Philosopher's Zone podcast

Philosopher's Zone

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

 

#241

Environmental techno-utopias: building nature better

Conservation is the name of the game in most ecological thinking - but in the eyes of some... more

22 Oct 2025

56 MINS

56:10

22 Oct 2025


#240

Slopaganda

Are you troubled by the way that social media has enabled the spread of propaganda? Well, ... more

14 Oct 2025

35 MINS

35:55

14 Oct 2025


#239

Indigenous literature and the academy in Australia

As an academic discipline, Australian literature has been a largely white affair, with the... more

09 Oct 2025

28 MINS

28:28

09 Oct 2025


#238

Albert Camus, fascism and America

Living and writing through the years before, during and after the Second World War, French... more

02 Oct 2025

46 MINS

46:40

02 Oct 2025


#237

What beauty apps are doing to us

Beauty apps are becoming more and more miraculously high-tech, but also more and more inva... more

25 Sep 2025

33 MINS

33:22

25 Sep 2025


#236

Are babies conscious?

Babies cry, smile, laugh and react to their environment - so it seems odd to look at a bab... more

18 Sep 2025

41 MINS

41:31

18 Sep 2025


#235

How AI could transform reading

If there's one thing AI has in common with all new technology, it's that a lot of people a... more

10 Sep 2025

28 MINS

28:52

10 Sep 2025


#234

Is it time to get rid of legal gender status?

Most of us have Male or Female registered on our birth certificates - but what does this c... more

04 Sep 2025

35 MINS

35:51

04 Sep 2025


#233

Who's responsible for extreme beliefs?

It's easy to say that people who hold extreme antisocial beliefs should be held responsibl... more

27 Aug 2025

31 MINS

31:42

27 Aug 2025


#232

Is a blobfish beautiful or ugly? Science, aesthetics and the natural world

The 2019 bushfires that devastated the east coast of Australia had one upside: the smoke i... more

21 Aug 2025

32 MINS

32:08

21 Aug 2025


#231

Who's responsible for solving the world's problems—me, or The System?

When it comes to global problems like climate change, it can be easy to feel as though you... more

14 Aug 2025

37 MINS

37:10

14 Aug 2025


#230

Disability, discrimination and disgust: why gut issues are a philosophical problem

Digestive disorders are a common source of distress and social anxiety - which might seem ... more

08 Aug 2025

28 MINS

28:28

08 Aug 2025


#229

Nature, gender and discomfort with 'woke' language

When someone complains about feeling pressure to use 'woke' language, their discomfort is ... more

31 Jul 2025

33 MINS

33:31

31 Jul 2025


#228

What's the time? Indigenous temporalities and the 'Everywhen'

We tend to think of time as a universal experience, something that carries us all along in... more

24 Jul 2025

29 MINS

29:30

24 Jul 2025


#227

Is it time to bring back natural philosophy?

Once upon a time, what we now call scientists were known as "natural philosophers". These ... more

17 Jul 2025

33 MINS

33:19

17 Jul 2025


#226

Judgement and remorse: a conversation with Raimond Gaita

Is it possible to have judgement without blame? And what does it mean to say - as Socrates... more

10 Jul 2025

28 MINS

28:25

10 Jul 2025


#225

Freud, Wittgenstein and the unconscious

We routinely refer to "the unconscious" in a way that suggests we all agree on what it mea... more

03 Jul 2025

29 MINS

29:56

03 Jul 2025


#224

Buddhism and nationalism

Buddhism in the West is often thought of as an ethical or philosophical system first and f... more

26 Jun 2025

32 MINS

32:16

26 Jun 2025


#223

Philosophy's problem with its history

Analytic philosophy has often understood itself as being in some sense "above" history - u... more

19 Jun 2025

28 MINS

28:25

19 Jun 2025


#222

Authority and medical diagnosis

Medical diagnosis these days is not as straightforward as it seems. Doctors still diagnose... more

11 Jun 2025

28 MINS

28:40

11 Jun 2025


#221

Nationalism and immigration

Nationalism is often associated with rightwing politics and anti-immigration sentiment - b... more

05 Jun 2025

33 MINS

33:12

05 Jun 2025