Pineal Express
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsPineal Express is a progressive and educational podcast based out of Binghamton, NY. The podcast features a variety of academics, thinkers, and activists who provide listeners a glimpse of the world through the lens of their field of expertise. Forward looking and multidisciplinary, Pineal Express touts itself as the place “where trains of thought intersect.” Amid that intersection, podcast hosts Julian Willard and Jim Mack aim to explore the human potential to solve existential challenges and usher in a better world.
Pineal Express (TM)
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Episodes
Episode 28 - Lawrence Lessig on Fixing the Broken Government
May 17, 2019 20:36 - 34 minutes - 55.6 MBIn the two years since Pineal Express has been running, we, its operators, have sought to raise awareness about the major problems facing our species. Such problems include climate change, the risk of technological dystopia, and the latest rise of the authoritarian far-right worldwide. These problems have been worsened by the United States. But the United States also has the potential to ameliorate them, provided that its government is functional enough to do so. For that reason, among other...
#15 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
March 11, 2019 21:57 - 18 minutes - 29.1 MBGet the full episode at www.patreon.com/pinealexpress In this discussion episode, Jim and I (Julian) air our disagreements about how to assess Bernie Sanders’s chances to win the Democratic Nomination for the 2020 US Presidential Election.
Episode 27 - Soumya Basu on Blockchain Technology
March 04, 2019 07:00 - 41 minutes - 66.9 MBBlockchain is a kind of tamper resistant digital ledger. The ledger stores data in groupings called "blocks." What data gets stored in the blocks depends on what the blockchain is being used for (whether it's to transfer digital currency, or to store and distribute other transaction information like real estate or medical records, and so on). Also stored in the blocks is an encrypted digital fingerprint, or hash, that identifies the block and what data is inside it. Each newly generated blo...
#14 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
February 10, 2019 22:11 - 3 minutes - 6.37 MBGet the full episode at https://www.patreon.com/pinealexpress In this installment of Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades, we discuss parasociality, which is when people feel that they have a close relationship with a public figure whom they do not know. We comment on examples of parasociality and we discuss various takes on the issue from LeftTube. Links in the description. Links: StrucciMovies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3vD_CAYt4g&t= Philosophy Tube: https://youtu.be/kVav1ri65Ws?t...
Episode 26 - Eric Dietrich on Excellent Beauty
January 24, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBIn Episode 10 of Pineal Express, we spoke with Binghamton University Philosopher Eric Dietrich about consciousness, skeptic philosophy, and paradoxes. If you haven't already listened to it, we recommend you go back and listen to Episode 10 before listening to this one. In this episode, we invited Eric Dietrich back to discuss his book Excellent Beauty: The Naturalness of Religion and the Unnaturalness of the World. In the book, Dietrich argues that religious belief is widespread across th...
#13 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
January 12, 2019 00:57 - 12 minutes - 20.7 MBThis is a preview of a full discussion episode, available for our patrons on patreon.com/pinealexpress : Jim and I (Julian) argue about the dystopian applications of CRISPR, where we use the term "CRISPR" as a shorthand for "Next Generation Gene Editing built upon current CRISPR technology." We also draw some comparisons to Star Trek, including Star Trek's genetically augmented villain "Kahn". We also mention Star Trek series DS9 and TNG.
Episode 25 - Ian Danskin on Far-Right Rhetoric
December 19, 2018 06:00 - 50 minutes - 88 MBIan Danskin is the creator of Innuendo Studios, a YouTube channel that features analysis of various cultural phenomena ranging from film and video games to online political rhetoric. We talked with Ian about his work on Innuendo Studios, with a particular focus on what he calls "The Alt-Right Playbook," a video series where Ian explores the alt-right's approach to argumentation. While we were at it, we also discussed liberal political tactics. Lastly, we chatted about Ian's detailed film ...
#12 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades - 2020 Presidential Draft
December 15, 2018 01:23 - 5 minutes - 7.42 MBHey listeners, Julian here. Jim and I, along with two friends of the show, produced a 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Draft episode for our Patrons on patreon.com/PinealExpress This is a preview of that draft, during which the four of us took the opportunity to rag on former Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine, after I drafted him for my team in the fourth round. Special thanks to friends of the show Delia Blackman of the podcast Blow Jam and Carinne Vizvary for their participatio...
