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Chasing Leviathan

CG Productions

Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud. These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop. Every episode is a dialogue, a journey into the depths of a meaningful question explored through the lens of personal experience or professional expertise.

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  • 23 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 51 min
  • English

Episodes 23

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  • #239
    April 21 · 58 min

    The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World | Dr. Christian Miller

    What happens to our character when being dishonest becomes easier and more rewarding than ever before? Wake Forest University philosophy professor Dr. Christian Miller joins host PJ Wehry to discuss the "honesty crisis" and how modern technology reshapes our most fundamental virtue. Dr. Miller explores the findings of The Honesty Project and his book The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World. They examine the psychological and philosophical boundaries of honesty to reveal how motivation is just as important as truth-telling. In this conversation they explore: Why honesty requires more than just accurate behavior and must include selfless or dutiful motivations. The flaws of a "mixed bag" character where people act honestly in some settings but reliably cheat in others. How the rise of AI and the internet created a "double-fold" crisis by increasing the incentives to lie while making it easier to avoid detection. The specific moral dangers of sermon plagiarism and why using AI to generate religious messages compromises the integrity of the speaker. Why celebrity culture creates a negative feedback loop that encourages protecting a public image through deception. Practical strategies for maintaining honesty through community accountability and frequent moral reminders. This is a conversation for anyone interested in psychology and ethics who wants to understand the hidden forces eroding our integrity and how to build a more honest life. Make sure to check out Dr. Miller's book: The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World 👉 https://a.co/d/03WsKT5Y Check out our website at chasingleviathan.com Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified. Nothing on earth is its equal. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud. These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop. Timestamps 0:00 Introducing Dr. Christian Miller 2:06 Honesty: Beyond Simply Not Lying 9:03 How Philosophy and Psychology Research Honesty Together 16:01 Six Honesty Crisis Case Studies Driven by Technology 19:26 What Makes Sermon Plagiarism Dishonest 30:00 When Executives and Professionals Secretly Outsource Thinking to AI 39:07 Turning AI-Generated Sermons Into Books and Prestige 41:34 How Celebrity Status Directly Incentivizes Lying and Spin 45:57 Lance Armstrong, Coverups, and Protecting a Public Image 52:28 Can We Realistically Stop Student Cheating With AI 54:48 Deepfakes, Accountability, and Rebuilding Honest Character Today

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  • #238
    April 17 · 53 min

    Intertwined Creatures: The Embodied Cognitive Science of Self and Other | Dr. Anthony Chemero

    How does recognizing our deep physical and social connections change the way we understand human nature? University of Cincinnati philosophy and psychology professor Dr. Anthony Chemero joins host PJ Weary to challenge traditional Western philosophy and explore the embodied nature of cognition. Dr. Chemero unpacks his book Intertwined Creatures: The Embodied Cognitive Science of Self and Other. Together they discuss the intersection of cognitive science and feminist theory to show how deeply our environments and social circles shape who we are. In this conversation they explore: How feminist critiques of traditional philosophy reveal that our earliest experiences as infants are shared rather than isolated. The flaws of the Cartesian worldview that treats the self as a hidden mind sparsely connected to a mechanical body. Using the pub crawl from the movie The World's End to explain why viewing other people as unthinking blanks is a fundamental failure of understanding humanity. What flushing toilets and far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics teach us about the self-organizing nature of human behavior. The physical and social constraints that effortlessly coordinate our actions when we move a sofa or dance with another person. The concept of shared public moods and how our emotions are often collective rather than purely internal. This is a conversation for anyone interested in psychology and philosophy who wants to break free from the illusion of isolation and embrace a deeply connected human experience. Make sure to check out Dr. Chemero's book: Intertwined Creatures: The Embodied Cognitive Science of Self and Other 👉 https://cup.columbia.edu/book/intertwined-creatures/9780231223195/ Check out our website at chasingleviathan.com Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified. Nothing on earth is its equal. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud. These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop. Timestamps 0:00 – Introduction 1:13 – Grad School, Feminism, and the Limits of Analytic Philosophy 2:10 – From Chomsky to Dennett to Feminist Cognitive Science 3:16 – Discovering Feminist Political Theory and Embodiment 4:22 – Embodiment, Social Interaction, and What People Really Are 4:45 – AI as Blanks and The World’s End Analogy 5:33 – Why No One Around You Is a Blank 6:16 – The Problem of Other Minds 7:26 – Philosophy, Real Life, and Promoting Social Change 8:46 – What Is a Person? Traditional Views vs Feminist Critique 9:50 – Mothers, Infants, and Shared Experience 10:30 – Minimal Self, Narrative Self, and a Three Year Old’s Identity 11:32 – From Newborn Coexperience to Semi Autonomy 12:20 – Robinson Crusoe, Technology, and Minds Without Others 13:11 – Culture, Chairs, and How Social Norms Shape Perception 15:00 – Are Some Cultures More Communal Than the West 15:58 – How Roles and Rooms Quietly Shape Our Choices 16:38 – What Are Dynamical Systems in Cognitive Science 18:01 – Far From Equilibrium Thermodynamics and Living Systems 19:19 – Bringing Dynamics into Neuroscience and Cognition 20:11 – Frisbee Catching and Why Minds Extend Beyond the Skull 20:39 – Self Organization, Constraints, and Everyday Common Sense 22:28 – Toilets, Whirlpools, and How Order Emerges Without a Leader 24:23 – Actions as Self Organizing Rather Than Commanded 25:00 – Social Constraints, Bowls, and How Groups Shape Behavior 25:27 – Carrying a Sofa Together as Joint Action 27:19 – Moods as Public and Shared Rather Than Private 28:37 – Personality, Moods, and Emotions Across Timescales 29:10 – Shared Emotions and the Feel of Being in an Argument 29:34 – Power, Hierarchy, and Antagonistic Coupling 30:11 – Belittling, Culture, and How Reactions Are Learned 30:59 – Novels, Violence, and How Books Shape Collective Mood 31:59 – Beyond Cartesian Mind Reading 32:37 – Conversations, Grumpiness, and Shared Affective Fields 36:03 – Truth, Activism, and Why Theory Choice Is Moral 37:02 – Chomsky, Nativism, and Morally Dubious Pictures of Persons 38:17 – How Intertwined Selves Reshape Parenting and Gender 39:44 – Emotional Connectedness as the Human Default 40:01 – Individual Health as Community Health 40:28 – Environment, Regulation, and Why the World Matters for Persons 41:22 – Inverting Harmful Policies Through Interdependence 41:50 – Descartes, Souls, and the Myth of Radical Independence 42:47 – Relationships as Systems With Their Own Integrity 45:00 – Microbiomes, Air Quality, and the Fragility of Thought 47:09 – Jeff VanderMeer, Area X, and Transformative Environments 50:00 – Violence, Mobs, and When Social Dynamics Go Wrong 51:25 – Concluding Thoughts

