Episodes

  • Episode 13 - Dr. Megan Fritts - Academia Has a Parenting Problem

    Episode 13 - Dr. Megan Fritts - Academia Has a Parenting Problem
    Mar 13 2025

    Dr. Megan Fritts is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She specializes in the areas of ethics, action theory, philosophy of technology, and religious existentialism. Along with her husband, Frank, Megan also hosts and produces the podcast Philosophy on the Fringes.

    Chapters

    00:00 Introduction and Podcast Format

    01:30 Balancing Family Life and Academia

    04:17 Early Philosophical Influences

    07:14 Academic Journey and Teaching Philosophy

    10:13 Navigating Graduate School and Job Market

    13:35 Philosophy of Action and Research Interests

    16:28 Social Dynamics in Graduate School

    19:12 Transitioning to Professional Life

    22:16 Challenges of Isolation in Academia

    25:12 Unique Perspectives on Family and Academia

    37:54 Navigating Academia as a Parent

    50:22 The Impact of Parenthood on Academic Productivity

    01:07:08 Philosophy for Everyone: Bridging the Gap

    01:17:47 Advice for Aspiring Philosophers

    Links from the show:

    https://philpeople.org/profiles/megan-fritts https://sites.google.com/view/meganjfritts/home https://x.com/freganmitts

    Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy, and teaches philosophy at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics.

    ✍🏻 FREE paper-writing guide: https://sellingplato.kit.com/freepapertemplate

    🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2TBXs4TY8wt06KNg6Osm8v?si=wJa0rwPbTFahYQf2gxzMHQ

    🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic

    📲 CONNECT on:

    X: https://x.com/sellingplato

    TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato

    Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato

    Snapchat: @sellingplato

    Keywords

    parenthood, academia, philosophy, family life, teaching, graduate school, emotional intelligence, social dynamics, philosophy of action, community
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Episode 12 - Dr. Randal Baker and The World-Changing Weight Loss Device

    Episode 12 - Dr. Randal Baker and The World-Changing Weight Loss Device
    Feb 27 2025

    Dr. Randal Baker (MD, FACS) is a bariatric surgeon, specializing in obesity and weight loss. Well lover a decade ago, Dr. Baker developed a potentially world-changing weight loss device called the Full Sense Device, which is now pending approval with the FDA. Read more about how revolutionary this device is at the links below.Chapters

    00:00 Introduction to Dr. Randy Baker

    01:27 Journey into Medicine: Education and Early Career

    04:28 The Evolution of Surgery: Technology and Techniques

    07:38 The Obesity Epidemic: Causes and Consequences

    10:35 Bariatric Surgery: A Solution to Obesity

    13:12 The Science of Stapling: Innovations in Surgery

    16:14 Challenges of New Technologies in Medicine

    19:19 Understanding the Rise in Obesity

    22:18 Fiber and Gut Health: The Missing Link

    25:16 The Role of Medications: Ozempic and Beyond

    28:11 Ethics in Pharmaceutical Advertising

    36:57 The Influence of AI and Bias in Medicine

    39:36 Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare

    44:07 Understanding Obesity and Overweight

    46:00 Innovative Device for Weight Loss

    50:36 Navigating the FDA Approval Process

    53:39 Patient Communication and Treatment Options

    56:26 The Role of Lifestyle Changes

    58:29 Cultural Pressures and Body Positivity

    01:05:40 Mental Health and Obesity

    01:09:48 Practical Steps for Health ImprovementLinks from the show:https://www.buzzfeed.com/joeloliphint/the-invention-that-could-end-obesity https://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/interview-with-dr-baker-full-sense-device/Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy, and teaches philosophy at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics.✍🏻 FREE 17-page paper-writing guide: https://sellingplato.kit.com/freepapertemplate🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic📲 CONNECT on:X: https://x.com/sellingplatoTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.platoInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplatoLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplatoThreads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplatoSnapchat: @sellingplatoKeywordsDr. Randy Baker, obesity, bariatric surgery, GLP-1 medications, health recommendations, technology in medicine, gut health, fiber, medical ethics, FDA process
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Episode 11 - Dr. Marcus Arvan, The Philosophy Career Guru

