Ideas at the House

For over two decades, Michael Pollan has been opening our eyes to what we put in our body through books like 'Food Rules,' 'In Defense of Food,' and 'The Omnivore's Dilemma.' In this conversation with Rebecca Huntley, Pollan explores the ethical bonds that connect our bodies, farms and food to reveal what our food system has become and just how badly we need to fix it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From our systems of government to our most intimate relationships, the idea that we determine our own thoughts and actions is fundamental. But neuroscience and psychology have begun to unravel the illusion of free will. What does this mean for our cherished notions of political and social freedom and our focus on individual choice and responsibility? Join philospher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, one of the celebrated "four horsemen of new atheism," as he tried to convince you that free will is a delusion, and that accepting the delusion is important for society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alan Ball is the wildly dark and inventine midn behind television's 'Six Feet Under' and 'True Blood,' as well as the critically acclaimed film 'American Beauty.' In one of his first ever solo public events, the Academy and Emmy Award-winning writer/producer/director/playwright is joined by Wil Anderson in a discussion of the origins and philosophy of Ball's work and outlook on life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It doesn't take remarkable insight to suggest that the defining idea of the coming decade will be the Internet,” says Peter Singer. The compression of time and space enabled by digital technologies is overhauling our traditional understanding of everything from community, identity, sexuality, and information accessibility. While the technology has brought huge advantages, there are still ethical questions that need to be addressed around piracy, censorship, and the place of outlets such as Wikileaks.Once labelled the most dangerous man in the world, Singer is one of the world's leading philosophers and author of books such as 'Animal Liberation' and 'Wired for War.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our lust for cheap animal protein and the intensification of factory farming make the torture and degradation of living creatures an integral part of our diet. To keep on enjoying those hamburgers and chicken wings, we lie to ourselves about what is happening in our names. Even as we claim the superiority of the human to the animal, we enjoy the prerogatives of the supreme predator and remain willfully blind to their consequences. What does being human mean under these circumstances?Jonathan Safran Foer is an author best known for his novels 'Everything Is Illuminated' and 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' and his latest nonfiction work, 'Eating Animals.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late 90's, political theorists, economists and politicians were talking confidently about the end of history and the undisputed triumph of liberal "democratic" capitalism. Communism was written off as dead and buried. But after 9/11, the GFC, the Arab Spring, and the protests spreading over Europe, the ideological gloss of capitalism may be beginning to fade. If the alternative is Putin's muscular Tsarism or China's authoritarian capitalism, then renovating the idea of communism may matter profoundly.For philosophical rock star and brilliant iconoclast Slavoj Žižek, it is something that we should demand, no matter how impossible it seems. The only true utopia today is that things can go on indefinitely the way they are. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has our invention and mastery of increasingly powerful technology turned humans into gods? From the destructive potential inherent in nuclear technology to the understanding of the building blocks of life represented by the sequencing of the human genome, our technologies have given us the power to create and destroy at a human and planetary scale. Futurist and filmmaker Jason Silva considers the responsibility inherent in this power, and the role these technological human-gods in our understanding of the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Harford is the best-selling author of 'The Uncover Economist' and 'The Logic of Life.' In his latest book, 'Adapt,' Harford argues that we need to rethink the conditions for making progress in science, business and society in a fundamental way: we need to lose our fear of failure, embrace opportunity, and take risks. We need to stop looking for leaders who provide us with safe answers, and stop punishing those with the courage to search for radical solutions. We need to understand that to adapt to the challenges of the future, we must make mistakes - and lots of them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Jesse Bering is a psychologist and author of 'Perv: The Sexual Deviant' in all of us and 'Why Is The Penis Shaped Like That?' In his talk, Bering considers that while we may be much more comfortable with sexuality than our parents were, will we take the next step and acknowledge that we are all, in fact, sexual perverts? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of best-selling memoir 'Eat Pray Love,' a chronicle of Gilbert's travels around the world in search of healing and wisdom following a messy divorce. Gilbert appeared at Sydney Opera House in conversation with Caroline Baum about the pressures and expectations of commercial success, fame, and the inevitable question of what comes next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.