Hi-Phi Nation – Details, episodes & analysis

On this show we explore three different AI and machine-generated music technologies; vocal emulators that allow you to deep fake a singer or rapper’s voice, AI-generated compositions and text-to-music generators like Google Music LM and Open AI’s Jukebox, and musical improvisation technologies. We listen to the variety of music these technologies generate, and two guitarists face off against an AI in improvised guitar solos.  Along the way, we talk to philosophers of music Robin James and Theodore Gracyk about what musical creativity is and whether machines are more or less creative than human musicians, and Barry gives his take on each of the technologies and what they mean for the future of musical creativity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Curtis is setting aside a large chunk of money to donate to charity, and it is up to us to persuade him where he should donate it. Luckily, philosophers, economists, and the nonprofit world have been thinking a lot about this issue in recent years. On this episode, effective altruism’s defenders and critics try to persuade Curtis of where he should donate. Who is the most effective in persuading an ordinary person as to the right way to donate to charity? And do the recent scandals involving effective altruism’s biggest donor implicate its philosophical foundations?  We start with arguments that you should always try to save the most lives possible, no matter where they are on the planet. We then hear a critic of that view, who argues that local giving can also be a good. We then turn to the view that we should save humans from extinction from threats like pandemics, nuclear war, and AI takeover. And finally, we hear from a critic of that view, who says we should not blow future risks out of proportion.  Guests include philosophers Richard Yetter-Chappell (Miami), Savannah Pearlman (Indiana), Shakeel Hashim (Center for Effective Altruism), and Seth Lazar (Australia National University). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When tragedy strikes an individual, a nation, or an entire people, artists and architects are tasked with designing a public display that memorializes the event and its victims. But how do you do that? In this episode, art historian and podcaster Tamar Avishai examines the Denkmal Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the Vietnam War Memorial in DC, and others to look at how respecting and remembering loss collides with the demands of history and politics. We look at why abstract rather than representational memorials resonate better with people in recent years, and whether memorials, no matter how well done, might lose their impact after a single generation. Guest voices include Karen Krolak, James Young, and Michael Hays. Links Listen to Tamar Avishai on The Lonely Palette podcast Better Help-betterhelp.com/nation. Get 10% of your first month by clicking through on the link. Scribd- try.scribd.com/hiphi Slate Plus sale! Get $25 off your first year. Go to slate.com/hiphiplus Are you a philosopher interested in a summer seminar on God and Time at Rutgers University? Apply at godandtime.rutgers.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first two gene-edited species meant to be introduced into the wild are currently in their final stages of approval, with trials already underway for the Oxitec mosquito, and the ESF American Chestnut. In this episode, we examine what these gene-edited species are, what they do, and how they are the beginnings of bio-engineering in the era of massive anthropocentric ecological change. We then look at the ethics of bioengineered wild species and whether they can be the solution to an imminent era of mass extinction. Guest voices include Chairman of the Florida Mosquito Control District Phil Goodman, ESF scientist Andrew Newhouse, and philosophers Evelyn Brister (RIT) and Ron Sandler (Northeastern). This episode sponsored by betterhelp.com/nation. Get 10% of your first month by clicking through on the link. Get this podcast ad-free and unlimited Slate.com articles for just $1 your first month and $69/year afterward. Go to slate.com/hiphiplus. Are you a philosopher interested in a summer seminar on God and Time at Rutgers University? Apply at godandtime.rutgers.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barry invites Willa Paskin of Slate's Decoder Ring podcast to talk about their recent episode, The Alberta Rat War, as a set up to next week's Hi-Phi Nation episode on genetic engineering. We then proceed to that episode. Rats live wherever people live, with one exception: the Canadian province of Alberta. A rat sighting in Alberta is a major event that mobilizes the local government to identify and eliminate any hint of infestation. Rat sightings makes the local news. Alberta prides itself on being the world’s sole rat-free territory, but in order to achieve this feat, it had to go to war with the rat. On this episode of Decoder Ring, we recount the story of how Alberta won this war, through accidents of history and geography, advances in poison technology, interventionist government policy, mass education programs, rat patrols, killing zones, and more. The explanation tells us a lot about rats and a lot about humans, two species that are more alike than we like to think. Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include Karen Wickerson, rat and pest program specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry; Robert Sullivan, author of Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants; Phil Merrill, former rat and pest specialist; George Colpitts, historian at the University of Calgary; and John Bourne, former manager of Alberta’s rat control program. Decoder Ring is a podcast about cracking cultural mysteries. Every episode, host Willa Paskin takes on a cultural question, object, idea, or habit and speaks with experts, historians, and obsessives to try and figure out where it comes from, what it means, and why it matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penny Lane gave up months of wages and weeks of her life to have her kidney cut out and given to someone she never knew, and who may never thank her. She is one of about 200 people in the US a year who give up a kidney altruistically. What motivates someone to do that? Evolutionary psychologist Michael McCullough believes that not only is there true altruism amongst the human species, but that it is a unique trait, an emerging and spreading trait, and it is selected for by evolution, even out-competing the more familiar traits of selfishness that drive evolution in other species. And the trait is responsible for moral progress in the world. Barry is skeptical, and calls friend of the show Kieran Setiya to talk him out of his skepticism, only to discover that, in many ways, humans are even worse than he thought. We may have evolved to demand altruism from others, but not be altruistic ourselves. This episode brought you by Scribd and Inkl. Get an enormous library of books, magazines, podcasts, and audiobooks. Try Scribd for 60 days free. try.scribd.com/hiphi Unlock reliable news sources from their paywalled sites, The Economist, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, and 100 more, a $12,000 annual value for just $75 the first year. Go to inkl.com/philosophy to get this deal. God and the Space-time Manifold is a summer seminar at Rutgers Center for the Philosophy of Religion June 13-24th, 2022. Twelve philosophers will lead discussions about God and the philosophy of time. They are looking for applicants. All professional philosophers and graduate students qualify. Sign up for Slate Plus, to receive ad-free version of this podcast and unlimited access to Slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Lewis steps off a plane from Australia in 2000 and falls seriously ill. In the final year of his life, he decides to take on Christianity, but does not live long enough to write a paper, leaving only his notes. His longtime friend Philip Kitcher turns the notes into Lewis' final piece on the evil of the Christian God. In our final episode of the series, we look at the philosophy of religion and examine the lasting legacy of David Lewis. Guest voices include Steffi Lewis, Ellen Lewis, Donald Lewis, Alan Hajek, John Bigelow, Frank Jackson, Anthony Fischer, Helen Beebe, and Meghan Sullivan. The remaining episodes of Season 5 will be released bi-weekly from here on out. To support Hi-Phi Nation, please sign up for Slate Plus at www.slate.com/hiphiplus. Slate Plus members get to listen to every Slate podcast with no ads and bypass the paywall on Slate.com. For a limited time only, you can get $25 off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1968, David Lewis decides that one truth can unify every theory he's had about the nature of the universe. It is the truth that every possible world is equally real. Lewis not only argues for this view, but devises a distinctive way of arguing for it, a method of doing philosophy that is as influential as his views. Meanwhile, a soon-to-be colleague and rival, Saul Kripke, reads Lewis' paper and fires off eight objections, and on the other side of the world, an entire continent becomes enamored with the life and works of David Kellogg Lewis, an admiration that survives to this day. Guest voices include Frank Jackson, Alan Hajek, John Bigelow, Helen Beebe, Anthony Fischer, Peter Anstey, and David Lewis. This episode brought to you by Betterhelp, online therapy and counseling. Get 10% of your first month and support this show by going to betterhelp.com/nation/ This episode is brought you by Scribd, for ebooks, sheet music, podcasts, and magazines. Get a free 60-trial to the entire library at https://try.scribd.com/hiphi To support Hi-Phi Nation, please sign up for Slate Plus at www.slate.com/hiphiplus. Slate Plus members get to listen to every Slate podcast with no ads and bypass the paywall on Slate.com. For a limited time only, you can get $25 off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What was David Lewis like as a person? The consensus is that he did not know how to converse. At Swarthmore, David Lewis discovers he has a knack for philosophy and none at all with women, leading to a lifelong examination of the norms for conversation. By the time he reaches Harvard, he is ready to meet the love of his life, but almost fails out of the program in the process. By the end of his Harvard days, an entire continent on the other side of the Earth is abuzz about a rising star. Guest voices include Steffi Lewis, Alan Hajek, Lise Menn, Frank Jackson, and John Bigelow, This episode brought to you by Betterhelp, online therapy and counseling. Get 10% of your first month and support this show by going to betterhelp.com/nation/ To support Hi-Phi Nation, please sign up for Slate Plus at www.slate.com/hiphiplus. Slate Plus members get to listen to every Slate podcast with no ads and bypass the paywall on Slate.com. For a limited time only, you can get $25 off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Lewis was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, who few outside of academia know much about. By the time of his death in 2001, he was the greatest systematic thinker in metaphysics since the Enlightenment. In Part 1 of a four-part series, we follow his journey from sick little boy in Oberlin, Ohio to teenager learning about free will from Iris Murdoch. We accompany the story of his early life with his theory of time, time travel, and the self. Guest voices include R. Jay Wallace, Mark Schroeder, Steffi Lewis, Donald Lewis, Ellen Lewis, Alan Hajek, John Bigelow, and Meghan Sullivan. To support Hi-Phi Nation, please sign up for Slate Plus at www.slate.com/hiphiplus. Slate Plus members get to listen to every Slate podcast with no ads and bypass the paywall on Slate.com. For a limited time only, you can get $25 off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices