Podcasts by The Vimcast
The Vim Podcast is philosophers talking about politics. We step outside the news cycle and discuss the broader issues.
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Kwame Anthony Appiah on Cosmopolitanism from 2020-08-23T17:06:21
In the penultimate Vim Podcast episode, Justin and Zach do a book report. They read Kwame Anthony Appiah's 2006 book 'Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers'. Appiah is a British-Ghanaian ...
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The Three Types of Trump Supporters from 2020-08-09T16:27:05
Part 3 of the discussion of the new guide for talking to Trump supporters (and the antepenultimate Vim Podcast episode ever!). Dylan and Zach consider how to divide Trump supporters into different ...
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Pandemicast III: How to Wear a Mask from 2020-07-26T17:22:05
Zach and Gabe speak ‘moistly’ to each other about the state of the coronavirus pandemic. They start with some regional issues. Why is the USA such a horror show and what should Americans learn from...
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Which Machines Should we Make? from 2020-07-12T16:40:08
Dylan and Zach discuss ethics and technology. How should we think about the ethics of creation? They discuss the term ‘creative responsibility’ and what Zach has in mind with it. Humans are develop...
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Malcolm X, the Philosopher from 2020-06-28T03:08:30
Gabe, Zach, and Kevin discuss the ideas and arguments of Malcolm X. What does he have to teach us? What philosophical contributions does he make to ethics, politics, and race? Themes of the discus...
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White Ignorance from 2020-06-18T03:34:22
Zach, Justin, and Gabe discuss the concept of white ignorance. Is a feature of white supremacy that white people are by default unable to perceive the world accurately? The concept is discussed by ...
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George Floyd and the Storm from 2020-06-08T00:17:32
Zach gives a brief statement about the protests and future podcasts.
The bonkers LA police union: https://www.theeastsiderla.com/news/live_blog/l-a-police-union-lashes-out-over-proposed-d...
How to Talk to Trump Supporters from 2020-05-24T17:29:02
Part 2 of the discussion of the new guide for talking to Trump supporters. Gabe, Kevin, Zach, and Dylan discuss some general principles. Is it acceptable to enter a conversation hoping to change so...
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Are we "Following the Science"? from 2020-05-09T16:33:05
Zach, Gabe, and real life scientist Aron discuss the article, “How to Listen to Scientific Experts.” They discuss how scientists translate their technical understanding into terms that the rest of ...
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Pandemicast II: Philosophizing Under Quarantine from 2020-04-26T15:10:46
Some fresher thoughts on the pandemic (though we are still stumbling through the topic). Gabe and Zach discuss news consumption in the era of coronavirus and why philosophizing right now is especia...
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Pandemicast from 2020-04-12T17:31:37
We give some initial, unformed thoughts on the pandemic. It is what we are all thinking about. So what philosophy can we see in it? Gabe, Charlie, and Zach discuss government authoritarianism and p...
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Is it Worth Talking to Trump Supporters? (and some Coronavirus thoughts) from 2020-03-29T18:39:10
Thus begins a series on the Guide for Talking to Trump Supporters 2.0, found on thevimblog.com. In part 1, Zach, Gabe, Kevin, and Dylan assess the question of whether it is even worth talking to Tr...
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Being a Person of Principle from 2020-03-15T17:06:24
What does it mean to be a person of principle? Should you be a different type of person? Dylan and Zach work through two models of moral deliberation: principles vs. case by case. Which one is best...
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What Does it Mean to be a Political Pragmatist? from 2020-03-01T21:58:31
The podcast returns with a discussion on the distinction between ideology and political pragmatism. Some politicians are called ideologues, like Bernie. Some are pragmatists, like Pelosi. What do t...
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Sam Harris Responds from 2019-11-03T21:25:51
Long ago, Zach published a critique of Sam Harris (https://thevimblog.com/2018/09/21/wake-up-sam-harris/) that accused Sam of a point of hypocrisy with respect to his treatment of Islam and race. S...
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Can there be a Left-wing Authoritarianism? from 2019-10-20T22:35:42
Justin and Zach reunite to consider the question of whether there an be a left-wing authoritarianism. In the previous episode, they discussed what it means to have an authoritarian personality, to ...
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Are You an Authoritarian? from 2019-10-07T02:05:28
Justin and Zach discuss what it means to have an authoritarian personality. The topic is not strong men who lead governments but the sort of people who are inclined to support them. How do politica...
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Should You Get Married? from 2019-09-22T20:49:36
Kevin, Sarah, Gabe, Zach, and Yohana discuss the philosophy of marriage. What does marriage mean? What political implications does it have? If marriage as an institution is unjust, is there somethi...
