Ethics in Action Podcast

In this eighth episode of our series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Stefan Lorenz Sorgner. Dr. Sorgner is a philosophy professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Director and Co-Founder of the Beyond Humanism Network, Fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), and Editor-in-Chief and Founder of the Journal of Posthuman Studies. Dr. Sorgner is well known for his work on transhumanism, Nietz...

In this seventh episode of our series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Sara Goering. Dr. Goering is Professor of Philosophy, and Core Faculty for the Program on Ethics and the Disability Studies Program at the University of Washington. She co-leads the ethics thrust at the UW Center for Neurotechnology and also spends time discussing philosophy with children in the Seattle public schools, through the UW Center for Phi...

In this sixth episode of our series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Frederic Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert is an Associate Professor in Ethics and the Head of the Discipline for Philosophy at the University of Tasmania. His research focuses on the ethics of novel implantable brain-computer interfaces operated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dr. Gilbert is a pioneer in various aspects of human-computer interaction, particular...

In this fifth episode of our mini-series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Luke Roelofs. Dr. Roelofs is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at Arlington. He is the author of numerous articles as well as the 2019 book Combining Minds: How to Think about Compositive Subjectivity, published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Roelofs’ research explores the metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics of c...

In this fourth episode of the series, we are joined by José del R. Millán. Dr. Millán is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he runs the Clinical Neuroprosthetics and Brain Interaction Lab and holds the Linda Steen Norris & Lee Norris Endowed Chair in Neuroengineering in the Chandra Family Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also a professor in the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical...

In this third episode of our mini-series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Steffen Steinert. Dr. Steinert is an Assistant Professor in the Ethics and Philosophy section at Delft University of Technology. His research focuses on fundamental theoretical issues of ethics and philosophy of technology - particularly the relationship between values and technology, and the link between emotions and technology. I...

In this second episode of our mini-series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Susan Schneider. Dr. Schneider is the founding director of the Center for the Future Mind at Florida Atlantic University, where she is the William F. Dietrich Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. She specializes in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of artificial intelligence, metaphysics, and the philosophy of cognitive science. Dr. Schneide...

In this inaugural episode of our mini-series on brain-computer interfaces, we are joined by Rafael Yuste. Dr. Yuste is Professor of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience at Columbia University, where he directs the Neurotechnology Center. Dr. Yuste is known for his pioneering work on neural circuits and the development of cutting-edge neural imaging techniques, like two-photon calcium imaging. He also co-founded the NeuroRights Foun...

In our final episode in our mini-series on the future of work, we are joined by universal basic income (UBI) advocate and writer Scott Santens. Scott is the founder and president of the Income To Support All Foundation (ITSA Foundation), the Senior Advisor for Humanity Forward, and he also serves on the board of directors of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity and as the editor of Basic Income Today. In this episode, we chat with Sco...

In the third episode of our mini-series on the future of work, we are joined by Brian O'Connor, Professor of Philosophy at University College Dublin. Brian and I discuss the value of idleness in our lives, the burnout caused by the work ethic, and the pressure to view oneself as a project to be continuously realized. We discuss the goods of learning to live more with more idleness - to place less emphasis on our contemporary obsess...

In the first episode of our mini-series on the future of work, we are joined by University of Leeds economist David Spencer. We discuss the experience of alienated labor under contemporary capitalism, the importance of work for meaning and dignity in our lives, and the reduction of the working week. Spencer persuasively makes the case for less but better work and how we might imagine a better world of work. Check out his excellent ...

We continue our series on the war in Ukraine. In this episode Vlado and I talk to journalist and anthropologist Alisa Sopova about what everyday life feels  like in Ukraine as the war passes the 100 day mark. We discuss the regional differences in how the conflict is perceived, we ask whether Ukrainians have different views about Russian politicians and ordinary Russians, and we also talk about how Ukrainians perceive assistance fr...

We continue our series on the war in Ukraine.  Our guest is Vesko Garcevic, former ambassador of Montenegro to NATO, OSCE, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Vesko is currently Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University.

We talk about what it means to diplomatically engage with Russia and whether it makes sense to think of it as a pariah state. We ...

Vladimir Putin wants to put Russia back on the map as a great power. But what does it even mean to be a great power in the nuclear age? Is that idea still coherent? If it is, can Russia be such a power? And how is Putin using history to frame this quest? What does his framing reveal about him and about contemporary Russia?

The second in a series of conversations with historian Vladimir Petrovic about the implications of Russia's ...