Best Leigh M. Johnson Podcasts (2025)

1
The Future of the University 1:16:40

6d ago1:16:40

1:16:40

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 Talia Mae Bettcher tackle the existential crisis facing higher education in the U.S. and beyond. Nothing is off limits in this conversation! From the increasing defunding of universities to their align…

1
Cringe 1:05:07

13d ago1:05:07

1:05:07

In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, your favorite philosophical trio—Leigh Johnson, Rick Lee, and Talia Bettcher—dive headfirst into the squirmy, complicated world of cringe. From wedding speeches gone wrong to tone-deaf icebreaker confessions, they unpack the peculiar affective cocktail we experience when someone's self-presentation dramaticall…

1
The Activator Advantage with Matt Dixon 34:54

14d ago34:54

34:54

In this episode of Brainfluence, host Roger Dooley welcomes back Matt Dixon, founding partner of DCM Insights and co-author of the bestselling "The Challenger Sale." Dixon shares insights from his latest book, The Activator Advantage: What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently, which is rooted in groundbreaking research on how top professionals win and…

1
Tragic Temporality (with Sean Kirkland) 1:06:37

20d ago1:06:37

1:06:37

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, wounds us, and makes us who we are? In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Leigh and Rick sit down with philosopher Sean D. Kirkland (DePaul University), author of Aristotle and Tragic Temporality, to talk…

1
What is Philosophy? 59:37

27d ago59:37

59:37

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 philosophy and feminist theory, to dive into the deceptively simple but persistently perplexing question: What is philosophy? This wide-ranging conversation explores whether philosophy is defined by its m…

1
Audacious with Mark Schaefer: How Humans Win in an AI World 32:57

1M ago32:57

32:57

Brainfluence host Roger Dooley sits down with marketing thought leader and bestselling author Mark Schaefer, who returns to the show with insights from his latest book, Audacious. Mark shares his unique approach to writing—how each of his books is inspired by real problems facing marketers—and discusses the existential challenges and opportunities …

1
REPLAY: Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua) 1:02:54

1M ago1:02:54

1:02:54

What can Frantz Fanon and Friedrich Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? [NOTE: This episode originally aired on October 11, 2024.] This week, we're joined by Zahi Zalloua (Whitman College) to discuss the final chapter of his most recent book The Politics of the Wretched: Race, Reason, and Ressentiment (Bloomsbury, 2024)-- ent…

1
REPLAY: Trans Philosophy (with Talia Mae Bettcher) 58:16

1M ago58:16

58:16

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 seismic significant shift in our understanding of gender. For some, the binary notion of gender, once seen as immutable and fixed, has given way to a more inclusive and fluid understanding of identity… …

1
Fearless Speech (Foucault on Parrhesia) 1:07:28

2M ago1:07:28

1:07:28

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 lectures on parrhesia, the ancient Greek concept of "fearless speech." But don’t be fooled—this isn’t a dusty historical exercise. With campuses erupting in protest, free speech weaponized by the powe…

1
Are Universals "Real"? 50:52

2M ago50:52

50:52

Do universals “exist”? Are they real? And why are we talking about porcupines so much?! In this episode, Leigh, Rick, and Devonya dive headfirst into one of philosophy’s oldest and knottiest questions: Is “porcupine-ness” a real thing, or just a name we slap on pointy animals? Starting with the simple question of what makes a beer a beer (and not a…

1
Totalitarianism (with Peg Birmingham) 49:56

2M ago49:56

49:56

Can democracy be saved from totalitarianism? In this episode, the co-hosts are joined by political theorist Dr. Peg Birmingham (DePaul University) for an urgent discussion on the topic of totalitarianism. Starting with a critique of what counts as “the people” in democratic systems, our conversation unpacks the entanglement of nationalism and racis…

1
El roto, Lo huachafo, Lo jodido (with Carlos Amador) 57:34

2M ago57:34

57:34

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—Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literature at the University at Buffalo SUNY—for a raw and wide-ranging conversation about lo jodido: the aesthetic, politica…

