by Daniel A. Kaufman
___
My relationship with Robert Wright’s “BloggingHeads.TV” goes back some ten years or so, when I was nothing more than a regular contributer to the comments section. So involved was I that when Bob first recorded a conversation with regular commenters in 2013, I was one of them. [Though the link is still up, the video no longer seems to play.]
Becoming a content creator came not long after. Massimo Pigliucci and I did a number of dialogues together, beginning in 2014, and I also appeared several times with Aryeh Cohen-Wade prior to the creation of his show, Culturally Determined, on which I also often appeared quite a few times as a guest.
The first episode of Sophia, as an official show dedicated to philosophy and its intersection with other subjects, aired in 2015 and inaugurated BloggingHeads’ sister channel, MeaningofLife.TV. First devoted exclusively to dialogues with Massimo, it eventually went on to include dialogues with many different guests and over the last year or so, with additional hosts: The Electric Agora’s own Robert Gressis and David Ottlinger and more recently, Kevin Currie-Knight.
As most of you know by now, MeaningofLife.TV will no longer host Sophia. The rest of this essay is devoted to why.
___
I was dismissed by way of an email that Bob sent to me in January, in which he said that he thought Sophia should leave the platform. As it was written, it wasn’t entirely clear to me whether this was a suggestion or a declaration of intent, so I emailed him back to clarify [and I’m paraphrasing]: Are you throwing Sophia off of MOLTV? Bob’s answer was a categorical “Yes.”
This was not the first time that Bob and I had discussed the possibility of Sophia leaving BloggingHeads. Due to the pandemic and content creators having a lot more time on their hands, the queues had become long, and weeks, even months would pass before a recorded dialogue was posted. Given that the amount of Sophia content was increasing [in part because of the addition of new hosts], this seemed a problem. Also, several EA writers had expressed interest in creating their own podcasts, so EA was going to expand to include a podcast “wing.”
Bob had also informed me that BHTV/MOLTV was no longer being funded by the grants that had financed them before, so the platform would cease offering the post-production that it used to provide. Content creators would have to do it themselves, pay someone to do it or have their dialogues post with no timestamps. As I do not have the relevant skills and want the timestamps, I decided to pay for it, and have been doing so to the tune of $100.00 per episode.
All of these might have been reasons to leave the platform, but I had decided against it. I had too much history with and investment in MOLTV; I had made too many friends amongst the commentariat over the years; and there was no reason why I couldn’t keep Sophia on MOLTV, while also creating new podcasts over at the Electric Agora.
I won’t go into the details of Bob’s communication, but aside from the dismissal itself, there were two items that made up the bulk of it: Dismay that I had publicly, on several occasions, criticized BloggingHeads’ move in the direction of crowdfunding its individual shows; and the contention that Sophia had drifted from its original conception and become both overly academic and too often devoted to expressing my political opinions.
The first is what it is, and I don’t really have anything to say about it. I think my criticisms were measured and fair. The second I find puzzling, because Sophia, at least in its substance, has not changed in the slightest. [Its format, of course, has changed in that we have added additional regular hosts.] The philosophy was technical and challenging from the beginning – as my discussion with Massimo on reductive materialism, the strong AI thesis, and Searle’s Chinese Room thought experiment, back in 2015 demonstrates – and I never failed to voice my political opinions when relevant, as I did back in 2017, when David Ottlinger and I discussed the illiberalism of the Social Justice movement. Also puzzling is the fact that in the six years that I have been running the program, Bob has never once expressed dissatisfaction to me about it.
If I am being honest with myself, though, I should have realized that the proverbial writing has been on the wall for some time. If you look back at Sophia’s archives, as well as the archives for the Wright Show, you’ll see that Bob and I used to create a lot of content together. Besides regularly appearing on one another’s shows, Bob would use mine to make channel announcements [as he did when announcing the short-lived “sermons” modality], and we had even discussed my taking on a bigger role in the BHTV/MOLTV operation over dinner in Manhattan. But, all of this stopped around 2017 or so.
What happened? Anyone’s guess is as good as mine, but if you asked me to speculate, I would observe that around the same time, I had begun to comment in a sometimes-critical vein on Bob’s and others’ content on MOLTV that seemed to me “woo” and with which I did not think a serious operation like ours should be associated. At one point, I even requested that Sophia be moved to BHTV, which was refused. After that, Bob and I never did a dialogue together again. Even after the publication of my book, How to Live a Good Life last year, though Bob interviewed the other two editors – Massimo Pigliucci and Skye Cleary – as well as contributor Robin Wang, he never interviewed me. [In the email dismissing me, Bob offered to do one last dialogue together, but I hope readers can understand why I refused.]
