Ep. 17 - Philosophy Blogging with Sashin & Sarah Runcie

This episode takes a young philosophy blogger, Sashin of www.sashinexists.com - hell bent on making a living out of translating and reinterpreting the great thinkers of the world - and places his interview under the gaze of that highly esteemed publishing world luminary, Sarah Runcie, who recently was appointed as CEO of the Brisbane Writers Festival. He starts off with a treatise on Lying by Sam Harris, then wades into deeper waters by looking at Alan Watts’ the meaning of work, dumps us into the deep end by looking at the dark and light sides of Stephen Pinker’s the Negativity Bias - before finally letting us splash around in the shallows with The Fun Criterion by David Deutsche. Or is it shallow? Sarah Runcie doesn’t even blink - and as it turns out is a bit of a philosophy nerd herself, referencing Plato and Heraclitus, and surmising that blogging is really an extension of the philosophical tradition of refining thought through dialogue. 

The problem of running a festival during COVID? No problem says Sarah. It expands the audience participation, and opens new possibilities. Sashin would quote Marie Kondo’s philosophy - concluding that Sarah is doing what sparks her joy. Or Karl Popper on problem solving. ‘Birds fly, fish swim, humans solve problems,’ says Sashin. Listen in to this surprisingly fun episode which sees Sashin share his fascination with the human mind and its propensity for compassion; and the wonderful Sarah Runcie whose Fun Criterion is well in place when she gives access to storytelling - including the great oral traditions of our indigenous people.

Original broadcast date: 16 November 2020