Wisdom at Work: Recent Episodes
David Storey
What is the value of philosophy in everyday life and work?
Can philosophy offer us not just a way of life, but a way to make a living?
I profile philosophers who found their way through the wilderness beyond the ivory tower. We explore how they forged a new professional identity, how they built successful new careers, and how philosophy can add value in business, government...and pretty much everything else. From their stories, I distill the decisions, strategies, and habits that powered their success.
To learn more, check out www.davidestorey.com.
Aaron Kagan is a UX Researcher at Google, and what I would call an “Industrial Phenomenologist.” Phenomenology is really just the rigorous study of experience, so who better to work on User Experience? In this episode, Aaron shares his experiences working in Big Tech, from Google to Meta and back, and we explore both the logistical and philosophical dimensions of building virtual worlds.
Beyond his day job, Aaron is a committed advocate for careers for philosophers in industry, and is currently chair of the American Philosophical Association’s Non-Academic Careers Committee, and holds regular “office hours” at the Daily Nous.
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SHOW NOTES:
- “How to Shawshank Your Way Out of Academia”
- Thanks to Ari Zazem for artwork! You can check him out here and here.
Aaron Kagan is a UX Researcher at Google, and what I would call an “Industrial Phenomenologist.” Phenomenology is really just the rigorous study of experience, so who better to work on User Experience? In this episode, Aaron walks us through the painful process of reinventing himself, a journey that leads him from NYC to the Midwest to LA, from the Ivory Tower to the Googleplex.
Beyond his day job, Aaron is a committed advocate for careers for philosophers in industry, and is currently chair of the American Philosophical Association’s Non-Academic Careers Committee, and holds regular “office hours” at the Daily Nous.
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE:
Apple Podcasts
SUPPORT:
SPONSORED BY:
TIP JAR
Podcasting is a time-intensive labor of love. Your support is most appreciated!
$1.00
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SHOW NOTES:
- “How to Shawshank Your Way Out of Academia”
- Thanks to Ari Zazem for artwork! You can check him out here and here.
Aaron Kagan is a UX Researcher at Google, and what I would call an “Industrial Phenomenologist.” Phenomenology is really just the rigorous study of experience, so who better to work on User Experience? In this episode, Aaron walks us through his journey from philosophy to becoming a successful professional DJ, and how he parlayed his academic expertise into a career in tech.
Beyond his day job, Aaron is a committed advocate for careers for philosophers in industry, and is currently chair of the American Philosophical Association’s Non-Academic Careers Committee, and holds regular “office hours” at the Daily Nous.
LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE:
Apple Podcasts
SUPPORT:
SPONSORED BY:
TIP JAR
Podcasting is a time-intensive labor of love. Your support is most appreciated!
$1.00
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SHOW NOTES:
- Thanks to Ari Zazem for artwork! You can check him out here and here.
How can we retain our humanity in the age of A.I.? To answer that question, we first have to figure out what makes us human in the first place.
Joe Vukov is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Loyola University Chicago. His research explores questions at the intersection of ethics, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, and at the intersection of science and religion. In his new book, Staying Human in an Era of Artificial Intelligence, he shows what is missing in the conventional ways he think about the mind, and offers paths beyond the materialism and gnosticism that haunt our thinking about technology.
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TIP JAR
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SHOW NOTES:
- Thanks to Ari Zazem for artwork! You can check him out here and here.
At some point in the last decade, you’ve probably thought to yourself: “I don’t have an ideology! But that jerk on Twitter obviously does!” Ideology is always someone else’s problem.
Jason Blakely, a professor of political science at Pepperdine University, begs to differ. Our political predicament, as he argues in his new book, Lost in Ideology, is twofold: we are blind to our own ideologies, and we mistakenly see ideology in merely pejorative terms. We cannot escape ideology because we cannot escape culture, and we cannot escape culture because we are storytelling creatures.
