The Badlands Politics & Philosophy Podcast

In this episode, we (half-seriously) debate the ethics of Christmas. Is Christmas, on the whole, a good thing or a bad thing? Does the uptick in charitable giving outweigh the explosion in consumption? Does Christmas ruin gift-giving? Does the fostering of community justify Christmas ham? Is the celebration of Christmas an act of cultural appropriation? And who has the better ham story?
Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes, Hanna Gunn

In this episode, we talk to philosopher Robert Talisse about his new book Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in Its Place. Could it be that our politically polarized and oversaturated environment is undermining our democracy? How has this happened, and are there things that we can do to restore civic friendship and the conditions needed for healthy democracy?

In this episode, we begin our discussion of privacy, surveillance, and data collection. We argue that privacy is, in fact, deeply valuable, and that peoples' apathy towards their privacy is deeply misguided.
Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes, Hanna Gunn

In this episode, we continue our discussion of property rights and investigate whether property rights can be justified as social rights. If they can, what standard do we appeal to in order to justify them? And to the extent that they are justified, just how strong should those rights be taken to be?
Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes

As Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren propose wealth taxes on the super rich, there are bound to be complaints that such policies would violate a sacred right to property. In this episode, we explore the philosophical foundations of property rights. Is there a good natural rights justification of a right to property, or does that approach fall short?
Toby Napoletano, Michael Hughes