Best Alfred Sharon Podcasts (2025)

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51. What can a shallow pond teach us about ethics? With David Edmonds 41:33

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10d ago41:33

41:33

Imagine this: You’re walking past a shallow pond and spot a toddler thrashing around in the water, in obvious danger of drowning. You look around for her parents, but nobody is there. You’re the only person who can save her and you must act immediately. But as you approach the pond you remember that you’re wearing your most expensive shoes. Wading …

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50. What can comics such as Heartstopper teach us about ethics? With Simon Meisch 39:59

25d ago39:59

39:59

A really interesting conversation with Simon Meisch this week. Simon is a Senior Lecturer for Applied Ethics at the Ethics Centre of the University of Tubingen, and until recently was also a visiting scholar here at IDEA. It's an unusual episode of the podcast in that we aren't talking about a specific ethical issue. Instead, we talk about a partic…

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49. Are We Deceiving Future Generations About Environmental Crises? With Catriona McKinnon 45:34

1M ago45:34

45:34

In this episode I talk to Professor Catriona McKinnon, a political philosopher based at the University of Exeter. The topic is the various environmental crises facing humanity today. Obviously lots to discuss there, but Catriona wants to highlight one issue in particular, which is the way one generation can, with or without knowing it, conceal info…

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48. How should you act as an in-house lawyer? With Sharon Bridglalsingh 42:44

2M ago42:44

42:44

For the last year and a half, Jim Baxter and the consulting team at IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds, have been working with the Law Society of England and Wales on a project looking at the ethics of in-house law. That project has involved talking to lots of lawyers who are both passionate and insightful about the job and the ethi…

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47. Should we be worried about cancel culture? With Alfred Archer and Georgie Mills 47:26

2M ago47:26

47:26

Cancelling and cancel culture are terms that we hear a lot these days, and it's one of the many areas where there seems to be more heat than light. The phenomenon of cancelling has become a front in the so-called culture wars, with one side claiming it's a healthy form of protest, or simply confronting people with the consequences of their actions,…

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46. Should we be worried about words changing their meaning? With Robbie Morgan 46:39

3M ago46:39

46:39

Words such as 'woke', 'emotional labour' and 'gaslighting' get bandied around a lot, especially in online discourse. And as they get bandied around, their meaning can change over time. Of course, changes in the meaning of words are natural, inevitable and, usually harmless. However, Robbie Morgan, back for his record-setting third appearance on Eth…

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45. Are ethicists paying enough attention to social class? With Orla Carlin 45:23

3M ago45:23

45:23

Epistemic injustice is a broad category of injustice relating to knowledge. It can involve people from marginalised or oppressed groups being excluded, silenced, misrepresented, or not taken seriously — in conversations, education, or professional settings — because of their membership to that group. In academic contexts, this kind of injustice can…

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44. Do large language models gossip? With Lucy Osler 41:23

4M ago41:23

41:23

Gossip is an ethically interesting phenomenon when humans do it. It creates a bond between the people doing the gossiping, but it does so by implicitly excluding the person being gossiped about, and can cause harm, especially when the gossip is malicious, or simply isn't true. What I hadn't realised until I spoke to Lucy Osler, a Lecturer in Philos…

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43. How do you assure AI for bias and accessibility in the NHS? With Adam Byfield 48:09

5M ago48:09

48:09

Adam Byfield is a Principal Technical Assurance Specialist at NHS England. After his previous appearance on the podcast, discussing providing ethical assurance for AI applications in healthcare, we were keen to get him back to dive into some more specific issues. We chose bias and accessibility, two related issues that are clearly central for anyon…

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42. How should clinicians communicate with young people experiencing mental health difficulties? With Lisa Bortolotti 49:54

6M ago49:54

49:54

Professor Lisa Bortolotti is a philosopher at the University of Birmingham, who has been working on a fascinating interdisciplinary project looking at what happens when young people experiencing mental health difficulties talk to clinicians about those difficulties. The project has involved closely examining hours of audio and video material of the…

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41. How should we rebuild trust in journalism? With Tim Watkin 47:05

6M ago47:05

47:05

Tim Watkin is a journalist and media manager. He works as executive editor for audio at Radio New Zealand, but is currently on sabbatical at the University of Glasgow, studying how to rebuild trust in journalism as part of a project on Epistemic Autonomy. In this interview we discuss the nature of trust, why it's important, why journalists seem to …