If, like most of us, you find our current political climate confusing, Jason’s “map of maps” will help you get your bearings. He covers the terrain of modern ideologies, from liberalism to conservatism to socialism and beyond, identifying their historical and philosophical roots as well as how they show up in popular culture. As the saying goes, “politics is downstream from culture,” and Jason’s book serves as a sort of decoder ring for making sense of the culture wars.
In addition to discussing his book, we explore a question on many people’s minds these days: is the MAGA movement a form of fascism?
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You probably know John Mackey the business mogul, but you probably don’t know John Mackey the philosopher.
In his new memoir, The Whole Story, Founder and Former CEO of Whole Foods Market John Mackey discusses his life’s journey, from existentialist to grocer to conscious capitalist. John shares the latest developments in his new venture, Love.Life, which aims to do for doctor’s offices what Whole Foods did for grocery stores.
John articulates his philosophy of conscious capitalism, which tries to steer a middle way between the “shareholder” theory of Milton Friedman, on the Right, and the recent ESG movement, on the Left. He conveys the power and promise of integral theory and the developmental worldview in business and in life.
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Charlie Gilkey is an author, consultant, and executive coach focused on helping people build great teams. Why is belonging so important to an organization’s success, and why is it so hard to build? Charlie draws on his experience as an Army officer, his training in philosophy, and his 15 years of experience working with organizations to help answer questions like this and offer people the practical tools they need to acheive what he calls “productive flourishing.” Atomic habits are great, but team habits are better.
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- Productive Flourishing
- Books:
According to the recently released World Happiness Report, all four Nordic nations are in the top 10, with Finland and Denmark leading the way. What is the secret to their success?
In 2020, David Brooks asked the same question:
Progressives say it’s because they have generous welfare states. Some libertarians point out that these countries score high on nearly every measure of free market openness. Immigration restrictionists note that until recently they were ethnically homogeneous societies.
None of these explanations, it turns out, is sufficient. The answer is education, specifically, education policy guided by an understanding of human nature and development captured by the German word Bildung.
Lene Rachel Andersen is a futurist and cultural philosopher who not only tells the Nordic success story, but explains how Bildung can and must be adapted for the 21st century. Can Bildung provide the cultural and institutional DNA for a new Renaissance?
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SHOW NOTES:
- Lene’s Website
- David Brooks, New York Times, “This is How Scandanavia Got Great”
- Lene’s Books:
During my trip to the global climate talks in Glasgow in 2021, I had a most serendipitous encounter.
I was there as a member of Boston College’s first delegation to the United Nations Conference of the Parties (“COP”), and on day three, I bumped into the science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, whose novel, The Ministry for the Future, I had recently assigned in my course on the ethics of climate change. Robinson is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest science fiction writers of our time. Ministry even made Barack Obama’s best books list of 2020.
I was expecting a photo and maybe a brief comment about his experience of the COP; instead, he gave me his email and, a few days later, over an hour of his time.
We sat on the floor in the “Action Zone,” one of the main lounges, ducking beneath the din of the conference, and talked about the climate, the future, the power of stories, and what he likes to call the science fiction novel we are currently all living within.
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Lou Marinoff helped pioneer and popularize philosophical counseling and authored the international bestseller Plato not Prozac. His work has been featured in The Economist and the The New York Times, and beyond his work as a professor and counselor, he has consulted with many organizations all over the world, including the World Economic Forum.
In our latest dialogue, Lou spells out his diagnosis of the pathological extremes in American culture, and offers the Middle Way of the “ABCs”–Aristotle, Buddha, and Confucius–to help us make sense of and work through our troubled times.
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SHOW NOTES:
- Lou’s Website
- “Socrates, For Pleasure and Profit,” The Economist, June 22nd, 2000
- “The Socratic Shrink,” New York Times, March 21st, 2004
- Lou’s Books:
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Jared Woodard is head of the Research Investment Committee and director for Global
Investment Strategy at Band of America Global Research. In this role, he offers insights on global asset allocation and key market trends to the firm’s institutional, government and retail clients.
