What Is Mind? with William Gadea

William Gadea

English Religion & Spirituality Science Spirituality

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Episodes 15

Avg. Duration 30m

Activity Moderate

Since Oct 2025

Latest Episode Mar 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule

Weekly

Format

Episodic

Consistency

30%

Hosting

api.riverside.fm

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

Consciousness is everything you’ve ever known, and the only thing you’ll ever know. It is highly unlikely that anyone else will be able to experience exactly what you experience; likewise, you will probably never be able to sample someone else’s mind directly. Because the topic of consciousness is so personal and so complex, and because scientists have confined means to study it, the field has attracted thinkers from many spheres, beyond neuroscience: philosophers, theologians, psychologists, physicists, evolutionary theorists, computer scientists, and others. This channel’s mission is to critically appreciate this wealth of ideas. Learn more about the channel's creator at www.williamgadea.com.

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Recent Episodes

S2E3 Brook Ziporyn on Daoism, Buddhism, and the Birth of Zen

Mar 12, 2026 49m

In this episode of What Is Mind?, philosopher and translator Brook Ziporyn joins me to explore Daoism and Buddhism in China, and how their interaction gave rise to Chan (Zen) Buddhism.We discuss the…

S2E2 What Is Modern Druidry? Kevin Pennell on Nature, Ritual, and Story

Mar 12, 2026 28m

What does it mean to practice Druidry in the modern world?In this conversation, I speak with Kevin Pennell about the historical Druids, the 18th-century revival, and what contemporary Druid practice…

S2E1 Living With No Self: Jay L. Garfield on Buddhism, Consciousness, and the Illusion of “Me”

Jan 14, 2026 49m

What if the self you think you are… doesn’t actually exist?In this conversation, philosopher Jay L. Garfield argues that the “self” is a powerful cognitive illusion – and that letting go of it can…

S1E12 What is Free Will? Do You Have It?

Dec 31, 2025 15m

Do we really have free will — or is that just an illusion? Are our choices the result of physical and biological processes? In this video, I explore the classic free will debate from a scientific and…

S1E11 What Does Religion Do to the Brain? A Conversation with Neurotheologist Dr. Andrew Newberg

Nov 24, 2025 53m

Dr. Andrew Newberg is one of the pioneers of neurotheology – the scientific study of what happens in the brain during prayer, meditation, and mystical experience. In this conversation, we dig into…

S1E10 Time-Travelling Interview with Scottish Philosopher David Hume

Nov 24, 2025 10m

In this AI-assisted conversation, I speak with 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume — the great skeptic of the Enlightenment and one of the first thinkers to question the idea of a permanent…

S1E9 Are Machines Conscious? Yes. (But there's nuance.)

Oct 26, 2025 20m

Could today’s AIs already be conscious? Before you say no, let’s look at what “consciousness” really means – and why machines may already qualify.In this episode of What is Mind?, William Gadea looks…

S1E8 Hinduism and Modernity: A Conversation with Prof. Swayam Bagaria (Harvard Divinity School)

Oct 19, 2025 46m

In this episode of What Is Mind?, I speak with Dr. Swayam Bagaria, Assistant Professor of Hindu Studies at Harvard Divinity School. Trained as an anthropologist at Johns Hopkins, Bagaria explores how…

S1E7 A Conversation with Neurosurgeon Theodore Schwartz about Scoville, Freud, Free Will, and more

Oct 15, 2025 47m

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Theodore H. Schwartz, neurosurgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and author of Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery. We discuss what it’s like to operate under…

S1E6 H.M., Dr. William Scoville, and Me: The Strange Intersection between My Life and Henry Molaison's

Oct 15, 2025 32m

I was named after the neurosurgeon who operated on H.M., history’s most famous amnesiac. In this episode, I trace Henry Molaison’s case, the discoveries it unlocked about memory, and a parallel story…

S1E5 The Three Illusions of Self

Oct 15, 2025 21m

What if the “Self” you take for granted isn’t what it seems? Neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy suggest that some of our deepest assumptions about who we are might be illusions. In this video,…

S1E4 Is Religion Hard Wired in Us? Evaluating Theories on the Evolutionary Basis of Religion

Oct 15, 2025 11m

Is religion a cultural parasite, a spandrel, an evolutionary adaptation – or evidence of God? In this video, we explore the main scientific and philosophical theories about the origins of…

S1E3 Emotions and Machines: A Conversation with Futurist Richard Yonck

Oct 15, 2025 35m

In this episode, I’m joined by futurist and author Richard Yonck. We talk about his new sci-fi novel Mindstock, and how fiction can help us imagine the future of human and machine minds. We also dive…

S1E2 Modularity of Mind: The Evidence from Paul Broca to Brain Imaging

Oct 15, 2025 18m

Is the brain a single, unified system—or a collection of specialized parts working in concert? In this episode, William Gadea explores the case for modularity of mind, from Paul Broca’s 19th-century…

S1E1 Is Consciousness a Hard Problem? The Dualism of David Chalmers

Oct 14, 2025 10m

This is a solo episode.Philosopher David Chalmers is the leading advocate of modern dualism. He thinks we should face the fact that consciousness is a hard problem. I summarize and take a critical…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does What Is Mind? with William Gadea have?

What Is Mind? with William Gadea has published 15 episodes since October 2025, covering topics in Religion & Spirituality, Science.

Is What Is Mind? with William Gadea still active?

What Is Mind? with William Gadea is currently moderate with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 30m.

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