Reality is stranger than we think. | Philosophers try to tame its paradoxes, but as Eric Schwitzgebel argues, the deeper we dig, the weirder it gets. Even materialism hides monsters.

Why did Plato choose to write in dialogue, and what makes that choice still matter today? In this talk, philosopher Angie Hobbs unpacks Plato's method to show why his work remains a genuine source of insight in the 21st century. Tap here to watch "Why Plato Matters Now."

What would mission to Mars provide us with? Neuroscientist and philosopher Erik Hoel makes the case that Mars could act as a planetary museum for life’s origins, and that we must go to Mars to investigate.

How can quantum measurement influence the past? In this exclusive studio interview, theoretical physicist Avshalom Elitzur uses the example of Schrödinger's cat to support his argument that quantum physics alters our conception of time and causation: a measurement done in the present influences not only the future, but the past. Tap here to watch the full interview.

“Ultimately, language is both an enhancement and a constraint, a double-edged sword that structures thought while simultaneously obscuring other modes of being,” argues Jeremy I Skipper. | Tap to read more about how language creates an altered state of consciousness.

We assume we live in a shared reality, with differences in experience attributed to differences in perspective. But @ProfSteveFuller argues this is a radical mistake. Breakthroughs in neuroscience, quantum mechanics, and AI show that we don't have different perspectives on the same reality, but inhabit different realities altogether.

Despite time shaping our lives, we are still incapable of agreeing on what it is. In this debate, Tim Maudlin joins Wahida Khandker, Hilary Lawson, and Ivette Fuentes to delve into the mystery of time. Maudlin is a celebrated philosopher of science, renowned for his work on the foundations of physics and metaphysics. He is also an author and professor at New York University. Tap here to watch “Time’s great mystery” now.

Many view the questions of consciousness as fundamentally unanswerable. But evolutionary biologist Eva Jablonka argues that by studying the evolutionary origins of consciousness, we can better understand its nature and work out what we should and shouldn't attribute consciousness to. Jablonka argues that a certain type of learning actually constitutes consciousness and satisfies all the conditions that philosophers, psychologists and cognitive scientists point to. According to these criteria, plants and fungi are not conscious, and AI in its current form certainly isn't. In fact, Jablonka argues tentatively that AI may never achieve consciousness, given the sheer level of complexity we find in biology. Tap here to watch her full studio interview.

Is Donald Trump a Russian asset? Former MI6 intelligence officer Christopher Steele argues that whether or not Trump is consciously serving Putin's interests, his actions are actively benefitting Russia in the war in Ukraine Watch "Intelligence and the New World Order," hosted by Roger Hearing

Acclaimed author and Trump critic John Ralston Saul argues that faith in globalism is a dangerous illusion. Saul contends that genuine freedom and resilient citizenship demand we reclaim national agency, rebuild community self-reliance, and rethink the orthodoxy of globalisation.

Penrose's claim that consciousness relies on non-computable quantum mechanics has been dismissed for decades: quantum states, critics say, collapse far too fast in a warm brain to matter. But neuroscientist Mike Wiest argues new evidence of stable quantum states at much higher temperatures means we must take the idea seriously again.

Is it time to drop the term “democracy,” and talk instead about more concrete ideas, such as elections and wealth redistribution? Or is democracy still our best weapon against tyranny? With radically different definitions of democracy on all sides, some critics argue its best to abandon the term altogether. On Monday 7th September, four leading thinkers come together to answer questions on “Democracy and its perils”. Tap this link to sign up to this IAI Live Event with a pay-per-view ticket or Premium Live subscription.

Contemporary life is defined by excess, we always want more and there never seems to be enough. | Join trailblazing philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, as he argues the joys of excess are futile and asks if we can ever find a way out.

Does John Gray live up to his reputation as the most pessimistic philosopher of his generation? Gray argues that although society has progressed in some ways, such as through technology, improvements in ethics and politics are unsustainable and are not cumulative; as a society, we can never truly achieve progress. Tap here to watch his full studio interview, “The idea of progress is a dangerous lie”.

Scientists and philosophers have fallen for a tempting buzzword: “emergence.” It’s invoked to explain life, consciousness, and the flow of time: when simple parts combine, it is claimed, they sometimes produce new entities with powers their parts could never predict. But philosopher John Heil calls this out as an intellectual sleight of hand. “Emergence,” he argues, doesn’t reveal hidden truths—it masks our ignorance, mistaking gaps in explanation for gaps in reality. "Philosophers disagree on many things—on the nature of causation, for instance—but disagreements over emergence are more unsettling," argues Heil. It’s time to drop the magic word and face the real challenge: uncovering, in concrete detail, how simple parts can give rise to complex wholes. Tap the link now to read more.

The current picture of matter physics offers doesn't explain how life evolved from inorganic materials. Lee Cronin argues this assembly theory of matter shows how evolution by modification and selection isn’t simply the preserve of life but describes how all matter develops.

We often think of the mind as something that passively perceives an objective world. But, in this interview, neuroscientist Karl Friston argues that the brain is not a mirror of reality but a prediction machine, constantly constructing the world it experiences. Drawing on the Free Energy Principle, he explains how perception, action, and consciousness emerge from the same underlying imperative: minimising surprise. Because of prediction, embodied action, and hierarchical inference, reality itself turns out to be something we actively build rather than simply observe. Click here to watch the full interview

“Within the narrative fallacy, our tendency is to like a nice clean beginning, middle, and end,” argues Sunetra Gupta. | Watch her explore how storytelling is foundational to our understanding of science and reality, and the risks of false narratives in science.

The commodification of universities is having devastating effects on education, argues economist Guy Standing. In this talk, he takes his audience through the corruption of the education system, and communicates the urgency of solving this problem. Tap here to watch “Education has lost its way” now.

Quantum mechanics works perfectly in experiments, but Oxford physicist Tim Palmer argues it rests on a mathematical fiction: irrational numbers like √2 have no basis in physical reality. Strip them out, and quantum's strangest mysteries disappear. Palmer's theory makes a testable prediction: quantum computers will fail beyond 400 qubits, hitting a fundamental limit set by the discrete structure of nature itself. The coming quantum computing race will determine whether our most successful physical theory contains a basic mistake. Read the full article.