PODCAST · education
Wandering Thoughts
by wandering thoughts
🎙️ Podcasts with experts in Science, Philosophy & more📺 YouTube, Spotify & all major platforms
Episodes
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Buddhism, Emptiness & the Illusion of Self | Prof. Jay Garfield
In this episode, Professor Jay Garfield and I explore Buddhist philosophy, Nagarjuna, emptiness, the two truths, no-self, compassion, and cross-cultural philosophy. We begin with his journey from logic and cognitive science into Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan epistemology, and his studies in India....
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OCD, Intrusive Thoughts & Living With Uncertainty | Prof. Jon Abramowitz
In this episode, Professor Jon Abramowitz and I explore OCD, intrusive thoughts, compulsions, anxiety, uncertainty, reassurance, and exposure and response prevention. We discuss what OCD is, why it is much more than being tidy or washing your hands, and how intrusive thoughts can become…
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Stoicism, CBT & the Good Life | Tim LeBon
In this episode, Mr. Tim LeBon and I explore Stoicism, CBT, philosophical counselling, Stoic Week, and how ancient philosophy can be used practically in modern life. We discuss his work as a psychotherapist and CBT therapist, his involvement in Modern Stoicism, and the origins of Stoic Week as an...
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How to Feel Loved | Prof. Harry Reis
In this episode, Professor Harry Reis and I explore love, relationships, intimacy, listening, vulnerability, attachment, loneliness, and his new book How to Feel Loved. We discuss the difference between being loved and feeling loved, why relationships are central to happiness and meaning, and why...
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How to Think Better in an Unreasonable World | Prof. William B. Irvine
In this episode, Professor William B. Irvine and I explore thinking, open-mindedness, Stoicism, audience capture, echo chambers, and how to become more reasonable in unreasonable times. We discuss his journey into philosophy, his work on thinking more and better, and how online platforms can…
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Computational Psychiatry, The Self & Brain Imaging | Prof. Karl Friston
In this episode, Professor Karl Friston and I explore brain imaging, dynamic causal modelling, statistical parametric mapping, computational psychiatry, and selfhood through active inference. We discuss how functional brain imaging works, how it helps reveal specialised brain regions, and how...
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Bioelectricity, Collective Intelligence & Regeneration | Prof. Michael Levin
In this episode, Professor Michael Levin and I explore bioelectricity, collective intelligence, regeneration, aging, cancer, and the future of medicine. We discuss how cells communicate through electrical signals, how groups of cells coordinate to build bodies, limbs, organs, and faces, and how...
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Psychoanalysis, Personality & the Unconscious Mind | Prof. Nancy McWilliams
In this episode, Professor Nancy McWilliams and I explore psychoanalysis, personality, defenses, trauma, shame, narcissism, and the therapeutic relationship. We discuss what psychoanalysis is, why unconscious feelings and thoughts matter, and how personality styles develop from early adaptations…
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Why Science Depends on Ignorance, Failure & Uncertainty | Prof. Stuart Firestein
In this episode, Professor Stuart Firestein and I explore ignorance, failure, uncertainty, and how science really progresses. We discuss why science is driven by questions as much as facts, why education often rewards answers over curiosity, and how better questions can lead to deeper...
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Overcoming OCD: Intrusive Thoughts, Compulsions & Exposure Therapy | Prof. David Veale
In this episode, Professor David Veale and I explore OCD, intrusive thoughts, compulsions, avoidance, reassurance seeking, and how OCD is treated. We discuss what OCD is, why intrusive thoughts become powerful, how obsessions often attach to the things people value most, and why OCD is not simply...