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Why Politicians' Lies are Especially Bad from 2019-09-10T19:56:29
A special re-release of an early Vim podcast episode that was initially in two parts but has here been fused into one. No need to break the flow!
Justin, Dylan, Justin Clardy, and Zach uni...
A Leader Returns from 2019-09-02T06:17:24
In this unusual episode, Justin, the long lost founder of the Vim Podcast, makes his triumphant return. Dylan and Zach join him to discuss the circumstances of his mysterious absence, why he has re...
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When Will Machines Deserve Rights? from 2019-08-18T23:31:30
When is a machine deserving of moral consideration? When does it have rights? Zach and Dylan discuss these questions and more in this episode. It mainly focuses on Zach’s article, “Stop Talking abo...
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The 50th Episode Extravaganza!!! from 2019-08-04T19:43:02
Zach and Dylan get reflective and autobiographical in this special episode. They discuss whether the Vim podcast is too dense or too difficult for non-philosopher listeners. Then they turn to talk ...
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Arendt on the Banality of Evil from 2019-07-21T16:09:52
Finally! 2 years later, we deliver on the promise to record another Arendt episode.
Gabe, Kevin, Zach, and Yohana discuss the concept of the banality of evil, the subject of Hannah Arendt...
The Free Speech Episode from 2019-07-08T04:17:18
Dylan, Gabe, Lisa, and Kevin unite to discuss free speech, deplatforming, and rights. What should we make of conservative complaints that their free speech is being trampled on by protestors? Is de...
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Harry Frankfurt's Bullshit from 2019-06-23T16:20:53
Is Trump a liar? Or is it more accurate to call him a 'bullshitter'? On occasion, people will talk about bullshit as a political phenomenon. And when they do, they will reference a philosopher call...
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Is the President Above the Law? from 2019-06-10T01:22:54
Is the president above the law? We've all been wondering. Ishan, Dylan, and Zach discuss what a phrase like 'above the law' could mean.
This is the final installment in a trilogy on the Mu...
Are We in a Constitutional Crisis? from 2019-05-26T17:46:25
An unofficial sequel to the discussion on the Mueller Report, Dylan, Gabe, Ishan, and Zach reconvene to figure out what a “constitutional crisis” is. Like good philosophers, they distinguish a var...
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Why Isn't Something "Real" Until it is Online? from 2019-05-12T15:52:28
An epilogue to the episode titled, “Why Isn’t the Internet the ‘Real’ World?” Dylan and Zach consider a phenomena that might be in tension with Zach’s idea that we, in some vague and unarticulated ...
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Philosophy and the Mueller Report from 2019-04-29T03:12:47
The Mueller report—along with Attorney General William’s Barr’s accompanying antics—have come. They have also largely gone from the news cycle. But that is a shame. There is a lot to digest and thi...
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Why Isn't the Internet the "Real" World? from 2019-04-22T05:39:45
We often talk about a distinction between the online world and the “real” world? We say text or email conversations aren’t real conversations. We say we want to meet people IRL—’in real life’. What...
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Are We Prejudiced Against Machines? from 2019-01-14T17:44:11
This episode is a bit unusual. It is a talk that Zach gave to some students at University of Cincinnati on Oct. 18, 2018. However, since we’ve been wanting to do a technology episode for a while, w...
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The Hypocrisy of Sam Harris from 2018-12-17T07:10:13
The trilogy is complete! In this episode, Zach makes his case that Sam Harris’ attitude on racism is hypocritical. Zach thinks that Harris’ critique of religious moderates should lead him, by the s...
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Sam Harris vs. Jordan Peterson. What's the difference? from 2018-12-03T06:10:48
Zach and Dylan are back with part 2 of their series on the “Intellectual Dark Web,” a group of thinkers/political figures held together by god-knows-what. Scroll back for part 1! In this episode, D...
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Introduction to the "Intellectual Dark Web" from 2018-11-19T04:45:10
In this first of three episodes on the so-called “Intellectual Dark Web,” Dylan and Zach start with the basics.
- What is this group?
- What unites them?
- What makes them intellectu...
The Vim's Voter Guide from 2018-11-05T05:31
Not your typical voter guide!
We are always eyeing the next election. So the Vim is here to give you some guidance in the ballot box. Zach lays out his theory of 'democratic holism': we sh...
The Truth about Post-Truth from 2018-10-22T16:46:16
“Post-truth” was the 2016 word of the year, inspired by Trump and Brexit. But what does it mean? Is it coherent? Can we ever actually be post-truth? If so, are we now?
Dylan and Zach subj...
