Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Andrew Boryga about his novel on victimhood. They discuss how he approaches writing novels vs. non-fiction pieces, choosing themes for the novel, personal influence on fictional characters, evolution of characters, and using tragedy and victimhood for clout. They also discuss dealing with social justice themes, shaped by environment, stereotypes, talking about experiences honestly, and many more topics. Andrew Boryga is a writer, editor, and author who’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The Daily Beast, and many other outlets. He has also taught fiction and non-fiction writing to elementary school students, college students, and incarcerated men in Florida. He is the author of the new novel, Victim. Website: https://www.andrewboryga.com/ Substack: Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Cole Bunzel about the Islamic branch of Wahhābism. They talk about the current landscape of Wahhābism, extreme and non-extreme uses of Wahhābism and some of the differences between terrorists groups that use Wahhābism. They discuss Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and how he started a movement, modeling himself after the Prophet Muhammad, being against polytheism and the cult of saints, and why Wahhābism was designed to be aggressive. They discuss the critics of Wahhābism, role of Sufism, major doctrines, three Saudi states, legacy of Wahhābism, and many other topics. Cole Bunzel is a historian and fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He studies the history and contemporary affairs of the Islamic Middle East, with a particular focus on violent Islamism and the Arabian Peninsula. He has his MA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and his BA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. He has been a research fellow in Islamic law and civilization at the Yale Law School, and is a nonresident fellow at the George Washington University Program on Extremism. He is the editor of the blog Jihadica and has written widely on the ideology of Sunni jihadism, including his most recent book, Wahhābism: The History of A Militant Islamic Movement. Twitter: @colebunzel Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Marcus about the life and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. They discuss how the book is formed and how themes are pulled from Emerson’s life, his religious background and relationship with religion over his lifetime, unitarianism, and when do we find our identity. They talk about first and second marriages, self-reliance and individualism, nature, slavery, his legacy, and many more topics. James Marcus is an editor, translator, critic and writer. He was editor-in-chief at Harper’s Magazine and worked at Columbia Journalism Review. He is the author of the latest book, Glad to the Brink of Fear: A Portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Twitter: @jamesamarcus Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Traub about Hubert Humphrey. They define liberalism, background and context of Humphrey and his internal motivations, how he governed as mayor in Minneapolis, and how he was a liberal and a progressive. They talk about his time as a U.S. Senator, a cold war liberal, and his relationship with Lyndon Johnson. They discuss Humphrey’s foreign affairs work, his time as Vice President of the U.S., Senate years post-Vice Presidency, legacy of Humphrey, and many more topics. James Traub is a journalist and scholar specializing in international affairs. He is a columnist and contributor to the website foreignpolicy.com. He worked as a staff writer for The New Yorker from 1993 to 1998 and as a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine from 1998 to 2011. He has also written extensively about national politics, urban affairs, and education. He has written many books, including the most recent, True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest For A More Just America. He teaches classes on American foreign policy and on the history of liberalism at NYU Abu Dhabi and at NYU. He is a fellow of the Center on International Cooperation and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Website: https://www.traubjames.com/ Substack: Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Michèle Lamont about recognition and interpersonal dynamics. They define recognition and worth, the three avenues of building recognition and ordinary universalism, and what blocks change. They talk about inequality, individualism/collectivism, and challenges of the American dream. They also discuss using media, role of institutions, how we can recognize others, and many more topics. Michèle Lamont is Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University. An influential cultural sociologist who studies boundaries and inequality, she has tackled topics such as dignity, respect, stigma, racism, class and racial boundaries, and how we evaluate social worth across societies. She served as President of the American Sociological Association in 2016, was a Carnegie Fellow in 2021-2022, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and the British Academy. She is the author of numerous books, including her most recent, her most recent book is Seeing Others: How Recognition Works and How It Can Heal a Divided World. Website: https://www.michelelamont.org/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with S. Frederick Starr about the lives and work of Ibn Sina and Biruni. They discuss who were Ibn Sina and Biruni, their time and context, and the correspondence between Ibn Sina and Biruni. They discuss their interactions in the Muslim world, Ibn Sina as vizier, the canon of Ibn Sina and the canon of Biruni. They also discuss work post-canon, how their works were