Conversations
In 2017 Matthew Smith and I, two psychologists and long-time friends, recorded more than sixty conversations about life, the universe and everything. Some were just the two of us. Most had a guest: philosophers, psychologists, sceptics, writers and scientists, among them Susan Blackmore, Chris French and Taner Edis. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes profound even.
The book The Existential Files grew out of these conversations, and its chapter guide points to the moments each chapter draws on. The recordings themselves are all on YouTube.
All episodes
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#1
The universe wears no knickers: can science answer the big questions?
Louie and Matthew no guest
The first episode. Can science answer existential questions? And does the universe wear knickers?
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#2
Existentialism, the Necker cube and the illusion of “you”
Louie and Matthew no guest
Existentialism and the nature of existence; the Necker cube and the illusion of “you”.
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#3
Mould behind God’s toilet: evolution, hedonism and the narrative self
Louie and Matthew no guest
Evolution on God’s toilet, hedonism, and what sets humans apart from other animals: the narrative self.
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#4
Memes: the software of the mind, and why brains didn’t evolve to think
Louie and Matthew no guest
Memes, language and evolution.
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#5
From sponge to Shakespeare: why your brain is a happy accident
Louie and Matthew no guest
More on the evolution of the brain. Also Cher, and armpit farting.
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#6
What is an existential being? Cats, cows and the fear of death
Louie and Matthew no guest
What it means to be an existential being.
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#7
The psychic beetle, and why there are still monkeys
Louie and Matthew no guest
Blogging, a parapsychology PhD, the psychic beetle, misunderstandings about this site, why monkeys and fish still exist, and Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle.
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#8
The selfish gene: ants, altruism and a long line of copying errors
Louie and Matthew no guest
Altruism, social animals like ants, The Selfish Gene, and how genetic errors get passed on.
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#9
The right to be lazy: work, utopia and H.G. Wells
Louie and Matthew no guest
Waking up and living the life; work and the right to be lazy; utopias and H.G. Wells; group psychology, Machiavellian intelligence and social loafing.
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#10
What counts as offensive? Swearing, and speaking from the heart
Louie and Matthew no guest
What counts as offensive: swearing and the salacious.
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#11
Groundhog Day, Nietzsche’s eternal return and the road not taken
Louie and Matthew no guest
A Groundhog Day episode.
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#12
Coincidences, and the man who painted the future
Louie and Matthew no guest
Coincidences, and the man who paints the future.
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#13
The silicon brain: SOMA, mind uploading and the replicant’s dilemma
Louie and Matthew no guest
Artificial intelligence, the game SOMA, the ethics of experimenting on consciousness, and existential questions seen through the mind of an AI.
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#14
Monday morning angst: what’s worth doing with today?
Louie and Matthew no guest
What is the point of all these episodes? Existential angst, travel, risk and gambling, and the academic daily grind.
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#15
Most Haunted: two parapsychologists on ghost-hunting TV
Louie and Matthew no guest
Academic parapsychology versus paranormal television: Most Haunted, Derek Acorah, The Blair Witch Project, and sceptics.
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#16
The overview effect: pale blue dots, ants and an absurd universe
Louie and Matthew no guest
The overview effect, the pale blue dot, and how a change of perspective changes the existential questions.
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#17
Where does love come from? A Valentine’s special
Louie and Matthew no guest
A Valentine’s Day special on the origin of love.
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#18
The power of love: courtly love, Tinder and the brain’s own opiates
Louie and Matthew no guest
Love continued: courtly, contemporary, platonic and existential love, kinship, sex and sexuality.
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#19
Do you believe in God? A conversation in a car
Louie and Matthew no guest
God and whether it exists, and why the universe exists at all.
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#20
Taner Edis: why is there something rather than nothing?
Taner Edis physicist and sceptic
Why the universe exists, and whether that is even a fair question to ask of it.
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#21
Taner Edis on weird science, trust and parapsychology
Taner Edis physicist and sceptic
The university course he teaches on “Weird Science”, and parapsychology.
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#22
How old is sunlight? Photons, the drunkard’s walk and randomness
Louie and Matthew no guest
Light from the sun, photons, the two ways people react to facts, the drunkard’s walk and random processes.
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#23
Peter Hankins on the hard problem of consciousness
Peter Hankins author of the blog Conscious Entities
The mysteries of consciousness, and the hard and soft problems.
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#24
Peter Hankins: why you can’t upload your mind
Peter Hankins author of the blog Conscious Entities
The Brain Preservation Foundation, uploading a brain to a computer, and why the universe exists.
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#25
What is positive psychology? Science, or smoke and mirrors?
Louie and Matthew no guest
Positive psychology, a subject close to Matthew’s heart. What is it, is it science, and can it improve people’s lives?
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#26
Is life worth living? Frankl, Clarence Darrow and good-enough psychology
Louie and Matthew no guest
Positive psychology continued, and whether life is worth living.
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#27
Nick Brown on the positivity ratio, and how bad science spreads
Nick Brown PhD student and critic
His critique of positive psychology, including the critical positivity ratio.
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#28
Itai Ivtzan on positive psychology, grief and post-traumatic growth
Itai Ivtzan positive psychologist
Positive psychology, PhDs, Viktor Frankl, growth, and second wave positive psychology.
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#29
Everything or nothing? Itai Ivtzan on meditation and meaning
Itai Ivtzan positive psychologist
More on PhDs, parapsychology, and the meaning of life.
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#30
Oren Harman on George Price and the riddle of kindness
Oren Harman historian of science
The Price of Altruism: the extraordinary and ultimately sad story of George Price, and his own take on existentialism.