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Humanity’s Future: Existential Risk, AI & Life Beyond Earth | Lord Martin Rees
In this episode, Lord Martin Rees and I explore cosmology, the Big Bang, exoplanets, alien life, multiverses, and humanity’s long-term future. We discuss how our understanding of the universe expanded from Earth-centred views to galaxies, the Big Bang, and the possibility of many other worlds…
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Stoicism, the Ethics of War & Moral Injury | Prof. Nancy Sherman
In this episode, Professor Nancy Sherman and I explore Stoicism, emotions, virtue, military ethics, moral injury, and what it means to live well. We discuss common misconceptions about Stoicism, especially the idea that being Stoic means suppressing emotion, and explore how Stoicism instead aims…
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Stoicism: Virtue, Emotions & Human Excellence | Gregory Lopez
In this episode, Gregory Lopez and I explore Stoicism as a practical philosophy of life. We discuss what Stoicism is, what the Stoics meant by virtue, excellence, and living according to nature, and why human beings are understood as rational and pro-social animals. Gregory explains Stoic...
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Life Lessons from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | Yousuf Nabi
In this episode, my grappling coach Yousuf Nabi and I discuss Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, coaching, competition, mental health, and building community. Yousuf shares how he started training BJJ after first discovering the Gracie family through early MMA footage, and how that eventually led him to open...
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Paradoxes, Logic & Buddhist Philosophy | Prof. Graham Priest
In this episode, Professor Graham Priest and I explore logic, paradoxes, metaphysics, and Buddhist philosophy. We discuss what logic is, what makes an argument valid, and how philosophers think about premises, conclusions, reasoning, and theories of logic. Professor Priest explains classical…
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Çatalhöyük: Living Without Hierarchy | Prof. Ian Hodder
In this episode, Professor Ian Hodder and I explore Çatalhöyük, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites. We discuss what archaeology is, how excavation works, and why Çatalhöyük gives us such a rare insight into the beliefs, myths, art, and daily life of people living around 9,000...
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What is Anarchism? | Prof. Ruth Kinna
In this episode, Professor Ruth Kinna and I explore anarchism, mutual aid, self-government, and anti-authoritarian political thought. We discuss what anarchism means, its history and major thinkers, including Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin. We also examine property, violence, revolutionary…
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Sex Differences, the Evolution of Mind & Mathematical Cognition | Prof. David Geary
In this episode, Professor David Geary and I discuss sex differences, mathematical cognition, and the evolution of the human mind. We explore why maths, reading, and writing are evolutionarily recent skills, how they build on older systems like language and number sense, and why children may...
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Complexity, Scaling Laws & the Future of Humanity | Prof. Geoffrey West
In this episode, Professor Geoffrey West and I explore complexity, scaling laws, cities, biology, and the future of humanity. We discuss what makes a system “complex” rather than simple and why physics can describe so much of the universe through elegant equations, yet still struggles to capture...
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Anarchism, Democracy & Power | Dr. Sophie Scott-Brown
In this episode, Dr. Sophie Scott-Brown and I explore anarchism, democracy, political power, and the history of radical political thought. We discuss what anarchism is, why it is difficult to define, and why anarchist thought is often more pluralistic than people assume. Dr. Scott-Brown explains...
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Animal Minds, Sentience & Our Relationship with Nature | Dr. Carl Safina
In this episode, Dr. Carl Safina and I explore animal minds, sentience, consciousness, and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. We discuss how other animals experience the world, what makes humans similar to and different from other species, and whether animals such as insects, worms,...
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God: Arguments For and Against | Prof. Graham Oppy
In this episode, Professor Graham Oppy and I explore arguments for and against the existence of God. We discuss cosmological, design, moral, ontological, and other arguments, as well as naturalism, atheism, agnosticism, and how worldviews are formed. Professor Oppy explains what makes a...
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Punished by Rewards | Alfie Kohn
In this episode, Mr Alfie Kohn and I explore why rewards can backfire just as punishment can. We discuss intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, why grades, praise, bonuses, and incentive systems can undermine genuine interest, and why rewards and punishments are ultimately two forms of control. Mr...
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Learning Without A Teacher | Prof. Sugata Mitra
In this episode, Professor Sugata Mitra and I explore how education could change in a world shaped by the internet and artificial intelligence. We discuss his famous Hole in the Wall experiment, self-organised learning environments, and why groups of children can often teach themselves when they...
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Dementia: Risk Reduction & Management | Prof. Gill Livingston
In this episode, Professor Gill Livingston and I explore dementia: what it is, why it develops, and what can be done to reduce risk and support people living with it. We discuss Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, amyloid plaques, tau tangles, cognitive reserve, and why diagnosis can be...
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Empire, Colonialism, the EU & Russia | Prof. Anthony Pagden
In this episode, Professor Anthony Pagden and I explore empire, colonialism, nationalism, and the political history of Europe. We discuss what an empire is, why empires expand, and how colonialism and imperialism differ from one another. Professor Pagden explains how nationalism emerged from the...
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The Free Energy Principle: Consciousness, AI & Why We Predict | Karl Friston
In this episode, Professor Karl Friston and I explore the free energy principle: what it is, why it matters, and how it connects to neuroscience, consciousness, evolution, and artificial intelligence. We discuss Markov blankets, self-organisation, prediction error, active inference, and why…
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Spinoza: God, Nature, Free Will & The Good Life | Prof. Steven Nadler
In this episode, Professor Steven Nadler and I explore the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza: his views on God, nature, free will, religion, and the good life. We discuss why Spinoza identified God with Nature, why this made him such a controversial figure, and whether he should be considered an...
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How the Brain Predicts the Future | Prof. Reza Shadmehr
In this episode, Prof. Reza Shadmehr and I discuss how the brain predicts the future and why prediction may be one of its most fundamental functions. We explore the cerebellum, its evolutionary origins, and its role in movement, learning, error correction, and social behaviour. Prof. Shadmehr...
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How Does The Brain Process Language? | Prof. David Poeppel
In this episode, Prof. David Poeppel and I discuss the Dual Stream Model of Language and how the brain processes speech. We explore the roles of the dorsal and ventral language pathways, the concept of efference copy, neural oscillations, and brain-stimulation techniques such as TMS. We also...
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How Do You Transcend Nihilism? | Dr Nolen Gertz
In this episode, Dr. Nolen Gertz and I discuss nihilism, technology, meaning, and the modern human condition. We explore the difference between passive and active nihilism, and how technology can make distraction and escapism easier, pushing us away from confronting reality and deeper questions…
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Evidence-based Medicine | Dr Gordon Guyatt
In this episode, Gordon Guyatt & I discuss evidence-based medicine, a term and movement he helped create and develop. We explore what evidence-based medicine actually means, the hierarchy of evidence, randomised controlled trials, bias in research, and how evidence can be systematically…
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When Will We Go Beyond Morphine? | Prof. Allan Basbaum
In this episode, Prof. Allan Basbaum and I discuss the neuroscience of pain and humanity’s attempts to discover a drug beyond morphine that is effective but with minimal side effects. We talk about nociceptors, pain pathways, and different types of pain, alongside recent developments in drug…
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Beyond Procedure: A Model For Effective Learning | Michael Eleftheriou
In this episode, Michael Eleftheriou and I explore how to achieve deep, genuine understanding and what it truly means to learn effectively beyond memorisation and mechanical procedure. We discuss Michael’s 4-step model for effective learning — order, structure, procedure, and depth — and why…
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Postmodernism VS Objective Truth | Dr Stephen Hicks
In this episode, Dr. Stephen Hicks and I discuss postmodernism and its relationship to truth, meaning, and culture. We explore what postmodernism really is, its connection to nihilism, and how these ideas shape society from the top down and bottom up. We dive into poststructuralism, Jacques...
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Is Consciousness An Illusion? | Prof. Keith Frankish
In this episode, Prof. Keith Frankish and I discuss illusionism, a theory of consciousness that says we’re mistaken in thinking our experiences have special inner “what-it’s-like” qualities (qualia). We talk about philosophical zombies, artificial consciousness, and whether science can truly...
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Cosmopolitanism, Identity & Semantics | Prof. Kwame A. Appiah
In this episode, Kwame Anthony Appiah and I explore identity, race, and culture. Prof. Appiah shares his backstory, growing up in Ghana and eventually living in the UK and the US, and his journey from medicine to philosophy. We discuss the philosophy of language, social ontology, cosmopolitanism,...
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"The End Of Consciousness" | Prof. Hakwan Lau
In this episode, Hakwan Lau shares his thoughts on the direction the field of consciousness studies is heading. We explore key neuroscience concepts such as blindsight, neural feedback, and information pathways, alongside core ideas like attention and perception, and why philosophy remains a…
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The Great Rift In Physics | Prof. Tim Maudlin
In this episode, Professor Tim Maudlin explains the great rift in physics. He talks about the violation of Bell’s inequality and explains the historical development of general relativity and quantum physics. We explore the collapse of the wave function, non-locality versus locality, and...
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The World’s Most Curious Person | Louka Nikos
Nikos Louka, recently a parliamentary candidate with Direct Democracy Cyprus, joins me to talk about learning, curiosity, and why the education system fails. We explore ideas around self-organization, evolution, trust in human nature, and how open-endedness fosters creativity and innovation. The...
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Rethinking Consciousness | Prof. Michael Graziano
In this episode, Michael Graziano discusses what consciousness and subjective experience are, followed by his journey toward developing Attention Schema Theory. He explains how the brain builds schematic models, controls internal processes, and how attention evolved, also touching on ADHD and…
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Systems Science, Direct Democracy & the Future of Education | Dr. Yiannis Laouris
In this episode, Dr. Laouris discusses the insights he has gained from systems science and how they apply to other fields such as politics, where he is currently a parliamentary candidate for Direct Democracy Cyprus. We also explore his interdisciplinary journey, the importance of balancing depth...
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How Your Brain Learns To Be Conscious | Prof. Axel Cleeremans
In this episode, Professor Axel Cleeremans explains his radical plasticity thesis and talks about implicit learning. We explore how much of our knowledge is unconscious and automatic, and how consciousness may emerge through learning about our own mental processes. We also discuss the role of...
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Direct Democracy: A Bottom-Up Form Of Governance | Ioannis Damianou
In this episode, 22-year-old parliamentary candidate Ioannis Damianou explains a different form of governance—direct democracy. As a member of the new political party Direct Democracy Cyprus, he discusses how giving people direct influence over decisions could reshape modern politics, and why...
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The Mentaculus, Laws Of Nature & Probabilities | Prof. Barry Loewer
In this conversation, Professor Barry Loewer discusses laws of nature, probability, and the Mentaculus. He explains the distinction between objective and subjective probability, examines the concept of chance, and engages with the work of David Lewis, and considers why the world exhibits…
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Gödel’s Theorem, Kant & the Limits of Knowledge | Prof. Adrian Moore
This episode features a conversation with Professor Adrian Moore. We begin with Professor Moore’s background and a discussion of what philosophy and metaphysics are. The conversation then looks at the evolution of modern metaphysics and the distinction between analytic and non-analytic…
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The Ethics of Doubt - Prof. Genia Schönbaumsfeld
In this episode, Genia Schoenbaumsfeld explains the Ethics of Doubt project, which studies the relationship between skepticism and virtue epistemology. We explore how doubt functions in belief formation, including Søren Kierkegaard’s idea that doubt arises from anxiety, and discuss Ludwig...
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A Spirituality Built on Science: Eternalism & Integrated Information Theory ~ Dr Adam Barrett
The podcast explores consciousness through Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Dr. Barrett’s view that science can support a form of spirituality. Dr Barrett explains the notion of eternalism, the idea that past, present, and future all equally exist, and discusses how these ideas relate to...
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Do Quantum Androids Dream of Electric Cats? ~ Prof. Gerard Milburn
In this episode, Prof. Gerard J. Milburn explores the foundations of quantum mechanics—wave function collapse, measurement, and the meaning of the observer—before connecting these ideas to spacetime, irreversibility, and the relational nature of time. The conversation then moves into quantum...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
🎙️ Podcasts with experts in Science, Philosophy & more📺 YouTube, Spotify & all major platforms
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wandering thoughts
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How many episodes does Wandering Thoughts have?
Wandering Thoughts currently has 59 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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🎙️ Podcasts with experts in Science, Philosophy & more📺 YouTube, Spotify & all major platforms
How often does Wandering Thoughts release new episodes?
Wandering Thoughts has 59 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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Wandering Thoughts is created and hosted by wandering thoughts.
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