Philosophy Talk Starters
595 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago - ★★★★ - 54 ratingsBite-size episodes from the program that questions everything... except your intelligence. Learn more and access complete episodes at www.philosophytalk.org.
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513: Are We All to Blame?
May 14, 2023 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.52 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/are-we-all-blame. It’s easy to identify the pressing issues facing our world today, but it’s much more difficult to assign responsibility for them. Often the blame is placed on collectives — on entire governments, nations, and societies. But does the responsibility truly all fall to them? How can we identify precisely whose fault it is, for example, that we are experiencing climate change, or that hate crimes occur, or that there is a gender wage ...
213: Søren Kierkegaard
May 07, 2023 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/kierkegaard. Philosophy usually suggests a striving for rationality and objectivity. But the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard advocated subjectivity and the leap of faith – his conception of how an individual would believe in God or act in love. Kierkegaard, whose best-known work is "Fear and Trembling," is often considered the father of Existentialism. Ken and John explore the life and thought of this passionate philosopher with Lanier Anderson f...
564: The Power of Prediction
April 25, 2023 21:41 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/power-prediction. You’re standing at the top of a mountain, surveying the vast landscape below. The information your senses take in flows to your brain, which processes it to create a representation of the scene. Or does it? What if instead of directly perceiving the world around us, the brain is more like a prediction machine that hallucinates a picture of the world? If that were the case, could we still rely on the so-called “evidence of our sen...
511: Why We Hate
April 23, 2023 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.29 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-we-hate. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. has risen to a record high. There has also been a corresponding increase in hate crime violence. So where does all this hate come from? Do we hate others because we feel a deeper sense of alienation or fear towards them? Is hating always the wrong response, or is there an appropriate kind of hate? Can we love and hate at the same time? And wha...
563: Derek Parfit and Your Future Self
April 16, 2023 21:15 - 9 minutes - 8.7 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/derek-parfit-and-your-future-self. The works of Derek Parfit (1942-2017) have had a profound influence on how philosophers understand rational decision-making, ethics, and personal identity. At the heart of Parfit's thinking are questions about how you should relate to your future self, and whether you should treat your future self any differently than other future people. So why does Parfit argue that it's wrong to place a special value on your o...
512: What's in a Game?
April 08, 2023 00:00 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/whats-game. Games have been an integral part of human society since the earliest civilizations. They are played around the world by people at every rank and station, at every stage of life, from childhood to old age. Why do we love games so much? Are they just a pleasant way of whiling away some empty hours or escaping the daily grind? Or do we play games to form social bonds and build important life skills? Are there some games we should never pl...
543: Why Poetry Matters
April 02, 2023 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.69 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-poetry-matters. Some people say they find poetry impenetrable. Yet readership is increasing: in a 2017 survey, the National Endowment for the Arts found that nearly 12% of adults in the US had read poetry in the last year. So what explains the enduring appeal of poetry as an art form? Are there any limits to who counts as a poet, or what counts as poetry? And what makes a poem good anyway? Josh and Ray wax lyrical with Nobel Prize-winning poet...
562: The Philosophy of Smell
March 22, 2023 14:46 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-smell. When philosophers think about human perception, they tend to focus on vision and turn their noses up at olfaction, the sense of smell. So what insights can we gain about perception, thought, and language by focusing on olfaction? How culturally variable is the ability to distinguish one scent from another? Do we need to learn certain concepts before we can detect certain odors, or can our noses pick up things we can’t yet name? A...
510: Science and Skepticism
March 19, 2023 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.97 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/science-and-skepticism. In recent decades, we’ve witnessed intense cultural wars waged on scientifically established phenomena, such as climate change and the benefit of vaccines. Of course, we might agree that some degree of skepticism about the world around us is good—it would be impractical and even dangerous for us to blindly accept everything we are told as fact. But is skepticism always healthy? Or is there a point at which one’s skepticism ...
