Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, Rose de Castellane, Gregory Mill
383 episodes listed below
Philosophy argued aloud, with dry edges.
The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast treats philosophy as something to test aloud, not just summarize. Recent episodes weigh veganism, beauty, Candomblé, Advaita, classical theism, death, ancestors, and the meaning of life with patient argument and dry interruptions.
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The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast treats philosophy as a living argument with consequences. It is not content to name a theory and move on. Recent episodes keep asking what follows if the theory is true, who gets left out, and where the moral pressure actually lands. In the veganism conversations, the show moves beyond diet into animal suffering, sweatshop labor, consumer electronics, carnivore politics, and the limits of a movement’s message. With Vid Simoniti, veganism becomes an aesthetic question too, tied to beauty, moral horror, disgust, fiction, and the way art can let people inhabit a corrupted viewpoint without endorsing it. The Afro-Brazilian religion episodes with José Eduardo Porcher widen the frame again. Candomblé is approached through creation stories, orishas, possession, sacrifice, ritual practice, syncretism, and the history of violence and resistance that shaped these traditions in Brazil. The African philosophy of religion sequence with Aribiah David Attoe asks whether meaning is found in a single principle or in a bundle of goods such as children, health, community, moral excellence, and right relation to others. It also takes seriously traditions in which ancestors, spirits, death, reincarnation, and communal burial practices are not decorative beliefs but parts of a metaphysical picture. The God and consciousness episodes bring Philip Goff, David Godman, and Miri Albahari into a dense comparison of classical theism, Advaita, panentheism, panpsychism, love, individuality, illusion, and ultimate reality. The result is an unusually broad philosophy show. It can sound academic, but it rarely hides inside academic prose. Arguments are explained, tested, resisted, and sometimes laughed at. A cafe, a bad joke, a fictional villain, a child, a ritual meal, or a dream can suddenly become the clearest way into the issue. The show’s strength is this movement between scale and texture. It asks about God, consciousness, death, and the meaning of life, then insists those questions still have to survive ordinary objections. It is measured, skeptical, and more playful than its subject list suggests. Listeners looking for quick answers may find it slow. Listeners who enjoy watching ideas earn their keep will find plenty to sit with.
Made for: For listeners who like serious philosophy in conversational form, especially students, teachers, academics, and intellectually restless generalists. It suits people who want religion, ethics, consciousness, and meaning treated with both care and challenge.
What sets it apart: The show pairs academic range with live argumentative friction: guests explain substantial work, then the panel tests it with plain objections and concrete examples. Its recent scope stretches from vegan ethics and aesthetics to Candomblé, African philosophy of religion, Advaita, panentheism, and panpsychism.
An 'informal and informative' philosophy podcast inspiring and supporting students, teachers, academics and free-thinkers worldwide. All episodes are available at www.thepanpsycast.com.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes philosophical disagreement legible by testing clear arguments against moral choices, cultural intuitions and competing definitions.
The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast turns abstract questions into conversations with stakes. Jack Symes and Olly Marley move between structured discussion, guest interviews and live events, asking where morality comes from, what makes humor work and how philosophical commitments…
A joke meets Plato, and suddenly your laugh has an ethics committee.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused vegan ethics discussion that tests how far the principle should stretch.
This episode keeps its focus on vegan ethics at the point where the principle starts to fray: non-animals, and whether the same moral logic should reach products tied to slave labour.
A searching review of meaningful life, communal belonging, and the rituals surrounding death.
This single-episode review follows a question about meaningful life into the obligations a life carries toward other people. It starts with a Yoruba bundle theory, where long healthy life, children, a peaceful spouse, and victory over life's hardships collect around…
A thoughtful conversation about communal life, interwoven worlds, and living under the possibility of meaninglessness.
Questions about the meaning of life are framed through social belonging, as the episode moves through African philosophy of religion, communal life, harmony, and the treatment of outsiders.
A calm exchange about veganism, beauty, and the uneasy overlap between moral judgment and aesthetic response.
The episode starts with a brief side turn toward a new YouTube series, then settles into a steady, clear-minded discussion of beauty and veganism.
A patient debate about God, love, and whether unity can leave room for difference.
Part II stays with the hard line between mystical unity and the fact that people remain distinct. Philip, David Goldman, and Miri Al-Bahari move from Master Eckhart to Advaita and then to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and the discussion works best when those traditions are…
A patient discussion of whether consciousness, suffering, and the divine belong to one underlying reality.
The Panpsycast frames classical theism and Advaita as rival ways of answering a hard metaphysical question: what sort of reality can hold consciousness, suffering, and the divine together?
A thoughtful inquiry into divinity in matter, ritual transmission, and the pressure Afro-Brazilian religion puts on familiar philosophy.
Afro-Brazilian Religions frames metaphysics as a question of where divinity lives. Oli Mali and Jose Eduardo Porcher move from stones, iron, and rivers occupied by deities to Thales, panpsychism, and dualism, using those ideas to ask whether Asher is everywhere at once or…
A creation story opens into ritual, resistance, and the philosophy of a living Afro-Brazilian tradition.
Candomble enters through a creation story: air becomes water, mud, and then life. From there, the episode treats the tradition as a philosophy formed under pressure, shaped by forced movement to Brazil, suppression, survival, and resistance.
