Crisis and Creativity in Mayan Mythology

Crisis and Creativity in Mayan Mythology

The Popol Vuh, written in 1702, was based on a Mayan oral tradition encompassing creation myths, history, and cosmology. These stories were written in a time of crisis: European colonialism had decimated the Mayan population and destroyed much of their cultural knowledge. How do stories help a society survive and thrive? Can they console us in times of crisis? How much of a culture can historians save in times of devastation? Josh and Ray rewrite history with Edgar Garcia from the University of Chicago, author of Emergency: Reading the Popol Vuh in a Time of Crisis.

Wise Woman: Emma Goldman

Activist and anarchist philosopher Emma Goldman fought for human liberation in every realm of life. While she opposed the women’s suffrage movement, she was a staunch advocate for women’s rights. So why did she think the right to vote was so unimportant? What did she think was required to achieve her anarchist goals? And how ahead of her time was she on labor, prison abolition, and sexual liberation? Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Candace Falk, editor of Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years.

Summer Reading List 2026

The Philosophers talk to the authors of recent and forthcoming books that speak to our dangerous times: * Christopher Star from Middlebury College, editor of How to Face the End of the World: An Ancient Guide for Apocalyptic Times * Christian Miller from Wake Forest University, author of The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World * Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the first global public intellectuals, famous for his popular existentialist philosophy, his works of fiction, and his rivalry with Albert Camus. His existentialism was also adopted by Simone de Beauvoir, who used it as a foundation for modern theoretical feminism. So what exactly is existentialism? How is man condemned to be free, as Sartre claimed? And what’s so hellish about other people? John and Ken speak in good faith with Thomas Flynn from Emory University, author of Sartre: A Philosophical Biography.

What Is Gender?

Gender is a controversial topic these days, but people can’t seem to agree about what gender is. Is it an inner identity, a biological fact, or an oppressive system? Should we respect it or resist it? Should it even be a thing? Josh and guest-host Blakey Vermeule question gender with regular co-host Ray Briggs, co-author of What Even Is Gender?