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40. How do you decide whether law enforcement and national security operations are ethically justified? With Joe Fogarty 49:43

7M ago49:43

49:43

Joe Fogarty has spent over 30 years working in national security and law enforcement, in the UK and elsewhere. He's currently working on cyber-security risks and organised crime for the UK's central government, as the Head of the Government's Cyber Resilience Centre. Recently, he's been looking at security and law enforcement through a philosophica…

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39. How should we motivate cosmopolitanism? With Luke Ulas and Josh Hobbs 46:08

7M ago46:08

46:08

Luke Ulas from the University of Sheffield and Josh Hobbs from the University of Leeds are both interested in cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism is a name used for a few different political ideas, but the core thought, according to the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, is "the idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation,…

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38. Should we be using AI to predict patient preferences? With Nicholas Makins 43:53

8M ago43:53

43:53

This episode is part of what's becoming a bit of an informal series of Ethics Untangled episodes, on ethical issues relating to artificial intelligence applications. The particular application we're looking at this time comes from a healthcare setting, and is called a Patient Preference Predictor. It's a proposed way of using an algorithmic system …

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37. What is relationship anarchy? With Natasha McKeever and Luke Brunning 53:04

8M ago53:04

53:04

Relationship anarchy is a radical approach to relationships that goes beyond just rejecting traditional monogamy. Relationship anarchists believe that relationships should never involve having power over each other, in the form of holding each other to obligations. So, for example, relationship anarchists reject the idea of restricting one's partne…

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36. Is drag problematic? With Simon Kirchin 52:53

9M ago52:53

52:53

Drag is a type of performance which uses clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles. It's an activity with a long and varied history, and continues to be a very popular form of entertainment, as attested by TV shows such as Ru Paul's Drag Race. It's also distinctive in having faced criticism from s…

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35. What should we do about disruptive speech? With Carl Fox 47:36

9M ago47:36

47:36

By Jim Baxter

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34. Is AI stealing artists' labour? With Trystan Goetze 47:52

10M ago47:52

47:52

Recent developments in AI, including image generation and large language models, have created huge excitement and opened up some really interesting possibilities. But they've also attracted significant criticisms, not least of which is the accusation that they involve large scale theft. This is because they are trained on huge datasets that include…

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33. Is Internet access a human right? With Merten Reglitz 45:46

10M ago45:46

45:46

When I was doing my undergraduate degree back in the 90s, the Internet was a bit of a novelty. It was fun to play with, and you could see theoretically how it was probably going to be quite important. I'm not sure I would have predicted how completely it now pervades every area of human life, though: work, civil society, leisure and social interact…

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32. Where's the harm in health and safety? With Simon Cassin 46:07

11M ago46:07

46:07

After time in the army and the fire service, Simon Cassin became a health and safety professional, and is now the managing director of a training and development consultancy called Ouch. Unusually for someone working in health and safety, he's dedicated some serious study to understanding the deep philosophical ideas underlying the profession, focu…

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31. Why is sex work so gendered? With Natasha McKeever 40:16

11M ago40:16

40:16

*CONTENT WARNING: This podcast contains some frank discussion of sex and sex work.* While there are all kinds of sex work, by far the most common scenario involves a man paying a woman for sex. It is, in other words, a highly gendered activity. Why? It turns out the answer to this question isn't as obvious as it might at first seem. It turns out, i…

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30. What should doctors be doing with your data? With Jon Fistein 49:07

12M ago49:07

49:07

Do you know what medical information is held about you? Do you know who is allowed to have access to it? Doctors collect lots of data - often quite personal - about their patients. This data needs to be collected, stored, and shared, sometimes quite widely, so that the patients can receive effective care, but also so that the medical profession can…

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29. What is touching through? With Robbie Morgan and Will Hornett 51:50

1y ago51:50

51:50

Today's question is one which you might not immediately recognise as important or, so to speak, pressing. The question is, what is touching through? It also might not be immediately apparent why this is an ethical question. As Robbie Morgan from the IDEA Centre and Will Hornett from the University of Cambridge explain, however, it's a metaphysical …