561: The 2023 Dionysus Awards
March 05, 2023 21:22 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/2023-dionysus-awards. What movies from the past year challenged your assumptions and made you think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol present our annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provoking movies of 2022, including: • Meatiest Meditation on Mortality and Meaning (in the British Isles) • Coolest Contemplation of Complicated Comeuppances • Combo Cup for Greatest Genrepalooza
560: Cancel Culture
February 20, 2023 16:25 - 10 minutes - 9.77 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/cancel-culture. Revoking support or a platform from someone who is perceived to have behaved badly has recently been dubbed “cancel culture.” Many complain that this pervasive practice promotes mob mentality and stifles free speech. But is "cancel culture" a real phenomenon, or has it become an overused and meaningless concept? Is publicly censuring others for something they've done or said itself a form of free speech? And is there a moral differ...
210: The Philosophical Legacy of Darwin
February 12, 2023 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/darwin. More than 200 years after his birth, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution continues to shape our thinking, not only in biology, but also in psychology, economics, and all other attempts to understand human beings including philosophy. Ken and John delve into Darwin's theory and its implications for philosophy with Daniel Dennett of Tufts University, author of "Darwin's Dangerous Idea."
540: Righteous Rage
February 05, 2023 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.46 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/righteous-rage. Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote that anger is a form of madness. Other philosophers share this suspicion, viewing anger as a destructive emotion that leads to cruel and vengeful acts. But don't certain kinds of injustice, like the murders of black and brown people in the US, deserve our rage? What's the difference between righteous indignation and a destructive urge for revenge? And how can activists channel their anger toward polit...
509: Citizenship and Justice
January 29, 2023 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.67 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/citizenship-and-justice. Securing citizenship to a developed country could guarantee people enormous privileges and opportunities. Some condemn those who try illegally to reap the benefits that come with such citizenship. But are our ways of determining who gets to enter borders arbitrary and unfair? Should we grant border access to people born in a nation’s territories, or also on people whose parents were citizens? Or should we favor the highly ...
559: Why Trust Science?
January 20, 2023 15:35 - 9 minutes - 8.97 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-trust-science. According to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans who trust in science is steadily declining. While politicization is partly to blame, another reason may be that the “truths” of science seem to shift endlessly. So why should we trust science? Is it still reliable, even if it doesn’t seem to settle on a single truth? And what can be done to increase the general public’s confidence in medic...
508: The Merits of Meritocracy
January 15, 2023 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.3 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/merits-meritocracy. For centuries, the promise of the “American Dream” has been that as long as someone buckles down and works hard, she can achieve her goals. In other words, we’ve perpetuated the meritocratic notion that the more effort one puts in and the more ability one possesses, the more success one can attain. But is this really the case? Given the historical and societal disadvantages that certain groups of people face, it may appear that...
507: Can Streets Disciminate?
January 08, 2023 00:00 - 9 minutes - 9.12 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-streets-discriminate. City streets play an important role in our everyday lives. We commute to work, walk our dogs, meet our friends, and stage protests on city streets. In theory, streets are open for anyone to physically access. But do streets, by their design, actually discriminate against certain people? If so, who has less access to city streets? Is the design of our cities a political matter? Can we even talk about cities as being just or unjust...
558: The Examined Year – 2022
January 01, 2023 22:53 - 15 minutes - 14.6 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/examined-year-2022. What happened over the last twelve months that challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? • The Year in Developed Nations at War with Tamsin Shaw from NYU, author of "Nietzsche's Political Skepticism" • The Year in Supreme Court Controversy with Bernadette Meyler from the Stanford Law School, author of "Theaters of Pardoning" • The Year in Deep Space Photography with Nick Riggle from the University ...
211: How Relevant Is Jesus?
December 25, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/how-relevant-jesus. Some people think Jesus was the son of God, though many who are skeptical about that still think he was a great moral teacher. But if we really knew what Jesus would think about moral issues that he didn't confront while he lived – abortion, terrorism, euthanasia, gay marriage or the destruction of old-growth redwoods – would it be that helpful? Would his moral vision have any implications for these issues? Ken and John discuss the ...
551: Effective Altruism
December 18, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.9 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/effective-altruism. Most people agree that it's good to help others, but philosophers disagree about how much good we need to do, and for whom. Effective altruists claim that you have a moral obligation to do the most good you can—even when that means setting aside the needs of your nearest and dearest in order to help strangers. So what does morality demand of us? Are we justified in caring more about our own communities than faraway strangers? A...
506: The Ethical Jerk
December 11, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 12.6 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/ethical-jerk. Ethics philosophers are more ethical than the average person — right? Well, maybe not. Studies show that philosophy professors are just as biased as the rest of us, and no more generous in their charitable giving. So does that mean they’re not any more ethical too? What’s the point of doing moral philosophy if it’s not to make ourselves more ethical? How can we make ourselves better people? Or are we doomed to moral mediocrity, despite our b...
557: Thinking Like a Conspiracy Theorist
December 05, 2022 00:30 - 11 minutes - 11 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/thinking-conspiracy-theorist. The moon landing was faked! JFK Jr. is still alive! Finland doesn’t exist! Conspiracy theories of all sorts have been gaining traction, thanks partly to the ease with which they spread online. But what makes someone more inclined to believe in vast conspiracies? Are marginalized groups who have been lied to by authorities more likely to be distrustful of official narratives? Or do common cognitive biases make all huma...
499: (Why) Money Matters
November 27, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.9 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-money-matters. Money, they say, does not buy happiness; but having none can make life extraordinarily hard. Whether we have a little or a lot, we are all familiar with how much money matters in our daily lives. But what exactly is money? Is it a commodity that evolved spontaneously from systems of barter? Or is it purely an invention of government, used as a means to pay off tax liability? What difference would the answer make to things like job creat...
503: Covid Conundrums and Moral Dilemmas
November 20, 2022 00:00 - 8 minutes - 8.22 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/covid-conundrums. In just months the world changed radically, and we have all had to adjust our lifestyles to stop the spread of Covid-19. Those working on the frontlines are taking on great personal risk while the rest of us are required to socially distance. But even if you follow all the guidelines, you may still face moral dilemmas. Is it ethical to order non-essential goods online, putting low wage workers at risk for your own comfort? What should yo...
556: In Search of Proust's Philosophy
November 14, 2022 00:39 - 9 minutes - 8.61 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/search-prousts-philosophy. Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time challenges us to think hard about what we can know, who we really are, why memory matters, and how we can find enchantment in a world without God. But some might wonder why we need a 3,000 page novel to do that. Are there things a novel can do that a philosophy book can’t? Does it take a great person to produce great art? And why read Proust in the twenty-first century? Ray and gues...
504: Pet Ethics
November 06, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.58 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/pet-ethics. Many of us, even the staunchest animal activists, usually take it for granted that keeping a pet is morally acceptable. But regardless of how well we treat our animal “companions,” by keeping pets we are declaring ownership and paternal authority over other living creatures, and confining them to our homes. Is there any good moral justification for the keeping of pets? What makes some, if any, animals suitable as pets but not others? Do we hav...
555: How to Create Virtuous Leaders?
October 31, 2022 03:44 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/how-create-virtuous-leaders. Ancient philosophers like Socrates and Plato believed that an education focused on developing good character could create virtuous leaders who work for the people, not their own benefit. Nowadays, though, it seems too many politicians are power hungry, corrupt, and out of touch. So how do we train our leaders to be more virtuous? Is good character something that can be taught? And what can we learn from the Ancients ab...
498: Philosophy and the Superhero
October 23, 2022 00:00 - 8 minutes - 8.19 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-superhero. Philosophy is replete with thought experiments featuring characters like Descartes’ “Evil Genius” and Davidson’s “Swampman.” Some of the scenarios philosophers conjure up seem like they could’ve been plucked from a superhero comic. Or is it the other way around? Why do philosophy and superhero comics employ such similar thought experiments? Is there something about the comic book—a medium that is both visual and lexical—that part...
554: Liberty and Justice For Who?
October 17, 2022 00:21 - 10 minutes - 9.96 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/liberty-and-justice-who. Many democracies are founded on the ideals of 18th- and 19th-Century British Liberalism: the idea that human beings deserve the right to self-government because we are born free, equal, and capable of rationality. Yet Liberalism was used to justify colonialism, which deprived people around the world of the right to govern themselves. How could a political philosophy that claims to be pro-freedom be used to take freedom awa...
496: Is the Self an Illusion?
October 09, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/self-illusion. Most of us think it’s obvious that we have a self, but famously, both Buddhism and British philosopher David Hume are skeptical that such a thing exists. What in the world could it mean to deny that the self exists? Could ‘the self’ just refer to a series of perceptions and feelings we have over time? If so, then whose perceptions and feelings are they? Is there any way Buddhism could have influenced Hume’s thinking on the illusory nature o...
553: Climate Change and Collective Action
October 02, 2022 22:06 - 10 minutes - 9.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/climate-change-and-collective-action. Catastrophic storms, floods, droughts, and fires are increasing in frequency all over the globe, and the polar ice caps are melting twice as fast as initially predicted. Despite this, we struggle to take meaningful action that could avert—or at least mitigate—the impending climate disaster. So why is it so hard for people to coordinate on doing the right thing, when the threat is so urgent? Is it a failure of ...
378: Heidegger
September 25, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.83 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/heidegger. Best known for his work "Being and Time," Martin Heidegger has been hailed by many as the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century. He has also been criticized for being both nearly unreadable and a Nazi. Yet there is no disputing his seminal place in the history of Western thought. So what did Heidegger mean when he wrote about world, being, and time? What significance does he still hold as a thinker today, especially as a philoso...
552: Who Owns Culture?
September 16, 2022 15:46 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/who-owns-culture. Fashion designers, musicians, and Halloween costume wearers have been accused of engaging in cultural appropriation. In some cases, the alleged appropriator is quick to apologize; in others, they defend their actions as a way of appreciating a different culture. So why is cultural appropriation such a morally fraught issue? Is there a clear-cut way to tell whether we’re exploring or exploiting? And can we come up with principles ...
491: Hobbes and the Ideal Citizen
September 11, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.67 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/hobbes-and-ideal-citizen. Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that without government to control our worst impulses, life would be 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' Consequently, he thought that absolute monarchy is the best form of government. So is Hobbes’ ideal citizen simply someone who is willing to submit to absolute authority, or are there other features the ideal citizen must have? What flaws would make a subject bad,...
548: (End of) Summer Reading List – Banned Books Edition
September 04, 2022 00:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-banned-books-edition. The American Library Association reports that last year 1,597 books were challenged or removed from libraries, schools, and universities, a record high number (compared to 273 books in 2020). Most of the challenged or removed books deal with themes relating to race or sexuality and gender, and challenges come from both the right and the left. What are the implications for your thought-provoking summer read...
548: Summer Reading List – Banned Books Edition
September 03, 2022 00:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-banned-books-edition. The American Library Association reports that last year 1,597 books were challenged or removed from libraries, schools, and universities, a record high number (compared to 273 books in 2020). Most of the challenged or removed books deal with themes relating to race or sexuality and gender, and challenges come from both the right and the left. What are the implications for your thought-provoking summer read...
495: Death of the Sentence
August 21, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.33 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/death-sentence. A child’s first sentence is a pivotal moment in her development when she is recognized as now capable of communicating complete thoughts. But in the twenty-first century, thoughts have become increasingly mediated by technology, and language more careless and informal as a result. Are texts, emails, tweets, and emojis responsible for the decline of the formal, grammatical sentence? Are our writing standards getting worse, or are they simpl...
550: What Is Political Inequality?
August 14, 2022 19:49 - 10 minutes - 9.61 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-political-inequality. We all know our society is economically unequal: some people have more money and resources than others. But equality isn't just a matter of who has which things. Political equality involves respect and participation in the political process—but those aren't resources that can be divided up like pie. So what is political equality in the first place? How do we know when we've achieved it? And can we prevent politics from b...
542: The 2022 Dionysus Awards
August 07, 2022 00:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/2022-dionysus-awards. What movies of the past year challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol present our annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provoking films of 2021, including: • Best Attempt to Redeem 80+ Years of Questionable Ethics • Best Film about Complicated Mothers Telling Uncomfortable Truths • Best Adapted Novel about Trauma, Marginalization, Self-Deception AND the ...
449: James Baldwin and Social Justice
July 31, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.67 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/james-baldwin. Sometimes, we struggle to tell the truth -- especially when it's the truth about ourselves. Why did James Baldwin, a prominent Civil Rights-era intellectual and novelist, believe that telling the truth about ourselves is not only difficult but can also be dangerous? How can truth deeply unsettle our assumptions about ourselves and our relations to others? And why did Baldwin think that this abstract concept of truth could play a concrete ro...
549: Is Optimism Rational?
