TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: What Is X?

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25 episodes
2021 to 2022
Median: 62 minutes
Collection: Philosophy

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast stages Socratic-style conversations in which host Justin E. H. Smith invites a guest—often an academic, writer, or critic—to pursue a deceptively simple definitional question: “What is X?” Each episode follows a dialectical inquiry that tests candidate definitions, probes hidden assumptions, and often ends in either agreement, disagreement, or a deliberate impasse.

Across the show, “X” ranges from foundational metaphysical and scientific topics—such as being, time, matter, numbers, consciousness, and dreams—to social and political realities including war, money, gender, mental health, conspiracy theories, and the dynamics of harmful language. The discussions also regularly turn to aesthetic and cultural concepts like art, poetry, humor, punk, criticism, and authorship, examining how creative practices and interpretive frameworks shape meaning and value. Interpersonal and ethical themes appear as well, with sustained attention to love, friendship, virtue, and the ways norms form around everyday life—even down to ordinary practices like breakfast.

A recurring emphasis is on how definitions do work: how they can clarify disputes, reveal power and history, and sometimes fail to capture what people are trying to name. The tone suggested by the descriptions is rigorous but playful, mixing high-level philosophy with concrete examples, historical references, and contemporary controversies in an accessible dialogue format.