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  • #237
    April 7 · 50 min

    Connection: How Technology Can Make Us Better Humans | Dr. Dan Turello

    Are we powerless against the march of modern technology, or can we reclaim our agency to foster true human connection? Writer, cultural historian, and photographer Dr. Dan Turello joins host PJ Wehry to rethink our relationship with technology and explore its potential to improve the human condition. Turello, a technology and humanity fellow at the Center for Future of Mind, AI, and Society at Florida Atlantic University, unpacks his book, Connection: How Technology Can Make Us Better Humans. Together they discuss moving past tech-pessimism and determinism to understand how our tools and social structures shape our lives. In this conversation they explore: Why we need to view technology not just as screens and algorithms, but as the fundamental ways humans relate, negotiate, and build community The surprising lessons on counterculture, wealth, and institutional bureaucracy we can learn from 13th-century Franciscan monks like St. Francis and Jacopone da Todi How an autonomic nervous system crisis forced a shift from a purely intellectual "neck-up" mindset to a deeply embodied way of living Reclaiming our agency over our devices—like choosing a flip phone—to dictate how and when we connect with the world Why portrait photography acts as an unpredictable, embodied dance of trust and authentic expression rather than a cerebral pursuit Acknowledging the cognitive impact of social media by giving readers permission to consume books in a non-linear, "choose your own adventure" style This is a conversation for anyone exhausted by tech-anxiety who wants to build healthier, more intentional relationships with their devices and their own bodies. Make sure to check out Dr. Turello's book: Connection: How Technology Can Make Us Better Humans 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXNQQX17 Check out our website at chasingleviathan.com Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified. Nothing on earth is its equal. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud. These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop. Timestamps 0:00 Introducing Dan Trello 1:36 Three Origin Stories Behind the Book 3:43 Franciscans, Battlestar Galactica, and Fear of Tech 5:37 When the Body Revolts and Embodiment Practices 10:01 Climbing, Poetry, and Non-Logical Knowing 11:33 Emotions, History, and the Wolf Story 13:43 What Franciscans Teach About Technology 17:44 Medieval Finance and Franciscan Resistance 19:33 Jacopone’s Radical Poverty and Paradox 24:36 Asceticism, Institutions, and Technology 26:52 Bodies, Nature, and Harmonious Tech Use 28:03 The Mammoth Fable and Relational Technology 32:35 Facebook, Phalanx, and Social Arrangements 35:10 Flip Phones, Smartphones, and Agency 35:54 Embodiment Practices and Photography 38:47 Can We Still Read Long Books Deeply 43:33 How Academics Read and Partial Reading 47:13 Living Embodied in an Overconsuming Culture 49:11 Concluding Thoughts

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Showing 21–23 of 23 episodes