Jared also holds a PhD in Philosophy from Fordham University, where he was a classmate of mine. How does someone shift from a PhD in philosophy to a successful career in finance? Tune in to find out. Beyond his own career transition story, Jared and I discuss metaphysical nihilism, the challenges of the 21st century economy, and the enduring value of the liberal arts.
Note: The views discussed in this episode are Jared’s own and do not reflect those of his employer.
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- Jared on Bloomberg:
Jason Merchey embodies the Socratic ethos and the philosophical way of life: the humble search for wisdom. He has served in many roles—from clinical psychologist, to real estate investor, to therapy dog trainer—but his guiding passion is the love of wisdom. In his recent book, Wisdom: A Very Valuable Virtue that Cannot Be Taught, he explores this virtue that is so elusive yet so essential to a life well lived.
Jason has developed practical tools to help people develop wisdom in their own life, including the Top Values Tool and the Ethical Decision Making Guide. Self-knowledge is a key component of wisdom, and we don’t often have occasion to step back and reflect on why, exactly, we do what we do. Check them out!
In this conversation, we explore the nature of wisdom and many things more, from wisdom in investing to one of my favorite topics: the wisdom of dogs.
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Jason’s Site: https://valuesofthewise.com
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Skye C. Cleary PhD MBA is a philosopher and author of How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (St Martin’s Press / Ebury 2022), Existentialism and Romantic Love (Palgrave Macmillan 2015) and co-editor of How to Live a Good Life (Vintage 2020). Her work has been published with The Paris Review, Aeon, The Times Literary Supplement, TED-Ed, Los Angeles Review of Books,The Independent, The Conversation, Business Insider, New Republic, and others. In 2021, she was a MacDowell Fellow. In 2017, she won the New Philosopher Writers’ Award.
She teaches at Columbia University and the City University of New York, and previously at ThinkOlio, the New York Public Library, and with incarcerated students. She is former Editor-in-Chief of the American Philosophical Association’s Blog and a certified fellow with the American Philosophical Practitioners Association. Before philosophy, she was an international equity arbitrageur, management consultant, and Lieutenant in the Australian Army Reserves.
Beyond philosophy, we explore her experience practicing martial arts, her NYC cocktail bar expertise, and her experience interviewing Esther Perel.
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- Skye’s Website
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Skye’s Books:
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TedEd Video: “Why Do We Love? A Philosophical Inquiry”:
- ~~Love~~ Shit Actually
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Skye C. Cleary PhD MBA is a philosopher and author of How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment (St Martin’s Press / Ebury 2022), Existentialism and Romantic Love (Palgrave Macmillan 2015) and co-editor of How to Live a Good Life (Vintage 2020). Her work has been published with The Paris Review, Aeon, The Times Literary Supplement, TED-Ed, Los Angeles Review of Books, The … Continue reading "Episode #28: Being and Lovingness: Skye Cleary"
Massimo Pigliucci is professor of philosophy at City University of New York. He holds PhDs in both philosophy and biology. As an early adopter of blogging, he has effectively communicated philosophy to the broader public. A prominent philosopher of science, he has engaged popular scientists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, exposing the … Continue reading "Episode #27: On Science and Stoicism: Massimo Pigliucci (Part 2)"
Massimo Pigliucci is professor of philosophy at City University of New York. He holds PhDs in both philosophy and biology. As an early adopter of blogging, he has effectively communicated philosophy to the broader public. A prominent philosopher of science, he has engaged popular scientists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye, exposing the … Continue reading "Episode #26: On Science and Stoicism: Massimo Pigliucci (Part 1)"
Lou Marinoff was doing practical philosophy before it was cool. In the 1990s, he helped pioneer and popularize philosophical counseling and authored the international bestseller Plato not Prozac.
