Postcard from the past

Joining Tom Jackson to discuss the postcards from their pasts are philosopher JULIAN BAGGINI and journalist EMILY DUGAN, senior reporter for BuzzFeed News. In this New Year episode, we discover the perils of anthropomorphism, the joy of hitch-hiking, and venture towards a philosophy of postcards. Along the way we learn some grubby secrets of south coast coffee making and brave a breakfast-time singalong. Wish you were here?

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Universities and the altar of profit

You might think that a university philosophy department facing closure in Hull is of as much interest to the average person as the shutting of a butcher’s in Wolverhampton is to a vegetarian in Totnes. But the events unfolding on Humberside are symptomatic of a deep malaise affecting not just universities but the wider culture. The crude pursuit of what is “practical”, “efficient” or “useful” is threatening everything of value that isn’t evidently profitable.

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