Worlds of Speculative Fiction Session 50 - R. Scott Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before

This Saturday, we will host the first of our three sessions in the Worlds of Speculative Fiction series focused on R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy (which is part of his larger Second Apocalypse series).  The session will start at Noon Central Time on Saturday, March 13.

As always in covid-19 times, the session is entirely online, and consists of two parts:

• At 12 PM Central, the video I produced on The Darkness That Comes Before will premiere in my YouTube channel.  I'll be engaging in live chat with viewers as they watch and listen to the video.  Here's the link for that.
• At 1:40 PM Central, viewers who are interested are invited to hop on to a Zoom session to continue the conversation about this great book and the series.  Here's the link for that.

We'll be continuing on the next two months with the second and third book in the series, The Warrior Prophet and The Thousandfold Thought.  If you're a fan of this eminently philosophical fantasy writer and worldbuilder, I hope you can join us for these sessions!

Switching up Authors and Books in the Worlds of Speculative Fiction Series

We're in year six of the Worlds of Speculative Fiction series - which moved from in-person to entirely online due to covid-19 - and I've decided to switch things up a bit.  I had put together a full list of 12 authors and their works (two of which we've done already - Liu Cixin and Philip K. Dick), but as I have been rereading to prepare for the third session, it has struck me that some changes are in order.

The third session was to focus on R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy - The Darkness that Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and the Thousandfold Thought - and we'd try to cover all of that in one single 90-minute video, followed by the usual 90-minute Zoom session.  There's two main obstacles to that.

One is that it's a LOT of reading.  Bakker's books are quite readable, but there's a number of characters, many connected sub-plots, and a ton of world-building revealed in each of them.  They come in at about 600, 640, and 540 pages.  So, just a bit under 1,800 pages for participants to read before the session.  Well. . .  that's a lot to expect of people to plow their way through!

The second consideration is that, upon my second read of the first volume, there is so much content to cover in these rich works that, in order to do justice to them, I think we'd need more time. Between the magic system, the back-history, the different races, the religions, the geography, the philosophy there is so much packed into these books that there's no way that we can cover enough of this in 90 minutes.

What I've decided to do is pretty simple.  We're going to spend the next three sessions - March, April, May - discussing Bakker's trilogy.  This is like what we did last year when we covered  Ursula K Leguin's six Earthsea books (each of which was 140-200 pages long) in two sessions.  Looking at the schedule, I've also decided to break the Philip Jose Farmer session, focused on his six World of Tiers books, into two sessions as well.  So that means that someone's gotta go!

Here's what I'm envisioning now:

March - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy

• The Darkness That Comes Before

April - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy

• The Warrior-Prophet

May - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy

• The Thousandfold Thought

June - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers novels

• The Maker of Universes
• The Gates of Creation
• A Private Cosmos

July - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers novels

• Behind the Walls of Terra
• The Lavalite World
• More Than Fire

August - A.E. Van Vogt's Weapon-Makers novels

• The Weapon Shops of Isher
• Weapon Makers

September - Stanislaw Lem's Ijon Tichy stories

• The Star Diaries
• The Futurological Congress
• Peace on Earth
• Observation on the Spot

October - Neal Stephenson's Anathem

• Anathem

November - J.G. Ballard's modern dystopias

• Crash
• Concrete Island
• High Rise

December - Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy

• Northern Lights
• The Subtle Knife
• The Amber Spyglass

Year Six Of Worlds of Speculative Fiction Begins Today!

We announced the lineup for the Worlds of Speculative Fiction monthly series this year a bit earlier in the week.  You can see the full schedule here, if you'd like to.  Today, we kick year six of the series off with our session on the Chinese science fiction author, Liu Cixin!

We start at Noon Central Time with my discussion of Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy of novels.  That will take place as a video premiere on my YouTube channel, and we'll be engaging in live chat on that video page.  So you can watch, ask questions, make comments, and I'll reply as the video runs.

Then immediately following - around 1:40 PM Central Time - those who want to have a more intimate, in-depth conversation about the texts, the writer, the ideas, and the key themes will shift over to Zoom for a videoconferencing session.