1
The Establishment Clause 54:01

3M ago54:01

54:01

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 Amendment provision that’s supposed to keep church and state in their own lanes. But is that how it’s really playing out? Leigh, Rick, and Devonya dig into the history and contemporary implications of t…

1
DEI Then and Now (with Paul Breines) 55:30

3M ago55:30

55:30

Who's afraid of DEI? And why? Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) initiatives have become institutional mainstays in corporate and academic settings—but they are currently under attack. In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Leigh and Devonya sit down with Freedom Rider and retired Associate Professor of History at Boston College…

1
Decorum 56:54

3M ago56:54

56:54

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 sidelines, decorum shapes our public interactions—but who gets to decide what counts as “proper” behavior? In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Rick, Leigh, and Devonya take on the contested role of decor…

1
Unruly Identity (with Falguni Sheth) 1:05:39

3M ago1:05:39

1:05:39

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 talk about the ways identity is shaped, claimed, and—more often than not—forced upon us. From census categories and legal definitions to personal choices and political struggles, they dig into the tensi…

1
iMotions, Affectiva and Neuromarketing with Peter Hartzbech 29:56

3M ago29:56

29:56

This episode features Peter Hartzbech of iMotions, who discusses the company's biosensor software platform for studying human behavior. Key points: iMotions provides a software platform that uses biosensors like eye tracking, galvanic skin response, EEG, voice analysis, and facial expression analysis to study human behavior in both academic and com…

1
Ambiguity 58:19

3M ago58:19

58:19

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 often than not, human life is a mess of contradictions, competing values, and gray areas. In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Rick, Leigh, and Devonya wade into the murky waters of ambiguity—what it…

1
Trust 59:15

4M ago59:15

59:15

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 episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, Rick, Leigh, and Devonya dive into the complexities of trust—what it means, how it functions, and why it’s so easy to break but so difficult to restore. From everyday acts of t…

1
Judgment 1:02:27

4M ago1:02:27

1:02:27

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 is, when we need it, and whether it’s a skill or just a faculty of reason. They start with Aristotle’s distinction between knowledge and judgment, move through Kant’s ideas about moral and aesthetic jud…

1
Responsibility 1:02:52

4M ago1:02:52

1:02:52

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, and Rick hash it out over drinks, tackling everything from personal accountability to collective responsibility, and digging into big questions about freedom, moral agency, and how our social and po…

1
Authority 1:05:26

4M ago1:05:26

1:05:26

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 beyond the usual suspects of kings, generals, or politicians. To borrow a line from Tennyson's poetry: “authority forgets the dying King.” That is, power begins to slip from the grasp of political a…

1
Revenge 58:44

5M ago58:44

58:44

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 personal satisfaction? In this episode, Rick Lee, Leigh Johnson, and Devonya Havis take a deep dive into the philosophy of revenge. From the timeless allure of stories like Kill Bill and The Count of Monte …

1
Virtue 58:04

5M ago58:04

58:04

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 the idea of virtue. What does it mean to be virtuous? How do we cultivate virtues? Are they timeless ideals or shaped by culture and history? We talk about Aristotle, sure, but we’re also unpacking …

1
Cruise Industry Insider: Making Waves with Lisa Lutoff-Perlo 27:45

5M ago27:45

27:45

In the latest episode of the Brainfluence podcast, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, then Vice Chairman of External Affairs at Royal Caribbean Group and former CEO of Celebrity Cruises. Since then, Lutoff-Perlo became Chairwoman of the Board of the Hornblower Group and serves on the Board of Directors for AutoNation, AHC Gr…

1
REPLAY: Forgiveness 56:34

5M ago56:34

56:34

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! The HBS hosts wonder how a hard heart is melted and mended. In a world often colored by misunderstandings, hurtful actions, and lingering grudges, the concept of forgiveness emerges as a beacon of hope …

1
REPLAY: Deconstruction 56:49

5M ago56:49

56:49

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! The HBS hosts dig into Jacque Derrida's philosophy to see if it really is responsible for everything that's wrong with the world. There are very few philosophies that are blamed for so much as deconstru…

1
Kant's Categorical Imperative 1:06:55

6M ago1:06:55

1:06:55

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 philosophy’s most important moral principles: Immanuel Kant’s “Categorical Imperative.” They carefully unpack Kant’s three formulations of the “moral law”—the Universality formulation, the Humanity fo…

1
The Significance Impulse (with Josh Glasgow) 1:04:22

6M ago1:04:22

1:04:22

What if our cosmic unimportance is itself not all that important? This week, the Hotel Bar Sessions hosts welcome Joshua Glasgow, author of The Significance Impulse: On the Unimportance of Our Cosmic Unimportance, to unpack humanity’s seemingly irrepressible drive to seek significance and the societal and psychological effects of this pervasive imp…

1
Justice 1:06:09

6M ago1:06:09

1:06:09

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 we servicing justice, or just serving our self-interests? How do different philosophical approaches help us imagine a “just” society? This week, we consider retributive, restorative, and distributiv…

1
Matter and Consciousness in Indian Philosophy (with Tuhin Bhattacharjee) 55:18

6M ago55:18

55:18

What can the Indian dualist philosophy of Sāṃkhya teach us about matter and consciousness? In this captivating episode, we explore the fascinating interplay between matter and consciousness as articulated in Sāṃkhya, a key tradition of Indian philosophy. Joined by special guest Dr. Tuhin Bhattacharjee, whose expertise spans ancient Greek and Indian…

1
Marshall Goldsmith’s AI Legacy: Free MarshallBot for Better Leadership Globally 31:00

6M ago31:00

31:00

Join world-renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith as he explores his groundbreaking AI venture - MarshallBot. After decades of coaching Fortune 500 CEOs and writing 40 bestselling books, Goldsmith is now democratizing his leadership wisdom through an AI that thinks and responds just like him. In this fascinating conversation, he shares insight…

1
Ethics, Democracy, and Phronesis (with Dimitris Vardoulakis) 1:04:43

7M ago1:04:43

1:04:43

This week, the HBS hosts are joined by Dimitris Vardoulakis (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Western Sydney University) to discuss the phronetic tradition and its significance for ethics, politics, and democracy. Drawing on both Aristotle and Hannah Arendt’s understanding of agonism in The Human Condition, Vardoulakis connects what he calls th…

1
Posthumanism 56:29

7M ago56:29

56:29

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 is it possible we’re already moving beyond that? Starting with Foucault’s provocative claim that “the human is an invention… perhaps nearing its end,” we look at how history, culture, and technology have sh…

1
Nature 1:00:49

7M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

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 do we really mean when we talk about “nature”? From the world outside us—plants, animals, and landscapes—to the idea of human nature itself, we’re questioning our often contradictory and complex ideas o…

1
Does God Exist? 1:17:27

7M ago1:17:27

1:17:27

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?" Rick kicks things off by asking whether a final answer would even matter: would knowing God exists (or doesn’t) shift our lives and choices in any real way? Might belief in God itself just be a placeh…

1
AI Podcasts, Google NotebookLM and Pricing Psychology 28:30

7M ago28:30

28:30

Here's a departure from the usual Brainfluence format: Are you ready for AI podcasts? Roger does a solo introduction and explanation of NotebookLM, and then turns the show over to two AI hosts, AI Greg and AI Eva, who talk about pricing psychology. Their discussion is based on the pricing section in Roger's book, Brainfluence. Show notes, videos, r…

1
The Ethics of Refusal (with Devonya Havis) 58:05

7M ago58:05

58:05

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 pushing back against injustice. But when is saying “no” the right thing to do? And what are the stakes when we decide to refuse? Often our refusals are quotidian and inconsequential, but sometimes, and …

