Episodes
In this episode we are are joined by another special guest, R. Scott Bakker. Scott is a prolific and successful fantasy author, but has also recently published a paper in the Journal of Consciousness Studies called On Alien Philosophy. Scott joins us to discuss some of the ideas outlined in his paper (for example blind brain theory) and we have a very stimulating and friendly chat (though we're first to admit some of it went way over our heads!). We hope to chat to Scott again in the future....
Published 04/03/17
In this episode we are joined again by our special guest, Yannick Jacob. Yannick is the programme leader for the MSc Coaching Psychology at UEL and he also teaches and lectures on the topics of existentialism, coaching, mediation and positive psychology. So a perfect guest for our podcast given our preoccupations with existentialism and positive psychology. We chat about who is an existential being, the purpose of existential coaching, flow, risk-taking and happiness, and finally how people...
Published 03/29/17
In this episode we are joined by another special guest, Yannick Jacob. Yannick is the programme leader for the MSc Coaching Psychology at UEL and he also teaches and lectures on the topics of existentialism, coaching, mediation and positive psychology. So a perfect guest for our podcast given our preoccupations with existentialism and positive psychology. We chat about positive psychology and suspicions, beliefs in god and spirituality, and  existentialism. You can find more out about Yannick...
Published 03/29/17
In this episode we are joined by another very special guest, Dr Susan Blackmore. Sue is a former parapsychologist who has moved away from the study of the paranormal and onto investigating a wide range of topics, including evolution, memes and consciousness. During our interview we discussed PhDs, memes and the third replicator (tremes), technology and AI, evolution and cyberspace, consciousness, the self and identity, the subjective and the objective, drugs, hallucinations, and altered...
Published 03/25/17
For this episode we are joined again by an extra special guest, Professor Christopher French. Chris French was Louie's PhD supervisor, and is a well known British psychologist interested in paranormal beliefs and claims. He is currently head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths College, and we continue our chat about anomalistic psychology and parapsychology. Also discuss briefly positive psychology and the meaning of life. You can find more on Chris and the APRU at...
Published 03/17/17
For this episode we are joined by an extra special guest, Professor Christopher French. Chris French was Louie's PhD supervisor, and is a well known British psychologist interested in paranormal beliefs and claims. He is currently head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths College, and he chats with us about anomalistic psychology and parapsychology (amongst other things). You can find more on Chris and the APRU at http://www.gold.ac.uk/apru/
Published 03/17/17
The Million Dollar Psychic, paranormal experiences, and UFOs. (Duration 16:35)  
Published 03/13/17
In this episode we are joined by another special guest, Professor Oren Harman. Professor Harman is amongst other things, author of the award winning book "The Price of Altruism", and joins us to discuss the fantastic (and ultimately sorry) tale of George Price. Along with George Price's contribution to the study of altruism, we also briefly discuss Professor Harman's take on existentialism. You can find his TED talk here (covering much the same material):...
Published 03/09/17
In this episode we are again joined by special guest, Dr Itai Ivtzan. Itai is a positive psychologist and program leader of MAPP (Masters in Applied Positive Psychology) at the University of East London. This time the three of us chat more about PhDs, parapsychology and even the meaning of life. You can find out more about Dr Ivtzan at https://www.awarenessisfreedom.com/
Published 03/06/17
In this episode we are joined by another special guest, Dr Itai Ivtzan. Itai is a positive psychologist and program leader of MAPP (Masters in Applied Positive Psychology) at the University of East London. The three of us chat about positive psychology, PhDs, Viktor Frankl, the concept of growth and second wave positive psychology. You can find out more about Dr Ivtzan at https://www.awarenessisfreedom.com/
Published 03/06/17
In this episode we are joined by another guest, Nick Brown. Nick is currently a PhD student at the University of Groningen and he blogs at http://steamtraen.blogspot.co.uk/. Nick chats with us about some of his work in relation to criticising positive psychology (Critical positivity ratio). Nick has just hit the headlines again with his analysis of the work of Professor Brian Wansink (https://www.theguardian.com/science/h...). And we hope to have him back on soon, to continue the interesting...
Published 03/03/17
In this episode we continue the chat from episode 25 about positive psychology. We ended that episode asking whether life was worth living, and in this episode we debate those two things.
Published 03/03/17
In this episode we begin to chat about a topic close to Matthew Smith's heart: Positive Psychology. This is a topic we're going to be digging into with several upcoming guests, and one that we'll keep coming back to. What is it? Is it science? Can it improve people's lives?
Published 03/01/17
In this episode we are joined again by Peter Hankins, author of the excellent blog Conscious Entities (http://www.consciousentities.com/). This time we chat about The Brain Preservation Foundation, uploading a brain to a computer, and speculate about why the universe exists. (Duration 16:01)
Published 02/25/17
In this episode we are joined by another guest, Peter Hankins, author of the excellent blog Conscious Entities (http://www.consciousentities.com/). Peter gives us his take on some of the mysteries of consciousness, and we have a little chat about the hard and soft problems. (Duration 12:15)
Published 02/25/17
Light from the Sun; photons; the two ways people react to facts; the drunkard's walk; random processes. (Duration 11:38)
Published 02/24/17
In this episode we are joined again by our special guest, professor Taner Edis (physicist and sceptic). This time Professor Edis tells us about a university course he teaches on "Weird Science", and we have a short chat about parapsychology. (Duration 15:14)
Published 02/20/17
In this episode we are joined by our special guest, professor Taner Edis (physicist and sceptic) who gives his opinion on why the universe exists, and whether it's appropriate to ask that question of the universe. (Duration 16:26)
Published 02/20/17
In which we have a conversation about god and the existence thereof, and about why the universe exists, amongst other things. (Duration 26:28)
Published 02/19/17
Happy Valentines Day. Part II. Courtly love; contemporary love; platonic love; existential love; kin among men; sex and sexuality; the complexities of love. (Duration 19:49)
Published 02/15/17
Happy Valentines Day. The origin of love. (Duration 19:03)
Published 02/14/17
Overview effect; the pale blue dot; different perspectives and their impact; existential questions. (Duration 14:53)
Published 02/13/17
Academic parapsychology; Most Haunted; paranormal television shows; The Blair Witch Project; Derek Acorah; sceptics (Duration 26:36)
Published 02/09/17
What's the point [of all of these episodes]; existential angst; existential exploration & travels; risks & gambling; the academic daily grind. (Duration 22:47)
Published 02/08/17
Artificial Intelligence; SOMA; Ethics and morality of consciousness experiments; existential questions through the mind of an AI. (Duration 12:49)
Published 02/07/17