I had the incredible honor of delivering the commencement address to UC Berkeley Philosophy department's graduating class of 2024 during this time of momentous social upheaval. As an alumnus who studied under legendary professor Hubert Dreyfus, a pioneer in applying existential phenomenology to critique technology and "Artificial Intelligence" (AI)…

"Filmmaker Tao Ruspoli and neuroscientist Dr. Patrick House engage in a wide-ranging discussion that explores the nature of truth, myth, and meaning. The conversation begins with an examination of the significance of the number 40 in various cultural and religious contexts, revealing how this seemingly arbitrary number has been imbued with profound…

A tour of legendary, academy award winning production designer Dennis Gassner's home in the Hollywood hills.Dennis Gassner (born October 22, 1948) is an American-Canadian production designer. He is notable for his work on Bugsy, Big Fish, Into the Woods, and Blade Runner 2049, his collaborations with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes, as well the Ja…

A both very intimate and very expansive conversation with Dulcinee about creativity, addiction, mental health, technology, "artificial" "intelligence", politics, relationships, and more.

Poetry & Beats by Dulcinee DeGuerePiano and Synths by Tao RuspoliThe boundaries of your bias Trickle, trembling With a shudder that you deny Though it wraps you in a fog So taught your veins start to pop I’m trying to rupture something I can’t seeBut it dangles right in front of me Entangling my dreams with delusion And death The stench of which fl…

Tao and Dulcinee discuss the deals they've made with each other to successfully quit smoking, meditate, and drastically reduce phone time. They also discuss the nature of technology, art, artifacts, and how to remain human in a technological world.

Tao takes a walk with his friend Eric Kaplan, a TV writer (Futurama, Big Bang Theory, etc.) with a PhD in philosophy. They try to get to the bottom of what makes a good story and what makes a good storyteller. Yucca ValleyJuly 13, 2023

Riccardo Manzotti is a philosopher, psychologist, and AI expert and the author of The Spread Mind: Why Consciousness and the World Are One. Born in Parma, Italy, in 1969, Manzotti received his PhD from the University of Genova in 2001, and is currently full professor of theoretical philosophy at IULM University (Milan). He has been Fulbright Visiti…

Dulcinée is a filmmaker, conceptual/performance artist, & Systems Architect for the Bombay Beach Biennale. Tao and Dulcinée have a frank and vulnerable conversation about both personal and societal mental health following her recent Bipolar 2 diagnosis. Speaking publicly about it for the first time, Dulcinée and Tao explore the complex landscape of…

Tao talks to chatGPT4 about its philosophical, political, and creative implications. Part 2 of 2

Tao talks to chatGPT 4 about its philosophical, political, and creative implications.

Eric Kaplan is an American television writer and producer. His work has included shows such as Late Show with David Letterman, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Malcolm in the Middle, Futurama, The Simpsons and Rick and Morty. He also worked on The Big Bang Theory throughout its run. Kaplan was raised in a Jewish family in Flatbush, Brooklyn wher…

Topanga Canyon, 2002

Chris and Anya visit Tao in desert after an around the world trip.

Tao and Anya, host of A Millennial's guide to Saving The World, discuss astrology and whether it's possible to find meaning in it in a similar way we find meaning in fictions and mythological tales. They discuss archetypes and the collective unconscious and stories that can help guide us through this life without a need to "believe" in something su…

Patrick House's new book 19 Ways of Looking at Consciousness now available everywhere books are sold...Get it, read it, give it, talk about it, post about it, and let us know what you think. Thanks everyone!

Tao sits down with his old friend James Fox, a British journalist best known for his book White Mischief, and for co-authoring Life, the best-selling memoir of Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards. *There was a 2 minute interruption in the conversation due to a technical difficulty when Tao asks about cultural appropriation. Our apologies.…

We go deeper.

Tao and artist James Ostrer delve into murky waters of colonialism, white privilege, art, gentrification, addiction, and commodification. See James' brilliant work at www.jamesostrer.com

Adam Freeland is an old friend, desert neighbor, and brilliant music producer and DJ. Adam & Tao wax philosophical about the nature of music and the music of nature.

Samir Tabar helps run one of the world’s largest publicly listed Bitcoin miners, Bit Digital. Before that he helped established one of the world’s first psychedelic venture capital funds, Noetic. Before that he was co-founder of Fluidity, a company extensively featured in the Harvard Business Review as being the first to tokenize New York real esta…

Dr. Patrick House and Tao discuss the last 8 days spent on the island of San Servolo, (former monastery, leper colony and insane asylum,) where they attended a conference on the neuroscience of consciousness.

Christof Koch is a German-American neurophysiologist and computational neuroscientist best known for his work on the neural basis of consciousness. He is the president and chief scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. From 1986 until 2013, he was a professor at the California Institute of Technology. Tao and Christof sit down…

Tao sits down with billionaire philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen, Chairman of the Berggruen Institute, on the eve of giving his institute's Prize for Philosophy and Culture to Peter Singer. The $1 million award is given annually to thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world. Tao a…

Tao and Dulcinee (writer, director, editor, producer of both films and of the latest Bombay Beach Biennale,) have an honest, open, and wide ranging conversation about their relationship, including what it's like to work and play together and how to integrate their love and sex life (including consensual power exchange and D/s dynamics,) with their …

A wonderful and unexpectedly coherent conversation, given very little sleep...I had a lot on my mind and managed to express it thanks in large part to Eamon's top notch interviewing skills. Be sure to check out his podcast, Life is a Festival.

A wide ranging discussion in Lake Tahoe with 2 of my favorite people...

Burning Man 2021 was cancelled. 15,000 of us went anyway. Tao and Scott discuss, among many other things, the past 2 decades of Burning Man and what we may learn from the changing nature of the event about anarchist principles.

ao, Chris and Anya have a three-way… conversation. Sitting in Tao’s shipping container gallery in Yucca Valley, the three of us speak about the interwoven relationship between life, death, sex, pleasure, pain and creativity, and how the absence of death can directly correlate to an absence of eroticism. We question the hypocrisies of mainstream env…

Tao & Dr. Patrick House have an intimate and philosophical conversation about suicide.

Anya Kaats is a writer and podcaster determined to redefine the way we think about and construct the world around us. She hosts two podcasts, A Millennial's Guide to Saving the World and Whore Rapport, where she has nuanced conversations about sexuality, gender, grief, trauma, regenerative agriculture, spirituality and more, all aimed to challenge …

Tao speaks to his dear friend and former sister-in-law, Chloe Cockburn. Chloe leads Open Philanthropy’s strategy for investing in criminal justice policy and practice reforms to substantially reduce incarceration while maintaining public safety. Prior to joining Open Philanthropy, she oversaw state policy reform work for the ACLU’s Campaign to End …

Tao talks with his friend and cinematographer, Christopher Gallo.

Gene is an artist and programmer interested in autonomous systems, collective intelligence, generative art, and computer science. He codes, gives talks, teaches workshops, writes essays, and occasionally curate / organize. He is interested in advancing scientific literacy through creativity and play, and building educational spaces which are as ope…

Tao & Richard wax philosophical and Richard sings his dirty songs...

The Godmother of Bombay Beach discusses having 3 children before she was 18, the life and death of her first son Roger, her second son Adam's 20 year stint in federal prison for bank robbery, the evolution of Bombay Beach, the role of art and death in our lives, and much more.

Tao with renowned architect, professor, DJ, and Bombay Beach resident and enthusiast, Mark Mack.

Patrick and Tao discuss the philosophical and scientific implications of virtual reality.

On Jealousy...

Patrick and Tao discuss making babies...do they want to? why or why not?

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli reflect on the relationship between science and philosophy, among other things.

Dr. House gives the talk he gave at the Bombay Beach Biennale on looking for elegance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then he and Tao discuss it.

...and we're back!

Dr. Patrick House and Tao Ruspoli wonder if their optimism for the beginning of the new era may have been premature.

1st episode of Season 2 of the Being in The World Podcast, with Tao Ruspoli and Dr. Patrick House. Theme: birth and rebirth.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli discuss Roger Scruton's documentary, Why Beauty Matters, platonic ideals of beauty, and why they may be misguided; also celebrity, beauty as a commodity, and more

Part 2 of an ongoing discussion of beauty and the effects of technology on our conception and perception of it.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli take a philosophical, social and scientific approach to issues surrounding freedom of choice, morality, privilege, and lack thereof.

Dr. Patrick House & Tao Ruspoli undertake a critique of pure criticism...what is the role of criticism in art, culture and psychology? When are and aren't critics useful?

Lucy in the Studio with Diamonds