So, I had developed the strong impression that Bob had soured on me, but he never said a word to me about it, and I felt that I could live with it. We’re all grown-ups after all, and we don’t have to love each other in order to work together productively. So despite the fact that I’ve not been on Bob’s proverbial menu for some time, it did come as a surprise to me when I was dismissed.
I am very grateful for my time as part of the BloggingHeads family, and I am proud of Sophia, which I think has been a consistently high-quality show, largely because of the excellent guests we’ve had, including Russell Blackford, Meghan Daum, Oliver Burkeman, Brian Leiter, and of course, the one and only, Massimo Pigliucci. And while I am sad to have to go, I am looking forward to Sophia’s coming home to the Electric Agora and to producing several new podcasts that will be going up alongside it and which I am sure will draw their own loyal audiences.
Comments
61 responses to “end of an era”
It’s too bad. Toggling among Kaufman, Wright, and Loury has gotten me through the pandemic. But then, given strong headed characters like Dan and Bob, maybe we should be grateful it lasted this long…
Not completely clear to me the bit about whether Sophia is under the MOLTV rubric or the BHTV rubric, as I always consumed them interchangeably. But there is absolutely nothing surprising about the woo friction which definitely became increasingly evident 2-3 years ago. I would say this is more than a theory, but likely true as the initial irritant in the relationship. Was clear to me in real time, though I had no way to know what transpired behind the scenes. I would opine two things here: First, Meaning of Life inquiries necessarily must entail exploring terrain which certain personalities will denigrate as woo — and it is denigrating — due to their attachments to strictly rationalist (and largely physicalist) modes of thought. In fact, a main cadence within the current agora on this theme is precisely that shit is broken because this mode has been dominant or even exclusive for too long a time. Second, seems to me that if one is within a community of contributors such as this — I mean the primary contributors of content as opposed to commentators — then certain boundaries of public critique should operate between these contributors. And I was not sure these inexplicit (to me) boundaries were not crossed during those 2-3 years. As you have plainly said over the past year in particular, you are not yourself particularly that interested in thinking about basic questions, which is the the main thrust behind your Prolegomena, and so MOLTV is, I guess, not a suitable rubric for your stuff. But the classical region encompassed by the term Sophia (I mean Greek classical) also never excluded these types of inquiries, but embraced them. Have 2500 years of Western cultural elaboration put these kinds of questions to bed : no. Some might argue, well, woo-attribution is really more about the quality of the discussion or the thinking, less so the terrain. But I think no. I noticed in 2018 or so and began observing it repeatedly, that it was easy for me to predict which offerings were going to provoke the sort of negative critique we are discussing from Dan. And sure enough, looking down into the comments bore this out.
Dan:
I appreciate the background on the situation on BHTV and your interactions with Bob Wright.
I’m really sorry to see the latest turn of events at BHTW. I remember all of the public events you recount and appreciate your perspective on them and your linking them together. It makes the picture much clearer.
I don’t support Wright’s individual show paywall model for BHTV and wonder how it can possible work. Bob was crowing about (almost) reaching 750 subscribers on the “Parrot Room” in his latest podcast with Mikey Kaus and at $5 a month per user that’s only $45K a year. Considering the good will he has squandered It hardly seems worth it.
It was a good run.
I do this to reach people, so I would not be satisfied with 750 subscribers. But I really don’t know what Bob’s motivations are and wouldn’t want to speculate.
Sorry about the confusion. BloggingHeads was the original and MOLTV was added later. The idea was to have a separate place for the non-public-affairs content, which was increasing. My show actually predates the creation of MOLTV but was the show to inaugurate it.
As for the rest, you may be right. Not sure why my request to move to BHTV was rejected. And if I am being honest, I don’t think I was treated in either an ethical or a decent manner, given the relationship that existed before and in light of the amount of free labor and content I gave to the site. But it’s water under the bridge now, and moving on is all we can do.
Bob clearly does not like confrontation and goes out of his way to avoid it. Even so, his lack of clarity about removing Sofia is surprising. And I think Bob’s lack of appetite for conflict does his own podcasts a disservice as he often tolerates outrageously silly, wrongheaded or even malicious positions without countering them. He sometimes rationalizes this as letting the other person talk. The Kate Manne interview was one of the worst offenders as Bob did not challenge any of her often fantastic and anti-scientific assertions. But he also does it with Mickey Kaus.
