5 October 2015


Mapping your thoughts

Jonathan Phillips and Steven Frankland discuss the brain’s ability to generate infinite ideas from reusable parts.
video screenshot
Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

In this video:

David Foster Wallace and the double-edged sword of self-consciousness

Robert Wright speaks with D.T. Max, author of the Wallace biography Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story.

Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

Evaluating Fiorina on Planned Parenthood

Bill Scher and Matt Lewis analyze her controversial statement about abortion. Plus: Will Boehner’s exit truly change anything?

Why Black Lives Matter needs a “second wing”

John McWhorter argues that the movement is important but incomplete.

Can Clinton reassemble the Obama coalition?

Paul Glastris, Ed Kilgore, and Nancy LeTourneau consider. Plus: Against the canonization of Saint Boehner.

A double life

Glenn Loury describes a period in the late ’80s when he was both a Harvard professor and addicted to crack cocaine. Plus: How Glenn lost his faith.

Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

Are we hard-wired for random acts of kindness?

Robert Wright and David Sloan Wilson debate human nature. Plus: What The Selfish Gene leaves out.

Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

The darkest fifteen minutes of Andrew Sullivan’s life

Sullivan describes a crisis of Christian faith he experienced in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. Plus: Why Pope Francis is so beloved.

Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

For Republican voters, familiarity breeds disinterest

Daniel Strauss and Jessie Opoien discuss why Walker sank so quickly. Plus: Is Walker a viable VP candidate?


“Life is too damn complicated”

playvideo screenshot

Philosophers Daniel Kaufman and Massimo Pigliucci argue that when it comes to making moral decisions, relying on general rules just won’t work.

Play this clip on MeaningofLife.tv

The Asteroid Courts

playvideo screenshot

Katherine Mangu-Ward describes how Congress is delving into space property rights.

Woodruff & Strauss

“This is gonna get pretty dirty”

playvideo screenshot

Daniel Strauss and Matt Fuller preview fights within the post-Boehner House leadership. Plus: The real reason Boehner is resigning.


Boehner’s resignation, predicted!

playvideo screenshot

Two days before news broke, Matt Lewis speculated that the Speaker would resign after the Pope’s address to Congress. Plus: Why conservatives shouldn’t attack Pope Francis.

Washington Monthly

Uncharted waters

playvideo screenshot

What does it mean that the three GOP front-runners have zero elective experience? Ed Kilgore and Sarah Posner consider. Plus: The “apocalyptic” theory of Walker’s failure.