BONUS: More on the Uninformed President from 2018-10-15T07:10:33
We bring you an unusual, first of its kind, bonus episode. It is kinda like a behind the scenes look. In the last episode, Justin and Zach explored the consequences of having an uninformed presiden...
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The Uninformed President from 2018-10-08T07:34:31
Justin and Zach sit down to talk about what it means to have a fundamentally uninformed president.
There are more philosophical issues here than you might think. What does it mean to be i...
Objections to Open Relationships. And Replies from 2018-09-12T18:32:31
Justin, Alex, and Zach return to respond to all of your objections—well, 10 of them. If you are skeptical of the idea that you should reject monogamy and be in an open relationship, the vimmers fol...
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Should You Reject Monogamy? from 2018-09-10T01:53:30
Justin and Alex join Zach to discuss his claim that open relationships are for everybody. They define some terms—like amatonormativity, dyadic, monogamy, and open relationships—and then set out som...
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Facebook Should End from 2018-07-31T20:51:40
The Californians return to talk about the ethics of Facebook. Zach follows up on his article, “Facebook Should Shut Itself Down,” and tries to convince Dylan and Adam of his radical claim. In the e...
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Why Accusations of Hypocrisy are Never Effective from 2018-07-06T01:09:27
In the stunning conclusion, Dylan and Zach discuss 3 more fundamental and inescapable insights into the concept of hypocrisy. They focus on the question of why accusations of hypocrisy are ineffect...
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What is Hypocrisy? from 2018-06-29T03:15:27
It is the glorious return of Dylan! He joins Zach to dig into the concept of hypocrisy. They focus on two questions: 1) What is hypocrisy? 2) Why are accusations of hypocrisy so appealing? Like typ...
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Cheating, Polyamory, and Open Relationships from 2018-06-20T05:28:26
Lila, Zach, and Justin discuss 'amatonormativity', the notion that monogamy is normal for all humans and a universally shared goal. They give philosophical treatment to concepts like cheating, poly...
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Pro-Choice Arguments for Pro-Life People from 2018-06-07T20:39:48
Sarah and Zach talk to single issue abortion voters. Sarah puts forward an argument that being pro-life doesn't imply that one should always vote for pro-life candidates. The discussion covers all ...
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The Politics of Public Philosophy from 2018-05-28T07:13:35
Zach, Lila, and Adam get self-reflective and talk about public philosophy. What is it? What should it be? And what should we make of the attitude many ‘private’ philosophers take towards it? This e...
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The Politics of Anti-intellectualism from 2018-03-01T06:03:12
In the second installment of the What Philosophy Owes Society series, Zach and Justin discuss a putative American epidemic, anti-intellectualism. But what is anti-intellectualism? Why is it brought...
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What Does Philosophy Owe Society? from 2018-02-22T01:30:32
From Breaking Bad to Ken Burns, good things come in series. Accordingly, the Vim is here with not just one, but four articles and hence four episodes on "What Philosophy Owes Society". These episod...
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Philosophy of Taxes from 2018-02-16T04:09:35
In the long-awaited follow up to the Vim's previous episode on taxes, Justin and Zach go back to first principles and discuss the philosophy of taxation. This seemingly innocent topic spreads is te...
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Graduate Students Talking about the GOP Tax Bill from 2017-12-03T07:15:36
In this emergency (!) episode, three graduate students and two impartial panelists discuss the new corporate-tax cutting, graduate student-hating GOP tax plan. Trump is lying at his rallies and the...
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How to Read (about) Hannah Arendt from 2017-11-22T20:06:37
Who is Hannah Arendt and why should we care? In this episode, Zach and Kevin introduce her work and discuss why there was a season of Arendt popularity in the "media elite." How would Arendt feel a...
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The Vim Watches Fox News - Hannity on Collusion from 2017-11-05T01:31:38
In this very special explosive episode of The Vimcast, Zach and Justin sit down to watch and analyze a Sean Hannity monologue. Whatever you thought about Mueller's first round of indictments, prepa...
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The Vim Reads the News- Blame Facebook for Everything! from 2017-10-01T22:21:18
The Vim reads the news, philosophically! This is our second episode dedicated to an article not found on thevimblog.com. Adam, Dylan, and Zach jump into the world of social media and Russian PSYOPS...
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A Guide to Nazi Analogies in Trump's America from 2017-09-23T21:24:15
In this episode of the Vimcast, Zach, Justin and esteemed newcomer Clare critique the most famous critique of Nazi analogies, Godwin’s Law. Should we make Nazi analogies? If so, when should we make...
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The Vim Reads the News- Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The First White President” from 2017-09-13T06:01:59
The Vim reads the news! This is the first of our episodes dedicated to articles not found on thevimblog.com. Today we discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates’ piece, “The First White President.” We unpack his arg...