A host and three academics dissect one topic weekly, from archaea to the Tudors.
Scholarly conversations across Muslim worlds.
New scholarship, patiently brought into focus.
CMU, recorded before it gets polished.
Seminar-room depth on Russia and Eurasia.
A snowy camper van intro opens the episode.
In Part II of their conversation with Dr.
Dr.
Jack Symes interviews philosopher Vid Simoniti on whether there is an aesthetic case — not merely an ethical one — for veganism, using Simoniti's own position as a pescatarian who believes veganism is morally superior as the opening paradox.
Philip Goff, David Godman, and Miri Albahari continue their debate on the nature of God, self, and consciousness, comparing Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Advaita Vedanta, and early Buddhism.
In episode 152 of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, host Jack Symes brings together philosopher Philip Goff, Advaita Vedanta scholar David Godman, and philosopher Miri Albahari for a roundtable on the nature of God and consciousness.
Everything may be enchanted here.
A creation story starts the episode.
The 150th episode gets festive, playful, and a little accusatory.
Who is philosophy's worst offender?
Jainism starts with this world.
Jainism gets room to breathe.
Can relation make coffee better?
Most people believe moral facts are real.
Part two reopens the goalposts problem, and the episode gets thornier fast.
Can pantheism still call itself God-talk?
What makes a joke morally answerable?
Can a joke be morally innocent?
A Holocaust joke starts the argument.
A live room asks Peter Singer what made moral realism click for him.
Where does morality come from?
Audience questions take the wheel.
A sold-out theatre becomes a live forum for a hard question.
Storytelling steadies a frightening universe.
A crisis has numbers.
Principles run into the annoying part: real life.
What can philosophy say about food?
Part two opens with communal meaning.
Much of ethics is relational.
Can AI dance with us?
Panpsycast hosts Jack Symes and Olly Marley interview Dr.
In this emergency episode, hosts Jack and Olly answer years of backlogged listener questions after technical issues scrapped a planned debate.
This episode continues an interpretation of Plato's Symposium, focusing on Socrates's speech about the nature of love as taught by Diotima.
This episode continues exploring Plato's Symposium, focusing on the speeches about erotic love, particularly from characters like Ereximachus and Aristophanes.
This episode introduces Plato's Symposium, exploring a philosophical gathering in ancient Athens where brilliant minds discuss the nature of love amidst wine and revelry.
This episode is a live discussion exploring nuanced perspectives between God and atheism, focusing on experiential and communal aspects of religion, particularly in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and critiquing mechanistic views of reason.
A live panel debate at the Royal Institution Theatre in London exploring the arguments for and against God's existence, focusing on the design argument and the problem of evil.
Discussion of Peter Hitchens' book on how egalitarianism undermined the British education system, focusing on the history and impact of grammar schools.
Peter Hitchens discusses the decline of Christian identity and grammar schools in Britain, debating whether these changes signal progress or loss.
A philosophical discussion about how headphones can be used for both comfort and control, including the dark side of auditory violence in torture.
Exploring the philosophy and psychology of sound and headphone listening with Dr Jacob Kingsbury-Downs.
A philosophy podcast discussing just war theory, its historical roots, and ethical questions about killing in war.
This episode discusses the role of virtue in political leadership, contrasting the Founding Fathers' ideals with Machiavellian pragmatism.
Exploring the founding fathers' conception of happiness as moral excellence, inspired by ancient philosophy, with Professor Geoffrey Rosen.
A philosophy podcast discussing intellectual playfulness and its limitations in exploring new belief systems.
An interview with philosopher C.T.
A philosophy podcast discussing feminist epistemology, ideology, and the role of personal narratives in challenging scripts about sexual violence.
An interview with Dr.
A philosophical discussion on whether fundamental constituents like substances are necessary in modern physics, referencing fiber bundles and electromagnetic fields.
An exploration of the philosophical concept of substances as the fundamental building blocks of reality, featuring an interview with Dr.
An interview with Martha Nussbaum discussing her capabilities approach to animal justice and practical actions listeners can take.
An interview with philosopher Martha Nussbaum about her book Justice for Animals, discussing our collective responsibility to animals.
An analysis of beauty standards and their implications for gender power dynamics, challenging traditional narratives of oppression.
A philosophical discussion on the nature and ethics of beauty ideals with Professor Heather Widows.
A philosophical discussion about the marginalization of God in mainstream philosophy and the role of logical positivism.
An interview with Professor Sylvia Jonas discussing Maimonides' view of God, the distinction between knowledge and understanding, and the rationality of theism.
A philosophical discussion contrasting transparency theory with Brentano's awareness-of-awareness thesis on consciousness.
This episode explores the nature of sensory experiences and the transparency view in phenomenology with philosopher Laura Gow.
This episode continues a philosophical discussion with Robin McKenna about whether true intellectual autonomy is possible or desirable in democratic decision-making, particularly regarding issues like climate change.
This episode explores how to ethically change minds about climate change by applying philosophical epistemology and empirical research on belief formation to improve science communication in democratic societies.
This episode continues a discussion with Jay Garfield on Buddhist philosophy, exploring concepts like samsara, karma, and the Wheel of Life as metaphors for existence and the pursuit of enlightenment.