Can artificial intelligence transform how we navigate the most challenging dialogues on campus? Join us for a thought-provoking episode featuring philosopher and educator Simon Cullen, as he unveils his pioneering work at the intersection of education, technology, and constructive disagreement.

In conversation with John Tomasi, Simon explores how open inquiry is both advanced and imperiled by disagreement, and describes his academic journey from Australia to Princeton and Carnegie Mellon. Central to the discussion is ‘Sway’ an AI-powered platform developed by Simon and his team to foster rigorous, evidence-based dialogue among students on controversial topics. Sway intelligently pairs students with opposing views and acts as a “guide on the side,” scaffolding reasoning, encouraging intellectual humility, and ensuring that exchanges remain constructive and charitable. Simon shares the empirical findings from thousands of Sway-mediated dialogues, where measurable increases in students’ openness, comfort, and analytical reasoning have been observed—even on divisive subjects like gender, immigration, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In This Episode:

💥 The pedagogical importance of constructive disagreement and argument visualization

💥 The design and implementation of Sway: an AI tool for dialogue across differences

💥 Empirical research on autonomy, self-censorship, and openness to opposing viewpoints

💥 Strategies for motivating student engagement in difficult conversations

💥 Scalable, evidence-based methods for promoting viewpoint diversity in higher education

Want to experience Sway for yourself? You can instantly start a conversation—no account, no signup, no hassle. Just generate a link, share it with a friend (or a friendly opponent), and jump straight into a thoughtful dialogue.

Read more about research findings and reports

Explore Simon’s Argument Mapping Tool: Mindmup.com

About Simon:

Simon Cullen is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where he also serves as a Dean's Innovation Scholar and Artificial Intelligence and Education Fellow. His interdisciplinary research integrates philosophy, cognitive science, and educational technology to enhance reasoning, communication, and understanding across moral and political divides. Cullen developed CMU's award-winning course, "Dangerous Ideas in Science and Society," which encourages students to engage constructively with controversial topics. He is also the co-creator of Sway, an AI-driven platform designed to facilitate thoughtful dialogue on contentious issues. His work has been featured in publications such as Science Advances, Nature Science of Learning, Cognition, and the Review of Philosophy and Psychology.

Cullen earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Princeton University, where he focused on the psychology of reasoning and moral psychology. His commitment to fostering open inquiry and intellectual independence is reflected in his role as a founding co-chair of CMU's Heterodox Community.

Learn more about Simon

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How can sociology reclaim its commitment to rigorous inquiry and viewpoint diversity? Today, John Tomasi sits with Jukka Savolainen, Ph.D., Sociology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and the moderator of the Heterodox Academy’s Sociology community. They discuss the discipline's current challenges, including ideological bias and lack of viewpoint diversity, and explore potential paths toward reform.

Jukka shares his journey into sociology and his decision to leave Finland to pursue a PhD in the United States due to concerns about postmodernist influences in Finnish sociology. He addresses the core aims of sociology, its present state of fragmentation, and the impact of ideological bias on research and discourse. Jukka highlights the importance of empirical evidence and viewpoint diversity while pointing out taboos and restrictions on certain topics within the field.

The conversation also examines the role of external interventions, using the example of the Danish government's restructuring of the sociology department at Copenhagen University in the 1980s, and the more recent actions by the state of Florida.

In This Episode:

💥 The ideological capture of sociology and its impact on research

💥 The lack of viewpoint diversity in the field

💥 The importance of empirical evidence and rigorous methodology

💥 Efforts to reform sociology from within

💥 The role of external intervention in addressing systemic problems

💥 The case of Mark Regnerus's controversial study on same-sex parenting

About Jukka:

Jukka Savolainen is a professor of sociology and criminology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, holding a dual appointment in the departments of Sociology and Criminology & Criminal Justice. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the State University of New York at Albany and an M.Soc.Sci. from the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on criminology, demography, cross-national comparisons, and the sociology of violence. Savolainen has been a vocal critic of ideological conformity in academia, particularly within the field of sociology, and is an active member of Heterodox Academy, where he serves as a moderator of its sociology community. He has also contributed essays to outlets like Quillette and the National Association of Scholars, challenging prevailing narratives on race, policing, and academic freedom. Previously, Savolainen served as Director of the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.

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How did America’s universities lose the trust of the public, and what will it take to restore faith in higher education? In this episode, we are joined by Benjamin and Jenna Storey, renowned scholars, co-authors, and directors at the American Enterprise Institute’s Program on the Future of the American University. Together with host John Tomasi, they undertake a searching examination of the forces eroding confidence in universities and offer a roadmap for rebuilding their legitimacy and civic purpose.

The conversation draws on the Storeys’ personal journeys through academia, they explore how universities have shifted away from their civic mission, the implications of declining viewpoint diversity, and the urgent need to re-envision liberal education in a polarized era. Their discussion critically engages with recent initiatives, including the founding of university-level Schools of Civic Thought, and emphasizes both the perils and promise of institutional reform amidst increasing political and public scrutiny.

Read the report: “Civic: A Proposal for University Level Civic Education” (AEI, December 2023)

In This Episode:

💥 The crisis of public trust and universities’ civic responsibilities

💥 The decline of viewpoint and ideological diversity in academia

💥 Innovative models for enhancing open inquiry and faculty diversity

💥 The case for new academic structures—Schools of Civic Thought

💥 Navigating political pressures and governmental reform efforts

💥 The enduring value of liberal education and practical wisdom

About Benjamin & Jenna:

Benjamin Storey, Ph.D, is a senior fellow in Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He is concurrently a research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. At AEI, he focuses on the culture of higher education, the nature of liberal and civic education, and efforts to enhance viewpoint diversity on college and university campuses. He co-organizes AEI’s conference series on the Future of the American University and its workshop on the Conservative Intellectual Tradition for University Faculty.

Jenna Silber Storey, Ph.D, is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where she concentrates on political philosophy, civil society, classical schools, and higher education. She is also the co-organizer of a conference series on the future of the American university. Dr. Storey is concurrently a research fellow at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Tocqueville scholar at Furman University, where she was previously research professor, assistant professor in politics and international affairs, and the executive director of the Tocqueville Program.

Dr. Storey is the coauthor, with her husband, Benjamin Storey, of Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton University Press, 2021). Together, the Storeys are working on a book titled The Art of Choosing: How Liberal Education Should Prepare You for Life.

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