What's the point in fasting? How do we stick to a diet that works? These are some of the questions we ask in this episode as we explore Julian Baggini's book, Virtues of the Table.
The debates and attitudes around knowing when not to eat are equally as crucial to flourishment as questions concerning where food comes from and the importance of good cooking. We explore how blanket rules and blind adherence can confuse these practices in a "post-death-of-god" world and how misunderstood nutritional health can be in the contemporary times. Gordon Ramsay on Onions Julian Baggini
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
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Food and the issues surrounding it have never been more important. Culinary attitudes and traditions can reveal a lot a about a period or place and we live in a world of staggering choice and raging debates. Cultivating attitudes and questions to not just what we eat and how we do it but where it comes from, what it says about us, how it fits into broader ideas relating to how we live our lives, how we think about meals and when to stop eating are some of the most unavoidable, fundamental and neglected areas of ethics. From animal rights and cultural traditions to class issues, food says a lot. If you like either philosophy or food then this one's probably gonna be worth a listen... If you like both then you're laughing!
The first in a three part series, this one in particular focuses on contemporary philosopher Julian Baggini and the issues surrounding the sourcing of food... Where does "good" food come from and how can we be sure? Should we shop local or at large "commercial" chains? Is veganism the way forward? Is there a moral reason to shop seasonally? How should we feel about labels like FairTrade, free range and organic? We also talk about nutrition, moral virtues and most importantly, how most of these ideas are all interconnected. Over the next few episodes we'll talk about fasting and dieting as well as cooking and eating. - The points we made, summarised - Julian Baginni's website - Peter Hitchens ranting about skinny cappuccino - Bow hunter, Cameron Hanes - Sam Harris' wife on pansychism - Weston's Cider - 'Gangster gardener', Ron Finely
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Armed with more than a few chilling "ghost stories" to hand, we explore the claims of the paranormal from both personal experience and rational thinking. We convey the value of scepticism, criticism and critical thinking and talk a little about how ghosts suddenly became scary as they drifted out of religious and natural contexts and into the modern horror genres of fiction. We also touch on genies or djinn, pseudoscientific theories and the similarity between religious belief and the belief in spooky ghosts…
- An article by Connor about whether skeptics are "close-minded" - The TED Talk that is mentioned - A good video on Jinn (there are other good videos on spirits in folklore here too) - Our article with some thoughts on the paranormal.
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
This is kind of a sequel to our episode "alcohol & sobriety"
There was once a day when you could smoke in pubs, lager was considered a lady's drink and pints would cost 11p. In this episode Connor, Nye, Kieran and Zach talk about the history and conventions of the public houses - from the very first "pub quizzes" to the history of "lock ins". Since most of us have worked behind a bar and been involved in making beverages we also talk about campaigning for ale, cider mills and some of the moral issues surrounding the bar industry. (It was decided Zach's scream didn't need any special effects) - Henry Weston's Cider - CAMRA - An American Video made in WW2 to help soldiers understand the British pub - Wychwood Brewery (Hobgoblin) - Bespoke Brewery (Beware the Bear)
Edited by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Well our plan was to dig into some of the conventional questions surrounding the philosophy of sport… however in true philosophy fashion we ended up bickering for half an hour about how to define sport itself!
After we were finally done with the semantics we explored some aspects of self-realisation through control and harnessing skill. Drawing inspiration from experiences with boxing, e-sports, jujitsu, darts and more, we discussed how sport can challenge and encourage personal growth. Identity is distilled into the expressive form of sports - not dissimilar to art. As we discuss, its all about learning boundaries while incorporating the shadow of the self; both testing and tempering our physical and moral limits. We also talked a little about "accessing" sport and fan culture.
Editing by Connor.
Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Ever wondered why resolutions never seem to work for some people? Ever wondered how the time and date are actually calculated? Well, wonder no more.
A couple of weeks before the start of 2020, we crack open some beers and talk about how to make meaningful and effective new year's resolutions; bringing philosophy into everyday modern life. Once Connor stops mentioning Stoicism, Nye goes off on an autistic rant about the history and mechanics of calendars and Kieran reveals why he hates weight-watchers. - The University of Bristol study mentioned - Workshop seminar on stoicism and resolutions - Serenity prayer Edited by Connor. Audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica, mandolin)
Beginning the tradition of exploring each other's dissertation theses, Connor offers his lacklustre and bloated thesis on the ethics of observing animals. Nye, Kieran, Sam and Zach all arrive to talk on the topic as we springboard from Connor's work into wider questions including - environmentalism, animal cruelty, sentience, normative ethics, Jungian archetypes, anti-natalism, the nature of happiness and burning witches. This leads into an extensive conversation about control, order and happiness.
This diss itself is titled "The Spectacle of Nature: An Exploration Into the Ethics of Visual Appreciation of Animals in British Leisure" and, in its 18,000 words, it explores a multitude of ideas pertaining to religion, philosophy and ethics. Chief among these are whether historical chauvinism toward nature is a legitimate Christian view or whether this is a caricature invented by atheists as well as the question of why we enjoy looking at / interacting with animals and why we have come to appreciate animal's "intrinsic" worth in more recent times. As some of these topics are discussed we touch upon the idea of nature representing chaos... Ironic, as this episode is considerably chaotic and will most definitely be the last time we pile so many of us into one room. We're fully aware of the slow start and later messy interruptions. That said, we have our moments here and throw up some real philosophy (for once). Future podcasts will contain fewer speakers and less interruptions. The actual dissertation can be found here. Editing, audio & music mastering / production by Nye James. Jingles recorded by Nye (guitars) & Connor (harmonica) |
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