The Man who Solved Kindness

In November 1979, Flight 901 departs New Zealand on a sightseeing journey over Antarctica, heading directly towards a volcano. When the plane vanishes, investigators are left with a mystery: how could a seasoned pilot miss a 12,000-foot peak? As they try to piece together the inc ...  Show more

This episode comes to you from the new podcast Drug Story, which investigates the origins, workings and cautionary tales behind today's medical interventions. In this episode, host Thomas Goetz investigates the rise of Xanax, a drug used to treat anxiety that has become one of th ...  Show more

It’s hard to stay hopeful these days. Stanford professor Jamil Zaki has been studying the incredible depth of human kindness for decades, but even he gives in to cynicism when he doubts our ability to be civil and cooperative.  That’s a shame - because shedding cynicism and grasp ...  Show more

On The Basis of Morality (1840), Part III: "The Founding of Ethics," Ch. 5: "Statement and Proof of the Only True Moral Incentive." Everything up to this point in the book has been negative: Morality can't be founded on pure reason as Kant thinks, or on the idea of the good life ...  Show more

Eckhart says the world is not here to make us happy, it’s here to make us conscious. If we are looking for fulfillment in a particular relationship, job or life circumstances, we may find disappointment instead. Eckhart says we find peace when we let go of the demand that people ...  Show more

How much should we really value altruism?

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes

From charity-givers, to those who sacrifice themselves in war for others, we see altrusim and selflessness as virtues to be applauded. Thos ...