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Converging Dialogues

Converging Dialogues is a podcast that is designed to have honest and authentic conversations with a diversity of thoughts and opinions. Wide-ranging topics include philosophy, psychology, politics, and social commentary. A spirit of civility, respect, and open-mindedness is the guiding compass.

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Avg 1 hr 17 min
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Yesterday · 1 hr 34 min
#509 - The Life and Reign of Maria Theresa: A Dialogue with Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger about the life and reign of Maria Theresa. They provide an overview of Maria Theresa, her upbringing, arranged marriage, the idea of “gynocracy,” succession, and her reign. They talk about her policies, modern comparisons, gender, being a wife and mother, her relationship with her son, her legacy, and many more topics. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger is professor of early modern history and rector of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. Her books include The Holy Roman Empire: A Short History, The Emperor’s Old Clothes: Constitutional History and the Symbolic Language of the Holy Roman Empire, and her most recent, Maria Theresa: The Hapsburg Empress in her time. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
September 28 · 52 min
#508 - The Continuing Crisis of Boyhood: A Dialogue with Leonard Sax
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Leonard Sax about the continued crisis of boyhood. They discuss the current state of boys in education and in the workplace, why girls are doing better in these domains, impact on pair bonding, limited options for boys, why influencing and streaming is not viable, impact of mass media, ADHD, and many more topics. Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, is a board-certified family physician, psychologist, and the New York Times bestselling author of Why Gender Matters, Girls on the Edge, The Collapse of Parenting, and Boys Adrift. Dr. Sax has visited more than five hundred schools worldwide and has appeared on major radio and television programs and networks including the Today show, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NPR’s Weekend Edition. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
September 21 · 47 min
#507 - Demagogues and Democracies: A Dialogue with John Keane
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with John Keane about demagogues and despots. They talk about the rise of demagogues in the modern era, why democracies have been infiltrated with demagogues, despots, tools that demagogues use, demagogues in the future, and many more topics. John Keane is Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and renowned globally for his creative thinking about politics, history, media and democracy. His books include The Shortest History of Democracy, The Life and Death of Democracy, and his latest book, Demagogues and Despots: democracies on the brink. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
September 15 · 1 hr 17 min
#506 - Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: A Dialogue with Robin Waterfield & John Sellars
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robin Waterfield and John Sellars on their new translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. They discuss translating Aristotle’s ethics for a modern audience, Aristotelian Greek vs. other forms of Greek, different works of ethics, Aristotle’s eudaimonia, the good life, Aristotle’s virtues, using reason for ethics, friendship, and many other topics. Robin Waterfield is a British classical scholar, translator, and editor, specializing in Ancient Greek philosophy. He has written and/or translated many works, including the recent English translation of Nicomachean Ethics. John Sellars is Reader in the History of Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, with further affiliations to King's College London and Wolfson College, Oxford. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
August 31 · 2 hr 5 min
#505 - The Brain Is Not A Machine: A Dialogue with Romain Brette
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Romain Brette about the brain and various theoretical concepts in neuroscience. They talk about the idea of the brain as a computer, memory and reality, functionalism, connectionism, and computational theory of mind, and the extended mind. They also discuss perception, representations, anticipation, Friston, free energy, and active interferences, emotions, the brain as a complex biological ecosystem, panpsychism, and many more topics. Romain Brette is a neuroscientist at the Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, Paris. He has worked on neuronal biophysics, neuroinformatics, auditory neuroscience, philosophy of neuroscience, and recently on the behavior and physiology of protists. He is the author of the latest book, The Brain, In Theory. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
August 24 · 1 hr 3 min
#504 - Global Perspectives of the American Revolution: A Dialogue with Sarah Pearsall
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sarah Pearsall about the global perspectives of the American Revolution. They discuss American independence in a global context, freedom, Indigenous nations pushing for revolution, Canada not joining the colonies, Hessians, Six indigenous nations, Cuba, and many more topics. Sarah M. S. Pearsall is an award-winning historian with degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Cambridge, where she taught for nearly a decade. She is a professor and Chair of the Department of History at Johns Hopkins. She is a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar and Distinguished Fellow in the American Revolution at the British Library. She is the author of the latest book, Freedom Round the Globe: A world history of the American Revolution. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
August 16 · 1 hr 12 min
#503 - Gerrymandering: Our Insidious Downfall?: A Dialogue with David Daley
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with David Daley about gerrymandering and political redistricting in the United States. They discuss political redistricting in the modern era, defining redistricting, how states redraw the political map, 2026 midterms, gerrymandering in 2028, 2030 census, fixing gerrymandering, and many more topics. David Daley is a Senior Fellow at FairVote. He is the author of the national best-seller “Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count,” which has been credited with sparking the modern drive to reform redistricting and end partisan gerrymandering, and the basis for the award-winning documentary “Slay The Dragon.” His second book, “Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,” chronicles the victories and defeats in state efforts to reform elections and uphold voting rights. His third book, “Antidemocratic,” follows the weakening of the Voting Rights Act through Supreme Court decisions like Shelby County vs. Holder. A frequent lecturer and media source about gerrymandering, he is the former editor-in-chief of Salon.com, and the former CEO and publisher of the Connecticut News Project. David’s journalism has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, and many other publications, and he has been a guest on CNN, MSNBC, NPR’s “Fresh Air,” and Comedy Central. He has taught political science and journalism as a visiting fellow at Wesleyan University, Boston College, and the University of Georgia. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
August 2 · 1 hr 47 min
#502 - Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing: A Dialogue with Mark Solms
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Solms on Freud and the curative power of psychoanalysis. They discuss how he edited the complete psychological works of Freud, translation differences, and Lacan on Freud. They talk about how Freud developed his theory, subjective experiences vs. consciousness, Freud’s topographical model, neuroscience rediscovering Freud, Friston’s free energy principle, Freud’s drives and Panksepp’s drives, sex, pleasure, and libido, psychoanalysis as curative, and many more topics. Mark Solms is a neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst. He holds the chair of neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and is also the research chair for the International Psychoanalytic Association and science director of the American Psychoanalytic Association. A world-leading pioneer in neuropsychoanalysis, he has spent decades bridging Freudian theory and cutting-edge neuroscience. He is the translator and editor of The Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. He is the author of numerous books including, The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the source of Consciousness and the most recent, The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing. You might also like: Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
July 28 · 1 hr 9 min
#501 - The Origin of Sex: A Dialogue with Lixing Sun
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lixing Sun about the origins of sex in many species. They discuss the origins of sex, asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction, and “flip-flopping.” They discuss large and small gametes, varieties of biological sex, Dawkins and the selfish gene, sex chromosomes, changing sex, intersex, mate choice and mate competition, sexual identity, and many more topics. Lixing Sun is a distinguished research professor at Central Washington University and a 2024–2025 Radcliffe fellow at Harvard University. He is author of The Liars of Natureand the Nature of Liars, The Fairness Instinct, and On the Origin of Sex. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
July 12 · 1 hr 13 min
#500 - Gerontocracy In America: A Dialogue with Samuel Moyn
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Samuel Moyn about gerontocracy in America. They discuss how we live in a gerontocracy, coalitions, older institutions, avoiding ageism, oligarchies, elites and democracy, long term view, abundance, and many more topics. Samuel Moyn is Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University. He has his law degree from Harvard University and his PhD in modern European history from University of California, Berkeley. He is fellow at Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and has received fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Berggruen Institute, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. His main interests are in international law, human rights, and 20th century European moral and political theory. He was recently named one of Propsect Magazine’s top thinkers in the world for 2024. He is the author of numerous books including, Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of our Times, and the most recent book, Gerontocracy in America: How the old are hoarding power and wealth and what to do about it. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
July 5 · 1 hr 12 min
#499 - Why Nothing Works: A Dialogue with Marc Dunkelman
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Marc Dunkelman about progressives and policy ideas for growth. They discuss shared interests of collective and individual interests, progressives on big ideas, Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian progressive styles, pragmatic institutionalism, new ideas in the 21st century, elites, visionary leadership, and many more topics. Marc J. Dunkelman is a resident scholar at the Searchlight Institute and a fellow at Brown University’s Watson School for International and Public Affairs. During more than a decade working in politics, he worked for Democratic members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The author of The Vanishing Neighbor, Dunkelman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Boston Globe, and Politico. He is the author of the latest book, Why Nothing Works: Who killed progress and how to bring it back. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 28 · 1 hr 24 min
#498 - The Invention of Yesterday: A Dialogue with Tamim Ansary
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tamim Ansary about a global history of humans through time. They discuss the main theme of interconnectedness, language, symbols, and culture, origins and nomadic peoples, early trading, rise of city states, religion and belief systems, the Crusades, Mongol Empire, Ottoman Empire, colonialism, empires and nation states, and many more topics. Tamim Ansary is the author of many books, including Destiny Disrupted and The Invention of Yesterday. He has published essays and commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, the Los Angeles Times, and more. Born in Afghanistan in 1948, he moved to the US in 1964. He lives in San Francisco. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 21 · 1 hr 45 min
#497 - The Sleepless Ape: A Dialogue with David Samson
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Davis Samson on the evolution of sleep. They discuss various sleep misconceptions, why we need sleep, stages of sleep, and the physiological and social aspects of sleep. They also talk about the evolution of circadian rhythms, napping, evolutionary differences, dreams, paleo sleep, and many more topics. David R. Samson is associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at the University of Toronto and the author of Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good. His pioneering research has been featured in National Geographic, Time, and The New York Times and on NPR and the BBC. He is the author of the latest book, The Sleepless Ape: The story of sleep in human evolution. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 18 · 1 hr 2 min
#496 - The Weimar Republic: A Dialogue with Katja Hoyer
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katja Hoyer about the Weimar Republic. They give an overview of the Weimar Republic, voting and role of economics, major figures, how Hitler won his election, Nazi rule under Weimar Republic, negative views against Jews, Weimar after World War II, and many more topics. Katja Hoyer is a historian and journalist who is visiting research fellow at King’s College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is also Global Opinions contributing columnist for The Washington Post. Her main research area is the history of modern Germany. She is the author of Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871-1918 , Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany , and the most recent book, Weimar: Life on the edge of catastrophe. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 11 · 1 hr 4 min
#495 - Rumination and Rumblings of the Mind: A Dialogue with Donna Jackson Nakazawa
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Donna Jackson Nakazawa about rumination. They define rumination, talk about belonging, the Default Mode Network, MIST framework, therapy, various techniques, and many more topics. Donna Jackson Nakazawa is the author and writer of many books that explore the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and emotion, including The Angel and the Assassin, named one of the best books of 2020 by Wired magazine, and Childhood Disrupted, which was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award. Her work has appeared in Wired, Stat, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Health Affairs, Parenting, AARP Magazine, and Glamour, and has been featured on the cover of Parade and in Time; she has appeared on Today, NPR, NBC News, and ABC News. Jackson Nakazawa is also the creator and founder of the narrative writing-to-heal program Your Healing Narrative: Write-to-Heal with Neural Re-Narrating.™ She is a regular speaker at universities, including the Harvard Division of Science Library Series, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Arizona. Her recent book, Mind Drama: The science of rumination and how to outwit your inner defeatist. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 7 · 1 hr 6 min
#494 - Contested Continent: A Dialogue with Peter C. Mancall
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Mancall about the early years of North America. They discuss what is America, importance of Maize and landscape of pre-Columbian America, Native Peoples in the middle of the 15th century, Norse discoveries, Columbus, French in Canada, Cortes in Mexico, British involvement, religion, slavery, and the legacy of early North American history. Peter C. Mancall is Distinguished Professor; the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities; Professor of History, Anthropology, and Economics; and the Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute. He is an elected fellow of the Society of American Historians and the Royal Historical Society and an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. He was the Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University in the 2019-2020 academic year. He is the author of many books, including the recent book, Contested Continent: The struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
June 2 · 1 hr 33 min
#493 - Athens & Sparta: A Dialgoue with Adrian Goldsworthy
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Adrian Goldsworthy about the history of Athens and Sparta. They provide an overview of Athens and Sparta, Aegean history, and city-states in Ancient Greece. They talk about why tyranny did not work in these early city-states, Persian War with Greece, Peloponnesian War, Alexander the Great, legacies of Athens and Sparta, and many more topics. Adrian Goldsworthy is a historian and author. He has his DPhil from Oxford University and has conducted research at Cardiff University and taught at King’s College London and University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books on Roman history. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
May 26 · 1 hr 8 min
#492 - The Life of George Washington: A Dialogue with H.W. Brands
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with H.W. Brands about the life of George Washington. They discuss Washington as an enigma, his social and political statue, his upbringing and temperament, and his relationship with his wife and his relationship with slavery. They also talk about Washington as a general, as president, and the legacy of Washington. H. W. Brands holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written more than a dozen biographies and histories, including The General vs. the President, a New York Times bestseller. Two of his biographies, The First American and Traitor to His Class, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of the latest book, American Patriarch: The life of George Washington. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
May 18 · 1 hr 27 min
#491 - Boundaries of Belonging in the Ottoman Empire: A Dialogue with Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer about belonging among various ethnic and religious groups in the early and middle Ottoman period. They discuss the landscape of religious and sectarian divides in the early Ottoman Empire, Turkic origins of the Safavids and Sufis, the Qizilbash, and various sociocultural variables. They talk about immigration between the Safavids and the Ottomans, the Safavid’s turn from Sufi to Shia, Qizilbash documents and Ottoman surveillance, remnants today, and many more topics. Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer is Assistant Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies & Steering Committee Chair of the Ottoman Studies Initiative (OTS-NYU) at New York University. She has her PhD from The Ohio State University. She specializes in Middle Eastern history, with a focus on early modern Ottoman and Safavid Empires. She is the author of the book, Boundaries of Belonging: Sectarianism and Statecraft in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
May 10 · 1 hr 45 min
#490 - A New History of Europe: A dialogue with Roderick Beaton
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Roderick Beaton about the history of Europe. They discuss how Europe is defined, origins of Europe from ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Turkey, European history as Christian history, Europe during WWI and WWII, the European Union, and the future of Europe. Roderick Beaton is a professor emeritus at King’s College London. He has written several books on Greek and European history, including The Greeks and Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, which was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize. He is the four-time winner of the prestigious Runciman Award, and in 2024 was knighted by King Charles III “for services to History.” He is the author of the latest book, Europe: A New History. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

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