BLACK MIRROR REFLECTIONS

Dr. James Buchanan ("Bru") Wallace joins Dr. J to talk about religion, techniques of the self, guilt, the imperative to look up from your screen and see others, and "Smithereens."

Dr. John Torrey joins Dr. J to talk about whether or not we each have (and can find) "The One," dating apps, the freedom to make bad choices, simulated relationships, and "Hang the DJ."

Dr. Eric Steinhart joins Dr. J to talk about navigating compossible worlds and timelines, tech gods (and monsters), mental illness, books that (maybe) shouldn't be read, and "Bandersnatch."

Dr. Roman V. Yampolyskiy joins Dr. J to talk about robot dogs, poker playing AIs, the control problem, how long we have left before the rise of the machines, what it would be like to be a superintelligence's pet, and "Metalhead."

Dr. Karen Tongson joins Dr. J to talk about celebrity, what makes pop music "popular," karaoke queerness, our digital afterlives, and "Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too."

Dr. Charles W. Mills talks to Dr. J about about punishment as spectacle, non-ideal theories of justice, why philosophers love science fiction, and "White Bear."

Dr. Shannon Mussett talks to Dr. J about surveillance technologies, helicopter parenting, the differences between Gen X and Gen Z childhoods, how we might avoid raising a generation of sociopaths, and "Arkangel."

Dr. Charles McKinney joins Dr. J to talk about dehumanization techniques, the importance of race-conscious thinking, the dangerous logic of eugenics, whether an anti-racist technology is possible (or desirable), and "Men Against Fire."

Dr. Ammon Allred joins Dr. J to talk about social media cesspools, climate change, the unwritten rules of hashtags, so-called "cancel culture," the Capitol insurrection, and "Hated in the Nation."

Dr. Samir Chopra joins Dr. J to talk about intelligent robots, personhood, the complicated machinations of human grief, and "Be Right Back."

Dr. Zandria F. Robinson joins Dr. J to talk about whose bodies get sacrificed in the name of scientific advancement, the contours of consciousness, suffering as spectacle, ancestral ghosts, and "Black Museum."

Dr. David Gunkel joins Dr. J to talk about the possibility of virtual moral agents, the seriousness of online games, science fiction's bad politics, and "USS Callister."

Dr. John Danaher and Dr. J talk about social credit systems, the ubiquity of ranking metrics, whether or not its possible to go "off the grid," and "Nosedive."

Dr. Richard A. Lee joins Dr. J. to talk about surveillance, trolling, absolution, and "Shut Up and Dance."

Dr. Jason Read joins Dr. J to talk about politics, celebrity, toxic masculinity, Trump, and "The Waldo Moment."

Dr. C. Thi Nguyen joins Dr. J to talk about games, the technological singularity, Alzheimer's, and "Playtest."

Filmmaker John Cerrito joins Dr. J in this episode to talk about memory, jealousy, objectivity, and "The Entire History of You."

Dr. Michael Norton joins Dr. J in this episode to discuss the pros and cons of a digital afterlife, as it is presented in "San Junipero."

We are joined by Adriel Trott (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wabash College) to discuss "Striking Vipers" (Season 5, Episode 1).

We are joined by Ammon Allred (Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Toledo) to discuss "The National Anthem" (Season 1, Episode 1).

Dr. Chris Gilliard joins Dr. J in this episode to discuss "digital redlining," incarceration and e-carceration, the ethics of "blocking," and whether not it may be okay to torture or coerce digital copies of human consciousnesses... all in the context of Black Mirror's first special holiday episode, "White Christmas."

Dr. Shannon Mussett (Professor of Philosophy, Utah Valley University) joins Dr. J in this episode to discuss authenticity, performance, her concerns about the encroachment of screens in our lives, and what we all probably missed when we watched "15 Million Merits."