preserved, legacy of both thinkers, and many more topics. S. Frederick Starr is the founding chairman of the Central Asia -Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program, a joint transatlantic research and policy center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Institute (AFPC) in Washington and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. Dr. Starr is Distinguished Fellow for Eurasia at AFPC. Starr is author of the widely acclaimed Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. In this book on the history of the region between the 8th and 11th centuries, he argues that Central Asia was the center of the world. Lost Enlightenment has been translated into 20 languages, and received widespread praise by regional leaders, including Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Starr has focused on the challenge of reopening continental-wide transport passing through Central Asia and Afghanistan. This issue was the subject of a series of articles between 2000 and 2008 and of a book, The New Silk Roads, published in 2007. He is a frequent commentator on the affairs of the region, and the author of numerous articles in journals including Foreign Affairs and op-eds in various leading American and international newspapers. Starr was the founding Chairman of the Kennan Institute in Washington, and served as Vice President of Tulane University and President of Oberlin College (1983-94). He was closely involved in planning the University of Central Asia and the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy and is a trustee of the Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. He earned his PhD in History at Princeton, MA at King’s College, Cambridge, and his BA at Yale, and holds five honorary degrees. Starr is also a founding member of the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble of New Orleans and founded the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the single largest non-governmental sponsor of post-Katrina recovery in that city. He has written four books on New Orleans, including New Orleans Unmasqued, Southern Comfort, and Inventing New Orleans: The Writings of Lafcadio Hearn. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Clay Routledge about nostalgia. They define nostalgia, nostalgia being forward thinking, nostalgia with positive and negative memories, and the downsides of nostalgia in pop culture. They discuss nostalgia with self-concept, self-continuity, and self-esteem, nostaglia for understanding existential anxiety and death, best ways to use nostalgia, and many more topics. Clay Routledge is an existential psychologist, writer, and consultant. He is Vice President of Research and Director of the Human Flourishing Lab at Archbridge Institute and co-editor of Profectus, a magazine on human progress and flourishing. He has published more than 100 academic papers, co-edited three books, authored three books, and received numerous awards for his scholarly research and student mentorship. He is the author of his most recent book, Past Forward. Website: https://www.clayroutledge.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Lisa Bortolotti about delusions. They talk about why we should think about delusions, delusions as emotional and rational beliefs, defining delusions, clinical and non-clinical delusions, and why we believe delusions. They talk about when delusions cause harm, can people change their delusional beliefs, and many more topics. Lisa Bortolotti is a philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She is Editor in Chief of Philosophical Psychology. She has her PhD in philosophy and her main interests are in philosophy of science, irrational beliefs, and epistemic injustice. Website: https://lisabortolotti.blogspot.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Ajit Varki about the evolutionary origins of denial and self-deception. They discuss the evolutionary perspective of human origins, self-awareness in humans, theory of mind, and how false beliefs and denial evolved. They also discuss lying, self-deception, religion, positive uses of deception, climate change, future of Mind Over Reality theory, and many more topics. Ajit Varki received training in physiology, medicine, biology, and biochemistry at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, The University of Nebraska, Omaha, and Washington University, St. Louis. He was trained and board-certified in internal medicine, hematology, and oncology. He joined the faculty of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1982.Dr. Varki is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Society for Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, and of Sigma Xi. He has been a recipient of a MERIT award from the NIH, the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award, as well as three of the highest honors in the field: the Karl Meyer Award (2005), the International Glycoconjugate Organization Award (2007), the Rosalind Kornfeld Award for Lifetime Achievement in Glycobiology (2020), and the ASBMB Herbert Tabor Research Award (2023). He was also elected President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1998–1999), President of the Society for Glycobiology (1996) and served Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation (1992–1997). He is recognized for creating the first major open access research journal, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, JCI (1996), as well as the first major open access textbook, Essentials of Glycobiology (2008). Dr. Varki was honored with the Old Cottonian of Eminence Award at the 150th Anniversary of Bishop Cotton Boy's School in Bangalore, India (2015) and he was also honored with the Annual Research Day Distinguished Faculty Medal and Oration at his medical school alma