Jeff Augustin and I discuss if it is ever right to charity shame and some of the factors that go through our head when we make the decision to give or not to give.

Topics:

◉ Tipping

◉ Tales from the subway.

◉ How do we know someone asking for help is being authentic?

◉ Are we allowed to have choices in where we choose to help?

◉ Should the rich be more charitable....with charities...at the dinner table?

I compare my notes as both a student and teacher in the U.S. with Daniel who grew up in Toronto, Canada. Our discussion dives into some of the things that are missing from the U.S. education system...and perhaps a thing or two that Canada can learn from us.

Topics:

◉ It varies from place to place.

◉ A brief look at Montessori

◉ Can high and average kids be taught together?

◉ Should we be training everyone to attend University?

◉ Low expectations...the real death bullet of education.

Navigating child psychologist Piaget's hierarchy of human development, Joe and I discuss the differences between abstract thinkers and those that think concretely.

Topics Covered:

◉ The boy and the messy kitchen.

◉ Does punishment and reflection, induce abstract reasoning?

◉ Is abstract reasoning above concrete as Piaget suggests?

◉ The ideal is both!

◉ Possible solutions and hurdles in getting these minds to work together.

◉ Do concrete thinkers have the final laugh?

Thinking about that annoying tendency of philosophers to speak up and tell the truth at the most inopportune times, Kenny and I try and figure out key rule for when one is morally obligated to speak the truth and when one should bite their tongue for the time being.

Topics:

◉ Timing...Timing...Timing.

◉ Friends who don't really want to hear the truth.

◉ Sometimes truth takes years to process.

◉ Rules for how to take advice from someone you don't respect.

◉ Honor versus Truth...which is more honorable?

I am joined by Tarot Card reader Fedra Ekres, who gives me a brief introduction to the umbrella term 'Paganism' as we discuss the term's origin and it's practice throughout Europe and into modern day America.

I am joined by Patrick as we discuss whether or not it is healthy to take life too seriously and when exactly we may wish to turn up or down our seriousness meter.

Topics Addressed:

◉ The power of laughing at yourself.

◉ Giving yourself a degree of wiggle room in casual conversations.

◉ Must leaders always be serious for us to respect them?

◉ Situations where you have choice versus no choice.

◉ Teachers and actors.....do the serious really win at the end?

Joe and I try to figure out why we always assume the worst in people ranging from things such as small compliments to just how trustful we ought to be in life.

Topics Covered:

◉ Assumptions about people versus reality.

◉ How personal traumas keep us jaded.

◉ Times in life we shouldn't be too trusting.

◉ How to integrate new people into our lives with little risk.

◉ When to push the eject button.

◉ Basic trust in humanity.

Alexander and I, discuss whether other people can impart wisdom and life lessons onto others who through a lack of experience or maturity have not gone through those same formative experiences.

Topics Explored:

◉ Telling people about life before they have reached a critical threshold in life.

◉ The effects of traumatic events early in life in bringing about maturity

◉ If we could go back in time and warn ourselves, would it make any difference?

◉ Perhaps trying out new personas and having different experiences is the only way we can learn.

This episode is the second part of a larger series in which I am joined by Roman Empire expert Brett Davidoff, as we discuss some of the parallels of ancient Rome to the United States and other historical instances of democratic decay. In this episode we focus on the rise and fall of Julius Caesar and the strategies he employs in consolidating power and the turmoil this causes among the other senators living in Rome.