Converging Dialogues

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Eliot Cohen about strategy on war and politics. They discuss what is strategy and why its important, major questions asked by strategists, adjustments for conflicts, planning for surprises, Iran, virtues, future of strategy, and many more topics.
Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and professor emeritus and former dean at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. A contributing writer to The Atlantic, he was Counselor of the Department of State under Condoleezza Rice and has served in the intelligence community and the Department of Defense.


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In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter N. Miller on research. They talked about the difference between research and learning, research as desire, and the scientific method. They talk about Droysen, human experience in research, phenomenology of research, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Arendt, research in the 21st century, and many more topics.
Peter N. Miller is a historian and the author of many books, including On Conservation as a Human Science (Princeton), The Weather on 9/9/01, History and Its Objects, Peiresc’s Mediterranean World, and Peiresc’s Europe. He is president of the American Academy in Rome and former dean of the Bard Graduate Center. He is the author of the latest book, Research: A Manifesto.


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In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Kyle Harper about humans and extinction. They talk about humans contextualized with other animals, humans as apex predators, human history in context, mass extinctions and the 6th extinction. They also discuss LUCA, human species, animal domestication, deforestation, whaling, future of the planet, and many more topics.
Kyle Harper is the G. T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty at the University of Oklahoma and Fractal Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. His previous works include Plagues upon the Earth and The Fate of Rome and he is the author of the latest book, The Last Animal: Human history and the fate of life on earth.


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In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger about the life and reign of Maria Theresa. They provide an overview of Maria Theresa, her upbringing, arranged marriage, the idea of “gynocracy,” succession, and her reign. They talk about her policies, modern comparisons, gender, being a wife and mother, her relationship with her son, her legacy, and many more topics.
Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger is professor of early modern history and rector of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. Her books include The Holy Roman Empire: A Short History, The Emperor’s Old Clothes: Constitutional History and the Symbolic Language of the Holy Roman Empire, and her most recent, Maria Theresa: The Hapsburg Empress in her time.


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In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Leonard Sax about the continued crisis of boyhood. They discuss the current state of boys in education and in the workplace, why girls are doing better in these domains, impact on pair bonding, limited options for boys, why influencing and streaming is not viable, impact of mass media, ADHD, and many more topics.
Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, is a board-certified family physician, psychologist, and the New York Times bestselling author of Why Gender Matters, Girls on the Edge, The Collapse of Parenting, and Boys Adrift. Dr. Sax has visited more than five hundred schools worldwide and has appeared on major radio and television programs and networks including the Today show, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NPR’s Weekend Edition.


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