mater, the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India (2020). Dr. Varki's interests in human evolution also led him to propose a novel Mind Over Reality Transition theory about human origins, in the book, Denial. Link to paper: https://cmm.ucsd.edu/research/labs/varki/_files/publications/b200.pdf Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Sima Samar about her life and work for women’s rights. They discuss her reasoning for writing her memoirs, history of modern Afghanistan, impact of Islam, and the rule of the Taliban. They talk about her work in medicine and human rights advocacy, women’s rights in Afghanistan, becoming Vice President and Minister of Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan. They also discuss her work on the human rights commission, being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, women’s rights around the world, the future of Afghanistan, and many more topics. Sima Samar is a human rights advocate, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and global influential female figure. She received her MD from Kabul University Medical College. Since 2002 she has been the Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) which holds human rights violators accountable and sets the human rights agenda in Afghanistan. She is also the Chairperson of the Commission for the Prevention of Torture and was the Chairperson of the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF). Prior to her appointment as the chair of AIHRC, she was the Vice President of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and the first Minister of Women’s Affairs. She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan between 2005 and 2009 and has been appointed as a member of the United Nation’s Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. Samar also served as member of High Level Panel for Internal Displacement. Her commitment to her community is evident through her NGO Shuhada Organization’s work in operating 55 middle and high schools for girls and boys in Afghanistan, and three schools in Quetta, Pakistan for Afghan refugees. In addition to this Shuhada operates 12 clinics and three hospitals in Afghanistan and one hospital in Quetta for refugees, dedicated to providing education and healthcare, particularly focusing on women and girls. Website: https://shuhada.org.af/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Kramer about Prozac. They talk about the 30th anniversary of Listening To Prozac and antidepressants, origins of antidepressants, classes of antidepressants, selfhood, criticisms of SSRIs and the serotonin hypothesis, risk of suicide with Prozac, future of SSRIs, and more more topics. Peter Kramer is a psychiatrist who practiced and taught psychiatry for over 40 years. He is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. He has done extensive research on depression and anti-depressants. He is the author of numerous books including the bestseller, Listening to Prozac. Website: https://www.peterdkramer.com/ Twitter: @peterdkramer Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Stefanos Geroulanos about the history of prehistory. They talk about why studying history is important and why it is not final, the emphasis on the nature of man, why Rousseau and Hobbes’ ideas still persist, human nature and equality, and the impact of Darwin. They also talk about the impact of Marx, Neanderthals, thin veneer, and the instincts, Freud’s contribution, Nazi party, how we continue to understand history, and many more topics. Stefanos Geroulanos is Director of the Remarque Institute and a professor of history at New York University. He has his BA from Princeton and his PhD from Johns Hopkins. From 2015-2017, he was Director of the Center for International Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences at NYU. His research focuses on histories of the concepts that weave together understanding of the human, of time, and of the body. He has written many books, including the most recent book, The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins. Website: https://www.stefanos-geroulanos.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Jorell Meléndez Badillo about the history of Puerto Rico. They talk about the origins of the island of Puerto Rico, Taino peoples, reasons for Columbus coming to Puerto Rico, and indigenous peoples fighting back. They talk about enslaved peoples in the mid 16th century, origins of the term “Puertorriqueños,” impact of race and colorism, and hardship in Puerto Rico in the 19th century. They discuss the Lares revolution, coming to New York, Spanish-American war and the United States acquiring Puerto Rico, cultural shifts from Spanish colony to American colony, the great migration in the mid 20th century, history of parties, status of Puerto Rico, and the future of Puerto Rico. Jorell Meléndez Badillo is a historian of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. He is currently Assistant Professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before arriving at UW-Madison, he was a Mellon Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College. His work focuses on the global circulation of radical ideas from the standpoint of working-class intellectual communities. He is the author of the book, Puerto Rico: A Natural History. Website: https://www.jorellmelendezbadillo.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Elizabeth Barnes about the ideas surrounding health. They discuss why we care about health and how we define health, social impact of health, and discussing health publicly. They also talk about shame and stigma with health, disability and health differences, ameliorative skepticism, and many more topics. Elizabeth Barnes is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. Her research interests are divided between metaphysics, political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and ethics. She has written a handful books, including her most recent book, Health Problems. Website: https://elizabethbarnesphilosophy.weebly.