This clearly arises from the great value Bob puts on peaceful cooperation and non zero sum interactions which he believes are the highest values to the point that he fantasizes about world government and the rule of “international law” something that does not really even exist between the great powers (who can pretty much do what they like with impunity based on their security council veto rights). In any case this emphasis on collaboration and dislike of confrontation makes him dislike people who are plainspoken (Dawkins and the new atheists are examples he often harps on). One wonders if Bob (who is ironically an army brat) would have supported Neville Chamberlain at Munich thinking that he could avoid war with Nazi Germany.
On the other hand, Dan’s plainspoken, uncompromising and direct way of speaking and his excellent judgment about skewering baseless philosophical and moral positions as ‘woo’ is what made Sophia so refreshing and interesting to listen to. Dan says what he thinks. There is no bullshit. We need that far more than equivocation and tolerance of absurd ideas like the various simulation and panpsychist stews that one finds on twitter. We don’t need more advocates for religious fairytales or varieties of “I know the truth” moral realism, we need straight talk, no bullshit and good philosophical judgment.
I didn’t always comment on your conversations on Sophia, but I always watched them. I was consistently impressed with the thoughtful discussions, especially when they ran counter to my own views on a topic. All the better, if your beliefs can accommodate intelligent critique, and if not, you have good reason to change them. For me personally, Dan’s conversations and writings (here on EA) on the distinction between the manifest and the scientific images have been revelatory and changed my perspective on a number of questions.
As others have remarked, I wasn’t completely surprised with the news. I watched some of the conversations with Bob when Dan offered his customary sharp critiques, and I could see how they nettled Bob. But just as clearly, Dan’s remarks weren’t personal. Just look at some of Dan’s recent conversations with Kevin, and also with Crispin Sartwell and Robert Gressis further back, and you’ll see far more brutal criticisms and judgments than were ever directed at Bob. This touchiness doesn’t reflect all too well on Bob, I’m sorry to say, especially when others take criticisms more gracefully.
Obviously I will continue to follow Sophia here on EA.
Thank you for your kindness. And I’m glad to see you here!
Good to see you! And thanks!
It was indeed! Great in fact!
With both FC and now Sophia gone from the platform there is no new content I will be consuming there. I’ll only go by to watch the old long gone Science Saturday show. Ironically I would say those two shows were the most non-woke and non-tradition bound of all the shows. They were willing to skewer whoever needed to be skewered, and they did it without sacrificing intellectual principles.
I loved Horgan when he did that show with George. I don’t understand what happened to Horgan. The man seriously regressed in terms of the quality of his content.
A part of me wonders whether there was more to Feminine Chaos leaving BHTV than we were told. But I’m not going to ask Phoebe or Kat about it. They shouldn’t be put in an awkward position.
Dan,
Since nobody has mentioned this yet, I wanted to add this comment. I appreciate that you are making all this content available for free. Our society reinforces the idea that everything that can be monetized should be, and also that however much income you have now, having more would be even better. So I’m very glad that there are at least a few people like you around who have decided that their current income is satisfactory and that what they would like to do is spend time promoting a public and civic discourse.
Kevin Drum recently “retired” by leaving Mother Jones and recreating an old school blog with no paywall. Scott Alexander relaunched his blog on Substack, but with a commitment to keep his content free. There are voluntary subscriptions, but he says that that money (there will be quite a lot) will be used to help launch his new model of mental health care.
With so much of what used to be a conversation retreating behind paywalls, those of you who can afford and are willing to stay out in the public will be all the more valuable.
Also, I’m excited to see that you are going to be able to expand the video podcast offerings. Audio seems more popular, but I listen best when I can see the people talking. So The Electric Agora is looking strong and I offer best wishes for the beginning of your new era.
I haven’t watched Horgan in years. In what way(s) did he regress?
He used to do a much-loved science show on BHTV called “Science Saturday” But lately, he has been tending more and more towards woo and straying farther and farther from things he really knows anything about. Esp. philosophy.
Super kind of you. Thank you!
Dan, for reasons of no particular interest I get the impression that you and I wouldn’t get along particularly well in person, but I’ve often remarked that you’ve taught me a tremendous amount of philosophy (and about philosophy) through Sophia, so thank you for that, and thanks for continuing.
Dan,
I’m sorry to hear that things took a turn at MOLTV/BLHTV. It must be difficult to be blindsided like that after so long on the platform.
