Microphilosophy with Julian Baggini

An Interview with Martin Parr

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:01:10 GMT

I was very saddened to hear of the death of photographer Martin Parr on the 6th of December last year. Parr had a singular, signature style which defied low-brow / high-brow distinctions. In 2011 I interviewed Parr at an event tied in to an exhibition of his work at Bristol's M Shed. I dug out the recording, which has never been released, and have edited for this special microphilosophy podcast. Listening to it, I'm not convinced I asked the best questions but Parr always gave very interesting answers.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep7

Wed, 03 May 2023 10:52:34 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Myisha Cherry and Catarina Dutilh Novaes explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on the role of anger in thinking and the need to defer to others. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep6

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 06:32:39 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Simon Kirchin and Anil Seth explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on the problems of "reification" – thinking of concepts as though they were things – and anthropomorphism, and finding the balance between confidence and humility in your own ideas, practices and arguments. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep5

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 20:49:02 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Nilanjan Das and Leah Kalmanson explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on the value of contemplative practices, and shifting the burden of proof. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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Stand-up Philosophy

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 16:15:07 GMT

We’re at the midpoint of series five of Microphilosophy, in which I’ve been discussing the habits and virtues of highly effective thinkers with guest philosophers. We’ll be resuming these episodes after the easter break. For now, here’s a recording of an experimental live stand up philosophy performance that has been sitting in my archive for several years. Whereas the series so far has been about how to think like a good philosopher, this one explores what happens if you apply philosophical methods in wildly inappropriate and opportunistic ways..

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep4

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 12:45:04 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Clare Chambers and Lucy O'Brien explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on the principles of charity and sincerity, and the need to abide in uncertainty. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep3

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 22:15:32 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Peter Adamson and Tom Kasulis explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on how to use thought experiments and being misled by concepts. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep2

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 08:35:57 GMT

Julian Baggini and guests Patricia Churchland and Owen Flanagan explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on following the facts, without assuming they speak for themselves. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep1

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 13:54:48 GMT

In this discussion recorded live at St Georges, Bristol, philosopher Julian Baggini and guests Lisa Bortolotti and Rebecca Buxton explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. They took as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking. Event produced by Bristol Ideas.

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Hope I Get Old before I Die

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 10:20:19 GMT

This edition was dropped the week that the legendary guitarist Wilko Johnson died, aged 75. Back in February 2014 I interviewed Wilko at the Giants of Rock Festival in Minehead. We talked about getting old but continuing to rock, a life-affirming choice Wilko and his mostly middle-aged audience both made with glee. The interview wasn’t recorded for broadcast so its backstage, rough-and-ready aesthetic is by accident not design. But I think the informality of the conversation makes a welcome change and gives a good sense of the man himself.

Johnson rose to fame with the band Dr Feelgood in the 1970s. He continued to play with various bands after leaving the Feelgoods in 1977.

In January 2013 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given less than a year to live. He threw himself into touring and a year later when we spoke he was still going strong. At the Giants of Rock Festival he was playing with his long-term sidekick, bass legend Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe. Listen to this and tell me Wilko’s not a philosopher.

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The Art of the Moog

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 14:08:11 GMT

I talked to Will Gregory and Graham Fitkin when they visited St Georges in Bristol in 2018 to perform with Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble, Will Gregory is best known as half of Goldfrapp and is also a composer and producer. Graham Fitkin a composer, pianist and conductor best known for his minimalist and postminimalist work.

Our conversation contains gems for both synth geeks and those like me who don’t know much except what we like. And if you’re thinking what has this got to do with philosophy?, just take a listen and if you’re still asking by the end, I’d suggest your conception of philosophy might be too narrow.

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Take your mind for a ride

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 10:10:40 GMT

Today’s episode features another Philosophy salon recorded live pre-Covid at St George’s in Bristol. This time, we’re talking about the perhaps unlikely and surprising connections between philosophy and … cycling. I was sceptical too but after talking with activist, writer and self-described “outdoor philosopher” Kate Rawles and writer and musician Jet MacDonald, I was converted, and I hope you will be too.

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Anarchism Today

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 18:56:57 GMT

In our tumultuous times, is anarchism a fate to be dreaded or could it actually be part of the solution? In her definitive history of anarchism The Government of No One, Ruth Kinna argues that anarchism in various forms has made a series of challenging contributions to political thought rooted in a belief in freedom and working towards collective good without the interference of the state. She is in conversation with Julian Baggini and Nathan Eisenstadt (Bristol University).