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Christian Madsbjerg about perception in the world. They discuss why perception and observation are important, the work of Merleau-Ponty, perception being reality, and intersubjectivity. They discuss the role of the body in phenomenology, phenomenology of space, the “other,” practical ways of paying attention in the world, and many more topics. Christian Madsbjerg is an author, entrepreneur, and academic who focuses on the practical and commercial application of the Human Sciences. He is the co-founder of the global consulting firm Red Associates which addressing strategy questions through empirical, organized observations of the human world. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board at the world-class architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group, holds a non-executive director position at Fritz Hansen A/S, is an independent Director and Chair of the Nomination and Governance Committee at The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC), and is a member of the US board of Kvadrat A/S. He also serves as a director of the Revs Institute, a design museum and research institute. He has held the Professor of Applied Humanities position at The New School in New York City. He is the author of several books, including the most recent book, Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World. Website: https://madsbjerg.com/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Helen De Cruz about wonder and awe. They define awe and wonder as distinct emotions, awe in other animals, social and cultural aspects of awe, and philosophy being born in wonder. They discuss the history of awe and wonder from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment, theories of emotions, magic and wonder, religion and wonder, Merleau-Ponty and habits, spiritual naturalism, and many more topics. Helen De Cruz holds the Danforth Chair in the Humanities at Saint Louis University. She holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Groningen and a PhD in archaeology and art sciences from the Free University of Brussels. Her work examines why and how humans engage in pursuits that seem remote from the immediate concerns of survival and reproduction, such as theology, mathematics, and science. She is the author of many books including the most recent, Wonderstruck: How Awe and Wonder Shape the Way We Think. Website: https://helendecruz.net/ Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katlyn Carter about the origins of the United States during the revolutionary period. They discuss the concern about secrecy and transparency in government, representative government and representative democracy, pros and cons of democracy, and how democracy is different from 1776. They also talk about shifting from colonies to states, reasons for secrecy in the founding, comparisons with France, Madison’s speed bumps for democracy, how we see transparency now in government, and many more topics. Katlyn Carter is a historian and Assistant Professor in History at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on the origins of modern representative democracy through the study of political practices and institutions. She has a Bachelors in History from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD in History from Princeton University. She is the author of, Democracy In Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Robin Lane Fox about Homer and his Iliad. They discuss how to best read the Iliad, structure of the poem, and the use of speeches, language, and movement. They talk about the location of Troy, Homer’s authorship, Homer’s description of the Trojan war, Homer’s illiteracy, Iliad’s transcription, genius of Homer, and many more topics. Robin Lane Fox is a historian and Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford, and taught Ancient History at Oxford University from 1977 to 2014. He has taught on Greek and Latin literature and Islamic history for many years. He has written many books on classical history, including his most recent book, Homer and His Iliad. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla and Michael Callahan have a discussion about their respective podcasts. They discuss why they decided to do this crossover episode, how Converging Dialogues started, how Where We Go Next started, and how they treat guests. They discuss their process for asking questions, motivations for interviews, importance of active listening, their process for each episode, legacy of the podcast, and many more topics. Where We Go Next is a podcast focused on in-depth conversations with the people changing the ways we think, create, and live. Host Michael Callahan engages with visionary founders, best-selling writers, award-winning journalists, acclaimed educators, and innovative artists. Website: https://wherewegonext.com/ Instagram: @wwgnpodcast Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Tara Palmeri about the 2024 US Presidential election. They discuss why there is rematch of the 2020 US Presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Biden’s challengers, Biden’s age, and the Democrats “bench.” They talk about feelings mattering more than policy, immigration, predictions, and many more topics. Tara Palmeri is a Senior political correspondent at Puck and host of the Ringer’s election podcast, “Somebody’s Gotta Win.” Previously, she has worked as a journalist for Politico and ABC News. Twitter: @tarapalmeri Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe