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PHILOSOPHY TALK with Ken Taylor and John Perry

PHILOSOPHY TALK is the only interactive radio show where listeners can discuss philosophic issues ranging from Socrates and Plato to truth and terrorism. This is the program that questions everything - except your intelligence!

Now in its seventh season, the weekly, nationally syndicated public radio show airs locally on KALW, 91.7FM and on stations around the country from New York to Oregon.

11:00 AM "Democracy and the Press" Our founding fathers believed that a free press would serve democracy by promoting unfettered political debate and by exposing the actions of the government to the harsh scrutiny of an informed and engaged populace. In today's media landscape, however, large conglomerates have become part of the entrenched power structure and are driven as much by the profit motive as by a sense of public mission. And even the most well-intentioned journalists sometimes find it wiser to suck up to power than to challenge it. Even the untamed cacophony of competing voices unleashed by the internet provides as much dis-information as information. In such a media landscape, is it still possible to believe that the press lives up to the lofty ideals of our founding fathers? If not, how might we reform the media so that it once again serves to promote and sustain democracy? Join John and Ken and their guest, former TV news anchor Leslie Griffith, as they discuss Democracy and the Press.

3:00 PM "The Metaphysics of the Social" Few things affect our lives as much as fact that we are citizens of one country rather than another. The government, the economy, the rights, and the opportunities provided by the country we live in shape our lives in crucial ways. But how real are any of these things? Without human beliefs, and societies of humans, there would be no states, no facts of citizenship, no money, and few opportunities. Are our lives built on ontological fluff? Ken and John explore the metaphysics of the social with famed Berkeley philosopher John Searle, author of The Construction of Social Reality.

There will be a luncheon between shows. This luncheon is $10 extra to the price of admission to either show. Purchase a ticket for both shows and attend the luncheon for free!

Please note: No lunch tickets will be sold or included with a ticket to both shows after 3pm on Thursday, April 22, 2010.