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#31
The Million Dollar Psychic: can a sceptic become psychic?
Louie and Matthew no guest
The Million Dollar Psychic, paranormal experiences, and UFOs.
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#32
Chris French: how a believer became a sceptic
Chris French anomalistic psychologist
Anomalistic psychology and parapsychology, with Louie’s old PhD supervisor.
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#33
Chris French on the Million Dollar Challenge, and the meaning of life
Chris French anomalistic psychologist
More anomalistic psychology and parapsychology, then positive psychology and the meaning of life.
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#34
Susan Blackmore on memes, tremes and the illusion of consciousness
Susan Blackmore psychologist
Memes and tremes, technology and AI, consciousness and the self, drugs, hallucinations and altered states.
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#35
Yannick Jacob on existential coaching and positive psychology
Yannick Jacob existential coach
Suspicions about positive psychology, belief in God, spirituality, and existentialism.
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#36
Yannick Jacob on flow, surfing and existential resilience
Yannick Jacob existential coach
Who counts as an existential being, existential coaching, flow, risk and happiness, and how to live.
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#37
R. Scott Bakker on alien philosophy and the blind brain
R. Scott Bakker fantasy novelist
His paper On Alien Philosophy, blind brain theory, and consciousness.
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#38
Am I a nihilist? Existential crises and secular humanism
Louie and Matthew no guest
Existential crises, nihilism and secular humanism.
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#39
Misery in the Brain of the Earth Ape: you are not your past
Louie and Matthew no guest
Louie’s essay Misery in the Brain of the Earth Ape: biology and existence, the past and identity, and evolution.
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#40
Free will, responsibility, and laughing at the universe
Louie and Matthew no guest
The essay continued: free will and determinism, existential responsibility, morality, genes and psychopathy.
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#41
Our only listener asks the questions: evolution, nihilism and love
Elizabeth Grant a listener, possibly the only one
How the podcast is going, artificial selection, kinds of nihilism, love, and objective truth.
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#42
Philosophy, psychology and bad science: Elizabeth Grant returns
Elizabeth Grant a listener, possibly the only one
Popper and falsifiability, Vygotsky, psychologists’ motives, and positive psychology and happiness.
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#43
John Marmysz: nihilism, humour and laughing at nothing
John Marmysz philosopher
What nihilism actually is, humour as a response to it, and where existentialism fits.
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#44
John Marmysz on cinematic nihilism: Fight Club, Rollerball and Scotland
John Marmysz philosopher
His novel The Nihilist, and nihilism in the cinema.
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#45
The Tree of Life: Terrence Malick, dinosaurs and the way of grace
Louie and Matthew no guest
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, and what it says about existence.
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#46
Ann Winsper: ghost hunting and electronic voice phenomena
Ann Winsper PhD researcher
Ghost hunting, electronic voice phenomena, and the ordinary explanations behind them.
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#47
Arthur Witherall: zero ontology and why the universe exists
Arthur Witherall philosopher
Why there is something rather than nothing, including David Pearce’s Zero Ontology.
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#48
Hayley Stevens: from ghost hunter to sceptic
Hayley Stevens sceptical blogger
Ghosts, ghost hunters, and scepticism.
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#49
Hayley Stevens on lake monsters, big cats and fake PhDs
Hayley Stevens sceptical blogger
Cryptozoology and fake paranormal researchers.
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#50
Matthew Alper: the God part of the brain, and who’s the bigger nihilist
Matthew Alper author
Religion as an evolved way of coping with the pain of existence, and a contest over which of them is the bigger nihilist.
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#51
Graham Farmelo on Paul Dirac, antimatter and beautiful equations
Graham Farmelo science writer
Paul Dirac, the strangest man in physics, and the questions his work raises.
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#52
Cal Cooper: bereavement, hope and phone calls from the dead
Cal Cooper parapsychologist
Bereavement, ghosts, and the place of hope.
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#53
Jeff Schaler on Thomas Szasz and the myth of mental illness
Jeff Schaler psychology professor
Thomas Szasz and The Myth of Mental Illness.
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#54
Emmy van Deurzen on existential therapy, Szasz and freedom’s limits
Emmy van Deurzen existential psychotherapist
Existential therapy, Szasz on mental illness, and politics as an existential matter.
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#55
Andy Martin on Sartre, surfing and watching Lee Child write
Andy Martin writer
Camus and Sartre, writing about Lee Child, and surfing.
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#56
Krissy Wilson on self-deception and why we all believe
Krissy Wilson psychologist
Why people believe in the paranormal: self-deception, placebo, and critical thinking.
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#57
Kate Sweeny on the upside of pessimism and the benefits of worry
Kate Sweeny psychologist
The costs of positive thinking, and the case for bracing for the worst.
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#58
Matt Colborn on bees, SETI and whether we’re at home in the universe
Matt Colborn cognitive scientist
Bees, machine learning, consciousness, and SETI.
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#59
Martin Seager: the only mental condition is the human condition
Martin Seager clinical psychologist
Mental health, the limits of psychiatry, men and gender, and whether psychology is a soft science.
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#60
Francis O’Gorman on worrying: a literary and cultural history
Francis O’Gorman academic and writer
Worry, and his literary and cultural history of it.
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#61
Brock Bastian: why pain matters to happiness
Brock Bastian psychologist
Why pain matters to happiness, how chasing pleasure backfires, and vegetarianism as a moral question.
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#62
Elisha Shapiro, the Funniest Nihilist, on the Nihilist Olympics
Elisha Shapiro comedian and performance artist
Nihilism, the Nihilist Olympics, and running for president.