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The Politics of Wishful Thinking from 2017-09-09T14:43:41
In this episode, the normalcy bias becomes a normal topic. There are novelties, however. It's the first time we mention crackpots and prophets of doom. Wishful thinking on the Left is also picked a...
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Why We Cannot See Disaster Coming from 2017-09-02T14:42:48
In this episode, three Vimmers strive to match Keith Olbermann's fever pitch of doom. They sound the alarm of the normalcy bias, a bias holding both Trump yea and naysayers in its thrall. Yes, both...
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The Morality of "Economic Anxiety" from 2017-07-29T12:44:04
In the crescendoing finale of a three-part series on "economy anxiety", Zach argues that pleading economic anxiety is akin to "slapping you and then telling you that you should empathize with my ch...
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The Origins of "Economic Anxiety" from 2017-07-23T00:21:21
Origins stories are in vogue. Economic Anxiety needs its origin story. Where does it come from? What's its appeal? What's its basis? Spoiler: it's probably not reality.
Justin and Zach ex...
The Myth of "Economic Anxiety" from 2017-07-17T01:29:29
Economic Anxiety? Economic Anxiety. Economic Anxiety! The meme-cum-trope came hard and took op-ed columns by storm in 2016. Two Vimmers open up a three-part series in which they peel back the layer...
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Lying to the Whole World (pt. 2) from 2017-05-28T19:59:52
The second half(ish) of our episode on Dylan’s article, “How to Apologize for a Lie.” We discuss dirty hands in politics, politicians’ lies, utilitarianism, strict liability, and Trump even makes a...
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Lying to the Whole World (pt. 1) from 2017-05-21T03:53:06
This is the first half(ish) of our session dedicated to lying and the logistics of making amends via apology. And who do you need to apologize to? The Bowling Green Massacre, Tricky Dick, and an ad...
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Seven Ways to 'Rig' an Election from 2017-05-14T00:19:11
An episode dedicated to our number-one listener, Vladdy Pu.
Herein we take a philosopher's scapel to the term 'rigged' and see what rhetorical anatomy comes of it. We are sorry that the e...
Dignifying Our Neighbors Pt. 2: Objections and Replies (and More Objections) from 2017-05-07T02:09:49
Kevin, Ally, and Zach return to finish their discussion of Kevin’s article, “On Dignifying One’s Neighbor” (https://thevimblog.com/2017/02/23/on-dignifying-ones-neighbor/). For starters, you’d best...
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Dignifying Our Neighbors Pt. 1: the Economy of Moral Value from 2017-04-30T21:28:47
Kevin, Ally, and Zach gather to discuss Kevin’s masterful article, “On Dignifying One’s Neighbor”(https://thevimblog.com/2017/02/23/on-dignifying-ones-neighbor/). In the first of two parts, they tr...
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How to Talk to Trump Supporters Pt. 4: Appealing to the Constitution from 2017-04-24T02:22:55
In the last conversation on talking to Trump supporters, Zach, Adam and Justin discuss the role of the Constitution in across-the-aisle conversations. Must this be a case of 'conservatives telling ...
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How to Talk to Trump Supporters Pt. 3: The Socratic Method from 2017-04-15T17:11:45
In their (ante)penultimate episode on talking to Trump supporters (https://thevimblog.com/2016/11/29/a-guide-for-talking-to-trump-supporters/), Zach, Adam, Justin Clardy and Justin Dollman riff on ...
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What is Real Fake News? from 2017-04-08T20:26:18
Adam, Dylan, Kevin, and Justin get together to discuss Adam's article, "Fake News: Why the Mainstream Media is Often Part of the Problem" (https://thevimblog.com/2017/01/20/fake-news-why-mainstream...
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How to Talk to Trump Supporters Pt. 2: Guidelines and Goals from 2017-04-02T04:17:10
Some California dreamers - Zach, Dylan, Adam - join Justin to continue the discussion of Zach’s “A Guide for Talking to Trump Supporters” (https://thevimblog.com/2016/11/29/a-guide-for-talking-to-t...
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How to Talk to Trump Supporters Pt. 1: The Ethics of Engagement from 2017-03-23T22:48:35
In our first episode, Zach, Justin C, Justin D, and Max gather round their microphones to discuss Zach’s article, “A Guide for Talking to Trump Supporters” (https://thevimblog.com/2016/11/29/a-guid...
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Welcome One, Welcome All from 2017-03-23T22:27:23
In the 0th episode of The Vimcast, Zach, Kevin and Justin discuss what the Vimcast is, what the Vim is, and why they’ve brought all of it into existence. They mention promotion of political and med...
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