Lou Marinoff was doing practical philosophy before it was cool. In the 1990s, he helped pioneer and popularize philosophical counseling and authored the international bestseller Plato not Prozac. His work has been featured in The Economist and the The New York Times, and beyond his work as a professor and counselor, he has consulted with … Continue reading "Episode #24: Plato Not Prozac: Lou Marinoff (Part 1)"
At the peak of academic success--a full professor at Notre Dame for 15 years, an accomplished scholar and acclaimed teacher--Tom Morris found another calling and took a huge risk: bringing philosophy into the business world.
From Notre Dame to the Today Show to General Motors, Tom Morris has been bringing philosophy to life for people for decades.
Grace is a philosophy teacher, trainer, facilitator, scholar and advocate. Over the last fifteen years – through her many projects in the places people live, learn, work and play – she has enjoyed philosophical conversations with thousands of thinkers of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience. Through her workshops, training, talks and writing, she has shared her thinking … Continue reading "Episode #21: Grace Lockrobin on Community Philosophy in a Time of Crisis"
Why is Jordan Peterson so popular? Steve McIntosh has an answer.
Steve McIntosh is the founder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution, a think tank devoted to solving the problem of political polarization. His recent book, Developmental Politics, draws on integral philosophy to drill down into the causes of the culture wars, and proposes a bold new vision for how America can become a better version … Continue reading "Episode #19: “Post-Progressive” Political Philosophy with Steve McIntosh (Part 1)"
Ian Olasov is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a public philosopher at large. In his new book, Ask a Philosopher: Answer to Your Most Important and Most Unexpected Questions, Ian weighs in on the results of a social experiment he has run for … Continue reading "Episode #18: Ask a Philosopher with Ian Olasov"
Cameron Keys is a Financial Specialist at the Army Research Laboratory, but his intellectual journey started with philosophy. After studying the intersection of science, policy, and philosophy at ASU, Cameron was awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship that eventually brought him to work at the Department of Defense. In this episode, we talk about his work … Continue reading "Episode #17: Cameron Keys–Philosophy at the Pentagon"
Marci Baranski destroys greenhouse gases for a living. After getting her PhD in biology and society, Marci became a Presidential Management Fellow and pursued a career as public servant, working for the US Department of Agriculture as a climate change specialist. Due in part to the Trump administration’s systematic rollback of climate policies, Marci transitioned … Continue reading "Episode #16: Marci Baranski"
Conventional wisdom regards the “STEM” disciplines as diametrically opposed to the humanities in general, and philosophy in particular. But Zachary Pirtle is living proof that this view is wrong headed. After studying philosophy and engineering as an undergraduate, Zach went on to receive an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Arizona State University and … Continue reading "Episode #15: Zachary Pirtle"
What can philosophy tell us about immigration and identity? Amy Reed-Sandoval, assistant professor of philosophy at UNLV, is the founder of two Philosophy for Children (P4C) initiatives: one in Oaxaca, Mexico, and one at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso. She is the author of the new book, Socially Undocumented: Identity and Immigration Justice. Amy … Continue reading "Episode #14: Amy Reed-Sandoval"
Tim Richardson is a Washington, DC based multi-client government affairs and mediaconsultant. After extensive political and business publishing and two congressional aidestints, Richardson has become the nation’s only private sector consultant that has workedon Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon oil spill restoration. In addition, he has servedas Wildlife Forever’s Washington, DC representative since 1995. In … Continue reading "Episode #13: Tim Richardson (Part 2)"
Tim Richardson is a Washington, DC, based multi-client government affairs and mediaconsultant. After extensive political and business publishing and two congressional aidestints, Richardson has become the nation’s only private sector consultant that has workedon Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon oil spill restoration. In addition, he has servedas Wildlife Forever’s Washington, DC representative since 1995. In … Continue reading "Episode #12: Tim Richardson (Part 1)"
