Hotel Bar Sessions

De-Skilling

01 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What happens to a skill when you stop needing it? In this episode, we're talking about the quiet, subtle erosion that happens when technology simply t...

War Crimes

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Few topics generate more heat and less light than war crimes — and few topics deserve more careful philosophical attention right now. When a sitting...

Violence

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Violence is everywhere right now... or is it?When you press people to define "violence," you'll often find that their grasp on the concept is slippery...

Possible Worlds

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philosophy has always been drawn to the question of what's possible, what could be, what might have been, and what we might yet become. In a political...

Strange Bedfellows: Adorno and Strauss (with Jeffrey Bernstein)

05 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The word "fascism" gets thrown around a lot these days, sometimes so freely that it starts to lose its edge. But what would it actually mean to develo...

Philosophy on Drugs (with Justin Smith-Ruiu)

15 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Full episode notes available at this link:https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/drugs---------------------SUBSCRIBE to the podcast now to automatically ...

Against the Future (with Simon Critchley)

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Philosophers have had many conceptions of the future–metaphysical, eschatological, ontotheological, dialectical, fatalistic, idealist, materialist, ...

Family "No Contact" (with Kiran Bhardwaj)

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

There have been many reports in the last several years of a growing trend of estranged families in the United States. For those who make the decision ...

Food (with Bob Valgenti)

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week, our co-hosts are joined at the bar by Dr. Robert T. Valgenti, philosopher and professor at the Culinary Institute of America to talk about ...

Anonymity

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Anonymity is usually sold as a kind of freedom: the ability to speak without fear, to move through public space without being tracked, to test ideas a...

Catastrophic Philosophy

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Catastrophe usually sounds like a synonym for disaster—but in this episode, it’s treated as a philosophical concept: a “downturn” that scrambl...

Intelligence(s)

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What do we mean when we talk about intelligence—and who, or what, gets counted as intelligent in the first place? In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessi...

MINIBAR: Algorithmic Nostalgia (with Leigh M. Johnson)

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why do AI's fabricated memories "feel" so true?Hotel Bar Sessions is currently between seasons and while our co-hosts are hard at work researching and...

MINIBAR: Uncivil Obedience (with Jen Kling)

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when we follow the letter of the law, while refusing to cooperate with its spirit?Hotel Bar Sessions is currently between seasons and whi...

MINIBAR: Pain (with Bob Vallier)

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What can the body, in pain, teach us about the hilarity of our own finitude?Hotel Bar Sessions is currently between seasons and while our co-hosts are...

Marilyn Frye's "Oppression"

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How might "oppression" be best understood as a "cage"?Full episode notes available at this link:https://hotelbarpodcast.com/marilyn-fryes-oppression--...

Nostalgia

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Nostalgia" is a portmanteau coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer, combining the Greek nostros (homecoming) and algos (pain, ache).  Hofer was a medical ...

Sophistry

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bad arguments are nothing new, so why does it appear as if they have become so pervasive in public discourse? When we watch so-called "debate" videos...

The Enshittification of... everything?

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

---------------------SUBSCRIBE to the podcast now to automatically download new episodes!SUPPORT Hotel Bar Sessions podcast on Patreon here! (Or by co...

Quiet Resistance (with Tamara Fakhoury)

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many of us think of resistance as "protest," communicative acts aimed at fighting injustice, and done with others in public. But what happens when tha...

Therapy

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to be “well-adjusted” in a society that might itself be profoundly unwell? And when we use therapy-speak to explain everything f...

Furious Minds (with Laura K. Field)

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s episode of Hotel Bar Sessions brings political theorist Laura K. Field (author of Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right) into ...

Imagination (with Stephen T. Asma)

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The imagination has regularly been subordinated to  so-called "rational" or "scientific" models of thought. This week, we're joined by Stephen T. Asm...

Comedy

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s episode of Hotel Bar Sessions on the topic of comedy is a gut buster,  not least because one of your co-hosts pretends to be a stand-up...