Episode 24 - Sally Dear-Healey on Whistleblowing and Scandal in Academia
December 10, 2018 06:00 - 1 hour - 101 MBIn 2009, Binghamton University was embroiled in a scandal that reached national and international attention. The scandal erupted when it came to light that the school had compromised its academic integrity in a zealous pursuit of athletic success for its Division I men's basketball team. For example, school administrators, including some in the athletic department, pressured educators to give basketball teammates preferential treatment such as ignoring unexcused absences, accepting late assi...
#11 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
November 24, 2018 22:24 - 8 minutes - 7.99 MBGet the Full Episode on our Patreon Page: www.patreon.com/pinealexpress Full Episode Description: Hey, everybody, Julian here: In the discussion episode I talk about how my work as a disability analyst for the Social Security Administration and as a technician in an acute psychiatric hospital informed my views about social welfare programs like Social Security Disability Insurance, and a possible Medicare-for-all type system. Also, Jim and I discuss the perniciousness of disability st...
Episode 23 - Natalie Wynn on Contrapoints
November 13, 2018 13:00 - 43 minutes - 70.1 MBNatalie Wynn is the creator of "Contrapoints," an artistic and philosophical YouTube channel that never fails to entertain while advocating for social justice. Through her channel, Natalie releases short films, character pieces, dialogues, and humorous video essays. Her work has been praised by Current Affairs, Vice (via i-D Magazine), The Michael Brooks Show, as well as The Verge, in which her creative prowess was compared with Oscar Wilde's. Though new and old media alike are rife with r...
Episode 22 - John Iadarola on Political Behavior and Media
October 26, 2018 10:00 - 41 minutes - 73.5 MBJohn Iadarola is a host and producer at The Young Turks, also known as TYT, which is a multiple-award winning and widely viewed giant of online news and political commentary. John has a background in political science, a discipline that serves to inform his news analysis. John's vantage point at TYT, including on his show, The Damage Report, grants him a valuable perspective on trends in American politics and media. So, we asked John to come on to Pineal Express and detail some of these tren...
#10 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
October 15, 2018 00:01 - 7 minutes - 12.5 MBGet the Full Episode on our Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/pinealexpress Full Episode Description: In this installment of Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades we talk about Joe Rogan's vast influence in the podcast space. We talk about the late Christopher Hitchens. We critique Jordan Peterson for his ideas and the means he uses to promote them, as well as for some of his unsettling personality characteristics. In particular we reference his friend and colleague Dr. Bernard Schiff's ta...
Episode 21 - Toivo Asheeke on Global Black Power
September 27, 2018 11:00 - 46 minutes - 66.8 MBToivo Asheeke is a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Sociology Department at Vassar College. In addition to his duties teaching as a Visiting Assistant Professor, he is continuing his research on Black Power movements across the globe, with an emphasis on revolutionary Black Nationalist trends within the Southern African Liberation Movements. We asked Toivo to talk with us about Global Black Power. Our discussion touched on several examples, from the Haitian Revolution, to the struggle against apa...
#9 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
September 02, 2018 19:07 - 6 minutes - 10.4 MBGet the full episode at Patreon: www.patreon.com/pinealexpress
#8 - Preview - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades
August 20, 2018 07:01 - 9 minutes - 15.8 MBGet the full episode at Patreon: www.patreon.com/pinealexpress In this installment of Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades, Julian and I (Jim) issue a left critique of Barack Obama's legacy. As such, we talk about health care, we talk about the problem of political apathy, and we talk about how the resentments of some white working class voters are woefully misdirected. We also revisit some topics of discussion that we brought up in our episode with Mark Blyth. Enjoy!
Episode 20 - Mark Blyth on The Consequences of Neoliberalism
August 13, 2018 05:30 - 57 minutes - 84.1 MBMark Blyth is a professor of Political Economy at Brown University. His research sheds light on phenomena including wealth inequality, generational difference in political economics, austerity, and neoliberalism. Since reading his comprehensive book "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea" we had been wanting to chat with Mark Blyth about how we arrived at our current political and economic moment, and what lies ahead. Mark spoke to us about several issues close to our hearts like neol...