1
Meat 1:05:21

8M ago1:05:21

1:05:21

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, surviving stone tools, and analyses of our ancestors' teeth. Does this evolutionary fact render meat-eating physiologically necessary and morally justifiable? Our ancestors did a lot of things to s…

1
Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian Question (with Zahi Zalloua) 1:02:54

8M ago1:02:54

1:02:54

What can Frantz Fanon and Friedrich Nietzsche teach us about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? This week, we're joined by Zahi Zalloua (Whitman College) to discuss the final chapter of his most recent book The Politics of the Wretched: Race, Reason, and Ressentiment (Bloomsbury, 2024)-- entitled "Zionist ressentiment, the Left, and the Palestinian …

1
Aristotle and Feminist Materialism, Troubled (with Emanuela Bianchi) 59:12

8M ago59:12

59:12

Philosophy has traditionally associated the feminine with matter, implying passivity. Why? And to what ends? In our previous episode on materialism (Season 6, Episode 83), we came to see that in more recent years, two, often related, forms of materialism have been developed: “new materialism” and feminist materialism. New materialism tends toward a…

1
The Future of Airline Customer Experience: Call Centers, AI and New Regulations with Mario Matulich 30:52

8M ago30:52

30:52

Discover how the airline industry is transforming and how airlines are beginning to reverse a long decline in customer experience. In this wide ranging interview, customer experience expert Mario Matulich reveals the impact of new government regulations, AI advancements, and evolving call center strategies on your future travel experiences. Learn a…

1
The Gutenberg Parenthesis (with Jeff Jarvis) 1:04:27

8M ago1:04:27

1:04:27

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 – which began in the 15th century, when the printing press was developed by Johan Gutenberg, and extended to the 20th century, when radio and television muscled in – was a unique period for human commu…

1
Evidence 58:16

9M ago58:16

58:16

What counts as evidence? What makes it good or bad? How do we know? In court cases, the prosecution, plaintiff, and defendant present “evidence” that something happened or didn’t happen, that it happened in one way or another, that someone did something or did not do something. Evidence is meant to point to something as-yet undetermined. The same g…

1
Whose Jesus? (with John D. Caputo) 52:10

9M ago52:10

52:10

When did Jesus start hating immigrants and gays, and loving guns and capitalism? Many Christians on the political left today no longer recognize the Jesus of the political right in the United States. Despite sharing a text and history, (at least) two dramatically different versions of "Jesus" have emerged in contemporary American Christian discours…

1
REPLAY: The Master/Slave Dialectic 55:03

9M ago55:03

55:03

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 for Season 11 starting on September 13, 2024!] The dialectic of lordship and bondage, more commonly known as the “Master/Slave dialectic,” is a moment in a much longer and exceedingly difficult-to-rea…

1
REPLAY: Punching Nazis (with Devin Shaw) 55:15

9M ago55:15

55:15

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 with new episodes for Season 11 starting on September 13, 2024!] Since at least the 2016 election the word fascism has emerged from the historical archive to contemporary political debates. This questio…

1
The Illusion of Choice with Richard Shotton 33:51

10M ago33:51

33:51

In this episode of Brainfluence, host Roger Dooley welcomes back Richard Shotton, a marketing expert with 23 years of experience working with major brands like Google and Mondelez. Shotton specializes in applying behavioral science to marketing and is the author of two books, including his latest, "The Illusion of Choice: 16.5 Psychological Biases …

1
Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation 55:04

10M ago55:04

55:04

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 then settle in to talk philosophy. But—spoiler alert—none of that is true. There is no bar, sadly there are not drinks, and the conversation takes place through the instrumentality of digital technol…

1
Better Customer Interactions: New HBR Study 30:13

10M ago30:13

30:13

In this Brainfluence episode, we discuss some surprising customer experience findings from a Harvard Business Review study. Our guest, Mauro Carobene, VP and Global Head of Customer Interaction Suite at Tata Communications, sponsor of the study, joins me to share insights on how enterprises are managing and improving customer interactions today. Ma…

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