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The Monkey Dance

The Monkey Dance

By: The Monkey Dance
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 Everything society: from science and philosophy to politics and art. Cognitive scientists, philosophers, political scientists, anthropologists, and more sit down to make sense of the world.Copyright 2023 All rights reserved. Philosophy Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 44 | Voting under autocracies

    44 | Voting under autocracies
    Feb 27 2026
    When living under an autocratic regime, should we continue voting or abstain in protest? Zoltan Miklosi joins the podcast to talk about the political obligations of democrats who live under autocratic regimes. We discuss the consequences both of voting in elections despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the autocrat and of refusing to participate in elections in protest of the regime. We discuss specific cases of autocracies which hold elections around the world, about why they would hold elections in the first place, and what each side has to gain and to lose. We also chat about democracy as an ideal more broadly, and whether one has any obligations to the society or governance structure they live under. Guest: Zoltan Miklosi More from Zoltan: 1. Political Obligation in Electoral Authoritarianism: The Case of Hungary 2. Social Equality and Democratic Authority
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • 43 | What makes a war?

    43 | What makes a war?
    Feb 13 2026

    What determines whether a particular event is classified as part of an existing conflict or a random act of violence?

    Niraj Kushwaha joins the podcast to talk about modeling instances of armed conflict using fine grained datasets to better understand the emergence of conflicts and how they might be related.

    We discuss how conflicts can be categorized into three main types, and the primary variables that allow for their categorization. This takes us to the broader applications of this work, from modeling epidemics to climate change, and how statistical physics can be used to form hypotheses about the likelihood of future events of particular types.

    Guest: Niraj Kushwaha

    Niraj's latest paper on Data-driven conflict classification

    The database Niraj mentioned: Armed Conflict & Event Data Project
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • A4 | Does fairness exist?

    A4 | Does fairness exist?
    Feb 6 2026

    Can any interaction between two people ever really be fair?

    In this episode from February 2024, we sit down with Angarika Deb to chat about how to understand fairness, and what it means in relation to equality, equity, and justice. We end up covering a wide range of topics that fairness implicates, from gendered divisions of labor and resource distribution, to political movements and social justice.

    Guest: Angarika Deb

    Visit the Monkey Dance Website for show notes
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    1 hr and 26 mins
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