What’s My Thesis?

16. Bodies and the Politics of Presence - Zoya Sardashti

Zoya Sardashti talks about Judith Butler’s writing on forming assembly, and shows us how dependent we are on the other when building our individual identities.

15. Immigration Law - Mark Prada

I talk to old friend, and immigration lawyer Mark Prada. We learn that the immigration court has no Judicial independence, and is not subject to checks and balances. “At any point Jeff sessions can snatch your case in front of him and change the law.”

14. Telematic Space - Jamie Hamilton

Artist Jamie Hamilton stops by to discuss his upcoming article for Vasari21 on Telematic Space. Jamie shows us how little we understand the structure of the internet and our relationship to agregatiors of content like Google and Facebook. In this episode we get new insights into topics we've covered on the show by talking about the technologies that influence our experience. To Jaimie the idea that humanity will become useless as artificial intellligence takes our place seems unlikely and indicative of a fundamental missunderstanding of how dependent AI is on data sets generated by people. 

13. Platonic Love - Gaea Woods

Gaea Woods, photographer, therapist, and host of Soulfriend Radio, gives us a break from the string of Scifi episodes to talk about friendship. We talk about how to make friends in Los Angeles, and how to maintian non-romantic intimate relationships. Is some one still your friend, if you haven't spoken in years? Gaea shows us how important these skills are, and that lonliness isn't necessarily a function of how many friends you have.

We also continue to celebrate Maiden LA, which is a Los Angeles wide artwalk open to anyone who wants to submit a project/event/open studio.

12. The Technological Singularity - Live from Cirrus Gallery - Molly Schulman, and Brice Bischoff

Artists Molly Schulman, Brice Bischoff, and I discuss the hypothesis that by 2045 exponential progress in bioengineering, nanotechnology, and robotics will lead to an Artificial Super Intelligence with the ability to self-replicate and evolve. Some versions of this future imagine robots the size of atoms boosting immune systems and cleaning the environment, while others predict a scenario in which the same robots attack the biosphere and destroy all life in a matter of days. Will humans become extinct, or immortal by merging with machines? 

11. The Atomic Age Part II: Atoms for Peace

10. The Atomic Age Part I: the Proto Atomic Era

9. Stream of Consciousness 2: Random Conversation is Not Interesting

On today’s episode, we read our first review, look into our futures, and fantasize about laying down a sick bunt.

8. Universal Basic Income, the Precariat, and the Philosopher Billionaire

On today's show Javi talks with special guest Sue Ellen Stone about UBI, and more.

7. Stream of consciousness 1: Unencumbered Toss

Seth and Javier have an unscripted chat about backpacks, fish in creeks, and needy appeals for fan fiction.

6. Forbidden Fruit

On today’s episode: We learn that @sethlower is an encyclopedia of fruit knowledge before diving deep into lesser known Forbidden Fruit myths. What other objects have Gods used to tempt mortals, and why does Seth say the word MacGuffin more times in this ep than you’ve heard it in your life? Check out episode 11 Forbidden Fruit to find out!

5. Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty and Why Philosophy Matters

On today’s episode: We finally get to Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty. What do supporters of gun and reproductive rights have in common? They both define freedom in the negative sense, a relatively new interpretation of liberty. We provide examples of both negative and positive freedom to show it’s not as simple as saying one is liberal and one is conservative. We also discuss why philosophy matters, and define the role of the moral philosopher in the context of value pluralism/moral relativism. The most referenced concept in the podcast is finally addressed!

4. Lucid Dreaming Part III

On today’s episode: We leave the lab, and enter the dreamscape to ask “who is the dreamer?” LaBerge shows us that our consciousness is contained within, and always at the center of a multi-faceted sensory experience. We also ask how much control over a dream is possible, describe the mutual dreaming phenomenon, and wax philosophical/metaphysical about the science we covered in Pt I & Pt II. Lucid Dreaming Pt III is out, and the trilogy is complete!

3. Lucid Dreaming Part II

On today’s episode: we discuss dream sex and the psycho physiological responses in the body when men and women dream orgasms. We also cover the mind body issue and learn why we imagine and remember experiences less vividly than we dream them. Lucid Dreaming Pt II is ready for download!

2. Lucid Dreaming Part I

Ever realized you were dreaming while still in the dream? On this week’s episode @javierproenza shares the work of oneironaut (explorer of the dream world) Stephen LaBerge, who used lucid dreaming to pioneer techniques that allowed dreamers to communicate from within their dreams with the waking world. In part I, we cover some of the experiments he performed at Stanford University that established our understanding of what happens to our bodies, brains and consciousness when we dream, and encourage you to get into the habit of questioning your reality while awake to help you become lucid when dreaming.

1. The First Futurist, Italian Fascism, and the Avant-Garde

Seth Lower and Javier Proenza are Los Angeles based artists who meet every week to share the answers they’ve found to the questions they have. Join them as they attempt to make sense of the world through history, art, and philosophy.