The Hills We Die on

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do we choose the "hills" that we're willing to die on? Are we actually willing to DIE on them? If not, what would it take to convince us to climb ...

Meet the NEW Co-Hosts!

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do we choose the "hills" that we're willing to die on? Are we actually willing to DIE on them? If not, what would it take to convince us to climb ...

Eternity

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to speak of eternity? Is eternity best understood as infinite time, stretching endlessly forward and backward, or as something wholl...

Crowds and Mobs

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What makes the difference between a crowd singing in unison at a concert and a mob storming the gates of power? In this episode, the hosts take liste...

Free Will (with Mark Balaguer)

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When we make choices, are these choices free? That is, are we able to choose one thing over another, to do one thing rather than another, independent ...

How The Manosphere Killed Cool (with Robin James)

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're joined by scholar, editor, and philosopher, Robin James, to talk about her provocative recent essay entitled “We’re through being...

The "Expertise" Crisis

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, there seems to be an intense distrust of experts in all sorts of fields. From medical experts in the Centers for Disease Control and the Depart...

MINIBAR: Cancer

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar" sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

MINIBAR: In Defense of Metaphysics

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar: sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

MINIBAR: Living in Occupied D.C.

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hotel Bar Sessions is on it's regular "break" between seasons, but we're offering up these "minibar: sessions from our co-hosts (individually) in in t...

Arendt's "Banality of Evil"

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the HBS hosts discuss Hannah Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil.In 1961, Adolf Eichmann was put on trial in Israel for crimes again...

Major Life Changes

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episode, the HBS hosts talk about positive and negative major life changes.While change is a part of life, major changes can cause ma...

Doomscrolling

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all doomscroll. Often late at night, we scroll through social media or news feeds for a “minute,” which turns into hours. We seem to be chasing...

NPC Energy

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you even playing the game?In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-hosts Rick Lee, Talia Mae Bettcher, and Leigh M. Johnson dive deep into the me...

Public Philosophy (with Kate Manne)

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is public philosophy just academic outreach in a new outfit, or is it something else entirely? In this episode, we're joined by Kate Manne (Cornell Un...

Silence

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do we mean when we talk about silence? Is it the absence of sound—or something more complicated? In this episode, we dig into the many meanings...

The War on "Radical Ideology"

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 This week, we're unpacking the Trump administration’s war on so-called “radical ideology”—a campaign targeting what it calls “gender ideol...

Sovereignty

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who or what rules the world today? And by what right?In this episode, your favorite philosophers-on-tap—Talia Bettcher, Rick Lee, and Leigh M. Johns...

Interpretation

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The central debate this week? Whether interpretation goes “all the way down.” Leigh stakes out a position, arguing that even the simplest acts of ...

Panic Now? (with Ira Allen)

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is it time to panic? In this episode, we invite rhetorician Ira Allen to the bar to explore the possibility that, yes, it might be—and that panic is...

Private Parts

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How can we talk, or think, about "private parts" in a philosophical way?In this provocative and unexpectedly tender episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-...

The Future of the University

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can the University be saved? Should it be saved? In this sobering and timely episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-hosts Leigh M. Johnson, Rick Lee, and ...

Cringe

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, your favorite philosophical trio—Leigh Johnson, Rick Lee, and Talia Bettcher—dive headfirst into the squirm...

Tragic Temporality (with Sean Kirkland)

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sean Kirkland unpacks living on the edge of "was" and "not yet."What if time isn’t just something we move through—but something that shapes us, wo...

What is Philosophy?

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this season-opening episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Rick Lee and Leigh Johnson welcome new co-host Talia Mae Bettcher, a leading voice in trans phil...

REPLAY: Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua)

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What can Frantz Fanon and Friedrich Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?[NOTE: This episode originally aired on October 11, 2024...

REPLAY: Trans Philosophy (with Talia Mae Bettcher)

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS co-hosts learn why it's not just about pronouns.[This episode originally aired in November 2023.]In recent years, society has witnessed a seis...

Fearless Speech (Foucault on Parrhesia)

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who, if anyone, is speaking truth to power these days?In the Season 12 finale of Hotel Bar Sessions, we take a deep dive into Michel Foucault’s late...

Are Universals "Real"?

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do universals “exist”? Are they real? And why are we talking about porcupines so much?!In this episode, Leigh, Rick, and Devonya dive headfirst in...

Totalitarianism (with Peg Birmingham)

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can democracy be saved from totalitarianism? In this episode, the co-hosts are joined by political theorist Dr. Peg Birmingham (DePaul University) fo...

El roto, Lo huachafo, Lo jodido (with Carlos Amador)

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Carlos Amador on Latin American aesthetics, precarity, and what it means to be completely f*cked. In this episode, the HBS crew welcomes Carlos Amador...

The Establishment Clause

21 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're pulling up a seat at the intersection of faith, governance, and democracy as we take on the Establishment Clause—that little First ...

DEI Then and Now (with Paul Breines)

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who's afraid of DEI? And why?Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives have become institutional mainstays in corporate and a...

Decorum

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When does decorum keep us civil-- and when does it keep us silent?From courtroom etiquette to the Oval Office, from department meetings to NFL sidelin...

Unruly Identity (with Falguni Sheth)

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who gets to decide who we are?In this episode, Rick Lee and Devonya Havis pull up a chair with philosopher and political theorist Falguni Sheth to tal...

Ambiguity

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When nothing is clear, how do we decide?Many people prefer their morality to be straightforward—right or wrong, good or bad, clear as day. But more ...

Trust

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can anyone be trusted anymore?Trust is the glue that holds our social world together, yet it’s one of the most fragile bonds we have. In this episod...

Judgment

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who gets to judge right and wrong? And on what grounds?In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Leigh, Rick, and Devonya talk about judgment—what it i...

Responsibility

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How, and for what, are we responsible?What does it even mean to be responsible? Is it about blame? Credit? Or something else entirely? Leigh, Devonya...

Authority

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is ChatGPT usurping the authority of the "Author"? Or is it just a pretender to the throne?We're opening up the question of "authority" to extend well...

Revenge

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS co-hosts savor the complexities of a dish best served cold.Is revenge ever ethical? Can it be a form of justice, or is it always about persona...

Virtue

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is "virtue" an outdated concept? And why is there a bear in this classroom?!This week at the hotel bar, Rick, Devonya, and Leigh are digging deep into...

REPLAY: Forgiveness

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode is a REPLAY of a previously-aired episode from Season 9.  HBS will return with all new episodes on January 10, 2024. Stay tuned!T...

REPLAY: Deconstruction

27 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode is a REPLAY of a previously-aired episode from Season 9.  HBS will return with all new episodes on January 10, 2024. Stay tuned!T...

Kant's Categorical Imperative

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What if morality was law-governed in the same way as logic and physics?The Hotel Bar Sessions hosts close out Season 11 with a deep dive into one of p...

The Significance Impulse (with Josh Glasgow)

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What if our cosmic unimportance is itself not all that important?This week, the Hotel Bar Sessions hosts welcome Joshua Glasgow, author of The Signifi...

Justice

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts survey theories of justice from the ancients to the present.What does it mean to think justice, to pursue justice, or to act justly? Are...

Matter and Consciousness in Indian Philosophy (with Tuhin Bhattacharjee)

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can the Indian dualist philosophy of Sāṃkhya teach us about matter and consciousness?In this captivating episode, we explore the fascinating i...

Ethics, Democracy, and Phronesis (with Dimitris Vardoulakis)

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the HBS hosts are joined by Dimitris Vardoulakis (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Sydney University) to discuss the phronetic ...

Posthumanism

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are the limits of the "human"? And what comes after us?This week, we’re taking on the big questions: What does it mean to be “human,” and i...

Nature

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What do we mean when we say "Nature"? And what, if anything, is "natural"?In this week’s episode, we’re pulling up a chair at the bar to ask: What...

Does God Exist?

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you there, God? It's us, Hotel Bar Sessions.This week, our co-hosts jump headfirst into one of philosophy’s biggest questions: "Does God exist?"...

