Being in the World

Tao sits down with billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen, Chairman of the Berggruen Institute, on the eve of giving his institute's Prize for Philosophy and Culture to Peter Singer. The $1 million award is given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world.    Tao asks some challenging political and ph...

Tao and Dulcinee (writer, director, editor, producer of both films and of the latest  Bombay Beach Biennale,) have an honest, open, and wide ranging conversation about their relationship, including what it's like to work and play together and how to integrate their love and sex life (including consensual power exchange and D/s dynamics,) with their creative and career ambitions and their soci...

A wonderful and unexpectedly coherent conversation, given very little sleep...I had a lot on my mind and managed to express it thanks in large part to Eamon's top notch interviewing skills. Be sure to check out his podcast, Life is a Festival.

A wide ranging discussion in Lake Tahoe with 2 of my favorite people...

Burning Man 2021 was cancelled. 15,000 of us went anyway. Tao and Scott discuss, among many other things, the past 2 decades of Burning Man and what we may learn from the changing nature of the event about anarchist principles. 

ao, Chris and Anya have a three-way… conversation. Sitting in Tao’s shipping container gallery in Yucca Valley, the three of us speak about the interwoven relationship between life, death, sex, pleasure, pain and creativity, and how the absence of death can directly correlate to an absence of eroticism. We question the hypocrisies of mainstream environmentalism, and whether individual action can i...

Tao & Dr. Patrick House have an intimate and philosophical conversation about suicide. 

Anya Kaats is a writer and podcaster determined to redefine the way we think about and construct the world around us. She hosts two podcasts, A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World and Whore Rapport, where she has nuanced conversations about sexuality, gender, grief, trauma, regenerative agriculture, spirituality and more, all aimed to challenge the status quo. anyakaats.com and @anya.kaats on I...

Tao speaks to his dear friend and former sister-in-law, Chloe Cockburn.   Chloe leads Open Philanthropy’s strategy for investing in criminal justice policy and practice reforms to substantially reduce incarceration while maintaining public safety. Prior to joining Open Philanthropy, she oversaw state policy reform work for the ACLU’s Campaign to End Mass Incarceration. Previously, Chloe worke...

Tao talks with his friend and cinematographer, Christopher Gallo.

Gene is an artist and programmer interested in autonomous systems, collective intelligence, generative art, and computer science.  He codes, gives talks, teaches workshops, writes essays, and occasionally curate / organize.  He is interested in advancing scientific literacy through creativity and play, and building educational spaces which are as open and accessible as possible. His work...

Tao & Richard wax philosophical and Richard sings his dirty songs...

The Godmother of Bombay Beach discusses having 3 children before she was 18, the life and death of her first son Roger, her second son Adam's 20 year stint in federal prison for bank robbery, the evolution of Bombay Beach, the role of art and death in our lives, and much more.

Tao with renowned architect, professor, DJ, and Bombay Beach resident and enthusiast, Mark Mack. 

Patrick and Tao discuss the philosophical and scientific implications of virtual reality.

On Jealousy...

Patrick and Tao discuss making babies...do they want to? why or why not?

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli reflect on the relationship between science and philosophy, among other things.

Dr. House gives the talk he gave at the Bombay Beach Biennale on looking for elegance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then he and Tao discuss it.

...and we're back!

Dr. Patrick House and Tao Ruspoli wonder if their optimism for the beginning of the new era may have been premature.

1st  episode of Season 2 of the Being in The World Podcast, with Tao Ruspoli and Dr. Patrick House. Theme: birth and rebirth.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli discuss Roger Scruton's documentary, Why Beauty Matters, platonic ideals of beauty, and why they may be misguided; also celebrity, beauty as a commodity, and more

Part 2 of an ongoing discussion of beauty and the effects of technology on our conception and perception of it.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli take a philosophical, social and scientific approach to issues surrounding freedom of choice, morality, privilege, and lack thereof.