Jason Gots
Big Think
New York, NY, United States
Contact Jason
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Jason:
the Epicurean cure for what ails ya, with philosopher Catherine Wilson
From atomic theory to evolution to utilitarian pragmatism, the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was way ahead of his time. In the writings of his school, philosopher Catherine Wilson finds answers to many of our most vexing modern problems. → Read More
attention as an act of resistance – with Jenny Odell
Artist, "bird noticer", and concerned citizen of the digital state of the world Jenny Odell looks at many different ways of resisting the attention economy, sinking into the reality of our lives, and finding solidarity and agency with others. → Read More
private hate, public love, and everything in between – with Jeffrey Israel
Picking up the thread of a conversation they started two decades ago in Jerusalem, with some help from Lenny Bruce, philosopher Martha Nussbaum, and other influences along the way, host Jason Gots and Williams College professor Jeffrey Israel go deep on private grievances, public life, and where the two overlap. → Read More
Think Again Podcast's 200th episode! Robert MacFarlane (writer) – deep time rising
The wonder and the ethics of deep time. The "wood-wide-web". The claustrophobia of the Anthropocene. In our 200th episode, UNDERLAND author Robert MacFarlane takes us on a journey deep into the Earth and ourselves. → Read More
Eve Ensler (author, activist)
For all the women in the world who never got the apology they needed, and all the men who haven't found the words, and above all for herself, Eve Ensler (THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES) wrote THE APOLOGY. In this searing, unflinching, often surprisingly funny conversation we talk about trauma, compassion, and what it means to apologize for real. → Read More
Extraordinary machines – with neuroscientist Susan Hockfield
Convergence 2.0: Engineers are using the "natural genius" of biological systems to produce extraordinary machines—self-assembling batteries, cancer-detecting nanoparticles, super-efficient water filters made from proteins found in blood cells. Neuroscientist and MIT President Emerita Susan Hockfield and host Jason Gots discuss what all this could mean for our future. → Read More
Adam Gopnik on the rhinoceros of liberalism vs. the unicorns of everything else
Torn between absolutism on the left and the right, classical liberalism—with its core values of compassion and incremental progress whereby the once-radical becomes the mainstream—is in need of a good defense. And Adam Gopnik is its lawyer. → Read More
Jared Diamond (historian) – Look inward, Nation
Personal crises and national crises have more than a few things in common. From Brexit to the partisan divide in America to Germany after World War II, Jared Diamond talks with host Jason Gots about how we get through them (or don't). → Read More
Terry Gilliam - The impossible dream
The film becomes the story of the making of the film. From his Monty Python days to now, Don Quixote is a metaphor for Terry Gilliam's whole career, and for his 30 year project of making a film about a film about the knight of the woeful countenance. We talk about Muppets, time, and basically everything else two humans can talk about. → Read More
Frans de Waal (primatologist) – You’re such a social animal
Love, grief, and moral disgust aren't unique to humans. Like chimps, humans sometimes struggle for dominance, but our first impulse is trust and connection. Frans de Waal has spent decades showing that most of what we believe about animals, humans, and the differences between us is wrong. → Read More
Aml Ameen – how the world teaches you who you are
For Idris Elba's directorial debut YARDIE, actor Aml Ameen (Sense8, Kidulthood) went back to his family's Jamaican roots, learning patois and sound clash chat—using method acting to become "D" - a lost soul on a quest for revenge. The process changed him forever. → Read More
Ha Jin on the wild and tragic life of China's greatest poet, Li Bai
The 8th century AD was a tough time to be a genius from a poor family in China. Poet and novelist Ha Jin on the tortured life of the legendary drunken poet Li Bai. Also: panpsychism, the value of idleness, and humanities education in America today. → Read More
Don’t get too comfortable: Marlon James on his “African 'Game of Thrones'”
Man-Booker prizewinning author Marlon James in a freewheeling game of verbal ping-pong on African mythology, '80's hip hop, heavy metal, tattoos, and billionaire philanthropy. → Read More
Edith Hall – from Aristotle to Oprah and back again: how to live your best life
Classicist Edith Hall reminds us that Aristotle's "virtue ethics" was a sophisticated, subtle approach to the pursuit of lifelong happiness a couple millennia before Oprah thought of inviting us to live our best life. → Read More
Conflict Photographer Lynsey Addario on Art, Love, and War
For two decades she's traveled the world, photographing humans in crisis. Pulitzer and MacArthur winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario on what it's all taught her. → Read More
The Upside of Downtime – Manoush Zomorodi – Think Again
When was the last time you were well and truly bored? If you can't remember, you're not alone. Manoush Zomorodi on what our brains really need, and what they're getting. → Read More
Civilization and Its Discontents – Maya Jasanoff – Think Again
Terrorism. Technological disruption. Globalization. Life in the 1870’s was wild. Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff on Joseph Conrad, his times, and ours. → Read More
Reza Aslan – Deus Ex Hominem – Think Again
Since at least the dawn of our species, we've been making and remaking god(s) in our own image. The strange transformations of religion—and faith, the strange impulse that animates it. → Read More
Juli Berwald — Our Jellyfish Overlords — Think Again
Jellyfish have their tentacles all tangled up in our lives in ways we’re only dimly aware of. → Read More
Henry Rollins, Redux: Monogamy+Genius+Violence
Two classic episodes from Think Again's origins, reunited at last. → Read More