
Show overview
Philosophy Gets Personal has been publishing since 2022, and across the 2 years since has built a catalogue of 24 episodes. That works out to roughly 20 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a monthly cadence, with the show now in its 3rd season.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 42 min and 58 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Society & Culture show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 2.3 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2022, with 15 episodes published. Published by Susi Ferrarello.
From the publisher
Welcome to Philosophy gets Personal, the podcast funded by California State University East Bay. This podcast is a series of conversations between Dr. Susi Ferrarello and Philosophers from around the world exploring the ever persistent question of “what is the meaning of life” from an intimately personal perspective amongst other topics in philosophy. Our host, Dr. Ferrarello received her PhD in philosophy from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She is an expert in Phenomenology, Ethics, Moral Psychology and, Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy. Dr. Ferrarello is currently a professor of philosophy at California State University East Bay, and also a philosophical counselor. Follow our social media accounts for episode updates, highlights and other behind the scenes material.
Latest Episodes
View all 24 episodesS3 Ep 8Zsuzsanna Chapell: Philosophy Gets Personal with Medical Injustice
Final Episode: In this beautiful talk Zsuzsanna Chappell, a philosopher madwoman, discusses the intersection between mental illness, philosophy and social justice.

S3 Ep 7Englander Gets Personal with Empathy and Music
In this nice talk Magnus reflects on the notion of empathy, how it differs from compassion and sympathy. He finds in music a form of empathy and home.

S3 Ep 6Lin Gets Personal with Religion
In this beautiful interview Deena Lin guides us through her understanding of religion and spiritual growth through the themes of death, education, racial differences.

S3 Ep 4Jon Weidenbaum Gets Personal with Life Choices
This interview is built on Weidenbaum's beautiful article, 5 days, where he recounts the most difficult days in his life. During these days he had to decide whether to keep his wife alive through machines or unplug it. With candor and extreme honesty, Jon guides us through the emotional upheaval that accompanies choices of this sort. Reading of these cases on bioethics books remain instead often dry and detached.

S3 Ep 5Grudin Gets Personal with Environment
In this episode prof. Gruin tells us a bit about his relationship with the environment and how philosophy helped him to look at it from the point of view of nature.

S3 Ep 3Churchill gets personal with empathy
In this episode prof. Churchill tells us how got curious about empathy in animals and why he started this type of investigations.

S3 Ep 2Stone Gets Personal with Motherhood
In this beautiful talk with prof. Stone, she talks about her fondness for English female philosophers. In doing so, an implicit comparison leads us to examine her life as a female philosopher and to understand what motherhood had meant for her life and her career.

S3 Ep 1Baiasu Gets Personal with Mental Health
In this nice talk with Prof. Baiasu we touched upon different themes, such as mental health, death, philosophy of feminism. It was a beautiful exploration of her path to life and philosophy.

S2 Ep 7Brencio gets personal with kindness
What is normality? How can we live a kind life with each other? What does impede us from being fully ourselves? In today's episode, Professor Susi Ferrarello is joined by Francesca Brencio. Francesca Brencio is an Associate Researcher in Philosophy at the Research Group “Filosofía Aplicada: Sujeto, Sufrimiento, Sociedad” at the University of Seville. Today's insightful discussion dives into how personal experience shapes our reality, and questions on what love of philosophy means.

S2 Ep 6Yancy gets personal with critical race theory
'Mum, can we pray for the devil?' So Yancy's interview goes toward an exploration of the use of categories in society and race theory. In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarello is joined by Dr. George Yancy, an American philosopher and Professor at Emory University. George Yancy has written extensively on African-American philosophy, critical race theory, and critical whiteness studies. This episode delves into the core of what propels George Yancy's philosophical studies and the metaphysics of race and the controversy surrounding these studies.

