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PODCAST · society

Myths and Problems

by Erik Larson

I talk about the problem of grounding morals in rights talk and other preoccupations of the modern era that sort of skim the surface.

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Episodes

  1. oh, productivity productivity

    I gave a few brief remarks on what productivity means, and raise a few questions

  2. Postemotional Society and Other Problems

    I give a discussion about the book I’m working on and venture into some social theory that I’ve been reading. I also talk a little bit more about Vico and a theory of history. And I finish by talking about a book called Postemotional Society.

  3. More on Vico, on language, history, and democracy

    In this extended episode, I clear up some confusions I had with Vico in my earlier podcast today. I address in more detail his view of language, and his view of history. I also ask some questions about democracy and counting.

  4. Thoughts on Giambattista Vico, and TikTok

    I discuss podcasting, the philosopher Vico’s ideas and history and language, and the TikTok algorithm

  5. Poison networks, and other follies

    I review some of the history of Web 2.0, explain the google innovation, and introduced an idea for a start up

  6. Small Data AI: The Very Idea

    I talk a little bit about the Napoleonic Turn, an article that I am attempting to get published on that topic, and then discuss the landscape for small data approaches to AI, what do we know and what do we not know?

  7. Theories of history, and dead ends

    I talk about science and tech thinking, a simple linear model of progress, and the differences between this and larger social and cultural change

  8. The 2008 credit crisis

    I do my best describing what happened in 2007 in 2008 with the real estate market crash

  9. What did happen in the 21st-century?

    I discuss different themes for the second book, covering artificial intelligence mythology, datification, “solutionism” and other ideas

  10. On Nature, Machines, and Persons

    A continuation of my exploration of enlightenment themes and our shrinking view of Personhood

  11. Napoleonic science

    I discuss the current approach to scientific discovery and innovation and the challenges and dangers of our current approach

  12. On War

    I go through a short history of war and offer some problems for our modern understanding of it

  13. Marx and economic growth

    I discuss Isaiah Berlin’s biographical sketch of Karl Marx and also explain ways in which Karl is no longer relevant and also potentially ways in which he still is

  14. Tie in: modern myths and social contract

    I describe it a little bit more depth how Frankenstein supports a kind of discussion of political monsters and in particular the French Revolution, eight a textual reading that was actually closer to Mary Shelley and the world she was living in then one might first assume

  15. On modern myths. Could science be one?

    I talk about first the nature of mythology in a more general or literature framed sense. That I discuss whether in front infinite progress using science is actually one of these myths. What evidence do we have that we’re not thinking about science correctly?

  16. Visions of liberty, the state of nature, problems with the enlightenment and the French revolution

    I explain the basic problem of freedom and security as articulated by Isaiah Berlin. Some unresolved problems with political theory, some practical consequences in the French Revolution

  17. Comedy on third segment

    On the third segment I do some comedy about the Iraq war

  18. The island of Cyprus

    I explain a little bit about the history of Cyprus and then get a small travelogue as I lived on the island for about a month and a half.

  19. Addendum to the roots of Europe

    I think that I should fill in some gaps in the roots of Europe in particular the development of the Roman empire in BCE and also some of the early development in CE. So I will leave that up but I need to put out a “The roots of Europe Part Two” which I will do as soon as I finish the research.

  20. The roots of Europe.

    I describe the beginning of what we now think of as Europe starting with ancient Greek and Roman civilization. Up to about 1500 A.D..

  21. Thoughts on Atlas of AI

    I discuss Kate Crawford’s book Atlas of AI.

  22. Truth as Pop Art

    I discuss the problem of truth on the web today.

  23. Kitch, avant-garde, and the growth of liberalism.

    This is sort of a hodgepodge of ideas that were inspired from Menand’s book the free world.

  24. Kitsch and Avant-Gard

    I discuss the discussion of kitsch in Louis Menand’s book The Free World.

  25. Rationality and Reasonableness

    Second part of a discussion about what’s reasonable

  26. Reason, AI, and Innovation

    I talk about the Myth coming out and some other issues in rationality and reason. This is part one of a two part podcast.

  27. The roots of the modern web.

    In the grips of a loss of Internet connectivity, I try to unpack some historical strands leading to our contemporary understanding and use of the web.

  28. Intellectual history and philosophy.

    I talk about the three parts of philosophy that are relevant to doing in electoral history and also a good summary of philosophy itself. A good and useful summary of what philosophy is in brief.

  29. On Identity

    Thoughts on the problem of identity in democracies

  30. The social dilemma

    I talk about the recent Netflix documentary the social dilemma and give an account of my own experience and observations in tech from roughly the year 2000.

  31. Seige of Alamo

    I give an account of the events that started the siege of the Alamo in general history of the events surrounding the Texas Mexico war.

  32. Texas potted history

    The strange and interesting story of the history of the Texas nation

  33. The pandemic and the paradox of technological solutionism

    The episode is really just some thoughts I had on completing a paragraph in an article I’m writing about technological solutionism. However it expands into what I hope are some interesting thoughts on the pandemic and our attempts to manage it.

  34. Myths, Truths, and Dilemmas

    I talk about Yuval Harari’s distinction between scientific truths and cultural myths. I suggest that we have a major problem resolving this in the modern era.

  35. Myths and Problems (Trailer)

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

I talk about the problem of grounding morals in rights talk and other preoccupations of the modern era that sort of skim the surface.

HOSTED BY

Erik Larson

CATEGORIES

society culture

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Myths and Problems have?

Myths and Problems currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Myths and Problems about?

I talk about the problem of grounding morals in rights talk and other preoccupations of the modern era that sort of skim the surface.

How often does Myths and Problems release new episodes?

Myths and Problems has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Myths and Problems?

You can listen to Myths and Problems on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Myths and Problems?

Myths and Problems is created and hosted by Erik Larson.
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