July 22, 2022 15:58 - 9 minutes - 8.98 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/optimism-rational. When the odds are against you, believing in yourself can be a source of strength—but it seems to require a cavalier disregard for the evidence. So is optimism a rational way to improve your life, or an irrational kind of wishful thinking? Will hope now just lead to disappointment later? Where should we set our expectations, and where should we teach our children to set theirs? Josh and Ray tackle their hopes and fears with Jenni...
505: Walter Benjamin and the Re-Enchanted World
July 17, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.7 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/walter-benjamin. Walter Benjamin was a German Jewish critical theorist, essayist, and philosopher who died tragically during the Second World War. His thoughts about modernity, history, art, disenchantment, and re-enchantment are still discussed today. So who was Benjamin, and what is his intellectual legacy? Why did he believe that Enlightenment values, such as rationality and modernization, brought about disenchantment in the world? Did he think...
494: Comedy and the Culture Wars
July 03, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 10 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/comedy-and-culture-wars. Comedy can often give offense, especially when it concerns such sensitive topics as race, gender, and sexuality. Should comedy like that be shunned, boycotted, even banned? Can it be enjoyed without danger? Or could it even, at its best, be the road to a better society? Could it somehow help us all to live together, and to come to terms with intractable social issues we’ll never fully put behind us? The Philosophers have a laugh w...
547: The Changing Face of Antisemitism
June 19, 2022 23:01 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/changing-face-antisemitism. Antisemitism is an old problem with roots that reach back to medieval Europe. While earlier forms focused more on religious bigotry, antisemitism in the modern period became increasingly racialized and politicized. So what is the connection between older ideas about Jews and Judaism, and contemporary antisemitic tropes and stereotypes? How are conspiratorial fears about Jewish invisibility and global control related to ...
396: Jean-Paul Sartre
June 12, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/sartre. Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the first global public intellectuals, famous for his popular existentialist philosophy, his works of fiction, and his rivalry with Albert Camus. His existentialism was also adopted by Simone de Beauvoir, who used it as a foundation for modern theoretical feminism. So what exactly is existentialism? How is man condemned to be free, as Sartre claimed? And what’s so hellish about other people? John and Ken speak in good f...
490: Conscious Machiness
June 05, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.33 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/conscious-machines. Computers have already surpassed us in their ability to perform certain cognitive tasks. Perhaps it won’t be long till every household has a super intelligent robot who can outperform us in almost every domain. While future AI might be excellent at appearing conscious, could AI ever actually become conscious? Would forcing conscious robots to work for us be akin to slavery? And could we design AI that specifically lacks consciousness, ...
546: The Scandalous Truth About Memoir
May 30, 2022 03:01 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/scandalous-truth-about-memoir. A memoir is a personal narrative written about a pivotal time in the author’s life. While the story is told from a particular perspective, the events recounted are supposed to be fact, not fiction. But what exactly counts as truth in memoir? Is the distinction between “literal truth” and “emotional truth” just a way of shirking responsibility for fabricating falsehoods? What other ethical responsibilities does the me...
489: The Allure of Authoritarianism
May 22, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/allure-authoritarianism. In George Orwell’s 1984, the party’s “final, most essential command” was “to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.” Authoritarian regimes call on us to accept as fact whatever they tell us; or worse, as Hannah Arendt says, they get us to a point where we no longer know—or care about—the difference between fiction and reality. So why are so many so willing to reject the evidence of their senses and deny basic, confirmable trut...
482: J.S. Mill and the Good Life
May 15, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/mill-and-good-life. John Stuart Mill was one of the most important British philosophers of the 19th century. As a liberal, he thought that individuals are generally the best judges of their own welfare. But Mill was also a utilitarian who thought that there were objectively lower and higher pleasures and that the good life was one which maximized higher pleasures. So is there a way to reconcile Mill’s liberal project with his utilitarianism? Is th...
545: What Is Ideology?
May 06, 2022 19:24 - 10 minutes - 9.81 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-ideology. Political polarization seems to be deepening, both in the U.S. and around the globe. Some believe that the rise of ideology is to blame for growing polarization. But can increased polarization really be attributed to ideology? What is exactly is ideology, and how is it different from dogma? Is ideology a kind of political or philosophical thinking? And how might our understanding of ideology affect how we practice politics? Josh and...