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28. What's wrong with conspiracy theories? With Patrick Stokes 47:25

1y ago47:25

47:25

Conspiracy theories seem to be an increasingly prevalent feature of public discourse. No sooner has some significant event taken place, but the internet is full of alternative explanations for that event, involving hidden and nefarious decision-makers. These theories run the gamut from the wildly outlandish to the somewhat plausible, and your view …

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27. How do you assure AI in the NHS? With Adam Byfield 47:55

1y ago47:55

47:55

Adam Byfield is Principal Technical Assurance Specialist at NHS England. His job involves providing ethical assurance for technical systems which are used in the NHS, including those which employ artificial intelligence. It's well known that AI, as well as providing some really exciting benefits, raises some distinctive ethical issues, but it was r…

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26. Should we be worried about teledildonics? With Robbie Arrell 39:52

1y ago39:52

39:52

Should we be worried about teledildonics? *CONTENT WARNING. This episode contains frank descriptions of sexual practices of various kinds, and discussion of sexual assault and rape, including rape by deception.* Teledildonics is a word that refers to the use of networked electronic sex toys to facilitate sexual or quasi-sexual interactions between …

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25. Should lawyers be fighting for a cause? With Alex Batesmith 47:39

1y ago47:39

47:39

Alex Batesmith has had a fascinating career. After beginning as a criminal barrister in Leeds, he went on to work as a United Nations prosecutor in Cambodia and Kosovo, working on cases involving genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He's now a legal scholar working at Leeds University, and has been researching the values and motivation…

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24. Is your gender like your name? With Graham Bex-Priestley 51:10

1+ y ago51:10

51:10

Gender is, of course, one of the most contentious ethical and political topics you can find at the moment. There are numerous practical and policy debates - for example those relating to medicine, prisons and sport - which can seem completely intractable, and which provoke the strongest possible opinions on all sides. Sitting behind these practical…

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23. What is trust? With Christopher McClean 34:19

1+ y ago34:19

34:19

Chris McClean is the global lead for digital ethics at Avanade, a large tech innovation and consulting firm. He's also studying for his PhD at the University of Leeds, spending his time thinking about risk and trust relationships, especially in cases with a significant power imbalance, and where the people making the decisions are different from th…

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22. How should we think about informal political representation? With Wendy Salkin 49:27

1+ y ago49:27

49:27

For this episode, I spoke to Wendy Salkin, a philosophy professor at Stanford University, about informal political representatives: people who speak or act on behalf of groups in the political sphere without being elected to do so. Familiar examples include Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg. Informal political r…

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21. Should we be worried about academic freedom and no-platforming? With Gerald Lang 39:16

1+ y ago39:16

39:16

In May 2023, the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill received Royal Assent after two years of debate in Parliament. The new Act will strengthen the statutory duty already imposed on English higher education providers by previous legislation to secure freedom of speech within the law. Arif Ahmed, a former philosophy professor at Cambridge Univ…

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20. What's the meaning of life? With Predrag Cicovacki 49:25

1+ y ago49:25

49:25

Never let it be said that we don't tackle the big questions on this podcast. This week we're discussing no less a subject than the meaning of life, with Predrag Cicovacki. Predrag is Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross (USA), where he has been teaching since 1991. He has served as a visiting professor in Germany, Russia, Luxemb…

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19. What is technological bias and what should we do about it? With Meredith Broussard 33:14

1+ y ago33:14

33:14

Meredith Broussard is a data journalist and associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, as well as research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology. Her book More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech explores the way technology reinforces inequality and as…

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18. Do the dead have rights? With Joseph Bowen 42:18

1+ y ago42:18

42:18

Ethical questions about the dead are frequently interesting, puzzling, surprising, and weird. All of these things become clear in this conversation with Dr Joseph Bowen. Joe is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, specialising in moral, political, and legal philosophy. As well as whether the dead have rights, his research focuses on…

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17. Does love transcend time? With Troy Jollimore 46:00

1+ y ago46:00

46:00

This episode is an exploration of the relationship between love and time with Troy Jollimore. As well as being a Professor in the Philosophy Department at California State University, Troy is a successful poet. His first collection of poetry, Tom Thomson in Purgatory, won the National Book Critics Circle award in poetry for 2006. His third, Syllabu…