    Episode 11 - Dr. Marcus Arvan, The Philosophy Career Guru
    Feb 13 2025
    Dr. Marcus Arvan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tampa. He received his PhD from the University of Arizona and works in ethics, social-political philosophy, cognitive science, philosophy of AI, and metaphysics. He published his first book, Rightness as Fairness: A Moral and Political Theory, in 2016 and his second book, Neurofunctional Prudence and Morality: A Philosophical Theory, in 2020. His third book, Why It's OK to be a Moderate, is forthcoming in 2025. He also owns and blogs at the Philosophers' Cocoon: A Safe and Supportive Forum for Early-Career Philosophers, and co-manages New Work in Philosophy with Barry Maguire and Willa Saadat. Links from the show: http://www.marcusarvan.net https://philosopherscocoon.typepad.com/blog https://newworkinphilosophy.substack.com Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy, and teaches philosophy at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics. ✍🏻 FREE philosophical paper-writing guide: https://sellingplato.kit.com/freepapertemplate 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Snapchat: @sellingplato Keywords philosophy, academic career, graduate school, tenure track, public philosophy, AI, ethics, publication, mental health, moderates
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • Dr. Sarah Jane Murray - Hollywood Meets Medieval Philosophy

    Dr. Sarah Jane Murray - Hollywood Meets Medieval Philosophy
    Jan 30 2025
    Dr. Sarah Jane Murray (Ph.D., Princeton) is an award-winning Professor of Great Texts & Creative Writing at Baylor University and EMMY®-nominated filmmaker with work distributed by PBS, Netflix, Amazon, and the New York Times. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Philosophical Society, her research explores the origins of the Western thought and the vital role of storytelling in cultural transmission. From clay tablets and papyrus to the invention of manuscripts, printing, digital film, and 21st century emerging technologies, she believes great storytelling experiences survive because of the ‘3Ms’ — they’re meaningful, memorable, and motivate us to grow. Dr. Murray is the translator with Dr. Matthieu Boyd of the medieval French Moralized Ovid (D.S. Brewer, 2023), a three-volume work described by the Times Literary Supplement as ‘a masterclass in what modern scholarly translation should be.’ Her current work seeks to democratize access to meaningful learning, cultivate critical thinking, and pioneer new educational pathways in interactive storytelling, emerging tech (like XR), and transformational play. (Bio from the Greats Story Lab site) Links from the show: Tedx talk, "Hardwired for Story": https://youtu.be/BrtTyEmDLKQ?si=EnArXxK6Vh-yMEZY Tedx talk, "Write and Wrong": https://youtu.be/l_iQ-NSwgMM?si=1goNyNwNCV_hNTAJ The Greats Story Lab: https://www.thegreats.org/ Dr. Murray's IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm6142881/ An overview of the Medieval French Ovide moralisé: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/literature/poetry-literature/the-medieval-french-ovide-moralise-k-sarah-jane-murphy-matthieu-boyd-book-review-sebastian-dows-miller Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy, and teaches philosophy at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics. ✍🏻 FREE philosophical paper-writing guide: https://sellingplato.kit.com/freepapertemplate 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Snapchat: @sellingplato Keywords: storytelling, academia, philosophy, medieval studies, mentorship, film, creativity, education, personal growth, cultural narratives, storytelling, philosophy, endurance, translation, academia, Ovid, film, Great Story Lab, meaningful stories, technology
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    1 hr and 54 mins
  • Dr. Edward Zalta - Behind the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Dr. Edward Zalta - Behind the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
    Nov 14 2024
    Dr. Edward Zalta served as Principal Editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy from 1995 to 2022, and now serves as Co-Principal Editor. He is a Senior Research Scholar in the Philosophy Department at Stanford University. His research specialties include Metaphysics and Epistemology, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophical Logic/Philosophy of Logic, and Computational Metaphysics. He is the author of Abstract Objects: An Introduction to Axiomatic Metaphysics, and Intensional Logic and the Metaphysics of Intentionality, and has published dozens of articles in top journals, many of which you can find at the link below. Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy from Texas A&M, and teaches philosophy full-time at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics. Links: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/ Dr. Zalta's site: https://mally.stanford.edu/zalta.html 📬 FREE Selling Plato’s Dialogues: Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at https://sellingplato.ck.page/6605bfed6f 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Keywords philosophy, abstract objects, metaphysics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Descartes, formal methods, philosophical community, contributions, education, research
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Dr. Jared Oliphint - So You Want to Do a PhD in Philosophy?