Here are the links for those two parts of the event:

• 12:00 PM - 1:40 PM - YouTube Video Premiere with Live Chat
• 1:40 PM - 3:00 PM - Videoconferencing Discussion and Q&A

The trilogy we'll be focusing upon are:

• The Three Body Problem
• The Dark Forest
• Death's End

I look forward to seeing you there and to some excellent conversation about this author and this excellent series of works!

Worlds of Speculative Fiction Selections Set For 2021

After soliciting viewer, subscriber, and supporter suggestions for the final three slots in the monthly Worlds of Speculative Fiction series for this new year, and then having a run-off vote for the final slot, we now have a full line-up for the series.

Each month - usually the second Saturday - we will focus on one specific author, the narrative world of some of their works, and philosophical themes found in their writings. These events we're holding online -until it is completely safe to return to the face to face setting - have two parts.

Part 1 is a video premiere, with live-chat between me and viewers - of me discussing the author, their narrative world, their biography, and some selected philosophical themes.  Those usually run about 90 minutes, and the videos are then added to the series playlist

Part 2, immediately following, is a videoconferencing conversation, carried out by Zoom, where we get to go a bit more into depth about anything that the viewers found particularly interesting. We usually have some great conversations about the works in those sessions.

You don't have to have read the author or the specific works in order to get something out of these sessions.  But obviously, it certainly does help to have done so.  Here's the list of the authors and the recommended books for each session this year.

January - Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy

• The Three-Body Problem
• The Dark Forest
• Death's End

February - Philip K. Dick's stories of Colonization and Insanity

• Martian Time-Slip
• Clans of the Alphane Moon
• We Can Build You
• The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
• A Maze of Death

March - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy

• The Darkness That Comes Before
• The Warrior-Prophet
• The Thousandfold Thought

April - Margaret Atwood's Gilead dystopia stories

• The Handmaid's Tale
• The Testaments

 
May - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers novels

• The Maker of Universes
• The Gates of Creation
• A Private Cosmos
• Behind the Walls of Terra
• The Lavalite World
• More Than Fire

June - A.E. Van Vogt's Weapon-Makers novels

• The Weapon Shops of Isher
• Weapon Makers

July - Octavia Butler's Parable novels

• Parable of the Sower
• Parable of the Talents

 
August - J.G. Ballard's modern dystopias

• Crash
• Concrete Island
• High Rise

September - Stanislaw Lem's Ijon Tichy stories

• The Star Diaries
• The Futurological Congress
• Peace on Earth
• Observation on the Spot

October - Neal Stephenson's Anathem 

• Anathem

November - Jorge Luis Borges - theme TBD

• selected stories, TBD

December - Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy

• Northern Lights  
• The Subtle Knife 
• The Amber Spyglass

Worlds of Speculative Fiction Series 2021 - Vote on Final Author

As I've done for several years now for the Worlds of Speculative Fiction monthly series, I've solicited suggestions about authors my viewers, subscribers, and supporters would like to see added.  This year, I got a wide range of suggestions, but only two authors got suggested by more than one person.  So both of them get an automatic "in" to the 2021 lineup.

Those authors are Stanislaw Lem and Jorge Luis Borges.  2021 marks the 100 year anniversary of Lem's birth, so it makes excellent sense to discuss his works, and to do so in September, the month of his birthday.  Borges was the subject for an earlier session - back at the start of year 3 - of the series (here's the recording).

So here's the lineup as it stands for the present.

• January - Liu Cixin's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy 
• February - Philip K. Dick's stories of Colonization and Insanity 
• March - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy 
• April - Margaret Atwood's Gilead dystopia stories 
• May - Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers novels 
• June - A.E. Van Vogt's Weapon-Makers novels 
• July - Octavia Butler's Parable novels 
• August - J.G. Ballard's modern dystopias 
• September - Stanislaw Lem - theme TBD
• October - Neal Stephenson's Anathem 
• November - Jorge Luis Borges - theme TBD
• December - TBA by vote

You notice that last slot is still open.  That's where the voting comes in.  You can vote on Twitter, on YouTube, or (if you're a Patreon supporter) on my Patreon page.  Here are the options

• Poul Anderson
• Lois McMaster Bujold
• Philip Pullman 
• Kim Stanley Robinson

So, get your votes in. One of these writers will get added to the 2021 lineup for the series, and it might be the one you select!

The Fans Have Spoken - Ballard, King, and Pratchett Join The List!

We ran a poll last week to determine which three authors would get placed in the final three slots for my monthly talk series, Worlds of Speculative Fiction, which is about to enter its 5th year.  A bit earlier, I had solicited suggestions from my viewers, subscribers, and followers, and out of the 30 or so writers suggested, I took the top 6 recommendations.

You can see the results above.  Ballard, King, and Pratchett easily outpaced the other three authors.  So I'll be adding them to the October, November, and December dates for the sessions.  They're all relatively new to me.  I did read a good bit of Stephen King back in my teens and early 20s, but not the Dark Tower series, which is what the recommendations centered around.  I'd read a bit of Ballard - his novel, Crash - back in my late 20s.  I remember being unimpressed by it at the time, but I'm certainly willing to give him another set of reads.  Pratchett, I've never read.  So, I've got my work cut out for me, but I've got months to get on it.

I can now definitively announce the line-up for Worlds of Speculative Fiction 2020:

• January - Mary Shelley's Modern Worlds (Frankenstein, The Last Man)
• February - China Mielville's Bas-Lag Novels
• March - Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
• April - Liu-Cixin's Rememberance of Earth's Past Series
• May - Veronica Roth's Carve The Mark Universe
• June - Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind
• July - Margaret Atwood's Gilead Dystopia
• August - Larry Niven's Ringworld Series
• September - Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Series
• October - J.G. Ballard's Modern Dystopias
• November - Stephen King's Dark Tower Series
• December - Terry Pratchett's Discworld Universe

We meet monthly, second Thursday of each month, 7:00 PM at the Brookfield Public Library, here in the Greater Milwaukee area.  You can find dates on my Facebook author page events, or on the ReasonIO calendar

Nine Authors Selected for Worlds of Speculative Fiction 2020

Year 5 of my monthly talk series - Worlds of Speculative Fiction - starts in January, and I already have nine of the twelve authors we'll be reading and discussing picked out.  I had selected seven of them by the time I arrived at our session last week to discuss Bram Stoker.  Two of the regular participants in the discussions contributed two other excellent suggestions.

Next week, I'll start soliciting more suggestions about the remaining three slots for 2020.  I'll create a video, and likely a blog post, and then use the comments on those - and on social media posts - to come up with a list of the top 6 or so choices, and then we'll do an actual vote. That's how we wound up with Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, and R Scott Bakker for the 2019 series.

We have quite an interesting mix of speculative fiction authors, series, and narrative worlds for 2020.  Here they are:

• January - Mary Shelley's Modern Worlds (Frankenstein, The Last Man)
  
• February - China Mielville's Bas-Lag Novels
  
• March - Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
  
• April - Liu-Cixin's Rememberance of Earth's Past Series
  
• May - Veronica Roth's Carve The Mark Universe
  
• June - Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality of Mankind
  
• July - Margaret Atwood's Gilead Dystopia
  
• August - Larry Niven's Ringworld Series
  
• September - Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover Series

If you've got ideas about what other authors you'd like me to consider for the 2020 series, don't post them quite yet - keep them for next week.  

Here are the authors we've done already (or will have done by the end of this year:  J. R. R. Tolkein, A. E. Van Vogt, C. S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Leguin, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, Mervyn Peake, George R.R. Martin, Philip Jose Farmer, Madeline L'Engle, Douglas Adams, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Iain Banks, H. P. Lovecraft, William Gibson, C. L. Moore, Octavia Butler, Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Arthur Clarke, Robert Howard, Gene Wolfe, C. J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, Edgar Allan Poe, G. K. Chesterton, Mary Shelly, Lewis Carroll, Tanith Lee, Piers Anthony, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, Karl Edward Wagner, Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, and R. Scott Bakker.