With the possible exception of William Bennett, Andrew Light is the first philosopher to work in a presidential administration. Andrew has two interrelated careers. One is as an academic. He is University Professor of Philosophy, Public Policy, and Atmospheric Sciences, and Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University. In his … Continue reading "Episode #11: Andrew Light (Part 1)"
Over the last decade, Greg Sadler has emerged as the “YouTube philosopher.” Someone was inevitably going to fill that role, but the title is well deserved: Greg has produced around 1400 videos, has 84,000 subscribers and, at this writing, has received almost 8,000,000 views. After leaving a conventional academic career as a philosophy professor, Greg … Continue reading "Episode #10: Greg Sadler (Part 2)"
Over the last decade, Greg Sadler has emerged as the “YouTube philosopher.” Someone was inevitably going to fill that role, but the title is well deserved: Greg has produced around 1400 videos, has 84,000 subscribers and, at this writing, has received almost 8,000,000 views. After leaving a conventional academic career as a philosophy professor, Greg … Continue reading "Episode #9: Greg Sadler (Part 1)"
Episode 8: Dan Fincke (Part 2)
In the second part of our conversation (Part 1 here), Dan walks us through his period of experimentation in starting an online teaching business, and how he learned to think like an entrepreneur and business person. We end by diving into his brilliant interpretation of the Star Wars saga, and how Nietzsche can help us make sense of The Last Jedi.
Dan Fincke is a “Rogue” par excellence. An expert in ethics and the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, he runs an online teaching business and offers philosophical counseling from his home in France. Of all the people I met in graduate school–including myself–Dan Fincke is the one who most deserves the title “real philosopher.” His personal … Continue reading "Episode #7: Dan Fincke (Part 1)"
One night, after completing a doctorate in philosophy at Oxford University and wondering what he was going to do with his life, Matthew Stewart was shooting pool with a group of graduating seniors. They were going on about the jobs they were about to begin in something called “management consulting.” For lack of a better … Continue reading "Episode #6: Matthew Stewart"
David Brendel wears many hats–philosophical counselor, executive coach, and psychiatrist. After catching the philosophy bug reading the Great Books at Yale, David pursued a medical career at Harvard Medical School. Refusing to choose between medicine and philosophy, he enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Chicago, where he did pioneering work in the … Continue reading "Episode #5: David Brendel"
A “philosophy company” might sound like an oxymoron, but Ryan Stelzer had the audacity to found one. After studying philosophy at the University of Chicago, Ryan landed a Presidential Management Fellowship, and went to Washington to work in the White House as a management consultant. Torn between returning to the academy to complete his PhD … Continue reading "Episode #4: Ryan Stelzer (Part 2)"
I’m thrilled to announce that Wisdom at Work is officially a member of Lyceum! Lyceum is a new app whose hand-curation cuts through the noise of a million podcasts to help people find great educational shows and have great conversations about them, right in the app. Download the app at lyceum.fm and then check out … Continue reading "Introducing Lyceum"
A “philosophy company” might sound like an oxymoron, but Ryan Stelzer had the audacity to found one. After studying philosophy at the University of Chicago, Ryan landed a Presidential Management Fellowship, and went to Washington to work in the White House as a management consultant. Torn between returning to the academy to complete his PhD … Continue reading "Episode #3: Ryan Stelzer (Part 1)"
After studying philosophy and training to become a Jesuit at Fordham in the early ’90s, Sal moved to San Francisco. Here, he served as a hospital chaplain for the dying, at the veritable ground zero of the AIDS plague. Years later, he left the Jesuits and academia, and went on to a successful career in … Continue reading "Episode #2: Sal Giambanco (Part 2)"
If I had to pick the most interesting person I’ve ever met, it would probably be my friend and mentor Sal Giambanco. When we first met over ten years ago at our common alma mater, Fordham University, he described what he did for a living as “philosophical counseling for CEOs.” Needless to say, he had … Continue reading "Episode #1: Sal Giambanco (Part 1)"
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