists do, he writes some hilarious fanfic about philosophy and logistics in the world of 40k. Since I’...

My guest this week is Alastair Lichten (@humanistdad.bsky.social), a humanist organizer who is particularly interested in the intersection of neurodivergence and secularism. We discuss the theory that being autistic or neurodivergent makes one more likely to be non-religious. Alastair's website: https://humanistdad.uk/2025/09/09/professional_update/ Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam Wik Siblin...

My guest this week is Kevin Bolling, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, the largest organization in the country representing secular and nonreligious students. We discuss how things are going on the youth secular organizing front, including community moderation and coping with the resurgence of White Christian Nationalism. Enjoy! Secular Student Alliance: https://secularstudents.o...

My guest this week is Matthew Facciani (@matthewfacciani.bsky.social‬), a social scientist at Notre Dame and author of the recent book Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How it Spreads, and What to Do about It. We discuss all three topics at length! Enjoy! Misguided: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/misguided/9780231555814/ Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam Wik Sibling Pod: Philosophers in S...

My returning guest this week is Jonathan Church (@jondavidchurch.bsky.social‬), a chartered financial analyst, and author of books like Reinventing Racism: Why White Fragility is the Wrong way to think about racial inequality, and Virtue in an age of identity politics: A stoic approach to social justice. He’s also a contributing editor and podcaster with Merion West. When we last we talked he was...

My guest this week is James Kimmel Jr., a Yale Psychiatry lecturer, lawyer, and founder of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. He has a new book out, The Science of Revenge, that overlaps heavily with my own work on luckpilling, so I was excited to have him on to discuss the problem of revenge addiction. The Science of Revenge: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739999/the-sci...

My returning guest this week is William Paris, an Assistant Professor in the department of philosophy at University of Toronto, as well as one of the cohosts on the wonderful What’s Left of Philosophy Podcast. He’s got a wonderful new book out called Race, Time and Utopia: Critical Theory and the Process of Emancipation and he is very much my guy for all things Utopian so I was very excited to rea...

My returning guest this week is Will Gervais (@willgervais.com‬), a professor who studies evolutionary and cultural psychology at the Centre for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London. He recently published a book called Disbelief: The Origins of Atheism in a Religious Species and it’s genuinely a must read for anyone who either believes in god or doesn’t, so I’ve brought him on to pick...

My guest this week is Arden Hart (@ theardenhart.bsky.social ), host, producer, and editor of The Line on YouTube, a call-in show that focuses on issues around atheism and social justice. She recently gave an excellent talk about transphobia in atheism and skepticism at the American Atheist Conference which we discuss along with her broader work. Arden's American Atheists talk: https://www.youtube...

My guest this week is Mark Marveggio (@unluckywanderer.bsky.social), a PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Adelaide and co-lead author on a paper called Fatalism, Evolution, and Interpersonal Attractiveness: Psychological Theories and Emotions in Incels’ Constructions of Ingroup Identity and Outgroup Hate. We discuss the three major identity discourses they observed in their study, an...

My guest this week is Jonathan Jarry (@jonathanjarry.bsky.social), a science communicator at McGill Office for Science and Society. We discuss his recent expose on how Joe Mercola, millionaire friend of RFK Jr., is completely enthralled to a man claiming to channel a higher dimensional being. It's a wild ride so buckle up! Jonathan’s Expose Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRps3VQ-0BE Music...

My guest this week is Sarah Tulien (@sarahtulien.bsky.social), executive director of the Creator Accountability Network and together we tackle all the best questions and patron names a show could possibly hope for. Music by GW Rodriguez Editing by Adam Wik Sibling Pod: Philosophers in Space: https://0gphilosophy.libsyn.com/ Support us at Patreon.com/EmbraceTheVoid If you enjoy the show, please Lik...