This is a scholarly podcast about scholarly provocateurs. Gadflys, charlatans, and shitposters sometimes get tenure, believe it or not. This is a leftist podcast that takes a second look at their peer-reviewed work, and tries to see if there’s anything we might learn from arguing with them. We are hosted by: Victor Bruzzone, Gordon Katic, Matt McManus, and Ethan Xavier (AKA “Mouthy Infidel”).
EP32: Should We Blackball People With Immoral Views? (Interview With Jason Brennan)
In this episode I spoke to Jason Brennan (https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RXIUAA4/jason-brennan), philosopher at Georgetown University, likely best known for the provocatively titled Against Democracy (https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691178493/against-democracy?srsltid=AfmBOoqqRh6HrQ48lg9a_n2zhcp0P5vNYdpS1qpdRPc0IlBe_P39qBsP). We discuss many topics, including fallibility, moral judgment, and what we owe each other across deep disagreement.
We cover his case against democracy, his work on when bad beliefs should disqualify someone from friendship, and the moral risks of doing moral philosophy. We also discuss his forthcoming book Glass Houses, which defends grace, or the withholding of moral judgement against others as a practical response to our own unreliability as moral judges.
Relevant Links:
Brennan, “Friendship and Blackballing for Bad Beliefs (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy/article/friendship-and-blackballing-for-bad-beliefs/7E216110800B85F12EDE7459ABF1D0F9)”
Brennan & Freiman, “Moral Philosophy’s Moral Risk (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rati.12278)”
Brennan, Glass Houses (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/glass-houses-9780197857397?cc=ca&lang=en&)
Deeyah Khan documentary (https://youtu.be/hvt5ScfjpDo?si=EYD85m8qyWGR2zac)
The Enemies Project (https://www.youtube.com/@TheEnemiesProject)
The post EP32: Should We Blackball People With Immoral Views? (Interview With Jason Brennan) (https://www.academicedgelords.com/2026/04/28/ep32-should-we-blackball-people-with-immoral-views-interview-with-jason-brennan/) appeared first on Academic Edgelords (https://www.academicedgelords.com).
22 Mar 2026
EP31: Should Random People Rule Us? (Interview With Alex Guerrero on Lottocracy)
After a long hiatus, we are back! This time Victor talks with Alex Guerrero (https://www.alexguerrero.org/) about his recent book, Lottocracy: Democracy Without Elections (https://academic.oup.com/book/58164). According to Guerrero, elections systematically reward ambition, status-seeking, and elite competition rather than good democratic judgment. This, he argues justifies replacing electoral legislatures with randomly selected single-issue legislative lotteries, or SILLs.
We discuss the project’s main influences, the core case for replacing elections in this way, and some of the main objections against the idea. If you are inspired by the idea of lottocracy or just want to learn more, please visit lottocracy.org (https://www.lottocracy.org/)
Alex Guerrero is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy (https://philosophy.rutgers.edu/people/regular-faculty/regular-faculty-profile/182-regular-faculty-full-time/849-guerrero-alex) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
The post EP31: Should Random People Rule Us? (Interview With Alex Guerrero on Lottocracy) (https://www.academicedgelords.com/2026/03/22/ep31-should-random-people-rule-us-interview-with-alex-guerrero-on-lottocracy/) appeared first on Academic Edgelords (https://www.academicedgelords.com).
28 Oct 2025
EP30: Is Surveillance Capitalism Really That Bad? (On Königs “In Defense of ‘Surveillance Capitalism”)
Critics like Shoshana Zuboff call Big Tech a parasitic system of control—but philosopher Peter Königs thinks that story is overblown. His 2024 Philosophy & Technology paper (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-024-00804-1) argues that the panic around “surveillance capitalism” exaggerates its harms and ignores its benefits.
We discuss his case that targeted ads aren’t especially manipulative, that social media’s political and mental-health effects are far less dire than claimed, and that data collection doesn’t necessarily destroy privacy or freedom.
Is Königs offering a reasonable correction to digital-age hysteria, or just apologizing for the algorithms that rule us? To help answer this, we are joined by STS scholar Michelle Charette (https://www.michellecharette.ca/)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
7,268,784
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
17 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
37 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
33
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
85
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