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Hello. slash Origins Podcast. Hello, and welcome to the Origins Podcast.

I'm your host, Lawrence Krause.

I first got to know Anthony Grayling when we were both writing bi-weekly columns for

New Scientist magazine on alternate weeks.

When we first met, we conspired to write

each other's pieces one week to see if anyone would notice. But alas, new scientists did away with

that column format just before we could. The moment I met Anthony, I was immediately taken not only by his

charming manner, but by his vast scholarship and his knowledge of history,

and more importantly, by how he used his field of philosophy to help better understand the world.

He was a professor of philosophy at Birkbeck College at the University of London

before becoming headmaster of the New College of Humanities, where I also teach as a visiting

professor. His view of philosophy

as an amalgam of critical thinking and questioning meshes with my own, and his lack of

jargon makes him one of the most accessible philosophers writing today. Most recently,

he's written two books motivated by events over the past five years around the world,

and I took advantage of this opportunity to discuss current issues from Brexit in the UK,

where he's been quite vocal, to Trump and the U.S.,

...