We all doomscroll. Often late at night, we scroll through social media or news feeds for a “minute,” which turns into hours. We seem to be chasing bad news. What are we looking for, if anything? What do we hope to get out of it? Is this a bad habit, or are there good aspects to it? Doomscrolling just might be changing our sense of time, of responsibility, and of witnessing. So put down your phones, stop scrolling, and join us for an investigation into the practice of doomscrolling.

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/doomscrolling

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Are you even playing the game?

In this episode of Hotel Bar Sessions, co-hosts Rick Lee, Talia Mae Bettcher, and Leigh M. Johnson dive deep into the meme-turned-metaphor of “NPC Energy,” unpacking its cultural roots and existential weight. Originally a gaming term describing non-player characters who move on rails and repeat scripted lines, “NPC Energy” has become a way to call out people who seem disengaged, overly programmed, or existentially asleep. But is it just a meme—or a diagnosis of modern life under systems that drain our agency and originality?

The HBS hosts explore the difference between NPCs and so-called “main characters,” debating whether the capacity for resistance, awareness, or choice really sets us apart from algorithmic behaviors. With references ranging from Dungeons & Dragons to the DMV, they question if we’ve all become NPCs in a system too vast to escape—and whether flashes of resistance, even subtle or psychological, are enough to reclaim player status. Talia proposes that multiple overlapping “games” may offer exits from oppressive scripts, while Rick and Leigh examine whether our insistence on agency is more therapeutic than real.

As AI develops more dynamic NPCs and human lives become increasingly scripted, the line between the player and the played grows fuzzier. Are we walking into walls of our own making? Or are we being marched along paths we didn’t choose? This thoughtful and provocative conversation calls on listeners to pause, self-interrogate, and maybe, just maybe, write their own dialogue before the simulation resets.

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/npc-energy

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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Better yet, you can support this podcast by signing up to be one of our Patrons at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions!

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Is public philosophy just academic outreach in a new outfit, or is it something else entirely? In this episode, we're joined by Kate Manne (Cornell University) to ask what happens when philosophers leave their usual habitats and try to meet people where they actually live. We talk about the push to be legible outside the profession, the risk of being dismissed inside it, and the slippery politics of trying to do both at once. What’s the value of work that doesn’t look like philosophy but still feels like it? And who gets to decide when philosophy has gone too far—or not far enough?

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/public-philosophy-with-kate-manne

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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Better yet, you can support this podcast by signing up to be one of our Patrons at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions!