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Hi-Phi Nation

Barry Lam

Philosophers and critics discuss ethics and culture in unexpected contexts, from zombies to gig work.

Why we picked this

We picked Hi-Phi Nation because it treats philosophy as a tool for examining the real world, not an academic parlor game. Host Barry Lam builds each season around a single question—what counts as art, how prosecutors enforce moral norms, what a judge's textualism costs a frozen trucker—and pursues it through reported stories, not seminar-room debate. The show's trade-off is pace: arguments accumulate slowly across full episodes. The payoff is clarity. You leave understanding not just what philosophers think, but why it matters that they think it.

PhilosophySociety12 episodes on Steadcast · Latest May 2026

Recent episodes

Announcing Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Gorsuch

May 13, 202611 min

Rise of the Music Machines

May 16, 202350 min

Effective Altruism and its Critics

May 9, 202358 min

The Problem with Gig Work

May 2, 202351 min

Love in the Time of Replika

Apr 25, 202350 min

Living in a Zoopolis

Apr 18, 202344 min

The Digital Future of Grief

Apr 11, 202352 min

Season 6 Trailer

Apr 4, 20231 min

Cannibals

Feb 12, 202232 min

Zombies

Jan 22, 202232 min

Vampires

Jan 8, 202236 min

Memorials

Dec 18, 202148 min

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