Scott Rada, Lee Enterprises social media manager, and Richard Kyte, director of the Ethics Institute at Viterbo University, talk about the intersection of ethics and modern life.
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Episode 141: Our lives are dependent on the choices we make, and in most cases, we have more choices than ever.
A study by Harvard University shows that having fewer choices can promote happiness because the more options you have, the more opportunities you have to regret the choice you've made. There is also a term called the “parallelizing paradox,” which is when people who are faced with more options than they can effectively consider feel unsure what to do.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how people can navigate the seemingly unlimited number of options they face in everyday life.
Episode 140: Nearly seven months after the Israel-Hamas war began, many campuses across the country are dealing with pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments.
Some college presidents have chosen to involve the police, which has led to hundreds of students being arrested. In addition, these protests have again stirred up a debate about the limits of free speech, as some think the messaging has become antisemitic.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the four tenets of ethical protests and why such principles are important.
Links to stories mentioned in the podcast:
Are student protests against Israel missing the mark?, by Richard Kyte
What students read before they protest, by Ross Douthat, The New York Times
Columbia University responds after Robert Kraft says he's pulling support over anti-semitic violence, by Greg Norman, Fox Business
College students should study more, by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring
About the hosts: Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 139: If you were making a list of superstar psychologists, Carl Jung would be toward the top. According to a recent story by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic, the one-time associate of Sigmund Freud coined the terms extravert and introvert, along with many of the other words we use to describe mental health today.
One topic he thought a lot about was happiness, and how difficult it was to obtain. In 1960, as he neared the end of his long life, Jung shared five pillars that he said could help us make progress toward being happy. Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss these five pillars and why they each play an important role:
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 138: There are 137 episodes of The Ethical Life podcast, and that means there are more than 6,000 minutes of hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talking about various ethical issues. This also means that AI can stitch together all this information and create replicas that would sound — and possibly even think — like them.
Some people already are using such technologies to attempt to keep alive relationships for people who have died. The hosts discuss whether such technologies would help with the healing process or instead make it tougher to move on.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Using AI to talk to the dead, by Rebecca Carballo, The New York Times
Artificial intelligence advances fuel industry trying to preserve loved ones after death, Max Zahn, ABC News
AI versions of deceased loved ones could be a serious threat to mental health, by Nigel Mulligan, The Conversation
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 137: With more data accumulating about us each day, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about whether privacy is still important — or even possible.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
What Gen Z really cares about when it comes to privacy, David Ruiz, Malwarebytes
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them, by Nitasha Tiku and Pranshu Verma, The Washington Post
The rise of the worker productivity score, Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, The New York Times
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 136: Earlier this year, James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted, in separate trials, of involuntary manslaughter. In 2021, their son, then 15, shot and killed four students at his Michigan high school. Six more students and a faculty member were wounded. He is serving a life sentence, with no possibility of parole.
The Crumbleys were accused of failing to take critical steps, including safely securing a gun at home, that could have prevented their son's attack. They will be sentenced later this month.
In the wake of this verdict, The New York Times asked a group of teens whether parents should ever be held responsible for the harmful actions of their children? And if so, under what circumstances?
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the responses the teens had to that question and why there often are many layers of blame in such a tragic situation.
Episode 135: It’s common to hear people say they’ve reached the point in life where they don’t care what others think about them. This can either sound like someone who is firm in their convictions, or it can give the impression that they don't value feedback from others about their actions and beliefs.
Host Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss when it's appropriate to give advice — or even judge — others, and why we've been trained to believe that politics and religion are two topics that should be avoided at all costs.
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.
Episode 134: It used to be that, with a few exceptions, actors and musicians were simply performers. Yes, we might have had an occasional look into their private lives, but most people simply enjoyed their films and their music.
But for better or worse, social media has turned performers into brands — and they often find themselves in the middle of our political and cultural storms.
Today, it’s probably difficult to be a Kid Rock fan and be a Democrat, and we all saw the many conspiracy theories made up about Taylor Swift as she takes positions often at odds with Republicans.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss whether entertainers should make their political views public and how those views affect their fans.
Episode 133: Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that three couples who had frozen embryos accidentally destroyed in a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits. After the ruling, three major providers of in vitro fertilization temporarily paused those services in the state because of concerns about civil liability. Those treatments have since resumed after legislative action.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss how this case is a window into some of the most fundamental questions we face about our how life begins.
Episode 132: The 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in 120 years, with 66.8 percent of citizens 18 and older voting in that election. But that still means that 1 out of every 3 eligible adults — that’s 80 million people — stayed home.
Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss why people choose not to participate and whether the need for chaos drives some voters toward candidates who want to burn everything down.
Links to stories discussed during the podcast:
Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn't Vote. Here's Why, by Domenico Montanaro, National Public Radio
They Could Decide the 2024 Election. If They Vote, by Marcela Valdes, The New York Times Magazine
The Americans Who Need Chaos, by Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis. His forthcoming book, "Finding Your Third Place," will be published by Fulcrum Books.