S2 Ep 5Qui Lin gets personal with women in philosophy and science
Do we have a duty to be happy? Isn't happiness a value that make us pretend to be what we are not. Welcome to this new episode of Philosophy gets Personal. In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarrello is joined by Dr. Qui Lin, a Chinese philosopher and Researcher into Émilie du Châtelet and the Chinese Islamic philosophy of Wang Daiyu. Dr. Qui Lin is the winner of the 2023 Einstein Fellowship, with the project How She Disappeared and What We Ought To Do. This episode's discussions involve Émilie du Châtelet's contributions to philosophy and eastern philosophy's relationship with the meaning of life.

S2 Ep 4Welch gets personal with women studies and rational choice theory
Welcome to the Meaning of Life: Where Philosophy gets Personal. In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarello is joined by Dr. Shay Welch, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Spelman College. Shay Welch has written on Native American epistemology, feminist ethics, and contemporary embodied cognition theory. This episode delves into Shay Welch's love for philosophy, the role of women in regards to the social contract, and Shay Welch's perspective and new approach on rational choice theory.

S2 Ep 3Zapien gets personal with marital affairs, technology and psychoanalysis
Why do we cheat? Is technology ruining our lives? Can we really be happy in this life? In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarello is joined by Dr. Nicolle Zapien to discuss about technology, the way it affects our personal life and what psychoanalysis can do to make our life better. Dr. Nicolle Zapien is a licensed clinician with two decades of experience. She is currently a candidate training at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC). She is a member of the PINC visiting scholar committee and its ethics committee. Dr. Zapien recently won an IPA research grant to study teleanalysis during COVID using phenomenological research methods. She is the founder of the Center for Psychoanalysis and Technology (www.centerforpsychoanalysisandtech.com) and the host of Technology and the Mind (http://centerforpsychoanalysisandtech.com/episodes/), a podcast dedicated to conversations with seasoned psychoanalysts about the impact of consumer technology on our minds and relationships.From 2015 to 2019, Dr. Zapien served as Professor and Dean of the School of Professional Psychology and Health at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). During this appointment she oversaw six clinical training degree programs, the department of field placement, and five training clinics. While at CIIS, she also served on the IRB and chaired the research committee.She has authored 2 books, Clinical Treatment Directions for Infidelity and Ethical Experience, as well as several academic articles addressing decision theory, ethics and clinical practice.She works in Oakland California in private practice.

S2 Ep 2Cannon gets personal with gender identity
How do we become ourselves? How much courage does it take to even think of ourselves as we wish we want to be? This episode dives into one's choices of responsibility, gender identity, and Cannon's personal philosophical journey on his gender identity.Welcome to the Meaning of Life: Where Philosophy gets Personal. In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarello is joined by Dr. Loren Cannon, an American philosopher and Professor at Humboldt State University. Loren Cannon has written on trans-theory, and feminist ethics. Cannon also specializes in applied ethics, metaethics, and collective responsibility and collective belief .

S2 Ep 1Moreman gets personal with the afterlife, zombies, and synchronicities
Do ghosts exist? Do we have reasons to believe in the afterlife? In this episode Dr. Susi Ferarello is joined by Dr. Christopher Moreman, professor and chair of the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, at California State University East Bay. Christopher Moreman specializes in afterlife, death & dying, mysticism and religious experience. This episode discusses Moreman's initial interest in philosophy and religious experiences, afterlife beliefs, and the meaning of life.

S1 Ep 10Eagan Gets Personal with Practice
In this episode of the podcast Philosophy Gets Personal, prof. Eagan examines the role of practice in philosophy. She shows the delicate balance between philosophy and praxis and offers practical examples on how that applied in her practical life

S1 Ep 8Brannigan Gets Personal with Education
Brannigan is an expert scholar in bioethics. In this talk we spoke about well-being, education, connection with each other

S1 Ep 7Salice Gets Personal with Sociality
In this beautiful talk Salice reflects on sociality and what it means to be a citizen of the world.

S1 Ep 6Wehrle Gets Personal with Embodiment
In this beautiful talk Maren explains us what embodiment means and how it feels to be in your ow body.

S1 Ep 5Bornemark Gets Personal with Culture
Bornemark defends a form of culture that can be accessed by people and doesn't hide itself behind numbers and idealization. She is a force of nature, capable of very refined arguments conveyed in a very communicative way.