Public Philosophy

BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep 13: “Be Right Back” with Samir Chopra

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Blog, Blog 2023+, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Samir Chopra, Technology, Technology and Human Values 0 Comments

  For Episode 13, I am joined by Dr. Samir Chopra to talk about intelligent robots, personhood, the complicated machinations of human grieving, and “Be Right Back” (Season 2, Episode 1 of Black Mirror), which first premiered in 2013. Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast episodes  Subscribe to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast Support/Donate to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast My…

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep 16: “Arkangel” with Shannon Mussett

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Blog, Blog 2023+, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

 For Episode 16, I am re-joined by Dr. Shannon Mussett to talk about surveillance technologies, helicopter parenting, the differences between Gen X and Gen Z childhoods, how we might avoid raising a generation of sociopaths, and “Arkangel” (Season 4, Episode 2 of Black Mirror), which first premiered in 2017. Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast episodes  Subscribe to BLACK…

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep 17: “White Bear” with Charles Mills

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Blog, Blog 2023+, Justice, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, Race and Racism, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values, Women and Gender Issues 0 Comments

For Episode 17, I am joined by Dr. Charles Mills to talk about punishment, non-ideal theories of justice, why philosophers love science fiction, and “White Bear” (Season 2, Episode 2 of Black Mirror), which first premiered in 2013. Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast episodes  Subscribe to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast Support/Donate to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast I’ve been…

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast, Ep10: “Nosedive” with John Danaher

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values 0 Comments

  For episode 10, I am joined by Dr. John Danaher to talk about social credit systems, the ubiquity of ranking metrics, whether or not its possible to go “off the grid,” and “Nosedive” (Season 3, Episode 1 of Black Mirror), which first premiered in 2016. Listen/Download BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast episodes  Subscribe to BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS…

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Hotel Bar Sessions podcast: A brief history

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Hotel Bar Sessions, Philosophy, podcast, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

I can’t be sure who’s still regularly checking in on this blog, but those of you who are have surely noticed that I’ve shifted my energies from blogging to podcasting over the last year. Beginning in November 2020, I did a 22-episode run of my first podcast BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, in which I interviewed philosophers,…

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No Exit: The Problem with Facebook’s Algo-Policing

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Artificial Intelligence, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Facebook, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Social Media, Technology, Technology and Human Values 1 Comment

On Tuesday, this blog– which I very much consider an extension of myself– was finally released from Facebook jail, after having been “inside” for more than a month. I was reported by a user (who I do not know IRL and who is not a “Facebook friend” of mine) for violating Facebook’s “Community Standards,” specifically the…

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BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS, Ep1: “15 Million Merits” with Shannon Mussett

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, Emergent Tech, Ethics, Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values, Television 0 Comments

  I’m sooooo excited to announce the release of our first episode of BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS podcast! As you may have heard– from my endless self-promoting on FB and Twitter– this podcast will be structured as a series of conversations between myself and some very smart people as we talk/think through the technology, philosophy, morality,…

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Black Mirror Reflections podcast

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Black Mirror, Black Mirror Reflections, BMR podcast, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Pop Culture/Film/Literature, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Technology, Technology and Human Values 0 Comments

  I’m in the process of recording the first few episodes of a (limited series) podcast entitled Black Mirror Reflections, which will be released next week. I’ve written a lot about Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror on this blog over the years, I regularly teach a course entitled “Technology and Human Values,” and I incorporate Black Mirror episodes in several…

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A Conversation with Your Past Self

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson coronavirus, Online Learning, Open Source Pedagogy, Philosophy, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive 0 Comments

This semester, I’m giving my students the option to submit a video “Conversation with My Past Self” in lieu of taking the Final Exam. I was inspired by this video that I saw on Julie Nolke’s YouTube channel, in which she sits down at the breakfast table and chats with the January 2020 version of herself….

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MEMPHIS VIRTUAL TIP BUCKET

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Ethics, Memphis, Music, Politics, Public Philosophy, RMWMTMBM Archive, Working in Memphis Documentary 1 Comment

HELP SUPPORT LOCAL MEMPHIS MUSICIANS! To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Center for Disease Control has urged U.S. citizens to cancel all events of more than 50 people and to practice social distancing for the next 8 weeks. Cities and states across the nation are ordering all bars, clubs, and restaurants to close.  No doubt, the same will…

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