I agree with your criticism of the paywall model. If the site had started that way, I likely would have never found your show, Glenn Loury, Massimo Pigliucci, or any number of other public intellectuals that have cumulatively had a profound effect on my worldview. Finding that trove of podcasts was like stumbling into a public library filled with fascinating topics to take a look at, free of charge.
I am a huge supporter of your work, and public philosophy in general. There is real value in creating a space where people can come to hear ideas thoughtfully examined in detail. I hope that from this rift, great things can grow anew.
To new horizons!
-Jeff
I really enjoyed the “Saturday Science Podcast with Bob Horgen and George Johnson and it’s later iteration as the Science Faction. But once Bob Wright took the Templeton Society’s shilling hard Science deteriorated rapidly on BHTV. Most scientists left outright in protest and the whole enterprise shifted toward Wright’s “purpose in the universe / evolution deist” position. I stayed for the political and news analysis and foreign policy but that to fell away. Too and finally even The Templeton Society has had enough.
I think bringing Mickey Kaus back is a huge mistake. His political stance is loathsome.
I’m here for the “academic philosophy” and in solidarity with Dan’s support of the original concept of BHTV on EA.
Your departure was the third in a string of mysterious happenings at BHTV recently. Feminine Chaos was the second. Aryeh as producer was first. I suppose none of these are my business but I’m definitely curious. Thanks for explaining.
I have to say, I’m not at all surprised. I first discovered BHTV in 2010 when I moved from New York to Berlin. To be honest, I always thought there was a very woo woo element to both BHTV and MOLTV, but it was easy enough to avoid Bob going on about utopian and naive dreams of benevolent world government and a myriad of other woo topics never held my interest. Originally I was hooked by Glenn and John, but as they got more and more enamored with the idea that the view from their Ivy League Ivory Tower represented the real world and started enjoying being the contrary guys (Glenn even dipping into being a Trump apologist), their views became totally predictable and the show unwatchable. I can’t even speculate what happened to John Horgan over that time. Poor guy.
Sophia became the sole dependable island of quality in what I increasingly thought of as a generally unwatchable mess by about 2017. While everyone else was suffering Trump Derangement Syndrome, Dan chugged along with engaging discussions that are challenging and provocative (in the best sense of the word). Was it always easily approachable? Nope. And that’s OK. If I had to look up a few technical terms or read some summaries of key concepts to follow, it was well worth it. Dan and I are maybe a year apart in age and I grew up on the other side of NYC on the Jersey Shore, so Dan sounds like all of my smartest friends from home and the directness mixed with no nonsense attitude just feels familiar and authentic.
I believe the split is really for the best and I’m most grateful for the continuing opportunity to follow the show, enjoy new contributors, and getting a few extra intellectual reps in to help keep the brain in shape. Thank you for making the effort and keeping the Sophia flame alive.
Back in the day Sean Carroll said he left BHTV because he didn’t want to be associated with the ‘woo’.
Several people did, I believe. Didn’t McWhorter get a lot of criticism for hosting some quack?
This is awfully kind of you. Yeah, Jersey Shore and Long Island are like two peas in a pod.
Email me privately. Missouri State.
The funny thing is that someone over there — “Ben” — described my little piece as an example of how to be “ungracious.” He has no idea what I *could* have written. Lol.
Exactly correct. John McWhorter actually had Paul Nelson, a new Earth Creationist cook on a Science Saturday show, of all places. I can’t remember perfectly, but I think that is the trigger for Sean Carrol to leave.
Yes! I remember it now.
Dan:
You have your facts straight on the whole subject of Science vrs. Woo on BHTV back around 2010 and the exodus of hard scientists from BHTV. The exception was the Science Journalists George Johnson and Bob Horgen. George kept Bob on the straight and narrow scientifically speaking. Once George departed WOO started leaking into Bob’s work more and more.
I also really miss the foreign policy aspect of BHTV once Dezbert left that too was gone completely.
Frankly if Bob had kept the content up and put up a single paywall he could have made a go of it.
I can’t see spending money on crap like the “Parrot Room” and general deterioration of everything else including the DMZ is disappointing.
Glen’s Loury’s show is about the only operation that makes BHTV still worth watching. I fully expect Glen Loury’s show to go fully independent soon.
“Paul Nelson” that who it was! Yes when Bob Wright had Nelson on that was what basically tore it for the whole platform. The exodus of serious scientists started then as did the deterioration into WOO which lead to the sponsorship by the Templeton Foundation. The addition of your contribution was about he only saving grace of the “Meaning of Life Platform” But since Bob finds it too “academic” that is gone too. It’s sad.
