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This interview is a bit different from other episodes. I sit down with Dr. Jennifer A. Frey, the former Dean of the University of Tulsa’s Honors College. If you’ve been following the Lessons for Interesting People podcast on Substack, you will know I wrote an article about Tulsa’s honors college recently. I committed to UTulsa because the university seemed to have accomplished the impossible: combine a computer science college filled with research opportunities with an Honors College whose mission was to analyze and debate the great works of the Western tradition in a vibrant community of professors and peers.

That’s why I was distressed, when seven weeks before school was set to begin, UTulsa decided to “restructure their program” without any clear information on what exactly this meant.

In this interview, Dr. Frey discusses the purpose of higher education.

Is it simply to equip you for the workplace? Or, is it to teach you the habits of mind to think freely? Then, we dive into the truth about why programs like UTulsa’s Honors College are not being supported by their universities. According to Dr. Frey, it’s not the cost.

Topics:

• The State of Higher Education: What is the Purpose of the University?
• What is a Liberal Education?
• The Honors College of the University of Tulsa: the Dream, its Present, and its Precarious Future
• "What books have had an impact on you?"
• "What advice do you have for teenagers?"

Bio:

Dr. Jennifer A. Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She previously served as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. Before coming to the University of Tulsa, she was an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, where she was also a Peter and Bonnie McCausland Faculty Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to her tenure at Carolina, she was a Collegiate Assistant Professor the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and a junior fellow of the Society for the Liberal Arts

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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/

Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon

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What happens when your world crumbles? When all the things you hold dear are snatched away from you? Most of us would give up and despair. And, yet, though he awaited an unjust execution, Roman senator and philosopher Boethius penned these hopeful words:

“The world in constant change maintains a harmony. And elements keep peace whose nature is to war.”

Faced with his coming death, Boethius reflected upon his life of contemplation and philosophy, writing one of the greatest works of the medieval age on facing suffering: The Consolation of Philosophy.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Thomas Ward to discuss Boethius’ magnum opus and Dr. Ward’s latest book, After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher. Dr. Ward and I examine what Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy can tell us about how to approach life in the midst of suffering.

Topics:

• Who Was Boethius and Why He Matters
• Why The Consolation of Philosophy Endured
• Lady Fortune, The Wheel, and Approachability
• Boethius’ Illness and Philosophy’s Diagnosis
• Forgetting Who We Are
• Modern Stoicism’s Appeal and Limits
• After Stoicism: Hope, God, and Joy
• Love as the Order of the Cosmos
• Eros and Caritas: What Love Means
• Daily Practices for Recollection
• How to Live Like Boethius: Suffering, Virtue, and a Transcendent Order
• "What books have had an impact on you?"
• "What advice do you have for teenagers?"

Bio:

Thomas M. Ward is Associate Professor of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin, in the School of Civic Leadership. He is the author of After Stoicism: Last Words of the Last Roman Philosopher (Word on Fire, 2024), which won the Catholic Media Association Book Award for History (First Place). He studied philosophy at Biola University (BA 2004) and UCLA (PhD, 2011) and theology at Oxford University (M.Phil 2006).

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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/

Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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With the development of artificial intelligence on the rise, we are at a crossroads. How will we continue our innovations and regulations of this new technology? But, this is more than a technological question. As my guest, Verity Harding states, “AI needs you.”

In this episode, I sit down with Verity Harding to discuss her book, AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI’s Future and Save Our Own.

How we apply AI is a multi-disciplinary issue. We need everyone, from tech people to teachers, to students, to nurses and doctors, and to everyone else.

Topics:

• Why AI Needs Everyone
• Technology's Shadow Self
• The Socio-Technical Approach to AI
• "What books have had an impact on you?"
• "What advice do you have for teenagers?

Bio:

One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, Verity Harding is director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and founder of Formation Advisory, a consultancy firm that advises on the future of technology and society. She worked for many years as Global Head of Policy for Google DeepMind and as a political adviser to Britain’s deputy prime minister.

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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/

Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify