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Moral Minority is a podcast on moral philosophy and the problem of moral foundations. Why does morality matter? What grounds the moral principles to which we appeal when making judgments about right and wrong, justice and injustice? Do we have good grounds for making the judgments we do make–in our everyday lives, our relationships, our work, or in politics? And if not, where does that leave us?Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ moral foundations and normativity • existentialism and moral psychology • political philosophy: Marxism, liberal socialism, fascism • critical theory and culture industry • ethical literary/art criticism • faith, responsibility, identity, modernityThis podcast explores moral philosophy through close engagement with major works of modern and contemporary thought, asking what—if anything—can ground our judgments about right and wrong, responsibility, virtue, justice, and political legitimacy. Across discussions of metaethics and moral psychology, it returns to the problem of moral foundations in a secular age: how reflective agents justify normative commitments without appeal to transcendence, and what follows when inherited moral vocabularies break down.
A recurring focus is the relationship between individual agency and social life. The conversations examine how concepts like freedom, authenticity, shame, moral luck, and selfhood are shaped by relations with others, institutions, and historical conditions. Existential and phenomenological themes appear alongside analytic debates about objectivity in ethics, with attention to how consciousness, identity, and interpersonal recognition bear on moral responsibility.
The podcast also treats moral and political questions through critical theory and Marxist traditions, analyzing modernity’s instrumental reason, the culture industry, ideology, and the persistence of authoritarian and fascist currents. Liberalism, socialism, egalitarianism, and solidarity are discussed as competing or overlapping normative projects, often framed by disputes about historical progress and emancipation.
In addition, the show frequently uses literature, film, and criticism as sites where ethical and political problems are dramatized. Interviews with novelists, poets, and critics consider how artistic form and genre encode moral assumptions, how mass media shapes desire and attention, and how themes such as faith, friendship, tolerance, celebrity, and mysticism illuminate broader questions about the ethical life.
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Moral of the Story: Hannah Smart on Meat Puppets 2026-May-05 62 minutes |
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Content of the Form: Hannah Smart on David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest 2026-Apr-01 118 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Jonathan B. Fine on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and the German Enlightenment 2026-Feb-06 90 minutes |
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Nota Bene: The Moral Passion of David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King with Hannah Smart 2026-Jan-09 99 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Eleanor Russell on Simone Weil's Gravity & Grace 2026-Jan-01 91 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: A.V. Marraccini on Susan Sontag’s Fascinating Fascism & Notes on Camp 2025-Nov-20 123 minutes |
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Content of the Form: Grace Byron on Annie Ernaux’s The Years & Herculine 2025-Nov-05 68 minutes |
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Moral of the Story: Sebastian Castillo on Fresh, Green Life 2025-Oct-28 65 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Ross Wolfe on Domenico Losurdo's Neo-Stalinist Revival and the Future of Marxism 2025-Oct-22 112 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Alina Stefanescu on Derrida's The Politics of Friendship and My Heresies 2025-Jul-04 116 minutes |
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Being & Nothingness, Part 2 2025-May-10 137 minutes |
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Nota Bene: The Metaphysics and Moral Vision of David Lynch with Jon Repetti 2025-Apr-02 163 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Matt McManus on The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism 2024-Dec-24 85 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Ryan Ruby on Fredric Jameson's The Political Unconscious and Context Collapse 2024-Nov-28 121 minutes |
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Being & Nothingness, Part 1 2024-Nov-23 101 minutes |
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Repetition 2024-Sep-27 93 minutes |
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Contemporary Conversations: Vanessa Christina Wills on Marx's Ethical Vision 2024-Sep-10 119 minutes |
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Fear and Trembling 2024-Aug-22 104 minutes |
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Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 3: The Culture Industry 2024-Jul-22 104 minutes |
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Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 2 2024-Jun-19 89 minutes |
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Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 1 2024-May-14 75 minutes |
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Vocation Lectures 2024-Apr-04 83 minutes |
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Shame & Necessity 2024-Mar-09 75 minutes |
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Sources of Normativity 2024-Feb-26 74 minutes |
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After Virtue 2024-Feb-18 88 minutes |
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Moral Realism 2024-Feb-06 86 minutes |
Dawn2024-Jan-30 95 minutes |