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16. Are Africans unfairly excluded from discussions about environmental ethics? With Munamato Chemhuru 42:12

1+ y ago42:12

42:12

Dr. Munamato Chemhuru is Associate Professor in Philosophy at Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, and a Senior Research Associate in Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He has been working on a project entitled Conceptualising Environmental Justice through Epistemic Justice in Africa, co…

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15. Do politicians with dirty hands owe reparations to victims? With Christina Nick 41:45

1+ y ago41:45

41:45

Politicians sometimes have to make decisions where there is no option that looks good, morally speaking. They may have to get their hands dirty, acting in a way that looks immoral - sometimes powerfully so - in order to avoid some greater evil. This is called the problem of dirty hands, and it's long been of interest to philosophers. However, most …

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LLM12. The Future of Love Q&A [Leeds Love Month special episode] 26:16

2y ago26:16

26:16

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring a Q&A session with Brian Earp and Robbie Arrell. Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idea-ethics-centre/…

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LLM11. Robbie Arrell on Consent Issues Raised by Teledildonic Technology [Leeds Love Month special episode] 46:48

2y ago46:48

46:48

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Dr Robbie Arrell on consent issues raised by teledildonic technology. https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/ethics/staff/2728/robbie-arrell Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.faceboo…

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LLM10. Brian Earp on the Ethics of Psychedelically-Assisted Relationship Therapy [Leeds Love Month special episode] 37:50

2y ago37:50

37:50

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Dr Brian Earp on the ethics of psychedelically-assisted relationship therapy. https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/people/brian-d.-earp Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.fa…

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LLM9. Love Q&A [Leeds Love Month special episode] 28:51

2y ago28:51

28:51

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring a Q&A with MM McCabe and Troy Jollimore. Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idea-ethics-centre/…

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LLM4 Kate Lister on Whether We Evolved to be Monogamous [Leeds Love Month special episode] 16:09

2y ago16:09

16:09

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Kate Lister talking about whether we evolved to be monogamous. https://leedstrinity.academia.edu/KateLister Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl Lin…

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LLM5. Pilar Lopez Cantero on Experiences of Breakup and How To Move On Well [Leeds Love Month special episode] 14:51

2y ago14:51

14:51

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Pilar Lopez Cantero talking about experiences of breakup and how to move on well. https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/p-lopezcantero Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://…

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LLM6. Relationships Q&A [Leeds Love Month special episode] 55:20

2y ago55:20

55:20

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring a Q&A session with Kate Lister and Pilar Lopez Cantero. Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idea-ethics-…

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LLM8. MM McCabe on Love and Desire in Plato’s Symposium [Leeds Love Month special episode] 28:07

2y ago28:07

28:07

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Professor MM McCabe on love and desire in Plato’s symposium. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/mm-mccabe Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: h…

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LLM7. Troy Jollimore on Whether We Love For Reasons [Leeds Love Month special episode] 33:34

2y ago33:34

33:34

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Troy Jollimore on whether we love for reasons. https://www.troyjollimore.com/ Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.co…

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LLM3. Dating and Attraction Q&A [Leeds Love Month special episode] 1:06:10

2y ago1:06:10

1:06:10

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring a Q&A session with Finn MacKay and Tom O'Shea. Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/idea-ethics-centre/…

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LLM2. Tom O’Shea on Whether We Can Be Responsible For Our Attractions [Leeds Love Month special episode] 20:56

2y ago20:56

20:56

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Dr Tom O’Shea on whether we can be responsible for our attractions. https://www.tomoshea.org/ Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https:/…

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LLM1. Finn Mackay on Queer Identities and Attraction [Leeds Love Month special episode] 12:28

2y ago12:28

12:28

A special episode from the Leeds Love Month live talks series, featuring Dr Finn MacKay on queer identities and attraction. https://www.drfinnmackay.co.uk/about Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds. Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ideacetl LinkedIn: https://www.l…

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Introducing Leeds Love Month [Leeds Love Month special episode] 1:59

2y ago1:59

1:59

A quick introduction to our special series of episodes featuring recordings from the Leeds Love Month live events organised by the Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships at the University of Leeds. In October 2023, Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships at the University of Leeds ran a series of events under the Love Month banner. There were some r…