Episode 19 - Rejoice Acorn & Maximus Thaler On Communal Living
July 16, 2018 06:00 - 53 minutes - 75.5 MBThe Federation of Egalitarian Communities (or FEC) is a network of intentional, income sharing communities in the United States. Through this kind of communal living, each FEC site seeks to meet the needs of all of its members. In exchange, communards, as these members are called, agree to commit a set number of labor hours to their community and abide by other rules of conduct. One example of an FEC intentional community is Twin Oaks, located in rural Virginia. Twin Oaks has existed since 1...
#5 - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades (With Guest, Delia Blackman)
June 09, 2018 17:00 - 47 minutes - 74.5 MBHello listeners, here we have another free installment of our Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades series. Many future discussions like this, including one that we will release in a week or two, will be available only to patrons at www.patreon.com/PinealExpress. Sign up as a patron today. In this episode, podcaster, musician, and comedian, Delia Blackman joins us for a spirited discussion that lives up to the episode title. We chat about political division in the United states, human memory, ...
Episode 18 - JUST on Dismantling the Carceral State
June 01, 2018 22:37 - 1 hour - 210 MBBroome County Jail is a microcosm for much larger problems in American criminal justice. To detail how Broome County Jail shows us why we need to dismantle the carceral state, we invited Binghamton University Sociology PhD candidates and prison abolitionists Andy Pragacz and Kevin Revier to Pineal Express. Andy and Kevin are a part of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier, or JUST, an organization that advocates for major progressive changes in the carceral system. They also provide direc...
Episode 17 - Daniele Bolelli on Taoism and History
May 06, 2018 00:00 - 35 minutes - 81.1 MBThe ancient Chinese philosophy and religion known as Taoism emphasizes balance, skepticism, truth in paradox, and harmony with nature. Taoism's principles are detailed in the poems of its seminal text, the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Taoism's mythical founder, Lao-Tzu. Also indicative of Taoist ideas is the yin yang symbol. In the yin yang, one observes the balanced interaction of two opposing forces: yin, which is an internal, flexible, yielding and relaxed energy, and yang, which is an act...
#3 - Derailments, Minutiae, and Tirades 4-25-2018
April 25, 2018 23:15 - 34 minutes - 79.6 MBIn this discussion, we critique Dan Carlin of the podcasts "Hardcore History" and "Common Sense". We like Dan Carlin overall, but we think it's worth airing a few differences of opinion. Our other topics include the political Overton Window, centrism, false equivalencies, social justice, and tactical considerations in left politics. Enjoy!
Episode 16 - Kathleen Frydl on The Opioid Crisis
April 07, 2018 03:41 - 56 minutes - 130 MBKathleen Frydl is a historian of US political history. As such, she has authored books focusing on institutional development and public policy. Her books cover the G.I. Bill and the drug war in its mid-20th century manifestation. Kathleen Frydl has also written on more recent politics, detailing American Fascism in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and analyzing the current opioid crisis. We are excited to have talked with her about both of these topics.
Episode 15 - Kade Crockford on How Technology Impacts Civil Liberties
March 14, 2018 23:25 - 1 hour - 157 MBKade Crockford is a civil liberties advocate, blogger, and podcaster, who directs the Technology for Liberty program at the ACLU Massachusetts. Kade's work involves fighting against abusive systems of surveillance and control, detailing the role technology plays in these systems, and emphasizing how the security state disproportionately impacts communities of color, Muslims, immigrants, and political activists especially on the left. Today we're talking with Kade about civil liberties and te...
Episode 14 - David Sloan Wilson on Why Evolution Shows us How to Make a Better Society
February 20, 2018 02:54 - 1 hour - 143 MBTo talk about multilevel selection and its public policy implications is Evolutionary Biologist and Anthropologist David Sloan Wilson. Professor Wilson founded Binghamton University’s Evolutionary Studies Program, better known as “EvoS.” He has authored several books exploring various facets of multilevel selection, including “Darwin’s Cathedral” and most recently “Does Altruism Exist?”. He also co-founded the Evolution Institute, the first public policy think tank rooted in modern evolutiona...
