Philosophy Talk

Philosophy Talk is produced by Ben Manilla Productions, Inc. on behalf of Stanford University, as part of its Humanities Outreach Initiative. 

Philosophy Talk is radio that celebrates the value of the examined life.  Week after week, our two philosopher-hosts invite listeners to join them in conversations about a wide variety of issues  -- ranging from popular culture to our most deeply held beliefs about science, morality, and the human condition.  Philosophy Talk challenges listeners to identify and question their assumptions and to think about things in new ways.   We are dedicated to reasoned conversation driven by human curiousity.  Philosophy Talks is  broadly accessible,  intellectually stimulating and, most of all, fun!  

Ken Taylor is the current Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University.  He is also director of Stanford's interdisciplinary program in Symbolic Systems. 

His work lies at the intersection of the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind, with an occasional foray into the history of philosophy.

He is the author of many books and articles, including Truth and Meaning, Reference and the Rational Mind, and the forthcoming Referring to the World.  He is hard at work on  his magnum opus book long in the making called  A Natural History of Normativity  in which he reduces all things normative to something merely natural.  

John Perry is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Riverside, and Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of many honors and awards, including the Nicod and Humboldt Prizes. A popular lecturer, in 1990 he was awarded the Dinkelspiel Award for undergraduate teaching. 

He is the author of over 100 articles and books, including A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Knowledge, Possibility, and Consciousness, and Reference and Reflexivity. 

He also has the internet’s most popular essay on procrastination.

Roving Philosophical Reporter

Caitlin Esch is a journalist in Oakland, California. She has contributed to NPR, The East Bay Express, The Oakland Tribune, and The Wall Street Journal. She has a Master's in Journalism from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor's in English Literature from George Washington University. Caitlin's work regularly airs on KQED public radio.

Merle Kessler

Kessler is also a founding member of Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre, the legendary yet obscure sketch comedy group. He co-created, with Dan Coffey, the character of Dr. Science, he of Ask Dr. Science. He is the author or co-author of five books. Despite this, he was actively employed in the nineties at various videogame and dotcom industries - until everything went kerflooey. He is thrilled to be working in radio again, because it is more fun than anything. As a bonus, on the radio nobody knows if you've shaved or not.

He is also writing a web-based comedy series, called KollegeTV, which should baffle many when it launches, and writing the scripts for a video documentary series called Great Libraries of the World. Look for it next year on a public radio station near you.

He is married to Amy Kessler, who likes bad movies almost as much as he does. He speaks no languages. None.

Ben Manilla, Senior Producer

 A pioneer of contemporary audio production, Ben has been at the vanguard of creative radio since the mid ’70s. Recognized by professionals around the world for his award-winning programming and innovative production style, he has held executive positions at Radio Today, RKO Radio Networks, WOR Radio, WLIR Radio, and the Progressive Radio Network. Beginning with his work as a Top Ten metro market production director and morning man, Ben has initiated programming for virtually every format. He has directed or produced hundreds of features, specials, documentaries, ongoing series, commercials, and audio presentations. Ben teaches Radio Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Devon Strolovitch, Producer

Devon studied medieval Judeo-Portuguese manuscripts and earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cornell University before pursuing radio professionally. Since then he has been the primary studio producer for Philosophy Talk, while also contributing as a writer, editor, occasional Roving Philosophical Reporter, and manager of the program's day-to-day operations. Devon has helped produce other national radio features including The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger, Woodstock 40 Years On: The Radio Special, and in association with the Library of Congress, the award-winning Sounds of American Culture.  He also hosts his own weekly blues program, Fog City Blues, on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco.

Laura Maguire, Director of Research

Laura originally hails from Dublin, Ireland. After graduating with distinction in Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin, she moved to the Bay Area to pursue her doctoral studies at Stanford University. She received her PhD in Philosophy in 2006, and since then has been teaching in the Introduction to the Humanities program, the Philosophy Department, and the Structured Liberal Education program at Stanford. When not deep in thought, Laura is either dancing or listening to live music, usually in small local venues. She has co-produced several multidisciplinary dance performances, both at home in San Francisco and in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and she currently promotes live music in the Bay Area under the name Live ‘n’ Local SF. She also enjoys writing about music, dance, and other experiments.

Crack Research Team

Judee Burr

Daniel Hollingshead

Mala Chatterjee

Nathaniel Eisen

Mark Stone, Board Operator