Glenn will tire of the harsh criticism he receives in the comments. That will send him off. After our first dialogue together, Glenn refused to ever do another one with me again. [In our discussion, I had been pretty tough in my criticisms of the authority we grant to social scientists.]
Agreed on the loss of Foreign Policy shows. Loved Drezburt.
In truth, for my entire tenure at BHTV, one thing that stood out was the shocking mismanagement of the whole thing. There was no editorial dimension to the site. No effort to coordinate amongst the content creators, resulting in a lot of redundancy. No moderation of comments, resulting in huge flame wars that turn people off and away. No insistence on any kind of actual expertise on the part of the people providing the content, resulting in people talking about things they know nothing about or interviewing people whom they do not have the expertise to interview. No quality control, resulting in dialogues on ridiculous topics [I think there was one on Tarot cards once]. And no understanding of how one finances such an operation. Bob seems to think that either the site can run on Templeton grants or it can run on crowdfunding and that’s it. Of course, that’s completely false.
I’m afraid that a very unique and valuable thing has been allowed to slowly rot and disintegrate. It is terrible to watch, but not at all surprising to anyone who has been watching how the thing has been run.
I very much agree with this comment. I discovered BHTV because of the science content, and then Drezburt also became an immediate favorite. So it was sad seeing all that slowly wither away to be replaced by what? Yes, there really was an episode on Tarot cards.
Wright talked recently about how the early days of BHTV pushed against the technological limits of the time. After I found BHTV, I expected that there would soon be many sites springing up like it. But I never found another. You are right that they were unique.
I first heard about Templeton after they spent two and half million to show that intercessory prayer improved medical outcomes. They seemed to really expect a positive outcome. But after getting burned on that, they changed tack. They continued to keep shoveling out the money, but the new goal was just to just muddy the distinction between science and woo. BHTV was a perfect target for that kind of effort. Templeton is just all around bad news.
If it was well run, BHTV could have been a big success and maybe then there would have been a lot of other sites with similar ideas. As it is, I suspect that it will disappear soon.
I’m sad to say I think it’s days are numbered too.
Case in point. Oh boy.
https://meaningoflife.tv/videos/43385
Well at least one thing you can definitely say is that the show is aptly titled.
Dan:
“Oh Boy”, Indeed this is how far “South” things have gone! It’s pretty pathetic. What a waste of transcontinental bandwidth!
Oh yes. Nikita Petrov is a strange duck. When he first showed up, I watched a few of his programs to try to figure out who he was and if he was just using an allegorical style to present what might otherwise be some sensible ideas. But no, it just seems to be mumbo jumbo.
If George Johnson helped steer John Horgan back towards science, Petrov is instead giving him a big shove deeper into woo.
I thought that you, aside from your small rant at the end about over-medicated kids, were very even-tempered and fair.
Did he say as much to you or did you infer the reason?
> Case in point. Oh boy.
> https://meaningoflife.tv/videos/43385
It’s the ‘shrooms. They’ll get you every time.
He gave me no reason whatsoever.
I won’t deny to finding it astonishing to contemplate that Bob thought my show had to go, but a show like that should remain. Really hard to comprehend.
But as I intimated in the essay, I think this was mostly personal. Bob came to have a profound dislike for me and just wanted me gone. I’m only surprised, because I would have thought that someone from his generation with as much work experience as he has had, would understand that professional life inevitably will involve working with people whom you don’t like personally, but who nevertheless do good work. I thought it was mostly the younger generations that fail to understand this.
Dan, I’m afraid that professional tolerance for and the ability to work with people with whom you disagree is a skill acquired generally with age. A skill that not everyone unfortunately masters. I get the sense that Bob was threatened by you. You are the professional in the study of the discipline of Philosophy and Bob is a “Woo practicer” and a journalist. Bob was not in your league and it was his show so you had to go.
It is a similar problem to the one that the disgraced 45th POTUS has with Anthony Fauci.
I haven’t read his books and I never quite took to his conversation style because he seemed to create unnecessary distance between him and his guest, so I don’t have a terribly good knowledge of the man, but one think I think I have picked up is he has almost an embarrassment over some of the harder science aspects of his earlier work. This came out really strongly in his dialogue with Diana Fleischman. I admire Fleischman because she is one of those scientists who will tell people what they are loathe to hear if she things the science supports it, but Wright seemed outright disturbed that Evolutionary Psychology and Biology would even go to some of the places they are researching, and thinks we should hold to platitudes if they are comforting.
Couldn’t Wright dislike for you have something to do with this dialogue that you did with him about Buddhism?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6-PaFIndRI&t=2517s
In any corner of this world, if you put down your boss’s religious faith, you’re not likely to get promoted.
As I recall, your criticisms of Buddhism were pretty harsh. Yes, I know that your criticisms are often harsh and that’s your style, but it’s one thing to criticize someone’s tastes in literature and another thing to criticize someone’s religious faith.
Yeah, whatever. Grownups and all that. If I got rid of every colleague whom I didn’t like, I would have had no professional life whatsoever.
Also, grownups typically tell people when they are upset about something. They don’t say nothing for 6 years and then suddenly chuck you overboard and dissemble as to why.
In my experience becoming an adult meant realizing that deep down inside I was still a child and that almost everyone or maybe everyone else is still a child deep down inside and that when dealing with others, it’s wiser to take that inner child into account.
I expect non-mentally ill adults to behave in a professional fashion, when in the proverbial workplace, just as I am expected to. It’s bad enough that adults seem increasingly to want to cede their authority to children — see the pitiful Greta Thunberg spectacle — but it’s even worse when they expect to be treated like children themselves.
Look, I said I wouldn’t make a federal case out of it. But there really is no good excuse for this sort of behavior in a professional context. It’s simply indefensible. Not to mention the more personal side of it. You don’t treat people with whom you have this sort of relationship this way.
Yes, but Bob puts his religion out there for debate which often entails harsh criticism. In fact since Bob is a writer, and he wrote a book about why Buddhism is true, hearing criticism of his religion is literally part of what he does for a living.
He who peddles something ought to be prepared to be challenged on it.
Do you ever look at people’s faces when you’re debating them?
I’m rewatching your debate with Wright about non-self and he looks thoroughly uncomfortable throughout the debate, not once does he smile a real smile. From what I recall, Massimo looks genuinely happy debating you or arguing with you as do Crispen and Robert Gressis. You’re very abrasive with everyone: some people thrive on that kind of debating style and some don’t. Wright obviously does not.
You have every right to make people uncomfortable in a debate, especially when those people are debating you voluntarily and in addition, are promoting a book. However, don’t be surprised when they turn against you.
You talk about being an adult. For me, part of being an adult is understanding that if you make someone very uncomfortable, they are likely to seek some sort of revenge.
I completely disagree with you. Someone out peddling something should be prepared to be challenged on it. Bob peddles mindfulness and Buddhism unceasingly and should be prepared to be challenged on it.
And revenge is fine. Just don’t be surprised when it is exposed and people see just how prickly, easily piqued, and thin-skinned you are.
Or one could just not be so damned precious and get on with one’s work and life.
That’s one of the most wonderfully ironic comments I have ever heard. Part of being an adult is realizing how childish everyone else can be LOL.
And you realize how childish everyone else can be because you realize how childish you yourself are and because you also realize that the same psychological mechanisms that work in you work in others, although often you realize that you are more aware of your own childishness than others are of theirs.
Nah, I don’t behave that way in my workplace. Nor does my boss. Nor do scores of people I could list with just a second’s thought.
I’m curious too, can I email you?
sure
Really glad I read this post. I had thought it was your decision to leave. You seemed dissatisfied with the direction BHTV was headed in recently, people moving behind paywalls, etc. I had no inkling that you were pushed. I loved watching Sophia on MOLTV. I can’t say I agree with Bob, but I can’t imagine it’s entirely easy for him to run the platform either. I loved how it was commercial free. I hadn’t realized that it was supported by Templeton grants in recent years and though that may have had some unfortunate downsides, I’m thankful for it keeping things afloat.
But rather than dwelling on all that, just wanted to say that I’m glad Sophia is still a going concern and that you’re expanding. I recognized for some time that the EA existed, because you routinely referred to it on the Sophia show, but never really bothered to look here. The move has given me incentive to do so, so will be checking out the content here regularly now. One thing I’d really appreciate if you could make it so: Could you please set tings up so that mp3s of the podcasts can be easily downloaded when the podcasts are first posted? I really like that feature on BHTV. It’s annoying having to search for secondary suppliers of downloads, which often also have a lag in when the repost the podcasts.
Glad to see you. I’m not sure I understand the question. Currently, you can subscribe to the Sophia audio podcast at several of the major podcast platforms, including Itunes, I Heart Radio, etc. You can also listen to it via a direct link here on EA.
Hear, hear!
You put it better than I would have.