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The New York Times recently published an article on a woman who is fighting for custody and legal parenthood of twin children that she is not genetically related to, whom she did not gestate and birth herself, and who have not been living with her: her only connection with the twins is that she wanted them and so (under very interesting conditions) paid for the IVF and surrogate to birth them.

In this episode, Dr. Hilary Bowman-Smart (University of South Australia) discusses the impact of assisted reproductive technologies on what we think it means to be a parent. Hilary discusses this case and answers questions such as what if the embryo that made you, was made from 4 different people's gametes? What if you could have children with your friends, instead of your romantic partner? Should James start a cult?

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In this episode, Prof. I. Glenn Cohen (Harvard University) gives us his world leading answers to some of the stickiest issues in modern reproductive ethics: What does in-vitro gametogenesis (and can Sinead pronounce it correct at least once) mean for parenthood? If there is no other means for a person to exist but with a genetic condition, is trying to select against certain embryos even good for anyone? Is there a possible way to make coffee even more gross than just instant? What is the importance of genetic relatedness in determining who our parents are, and to us as individuals? What's the difference between IVF and IVG?

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In this episode, Dr. Rand Hirmiz (Singapore Management University) discusses how people with dementia can sometimes drastically change their preferences, including their long held values such as religious views or ethical standpoints. If a person then tries to go against their former views, such as by eating meat despite being a lifelong vegetarian, which views should we respect? What if their new views are less harmful or restricting than their previous views? Rand talks about the ways in which we form values, and the similarities and differences between the person pre-dementia and post-dementia. We also debate coffee (once again), and the wild concept of half-and-half milk, and that is not so half-and-half as they say.

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If you were a doctor, woken in the middle of the night to decide which patient should get the only available liver, would you be comfortable making that decision yourself? What if an AI device could also do it, or even do it better?

In this episode, Prof. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Chauncey Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics at Duke University) gives us the reasons why AI can help people make the kinds of decisions they would make if they were the best version of themselves. Walter gives us examples of AI-judges making bail decisions and AI-doctors making medical decisions, argues that dinosaurs were killed by excessive volcanism than by an asteroid, and why you should be a vegan when you are within a 50km radius of Peter Singer.

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In this episode, Prof. Jacob Stegenga (Nanyang Technological University), author of the book, Medical Nihilism, chats with us why we should all be more sceptical about medical interventions. Jacob discusses the placebo effect, research malleability, and publication bias. Sinead and Kat ask how we can know when we are being misled by journals and media reports, and encourage Jacob to release his music on Spotify.

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In this episode, James and Sinead ask Dr. Brandon Yip (Singapore Management University) whether the instinctive 'yuck' that we respond to some things is a reliable tool for evaluating moral judgements. Brendan considers the sticky and icky situations, like relationship age gaps, and asks whether we can really trust our emotions and instincts to guide our responses. As always, James and Sinead fight over which karaoke is best (at what point is the podcast just a conduit for curating a top tier karaoke list), but most importantly, we learn when and how to control our moral gut.

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In this episode, Dr. Matthew Hammerton (Singapore Management University) presents the ideas of happiness, well-being, and the meaningful life, to answer what it really means to live a good life. He discusses the difference between meaning in life, meaningful lives, and the meaning of life (we promise they are different!), and whether there is a point in our lives where time doesn't give us more meaning. More importantly, we discuss spiderman, Matthew turns the questions back on Sinead and James, and philosophers who don't wear pants.

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In this episode, Professor Larry Temkin (Rutgers University) proposes the initially controversial idea that expecting all countries to provide universal healthcare is more problematic than we realise. In what Larry has retrospectively described as a podcast that 'may have been my most FUN interview ever', Larry talks about his impact on Chinese healthcare systems, the social determinants of health, and our moral responsibilities to help other countries.

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