If you'd like to watch any of the videorecordings of the sessions so far, here's the playlist.

Guilty Pleasure Reading - R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing Series

Almost four years back, I started the monthly Worlds of Speculative Fiction monthly talk series, partnering with the Brookfield Public Library.  I have had a number of motivations for engaging in the series, and one of those from the very beginning has been that it would allow me to engage in "guilty pleasure reading".

Since my childhood, I've enjoyed reading works across the range of the multiple genres of speculative fiction - fantasy, science fiction, horror, alternate history, utopian/dystopian, as well as others (and their combinations or overlaps).  Given my perennially packed work schedule, I often don't have much time to indulge myself in reading in these genres for enjoyment.  Having to prepare for monthly talks gives me an excuse - even an imperative - to read speculative fiction.

For several years now, I have solicited input both from the regular participants in the talk series and from my viewers, subscribers, and followers, about some of the authors I ought to focus upon.  I cast a wide net at first, and then have people vote on which authors should fill the 3-5 available spots (I've always got some other writers I definitely want to work on lined up). 

One of the authors selected in this way this year was someone I was entirely unfamiliar with - R. Scott Bakker, known primarily for his vast (and as yet, unfinished) Second Apocalypse series.  I decided that I'd focus on the Prince of Nothing trilogy comprising the first part of that series - The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought.  (The second part of the series, The Aspect Emperor, is an even longer 4 volumes.  The third part is yet to come.)

Given the length of his books, I thought that it would be prudent for me to get a start on reading them, so about a month ago, I got my hands on the first volume, which is a solid 600 pages, and started reading.  I won't say that after reading the first page, or even the first chapter, I was enthralled. . .  but by the time I was 100 pages in, I certainly was!  Once I had read my way through that first volume, I went on to the next, and then the third, which I just finished two nights ago.

I'll write more in another post about precisely what it is that I like so much about these books, and the incredibly rich and philosophically deep worldbuilding that undergirds the narrative.  Suffice it to say, I'm hooked, and I'm planning on going on to the next four volumes, which I may even have read by the time we discuss Bakker this coming month (though that might be a bit ambitious. . . . )

From the Event: A Conversation with Veronica Roth

Earlier this month, I was invited to - for me - a new sort of public speaking event, a conversation with a best-selling science-fiction author.  Veronica Roth is the author of the well-known Divergent series of novels and short stories, and the somewhat less well-known Carve The Mark series.  She has a new book of short stories out - The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future - which includes two new stories set in the Carve the Mark narrative universe.

Veronica is on a book tour, which means going around to bookstores for events that include an evening with the author, followed by book signings.  Here in Milwaukee, that means hitting Boswell's Books, an independent bookstores that is a longstanding institution of our literary scene.

I was surprised to receive an email from her publicist, asking me if I would be interested in participating in the event at Boswell's, a "Conversation with Veronica Roth".  I assumed at first that what they had in mind was something like a panel discussion, with Veronica, myself, and a few other local speakers.  But as it turned out, my assumption was mistaken, and it was just to be me and the author.  I'd come to their attention because of my monthly Worlds of Speculative Fiction talk series, nearing the end of its fourth year.

It was a very interesting sort of event, indeed a genuine conversation ranging over a number of topics.  The new book and its stories, key themes of her fiction, literary influences, worldbuilding, personal sentiments, the boundaries of genres, Chicago as a setting. . .  and much more.  In our correspondence leading up to the event, Veronica clarified that what she was hoping for was not an interview, but rather a back-and-forth dialogue that would draw the audience in as a prelude for the more general Q&A portion that followed.

For about 20 minutes before the event started, as the audience began to gather, we all got to hang out and chat - a bit of a warm-up, and getting to know each other - Veronica, her husband Nelson, her publicist Aubrey, and me.  Some very enjoyable conversation - with people who are deeply invested and interested in the creative process, and equally down to earth - and then some further, more literary-focused conversation in the spotlight.

I'd decided that for year 5 of the Worlds of Speculative Fiction, we would include a narrative world of one of Roth's main series.  After some additional discussion with the author - which helped to confirm my leanings, we'll be discussing her Carve the Mark novels and short stories, most likely for the May session.

We snapped a quick shot after the book signing portion of the event, before heading out.

Session 35 in Worlds of Speculative Fiction - Lewis Carroll

I haven't been posting regularly about this ongoing monthly talk series - Worlds of Speculative Fiction - but I intend to remedy that going forward.  We're now well into year 4 of the series, and I decided to start this one off with some sessions focused on some of the early major contributors to the genres that fall into that broad designation of "speculative fiction" - authors who influenced the other, later writers we have been discussing these last three years.

In January, we kicked off the new year with Edgar Allan Poe.  February was G.K. Chesterton.  March was supposed to be Mary Shelley, but unfortunately, I had to cancel due to illness (we'll hopefully reschedule for later this year).

Lewis Carroll - or, to use his real name, Charles Lutwidge Dogdson - was the fourth in that set, and we held that session a few weeks back.  I'd enjoyed his works on logic back when I was an undergraduate, and had read his Alice and nonsense poetry books to my daughter when she was young.  I decided that the works we'd focus on would be Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and The Hunting of the Snark.  That would allow us to discuss one of the key themes of the series - worldbuilding - as well as getting into some of the philosophical themes raised and played with by Carroll.

Here is the videorecording from the session:

If you're in the Greater Milwaukee area, and looking for a lively, philosophically-informed conversation about speculative fiction, stop on in.  All the sessions are hosted at the Brookfield Public Library, and you can find the events on my Facebook page.  

We also have a free online class site (which I'll be updating once the semester is finished), which you can enroll in, if you'd like to see all of the other session videos and access other curated resources on the authors and their works.

The thinkers we have scheduled right now for the rest of the year include: Tanith Lee, Piers Anthony, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, Karl Edward Wagner, Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, and R. Scott Bakker

The Numbers Are In: It's Huxley, Stoker, and Bakker

Last week, after an initial round of suggestions, I held a runoff vote for the three fan-chosen authors I would add to the monthly talks in the Worlds of Speculative Fiction series for 2019.

The seven authors in the run-off were:  Bram Stoker, Thomas Ligoti, Stephen Donaldson, Katherine Kurtz, Aldous Huxley, Robert Jordan, and R Scott. Bakker.

Patreon supporters of my work got one additional vote.  Everyone who voted was allowed to choose up to three authors. There were 51 votes total in the runoff.

The big winner was Aldous Huxley, with 29 votes.  So, he will go into the October slot.  We'll be looking at his dystopian/utopian novels Brave New World, Ape and Essence, and Island.  We'll likely also discuss some of his essays as well, including The Perennial Philosophy.

Bram Stoker was the clear second place, with 19 votes.  He'll be in the November slot for the series.  We will, of course, be discussing his novel Dracula, his collection of short stories Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories, and his later novels The Lady of the Shroud and the Lair of the White Worm.

Third place was a little closer. R. Scott Bakker got 13 votes. Thomas Ligotti and Robert Jordan each got 10 votes, so either of them could easily have slipped into that number 3 slot.  Next December, we'll be discussing his Prince of Nothing series of novels, The Darkness That Comes Before, The Warrior-Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought.

We now have the entire lineup for 2019 established.  Here it is:

• January – Edgar Allen Poe’s Uncanny Universe 
• February - G.K. Chesterton’s Novels of Rebellion and Intrigue 
• March - Mary Shelley’s Modern Worlds 
• April – Lewis Carroll’s Fantastical Lands 
• May – Tanith Lee’s Flat Earth 
• June – Piers Anthony’s Xanth Novels 
• July – Gordon Dickson’s Childe Cycle Novels 
• August – August Derleth’s Universe of the Cthulhu Mythos 
• September – Karl Edward Wagner’s Ancient World of Kane 
• October – Aldous Huxley’s Utopias and Dystopias 
• November – Bram Stoker’s World of Gothic Horror 
• December – R. Scott Bakker’s Prince of Nothing Series

Remember that we have a FREE open-access online course for the series, where you can watch the videos, access resources and links, find out any news about the ongoing series, and interact with others about the series, the authors, and the books.

