In this episode I sat down with philosopher Simon Critchley, professor at the New School for Social Research and author of Mysticism, alongside my co-host Denis Calos. We got into what it means to live a mystical life, why growing up is the abdication of ecstasy, whether AI-generated music can be art, why suffering might be the precondition for making anything good, and why everyone wants to be the type of person who reads Nietzsche without actually reading Nietzsche. Also soccer, Suno, the Beatles, and me attempting German.
If you like this kind of thing, I write longer essays on philosophy and consciousness on my Substack: https://substack.com/@micahzarin (https://substack.com/@micahzarin)
Subscribe for more long-form conversations with philosophers, scientists, and people thinking seriously about hard problems.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intros
01:05 Mysticism
07:29 The abdication of ecstasy
15:46 Is thinking play?
18:06 Songwriting
24:21 AI music
40:05 Reality privilege
46:59 Suffering
52:26 Analytic vs continental
1:02:24 Overthinking
1:18:10 LARPing
1:32:33 Advice
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: CO3NUX8TBBKHZNLN
19 Jun 2026
Will AI Ever Be Creative? (w/ Amy Kind)
00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU) What makes something creative
00:42 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=42s) Intros
01:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=111s) Can anything be truly novel? (psychological vs historical creativity)
05:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=305s) Influence vs originality, and music lawsuits
09:34 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=574s) Originality isn't enough
11:01 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=661s) Discovery vs creativity
15:04 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=904s) Combinatorial vs transformational creativity
19:14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=1154s) Can AI be creative?
25:19 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=1519s) Word salad
30:28 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=1828s) Does a painting have value if no one ever sees it?
31:32 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=1892s) Is Baby Shark better than Beethoven?
37:31 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=2251s) Creativity and culture
42:27 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=2547s) Philosophy
49:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=2991s) Is anything in the world without creativity?
54:38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=3278s) Is translation a creative act?
1:00:07 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=3607s) Adaptation vs inspiration
1:03:36 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9D_fEg-LGU&t=3816s) Life advice
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