Hotel Bar Sessions

The HBS hosts discuss how cities, once considered hubs of public life and interaction, have become increasingly segregated, partitioned, disconnected, and privatized.Drawing on his experience using the city of a Chicago as a classroom, Rick Lee asks: can we identify the material markers of "privatization" in contemporary cities? How do we know which parts of the city are for "us," which parts of the city are for everyone, and which parts aren't? Is there anything like a "public commons" anymore and, if so, where is it? What can we learn from the fact that even park benches and bus stops are physically-engineered to prevent the unhoused from being able to find rest or shelter? How might we build a more just city? Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Is the world in itself a mystery that science and philosophy take different routes to try to solve? How do luck, logic, empirical investigation, and intuition all work together to make sense of the world? What would a solution even look like? Are philosophers basically just detectives? Is a crime requisite to initiate investigations in mysteries? Is the unknown connected to Aristotle’s idea that philosophy begins in wonder? Is the mystery genre mostly a battle of reason over unreason?Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts talk about love. What is love? Is it a feeling? Is it a cosmic or metaphysical force? Is it a primary motivating drive to propagate the species or to create ideas? What happens when love goes wrong?Full episode notes at this link. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts chat about our impending doom. Is the apocalypse nigh? Will it be environmental, political, technological, or biological? Can we imaging human beings existing in 50 years? 100 years? 5000 years?Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The HBS hosts take a look at the political, philosophical, cultural, and personal dimensions of nostalgia. Full episode notes at this link.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★