Episode 13 - Kristi Winters on Feminism and Social Science in Politics and Culture
February 02, 2018 02:23 - 51 minutes - 118 MBDr. Kristi Winters describes herself as “Liberal, atheist, social scientist, feminist, and nerd.” She studies elections and political attitudes, often from a gender studies lens. She also has a Youtube channel where she documents and critiques trends in the political discourse including the rise of the alt-right. We invited Kristi Winters onto Pineal Express to discuss social science research and feminism in our current political context.
Episode 12 - Charles Goodman on Buddhism, Compassion, and Ethics
January 14, 2018 17:42 - 1 hour - 166 MBCharles Goodman is a Buddhist scholar, philosopher, translator and meditation teacher. He has a BA in Physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan. He is a Professor in the Philosophy Department and the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University. He has studied Korean Zen and Tibetan Buddhism in the United States and India, and currently helps run the Binghamton Buddhist Meditation Group. Charles is the author of "Conse...
Episode 11 - Nomiki Konst on American Journalism and The Democratic Party
December 20, 2017 23:44 - 49 minutes - 114 MBNomiki Konst joins us to talk about the current state of American journalism. Nomiki is an investigative journalist for The Young Turks, which is the most watched online news program in the world. Nomiki was a 2016 Platform Committee Member for The Democratic National Committee and a Bernie Sanders delegate at the Democratic Convention. More recently, she served on the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission, which among other things proposed a landmark reduction in party superdelegates, as well as ch...
Episode 10 - Eric Dietrich on The Paradoxes That Undergird Reality
November 16, 2017 01:42 - 1 hour - 185 MBEric Dietrich is a Philosophy professor at Binghamton University. His research explores the nature of consciousness, point-of-view, limits on human knowledge and the paradoxes that riddle existence itself. We had a talk with Professor Dietrich about these topics and how they relate to the brokenness of reality. Eric Dietrich's website: http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~dietrich/About_Me.html
Episode 9 - Michael Brooks on Political Discourse and The Alt-Right
October 22, 2017 20:36 - 51 minutes - 118 MBJulian and Jim chat with Michael Brooks about the current state of US politics, the discourse surrounding it, and the spread of Alt-Right ideology. Michael Brooks is a contributor to and sometime host of the award winning "Majority Report," a progressive daily news podcast that covers current events. He is also a co-host of "2 Dope Boys & a Podcast." More recently, Michael has started "The Michael Brooks Show," a podcast that combines broad cultural and political analysis, with creative humo...
Episode 8 - Thomas Smith on Political Labels, Identity Politics, and "The New Center"
September 25, 2017 04:06 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBThomas Smith, from such podcasts as Serious Inquiries Only, Opening Arguments, and Comedy Shoeshine, joins Jim Mack and Julian Willard for a discussion about US politics and political discourse in alternative media.
Episode 7 - Aurianna Joy on Consciousness, Spirituality, and Life Coaching
August 30, 2017 22:29 - 51 minutes - 117 MBTo help detail facets of the New Age Movement, broadly speaking, we invited Aurianna Joy to the podcast. Aurianna Joy is a popular YouTuber as well as a life and business coach. Her YouTube and Facebook videos dive deeply into a variety of New Age domains. And her work demonstrates a keen understanding of where we've been as a society and where we must move towards.
Episode 6 - Adam Hansen on Cognitive Bias, Economic Trends, and Innovation
August 11, 2017 20:15 - 54 minutes - 126 MBOur guest, Adam Hansen, researches cognitive biases as barriers to innovation. His Behavioral Innovation Model combines behavioral Economics and Psychology to apply awareness of cognitive biases toward engineering creative solutions in the business world. Adam is the MBA-educated innovation Process Facilitator and VP of Innovation at the company, “Ideas to Go,” and a co-author of the book “Outsmart Your Instincts.” We brought Adam on to Pineal Express so that we could ask him about biases i...
Episode 5 - Phyllis Amenda on Religion and Politics in the Progressive Era and Today
July 01, 2017 02:36 - 1 hour - 175 MBHelping us understand the intersection of religion and politics during the Progressive Era is Dr. Phyllis Amenda, adjunct instructor of American History at SUNY Broome. We asked Phyllis to detail how activist groups, religious and otherwise, successfully fought for most Americans to have a better life. We also asked Phyllis to compare Progressive Era activism with today’s political movements.