Get In On The Vote - Worlds of Speculative Fiction 2019

Last week, I created a video about our upcoming year of monthly talks in the Worlds of Speculative Fiction series.  We're going into year four, and in lining up the new authors I'm scheduled to discuss, I deliberately left three slots open so that I could get some input from my viewers, subscribers, supporters and other fans.  After listing the nine authors I'd already picked out (see below), I asked viewers to leave comments with their initial suggestions for authors to fill those three remaining slots.

Many people weighed in, and I picked the seven most suggested authors for a run-off vote, which is going on right now (and ends on Saturday).  If you'd like to get in on that vote, here's where you can cast your ballot.  It's between these authors:  Bram Stoker, Thomas Ligoti, Stephen Donaldson, Katherine Kurtz, Aldous Huxley, Robert Jordan, and R Scott. Bakker.

Each participant gets to vote for three of these authors, and the top three join the roster for 2019.  (My Patreon supporters get an extra vote as well.)  Voting will go on through Saturday, then I'll tally all the votes up, and officially announce who the three authors will be.

The nine other authors I've already picked out for 2019 are: Edgar Allen Poe, G.K. Chesterton, Mary Shelley, Lewis Carroll, Tanith Lee, Piers Anthony, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, and Karl Edward Wagner.

I should mention two other things in passing.  The first is that, if you haven't seen the previous sessions in the talk series, I've placed them all in this playlist.  The second is that I've also created a free online course to house those videos and a host of other resources on those authors, their books, and the narrative worlds they created, which you can sign up for here.

Eight New Interviews and Appearances

Since the last time I posted about guest appearances and interviews, back in February, I've kept fairly busy on that front.  Because of my focused YouTube channel, my business ReasonIO, and my work as editor of Stoicism Today, I get requests to talk about a variety of topics coming in pretty regularly.

This time around, I can say that I've done something new - at least new for me - with my first television appearance on our local NBC station.  I've also continued to make appearances on radio shows, podcasts, and video interviews.

Here are my most recent appearances:

Interview on TMJ-4 News “Ask The Expert”: a television interview hosted by Charles Benson and Shannon Sims, discussing what philosophy is, how it applies to our daily lives, the uses of critical thinking, and the recent Milwaukee SOPHIA event – you can watch here

Interview on KJZZ’s "The Show": an Arizona Public Radio interview hosted by Steve Goldstein, discussing what modern Stoicism is, its roots in ancient Stoic philosophy, some general concepts and practices, and why so many people are interested in Stoicism at present – you can listen here

Guest Appearance on Riverwest Radio's "Image For Hire": a full hour as a guest on the Skrauss' radio show, discussing topics ranging from speculative fiction, Philip Dick, Michael Moorcock, philosophy as experiential and experimental, Stoicism, Roman history and politics, Seneca, Cicero, and the internet - you can listen here

Interview on My Own Worst Enemy podcast: hosted by Danny Whittaker, two full hours discussing what resources and perspectives philosophy contributes to understanding and managing anger, whether anger can be productive, how anger can get directed inward, and different ways anger manifests itself - you can listen here

Interview on Stoic Solutions podcast: hosted by Justin Vacula, discussing what "in accordance with nature" means within classic and contemporary Stoicism.  This leads us into all sorts of other topics connected with Stoicism as well - you can watch or listen here

Guest Appearance on Creative on Purpose: hosted by Scott Perry, a roundtable discussion on Stoicism, the music business, critical thinking, and whether creativity is a virtue or not featuring myself and Scott Tarulli – you can watch or listen here

Interview on the Axiological Atheist Channel: hosted by Damien AtHope, discussion of the nature of practical philosophy, what is required to make philosophical concepts understandable and applicable for general audiences, and how philosophy can help us to clarify our values – you can watch or listen here

Interview on Benjamin A Boyce's Channel:  hosted by Benjamin Boyce, a discussion ranging over the current state of academia, American politics, practical philosophy, prospects for philosophy in the public sphere, and bits of my backstory - you can watch or listen here