We read and discussed an interesting article titled ”Why Books Don’t Work” (https://andymatuschak.org/books/) by Andy Matuschak. We felt the problem isn't so much the medium or how to write the book. It’s something else...

Retirement?

Apr 11th, 2019 1h 17m

We discussed the realities of retirement, how different people think about it and deal with it, how we think about it, what it means philosophically as well as scientifically.

Love

Feb 16th, 2019 1h 2m

What do we mean by the word "love" in English? It means so many different things that it seems meaningless. In Japanese and Spanish, love means something much more specific.

Conversation

Feb 9th, 2019 58m 7s

What is the optimal number of people to have a conversation with? What happens when we keep adding more people? Why do some people, particularly autistic people, have a hard time engaging in a group conversation? What do we mean by "social skil

Feelings vs Reason

Jan 18th, 2019 1h 4m

To get along with others, we often have to tell people what they want to hear, not what you are actually thinking. We talked about the implications of doing this, and what happens if you never told the truth. The conversation then shifted to ta

René Girard — Scapegoating

Dec 20th, 2018 1h 5m

We discuss René Girard's theory of scapegoating.

René Girard — Mimetic Desire

Dec 13th, 2018 1h 7m

Discussed René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire.

Documenting Life—Photography of Evan Fairbanks

Dec 8th, 2018 54m 29s

Evan is not sure if he is an artist or photographer—he knows only that he can’t stop seeing the world through his cameras. That is how he seems to process what happens in life—a camera as a phenomenological mediator. As long as I have known him

Passion

Oct 12th, 2018 1h 4m

What does it mean to follow your passion in today’s "gig economy"?

Normalization

Sep 25th, 2018 59m 38s

When any idea or act is normalized within a group of people, it's easy and safe to criticize anything outside of that group that contradicts it. Normalization works so hypnotically that those under the influence begin to assume these ideas and

Critical Thinking

Sep 18th, 2018 1h 13m

Although every school teacher and parent touts the value of "critical thinking," there is no critical thinking about critical thinking. Everyone seems to accept it as a virtue but when their own fundamental assumptions are questioned by critica

Identity

Sep 7th, 2018 1h 14m

We have our own narratives to explain why we did what we did. Not having any narratives makes us uncomfortable. Ultimately we have our narratives for why we exist and who we are.

Authenticity

Aug 27th, 2018 1h 5m

What does authenticity mean today? Everyone from artists, musicians to marketers talk about "authenticity" but what exactly are we looking for? How do we define it?

Ethnic Food

Aug 17th, 2018 1h 10m

We talk about the ethnic food in the US, particularly in New York City, and the cross-cultural functions food plays.

Time Management

Jul 27th, 2018 47m 55s

Being rich or poor is a state of mind. Some people feel poor even if they have money, and others feel rich even if they don't have money. Likewise, some people are time-poor even if they have time, while others are time-rich even if they don't

Segregation

Jul 13th, 2018 1h

On racial segregation and integration. We talked about Anthony Bourdain’s criticism of “Northeastern Liberals,” exploitation of immigrants, slavery, Hasidic Jewish community, public vs. private schools.

Who We Are

Jun 16th, 2018 55m 44s

In the West, we tend to assume that who we are is an unchanging essence of ourselves but when our lives change dramatically, we realize that it's impossible to define our identity without the context in which we live.

Wisdom

Jun 13th, 2018 1h 7m

We tend to use the words "wise" and "smart" in different ways. We postulate that smartness can be taught, shared, and passed on, but wisdom cannot be. We all have to become wiser on our own from scratch.