Essays, Interviews & Talks

Selected Essays

“Why I Teach Plato to Plumbers” The Atlantic “Should Universities Educate Students?” 3 Quarks Daily “The Deep Mystery of Being Alive” Plato’s Academy “Would You Hire Socrates?” Wall Street Journal “Where the Humanities Aren’t in Crisis” The Hedgehog Review “Graduates, You’ve Been Misled” Dallas Morning News “Remembering Back” Lapham’s Quarterly “Finding Philosophy” The Chronicle Review “The Liberal Arts and the Fate of Liberal Democracy” 4Humanities More essays at 3 Quarks Daily →

Selected Interviews

“The Intersection of Philosophy and Suffering” Unsiloed “On the Pleasures of Rome” The History of Literature Podcast “Scott Samuelson on Suffering and Soul-Making” WKNO · Tennessee Public Radio “Finding the Deepest Human Life: Teaching Philosophy to Plumbers” KUNI · Iowa Public Radio “Everyday Philosophy” KERA · Texas Public Radio “The Eternal City” The Virtual Memories Show

Selected Talks

“A Refusal to Defend the Humanities” Hiett Prize Acceptance “How Philosophy Can Save Your Life” TEDx Bismarck “Kicking the Bucket List: Death and the Art of Shining” Eastern Illinois University “Suffering and Soul-Making: On the Deep Value of the Liberal Arts” Rhodes College