Late January Launch

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We are on-schedule for a late-January launch of the inaugural season of Hi-Phi Nation. Right now we are completing the first seven episodes. The episodes will features stories from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the incorporation of women into combat roles in the US Army, an investigation into the Hershey foundation, Larycia Hawkins and Christian-Muslim theology, the origins of musical mashing, and the history of parapsychological research. Philosophical topics include just war theory, the construction of gender through war, the possibilities of posthumous harm, the meaning of proper names in religious texts, the aesthetic foundations of Western music, and how to draw reasonable conclusions from statistics. We will also be pitching your favorite podcasts to include snippets of our stories in our hope to make philosophy reach fans of storytelling and investigative reporting. We are still looking for two more episodes to produce for Season One, and will need help spreading Hi-Phi Nation on social media. Please contact me here to play an active part.

Larycia Hawkins profiled at the New York Times

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Ten months ago, Larycia Hawkins lost her job at Wheaton College, a controversy the college claims had nothing to do with the fact that the christian and African American, Professor of Political Science wore an hijab during advent in solidarity with Muslims. Rather, it had to do with the “theological underpinnings” of her statements about the relationship between the Christian and Muslim God. This is a quite thorough profile of the controversy out today at the New York Times. http://nyti.ms/2dZDZ3q. Larycia and her story will be profiled on an episode of Season 1 of Hi-Phi Nation.

August Update

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Durham, North Carolina and Duke University is where we have ended up this summer. We did a wonderful week-long intensive production course called “Making it Sing” here at the Center for Documentary Studies.  The instructors were John Biewen, director of audio documentaries here at the Center and host of Scene on Radio, Shea Shackelford of Big Shed, and Devon Taylor, editor for Millennial and The Allusionist. I highly recommend both of their summer intensive courses for beginners and experienced producers alike; there is nothing better than an intensive, 12 hour/day week dedicated to production around other artists and storytellers. I’ve described it as “Project Runway” for podcasters.

We are close to having four full episodes in the bank in preparation for our January 2017 launch. We workshopped episode 4 here at the Center and an early draft of the first segment will be made available here on the web in the next couple of weeks.

The next few months will be fully dedicated to producing as many episodes as we can before we launch. We’d love it if you bookmark this page or like our page on Facebook so you can be the first to get our episodes.

June Update

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This summer we are in full production mode at Hi-Phi Nation. We are producing in Poughkeepsie, Cleveland, New York City, Boston, Chicago, LA, the Bay Area, and we are ending up in Durham, NC for the next academic year. We are seeking stories about the following topics; has anyone tried to control your life from the grave with money, through conditional bequests in wills, trust funds, or charitable giving? Do you know of an amateur scientist or philosopher who is trying to get their own theory accepted in mainstream science or philosophy? Do you work with people who have psychiatric disorders that require us to reflect on deep problems about life and the self? Have you been the victim of blackmail or extortion? If you have stories, or if you are a philosopher whose current work you think would be very interesting to the general public, drop us a line.

Pitch us!

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Please like our page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. The first season of Hi-Phi Nation begins production in the middle of May, 2016. We are looking to create a network of people in narrative storytelling, investigative reporting, philosophy, or other forms of documentary production for ideas, contributors, or producers. If you have an idea for a segment or episode, or are interested in creating riveting stories for a philosophical purpose, please contact us at hiphination@gmail.com or through any of the social-media platforms.

Update on Hi-Phi Nation

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Hi-Phi Nation is the labor of love of a certain philosopher who resides in the Northeast. It is a prospective podcast that aims to integrate narrative storytelling with contemporary philosophy. The first season of Hi-Phi Nation is currently in production while the host finishes the academic year. The good news is that Hi-Phi Nation has secured a small amount of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from Duke University. Most of the first season will be produced in the Duke academic year 2016-2017, but many episodes are already in the works, including our pilot episode on Soldier Philosophers. We have entered ourselves into Radiotopia’s podquest, but with many talented and more experienced producers out there, we are honored just to be considered. In the meantime, we are willing to share clips of our working episodes with those who are interested. Email hiphination@gmail.com.