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The history of philosophy in English

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 07:00:33 GMT

Jonathan Rée rejects the ‘condescending smugness’ of traditional histories of philosophy. In his new history of philosophy in English Witcraft he abandons the standard, tired narratives and presents the history of philosophy as a haphazard series of unmapped forest paths, a mass of individual stories showing endurance, inventiveness, bewilderment, anxiety, impatience, and good humor. Expect the same from this conversation with Julian Baggini, Rée and Andrew Pyle.

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Existentialism Today

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 09:43:51 GMT

This was recorded at one of my series of Philosophy Salons at St Georges, Bristol. My guests were Kate Kirkpatrick, the author of the biography Becoming Beauvoir: and Jonathan Webber, author of Rethinking Existentialism. We covered a lot of ground, including the nature and degree of human freedom, whether existentialism was capable of grounding a credible ethics and the revealing differences between Jean-Paul Sartre and Simon de Beavoir’s versions of existentialism.

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Learning from Asian Philosophy

Sat, 12 Feb 2022 17:28:16 GMT

Bryan van Norden and Jin Y. Park are two of the world’s leading philosophers working at the intersection of east and west. Park’s book Buddhism and Postmodernity combines Zen and Huayan Buddhism with Continental philosophy, while van Norden’s book Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto has challenged western philosophers to open their minds and doors to other traditions. In discussion with Julian Baggini they talk about what we can learn from Asian thought and the obstacles to genuine cross-cultural philosophising.

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How can we talk about trans rights and women’s rights? Pt3

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:58:32 GMT

In 2021 I facilitated a lengthy discussion between two philosophers who take different views on the best way to advance trans rights about why the debate is such a fraught one, Catarina Dutilh Novaes and Mary Leng. This is the third and final part.

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How can we talk about trans rights and women's rights? Pt2

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 15:57:03 GMT

n 2021 I facilitated a lengthy discussion between two philosophers who take different views on the best way to advance trans rights about why the debate is such a fraught one, Catarina Dutilh Novaes and Mary Leng.

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How can we talk about trans rights and women's rights? Pt1

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 10:01:00 GMT

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Hierarchy and Inequality in Nietzsche and Falsafa

Fri, 02 Dec 2016 23:09:21 GMT

In many ways medieval Islamic philosophy and the works of Friedrich Neitzsche couldn’t be more different. But as we see in this podcast, both provide interesting, rich challenges to modern western egalitarian ideals. Guests are Carlos Fraenkel (McGill University) and Mathias Risse (Harvard Kennedy School of Government). Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute’s Philosophy and Culture Centre. F8CGDkAIS25brh3zCzkz

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Confucian Harmony and Freedom

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 11:33:15 GMT

Harmony is as core a value in classical Chinese thought as Freedom is in the modern west and it is often thought that the two conflict, with major political implications. However, the three broadly Confucian scholars in this episode deny there is a fundamental conflict between freedom and harmony. They are Shenyang Li ( Nanyang Technological University), Anna Sun (Kenyon College) and David B. Wong (Duke University). Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute’s Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Age, Expertise, Gender and Hierarchy

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 09:43:52 GMT

The third podcast in a series examining the relationship and tensions between hierarchy and equality sees three very different scholars all with roots in China asking us to rethink hierarchy through the lenses of history, economics, feminism, daoism, mathematics and artificial intelligence. My guests are Jiang Qian (independent scholar), Robin R. Wang (Professor of Philosophy and Director of Asian Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University) and Taisu Zhang (Associate Professor at the Yale Law School). Produced in association with the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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The Confucian Uses of Hierarchy

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:06:05 GMT

This is the second podcast in a series examining the theme of the relationship and tensions between hierarchy and equality. This episode looks at Confucian perspectives on the issues. My guests are Stephen C. Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University; Joseph C.W. Chan, professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong; Michael Puett, Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University and Justin Tiwald, Associate Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. Produced in association with the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Freedom and Harmony, Intimate and global

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:31:22 GMT

This is the second podcast in a series examining the theme of the relationship and tensions between harmony and freedom. This episode approaches this issue from the intimate to the global. My guests are Philip Pettit, L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University; Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland; and Leif Wenar, Chair of Philosophy and Law at King's College London. Produced in association with the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Harmony and Freedom in Africa, India and Europe

Mon, 16 May 2016 00:01:06 GMT

Are freedom and harmony political goals that complement or compete with each other? Joining me are Rajeev Bhargava, Director of the Institute of Indian Thought at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; Anton Koch, professor of philosophy at the University of Heidelberg; and Thaddeus Metz, Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg. Produced in association with the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Hierarchy and Equality in America

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 14:29:12 GMT

In a culture that values equality, what is the role and function of hierarchy in America today? With Kwame Anthony Appiah, Stephen Macedo and Carlin Romano. Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute’s Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Self East and West (Part 3)

Sun, 15 Nov 2015 00:01:45 GMT

The last of three podcasts on conceptions of self, East and West, asks whether the West suffers from “too much self”. With Rebecca Goldstein, Peter Herschock, Pico Iyer, Jay Ogilvy and David Wong. Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute's Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Self East and West (Part Two)

Mon, 09 Nov 2015 13:40:12 GMT

The second of three podcasts on conceptions of self, East and West, looks at the idea of the relational self. With Roger Ames, Daniel Bell and Jin Lee. Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute's Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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Self East and West (Part 1)

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 07:41:58 GMT

The first of three podcasts on conceptions of self, East and West, looks at how the self needs to be cultivated. With Akeel Bilgrami, Thomas Kasulis and Edward Slingerland. Produced in association with the Berggruen Institute's Philosophy and Culture Centre.

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The virtues of our vices

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:46:19 GMT

In the latest microphilosophy podcast I talk to the author of The Virtues of Our Vices Emrys Westacott about how the moral importance of everyday actions and the rightness of wrongness. The discussion was recorded live at Foyles bookshop in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

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Science as a guide to life

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:17:38 GMT

In the latest microphilosophy podcast I talk to the author of The Atheist's Guide to Reality, philosopher of Science Alex Rosenberg, about what science has to tell us about how we should live. We're also joined by Samir Okasha, author of Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction. The discussion was recorded live at Foyles bookshop in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

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The Shrink & The Sage

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:08:55 GMT

To coincide with the publication of The Shrink and The Sage, Julian Baggini and Antonia Macaro, authors of the book and the FT Weekend Magazine column of the same name, talk to philosopher John Sellars about the relationship between ancient Stoic philosophy and modern psychotherapy.

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True crime and evil

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:59:46 GMT

In the latest microphilosophy podcast I talk to Richard Lloyd Parry, author of People Who Eat Darkness, and Tobias Jones, author of Blood on the Altar about how the experience of writing about true, gruesome crimes has affected their understanding of evil and human nature. The discussion was recorded live at Foyles bookshop in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

Sketch of discussion by Michelle Cioccoloni

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Warnock on religion

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:24:39 GMT

Mary Warnock

In the latest microphilosophy podcast I talk to Mary Warnock about her latest book, Dishonest to God: On Keeping Religion out of Politics. The interview was recorded live at the Arnolfini Centre as part of the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

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Inside the minds of animals

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:32:46 GMT

In his book, In Defence of Dogs, John Bradshaw provides a fascinating insight into the inner life of dogs, raising issues of consciousness and animal ethics. This podcast was recorded at Foyles bookshop in Bristol in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Bradshaw was in conversation with Julian Baggini and Prof. Christine Nicol.

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Humanity 2.0

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:32:32 GMT

As homo sapiens develops more and more technologies for changing itself, what will, and should, the humans of the future look like? In Humanity 2.0, Steve Fuller addresses these questions. This podcast was recorded at Foyles bookshop in Bristol in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas. Fuller was in conversation with Julian Baggini and Darian Meachem.

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The Lust for Certainty

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:28:52 GMT

Do we suffer from a lust for certainty? This is an edited version of a talk given to a Sea of Faith Network conference in London earlier this year.

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John Gray on Immortality

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:27:52 GMT

John Gray

In this programme I talk to John Gray about some of the ideas that emerge from his latest book, The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death. The podcast was recorded at the Bristol Festival of Ideas in May, at the Arnolfini.

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The most human human?

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:20:10 GMT

Brian Christian

Can artificial intelligence teach us about what it means to be human? That is the fascinating question behind Brian Christian‘s recent book, The Most Human Human. In this programme, Julian Baggini is in conversation with Christian, recorded live at the Bristol Festival of Ideas at the Arnolfini Centre earlier this year.

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New podcast series

Tue, 17 May 2011 01:46:13 GMT

Richard Swinburne

After a hiatus, I'm replacing my Philosophy Monthly podcast with a new series, microphilosophy. Each one will be an interview, talk, discussion or feature, no longer than half an hour but usually much shorter.

This first edition is an interview with the philosopher and theologian Richard Swinburne, conducted for my new book, The Ego Trick. More podcasts relating to the book will follow over coming weeks.

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