    Dr. Jared Oliphint - So You Want to Do a PhD in Philosophy?
    Oct 31 2024
    Dr. Jared Oliphint is the founder of Selling Plato (www.sellingplato.com), received his PhD in philosophy, and teaches philosophy at the college level. His published work has focused on metaphysics, philosophy of language, conceptual engineering, social ontology, and metaethics. 📬 FREE Selling Plato’s Dialogues: Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at https://sellingplato.ck.page/6605bfed6f 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Snapchat: @sellingplato
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    38 mins
  • Dr. Christian Miller - Why is the Virtue of Honesty So Neglected Within Philosophy?

    Dr. Christian Miller - Why is the Virtue of Honesty So Neglected Within Philosophy?
    Oct 17 2024
    Dr. Christian Miller is the A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University. His main areas of research are meta-ethics, moral psychology, moral character, action theory, and philosophy of religion. He directed the Honesty Project (honestyproject.wfu.edu), funded by a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. He was the Philosophy Director of the Beacon Project (www.moralbeacons.org), funded by a $3.9 million grant from Templeton Religion Trust, and Director of the Character Project (www.thecharacterproject.com), funded by $5.6 million in grants from the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton World Charity Foundation. He is the author of over 100 papers as well as Moral Psychology (Cambridge University Press) and four books with Oxford University Press, Moral Character: An Empirical Theory (2013), Character and Moral Psychology (2014), The Character Gap: How Good Are We? (2017), and Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue (2021). He also edited or co-edited Essays in the Philosophy of Religion (OUP), Character: New Directions from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology (OUP), Moral Psychology, Volume V: Virtue and Character (MIT Press), Integrity, Honesty, and Truth Seeking (OUP), and The Bloomsbury Companion to Ethics (Continuum Press). (From Dr. Miller's PhilPapers profile) You can check out Dr. Miller's public writings and other work here https://www.christianbmiller.com/ 📬 FREE Selling Plato’s Dialogues: Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at https://sellingplato.ck.page/6605bfed6f 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Snapchat: @sellingplato
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Andy Blitz - The Slipnutz, Working with Conan, and A Life of Comedy

    Andy Blitz - The Slipnutz, Working with Conan, and A Life of Comedy
    Oct 3 2024
    Andy Blitz is a standup comic and was a writer and performer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien for many years, worked on the shows Human Giant, Review, Important Things with Demetri Martin, and many other projects. We talked about his legendary Late Night sketch, “The Slipnutz” (link below) and opening for Slipknot, his early days of comedy, what it was like to work with Conan, whether he thinks about his comedy as having a purpose, why going to the Emmys is boring (and why skipping them while pulling a prank makes them more interesting), and much more. Links The Slipnutz first appearance on Late Night: https://youtu.be/j5QN4S8Gg50?si=gOimPfDS56iog-hL The Slipnutz open for Slipknot: https://youtu.be/fj-VQTiO0Sw?si=EntaUTwwndoD7jQF Coldplay, John Mayer, and others sing the Slipnutz song: https://youtu.be/DhPoOPZpq9M?si=IzuUZ6PzlXRK3whk Andy’s standup on Late Night: https://youtu.be/MXubM1g7UW4?si=Ir7K2sGtOqefXhFu Conan helps Andy find an apartment: https://youtu.be/LmatGBHgsb0?si=kwawikgeCVFIrX2B Andy takes a NYC taxi to Toronto: https://youtu.be/m0dLvu-FGxQ?si=d8u5BHDIGTIF0Rkw Sports chant guy on Conan: https://youtu.be/jBXac6_s7g8?si=Li413OXBZWQrr3e5 📬 FREE Selling Plato’s Dialogues: Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at https://sellingplato.ck.page/6605bfed6f 🎙️ SUBSCRIBE to the Selling Plato podcast: https://sellingplato.podbean.com 🏛️ LEARN formal logic at Selling Plato’s Academy: https://jared-oliphint-s-school.teachable.com/p/introduction-to-logic 📲 CONNECT on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sellingplato X: https://x.com/sellingplato TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@selling.plato Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sellingplato/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sellingplato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellingplato Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sellingplato Snapchat: @sellingplato
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    1 hr and 31 mins