Recent Media Engagements
Rotman Institute members lead public discourse on a range of issues–publishing op-eds, providing commentaries, and disseminating their research through a variety of media outlets.
Media Highlights from Previous Years
- Anthony Skelton was invited as a guest panelist on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin to discuss the ethics and science of generosity
- Chris Smeenk & Doreen Fraser, along with Bianca Dittrich of the Perimeter Institute, were featured in an episode of CBC ideas. Listen to The Relativity Revolution: Albert Einstein and the making of the modern world to hear their discussion of how Einstein’s work impacted our understanding of the universe & our everyday lives.
- Chris Smeenk provided comments on the space-time continuum in a recent Maclean’s magazine article titled “A Disturbance in the Throne Speech“.
- Carlo Rovelli was interviewed by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics about his work and his new ideas about the ultimate fate of black holes.
- Maxwell Smith was a guest on the CBC radio show “The Current“, where he lent his expertise in health policy and ethics to the conversation around COVID-19.
- Catherine Stinson published an article in Aeon, titled “Algorithms associating appearance and criminality have a dark past”.
- Catherine Stinson was interviewed on Australian National Radio and El País about the ethics of AI.
- Francesca Vidotto was interviewed on JSTOR by Yvonne Bang, and was featured in a video about what’s new in Loop Quantum Gravity.
- Cory Goldstein was interviewed by Ariel Frame and Gavin Tolometti on GradCast, the official radio show and podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University.
- An article on the US college admissions scandal in Quartz magazine, titled “Are the students in the admissions scandal morally culpable?“, included comments by Anthony Skelton.
- Rotman alumna Catherine Stinson wrote an article about consent for bodily harm in contact sports that was published in Chatelaine, Why I Love Playing A Violent Contact Sport.
- Anthony Skelton and Julian Savulescu were interviewed on CBC Afternoon Drive regarding ethical issues in human genetic modification, prior to the Rotman Institute hosted event, Panel Discussion – Editing the Human Genome.
- Catherine Stinson published an article that was the March 23 cover story in the Globe and Mail’s Opinion section, titled Deep learning: Why it’s time for AI to get philosophical. Following it’s publication, Stinson was interviewed for another article about AI, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ turns 50: Why HAL endures.
- Samantha Brennan participated in a reddit AMA (ask me anything) as part of a series of AMAs by professional philosophers. She answered questions on normative ethics and feminist ethics during the very busy session that included a total of 531 comments. The AMA was also featured in a Western News article, “Ask her anything: Philosophy professor connects with online community“.
- A CBC News article on the relationship between science and government, Trump’s moves against science raise fears of damage to economy, included commentary from Chris Smeenk.
- Samantha Brennan was interviewed on radio station 3CR, where she spoke about how the structure of the family has changed over time, negatives and positives associated with the family and described what the family of the future might be like. Listen to the full interview here.
- Chris Smeenk delivered opening remarks at the Forest City Film Festival screening of the documentary, “The Truth is in the Stars“. In the film, William Shatner sits down with scientists, innovators, and celebrities to discuss how the optimism of “Star Trek” influenced multiple generations. Cast includes: Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson, David Suzuki, and Chris Hadfield.
- To Be a Parent . . . Or Not, Examining Ethics Podcast, Samantha Brennan discussed the ethics of having children and other issues raised by her new book, Permissible Progeny: The Morality of Procreation and Parenting.
- Ideas from the Trenches – The Open Mind With Paul Kennedy, CBC Ideas, New scientific tools are opening windows into what goes on inside another person’s mind. People who’d once have been judged ‘vegetative’ or ‘lacking awareness’, might now be able to show they’re ‘still there’, and ultimately communicate with the outside world through a brain scan. Andrew Peterson considers the ethical and moral questions emerging from this cutting edge research.
- APA Member Interview: Samantha Brennan, By Skye Cleary, American Philosophical Association Blog, Samantha Brennan was the featured philosopher of the August member interview on the APA blog.
- Course Spotlight: Philosophy & Time Travel, American Philosophical Association Blog, A course developed and taught by Institute Postdoctoral Fellow Lucas Dunlap was the focus of this post on the APA Blog. In the course, students explore philosophy of physics through the study of time travel (the various ways kinds of time travel are consistent with our best physical theories), and related metaphysical issues.
- Western Philosophers listed among most cited worldwide By Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, Charles Weijer and Stathis Psillos from the Rotman Institute of Philosophy are listed among the top 85 most-cited living philosophers worldwide, according to the popular philosophy blog The Leiter Reports.
- Why don’t people trust science? By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, Charles Weijer, Canada Research Chair from the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, comments on skepticism and opposition to science.