The Ethics of Refusal (with Devonya Havis)

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When is it right, or even necessary, to say "no"?Refusing can be a powerful act—whether it’s standing up to authority, rejecting harmful norms, or...

Meat

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Should we eat meat?Humans have been eating other animals for close to 2.5 million years--a fact that is evidenced by cut traces on fossil animal bones...

Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua)

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can Frantz Fanon and Friedrich Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?This week, we're joined by Zahi Zalloua (Whitman College...

Aristotle and Feminist Materialism, Troubled (with Emanuela Bianchi)

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Philosophy has traditionally associated the feminine with matter, implying passivity. Why? And to what ends?In our previous episode on materialism (Se...

The Gutenberg Parenthesis (with Jeff Jarvis)

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are we nearing the end of the "Age of Print"? And, if so, what comes next?The concept of "the Gutenberg Parenthesis" suggests that the era of print –...

Evidence

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What counts as evidence? What makes it good or bad? How do we know?In court cases, the prosecution, plaintiff, and defendant present “evidence” th...

Whose Jesus? (with John D. Caputo)

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When did Jesus start hating immigrants and gays, and loving guns and capitalism?Many Christians on the political left today no longer recognize the Je...

REPLAY: The Master/Slave Dialectic

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts struggle for recognition.[NOTE: This is a REPLAY episode, first aired on August 11, 2023. The HBS hosts will be back with new episodes f...

REPLAY: Punching Nazis (with Devin Shaw)

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts ask Devin Shaw whether and how to punch Nazis.[NOTE: This is a REPLAY episode, first aired on Jun2, 2023. The HBS hosts will be back wit...

Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the desert of the real.Hotel Bar Sessions podcast is predicated on the idea that the three of us meet up at bar, order-up some drinks, and ...

Voting

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does voting matter?Voting is often heralded as the cornerstone of democracy, a fundamental right that empowers citizens to influence the direction of ...

The Future of Journalism (with Andrea Guzman)

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when AI overtakes the role of human journalists?The HBS hosts are joined this week by Dr. Andrea Guzman, one of the leading experts in hu...

Overcoming Sexuality (with Nir Kedem)

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can queer theory overcome its ties to sexuality?Toward the end of the 20th Century, French Philosopher Michel Foucault called into question the ways i...

Peer Review

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts dig into the crisis of academic peer review.Peer review, touted as the gold standard for ensuring research quality, has come under incre...

Ideology and Self-Emancipation (with William Clare Roberts)

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ideology is said in many ways. Which one is emancipatory?This week, we are joined by Dr. William Clare Roberts, Associate Professor of Political Scien...

The Sublime

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The ocean and space and "Ode to Joy" are sublime, of course... but what about an excellent lentil soup?In a confusing twist of etymology, where one wo...

Off-Grid Living (with Eric Mack)

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What motivates people to live off-grid in the 21st C? And how hard is it to survive out there?This week, the HBS hosts are joined by journalist and co...

Ideology

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What, if anything, is the difference between having ideological commitments and belonging to a "cult"? This week's episode is a "deep dive" into the v...

Generative AI

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts wonder whether ChatGPT is the least of our worries. Generative Ai is a still new and emergent technology capable of producing not only ...

Reality TV

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts are not here to make friends. They’re here to WIN.We all have our low-brow guilty pleasures and, for millions of Americans, one of tho...

Friendship

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The HBS hosts discuss how friendships are forged, maintained, and sometimes broken. In The Politics of Friendship, Jacques Derrida invokes a statement...

Personhood

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is a person? What is a thing? And what difference does that difference make? Although we tend to use the terms "person" and "human being" interc...

Originality

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What's so special about originality?Today, originality is being challenged in so many ways: comedians “stealing” jokes, cultural appropriation, re...

HBS Goes to the Movies: "Joe Versus the Volcano" (1990)

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Norton explains why “Joe Versus the Volcano” is the perfect existentialist film.Continuing our tradition of going to the movies for the fi...