Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Library is pleased to announce the complimentary institutional access to the archive of Philosophy Talk, a weekly radio program and podcast founded by professors from Stanford University for over 20 years that brings the richness of philosophical thinking to a broad audience. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Professor Hwa Yeong Wang for her efforts in securing this valuable resource and generously sharing it with the DKU community.
What is Philosophy Talk?
Philosophy Talk is a nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast in the United States hosted by professors Josh Landy and Ray Briggs. Known as “the program that questions everything—except your intelligence,” it encourages listeners to critically examine their assumptions and engage with philosophy in new ways.
Over the past two decades, Philosophy Talk has produced over 600 episodes, exploring a wide spectrum of topics, from enduring philosophical questions to contemporary social reality. Each episode features lively discussions with scholars from around the world, offering clarity, depth, and a touch of humor to make complex ideas approachable for a broad audience.
DKU’s Professor Hwa Yeong Wang as featured guest on Philosophy Talk
Professor Hwa Yeong Wang, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at DKU, is the featured guest in a special episode on Im Yunjidang as part of the “Wise Women” series.
Prof. Wang joins the hosts to discuss the life and thought of Im Yunjidang, an 18th-century Korean Neo-Confucian philosopher whose reflections on moral self-cultivation and gender roles were thought-provoking in a patriarchal society. Drawing on the Confucian belief that sagehood is attainable by all, Im argued that women, too, could become sages.
Through this episode, we can explore how Im Yunjidang reinterpreted Confucian ethics to include women’s moral agency and intellectual autonomy, offering early insights into feminist consciousness within a deeply patriarchal context.
To enjoy the full content and the archived episodes of Philosophy Talk, please make sure you are connected to the Duke VPN when accessing the website. For more detailed VPN instructions, please consult DKU Information Technology.
Creating an Account
Members of the DKU community can register for a free individual account granted with institutional access.
1) Visit philosophytalk.org/institution-user-registration/.
2) Select “Duke Kunshan University” from the Institution Name dropdown menu.
3) Provide your preferred username, full name, and an institutional email address. This can be either your @dukekunshan.edu.cn email or @duke.edu email.
4) After creating and confirming your password, click “Submit” to complete the process.
5) You will receive a membership confirmation email from Philosophy Talk.
Subscribe to Philosophy Talk via RSS (using Apple Podcasts as an example)
Once you have created an account, you can enjoy all the archived episodes on the website. If you are interested in subscribing to the program, you may subscribe via RSS to receive weekly updates directly in your podcast app. Here we use Apple Podcasts as an example.
1) After logging in to the Philosophy Talk website, copy the RSS feed URL under “Episodes” → “Subscribing to the RSS Feed”.
2) In the Library section of Apple Podcasts, click the More Options icon (…) and select “Follow a Show by URL.”
3) Paste the URL into Apple Podcasts and click “Follow.”
4) You will now have access to the latest 10 episodes of Philosophy Talk in your Apple Podcasts library.
You can also search for “Philosophy Talk” to access a selection of featured episodes on Spotify. Please note that only selected episodes are available.
For the full archive of 600+ episodes, please log in via the Philosophy Talk website using your account. You can either browse the full episode list or use the search function with keywords or topics to find episodes that match your interests.
Content: Cai Yan, Chenyue Tong
