The Point Audio
A podcast from The Point
Hosted by Justin E. H. Smith
“What Is X?” has been described as “a cross between a Platonic dialogue and ‘The Price Is Right.’” It combines dialectical inquiry of the sort perfected by Socrates and his interlocutors with a distinctly ludic spirit. Here’s how it works: For each episode, host Justin E. H. Smith invites on a guest distinguished in their field (or occasionally a “regular” person who really likes to talk). Smith asks the guest to answer a question of the form “What is X?” (for example, “What is beauty?” “What is nature?” “What are dreams?”), after which the two partners in dialogue undertake a Socratic inquiry into the nature of X, in search of a definition that satisfies both of them. There are three possible outcomes: agreement, disagreement, and aporia (Greek for “dead end”), each with its own sound effect: if we arrive at agreement, a church bell will chime; disagreement is signaled by a bleating goat; if aporia is the best we can do, we will hear naught but a gust of wind. Rigorous but freewheeling, fun and serious at once, accessibly highbrow, these conversations model rational inquiry in a new way, providing answers for truth-seekers… or perhaps just more questions.
We’ve partnered with Curio to bring you The Point in audio form. If you’re in the car, or doing chores, or just sick of reading, listen in and Curio’s great narrators will bring our essays to life.
Here’s a running list of the essays that have audio versions available. (You’ll find the audio versions embedded at the top of the page.)
“One Must Imagine Faust Happy” by Michael D. Gordin
“Hysterical Empathy” by Shaan Sachdev
“Motherhood and Taboo” by Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman
“Careerism” by Apoorva Tadepalli
“Hot or Not” by Elizabeth Barber
“Why Am I Being Hurt?” by Agnes Callard
“The Universe and the University” by Jennifer A. Frey
“The Logic of the Like” by Daniel Silver
“Sources of Life” by Greg Jackson
“Parricide” by Steven Methven
“Seduced by Respectability” by Samuel Clowes Huneke
“Returning to Nowhere” by Riham Alkousaa
“A Deeper Longing” by Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist.
“Treat Yourself” by Apoorva Tadepalli
“The Defender” by Nargol Aran
“Quiet Time” by Jonny Thakkar
“A World Without Children” by Samuel Scheffler
“Bullshit Jobs” by Jonah Galeota-Sprung
“American Greatness” by Jackson Arn
“Closer Reading” by Laura Baudot
“Regarding Joan Miró” by Sophie Beck
“On Being an Arsehole” by Jonny Thakkar
“Leaving Herland” by Nora Caplan-Bricker
“Driving America” by Jacob Hoerger
“Climbing Kanchenjunga” by Jacob Mikanowski
“Icebergs” by George Philip LeBourdais
“Being Known” by Lowry Pressly
“How Should an Advice Column Be?” by Megan Marz
“Now They Were Corpses” by Betty Rosen
“Hearts and Minds” by Rachel Wong
“War Music” by Thomas Berenato
“Who Did It?” by Hannah Rosefield
“Brexit and the Facts” by William Davies
“Class Dismissed” by Frank Guan
“The Totality of Facts” by Christopher Fenwick
“Demagoguery and Poetry” by Danielle Charette
“The Insane Idea” by Meghan O’Gieblyn
“The Time of the Assassins” by Jesse McCarthy
“What’s Left Over” by Alexis Zanghi
“New Work” by Tim Peters
“Stalin’s Finger” by Jacob Mikanowski
“Starving” by Barrett Swanson
“Fear and Loathing at the Trump Rally” by Jake Bittle
“Kids” by Moira Weigel
“Gamelife” by Andrew Blevins
“Melancholy” by Carina del Valle Schorske
“The Magic of Untidiness” by Laurel Berger
“Crowd Love” by Miranda Trimmier
“Effected” by Jonah Galeota-Sprung
“Himself” by Jonathan McDaniel
“Hell” by Meghan O’Gieblyn
“Against Honeymoons” by Charles Comey
“Forward with Fukuyama” by Daniel Luban
“Fail Again” by David J. Unger
“Paper Chasing” by Jake Bittle
“The Shuttle Era” by Sophia Nguyen
“Wonder and the Ends of Inquiry” by Lorraine Daston
“Into the Cave” by Dawn Herrera Helphand
“Being Known” by Lowry Pressly
“The People’s Republic” by William Harris
“Outrage” by Cole Carter
“Small Talk” by Dora Zhang
“Abbas Kiarostami’s Transcendental Style” by Kyle Smith
“Here, Now” by Adam M. Bright
Check out Curio.io for more audio content.
A discussion series from The Point where our editors talk to writers and readers about new issues of the magazine:
Rather Be Reading
Our currently inactive but nonetheless entertaining podcast. We might resurrect her one day! In the meantime, enjoy these three legendary episodes. (The brightest stars burn out the fastest…)