philosophy podcasts

 off the back of the history podcast post here's some of the hpilosophy podcasts i like to listen to of a day

philosophize this! is arguably my favourite, the presnting style is real clear and accessible and stephen's enthusiasm for the subject is palpable. if you only listen to one, then this is it, the recent simone weil four parter is excellent

the history of philosophy without any gaps is a monster podcast, ridiculously detailed and endlessly interesting but, if i'm honest, a bit overwhelming in its scope. that said, with a bit of discipline in your listening you could do a couple of episodes a week and it'd be okay. its focus is on western philosophy and the middle east and the website is great in terms of organisation. they're just up to montaigne et al at the moment so i'll be dipping my toe back into that. if you've got plenty of time, you like history and reading backstories then this is for you

talking politics: history of ideas is top quality political philosophy. true it does have something of the academic about it, possibly a whiff of the guardian reader, but, if you've coffee to hand, it never dipd below the level of interesting. and notable too, particularly with respect to john rawls, just how much some popular right wing commentators (all the while deriding academia) have pirated but giving no credit to anyone.

history of indian and africana philosophy i've mixed feelings about this one. it describes itself as describing philosophy of india, africa and the african diaspora but, as is far too often the case with american podcasts, that means the majority of it will be about americans, and the majority of that will be about race from an american perspective. there's almost nothing about indian philosophy, anything from the francophone world doesn't extend beyond fanon and the cesaires. but, given the dearth of material it's better than nothing. i don't want to sound too down on it tho as, if it's up your street, there's much of interest. nevertheless, it fails its subject badly and i find myself getting grumpy when i listen to it

lest i sound too off about americans here's a firm favourite. as with philosphize this the great books prof sticks to his favourites and his enthusiasm shines thru. i really like his presenting style and the clarity of his explanations. check out the achille mbembe episode to counterbalance the last podcast!