Despite the restrictions of a pandemic world, the Center for Ethics in Business and Governance is still striving to provide the Saint Anselm College community with the knowledge and practice of ethical decision-making through the use of its podcast, entitled Ethiscope
Ethiscope began in 2020 in response to the center’s inability to hold its usual in-person events while still trying to continue to grow its audience. With an easily accessible format that you can take with you anywhere you go, the Ethiscope podcast’s mission is to examine the deeper ethical questions in our world with dynamic, in-depth interviews with some of the sharpest minds in academia, business, civil society, and government.
“Our mission is to make our listeners more thoughtful about complex and difficult problems, particularly those relevant to our state,” says Jason Sorens Ph.D., director of the Center for Ethics in Business and Governance and host of the Ethiscope podcast. “We think you’ll even discover new issues and questions that you never realized existed.”
The podcast usually runs a new episode every month that could cover a wide range of topics in society. Past episodes and interviews have covered the topics of market urbanism with limited government regulation, the ethicality of casting an uninformed vote, and the smart growth movement towards more government regulation to improve cities.
“Our society needs more opportunities for reflection and conversation about ethics,” explains Max Latona Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Ethics in Business and Governance and co-interviewer on the Ethiscope podcast. “Saint Anselm College has a long history of teaching and discussing ethics, so this podcast series is really an extension of our identity, and a sharing of who we are with the world at-large.”
Looking ahead, the next Ethiscope episode scheduled is a look at the ever-evolving fashion industry. The episode looks at the human and environmental cost of our fashion industry, and what we can do as consumers to make a difference. Future episodes of Ethiscope will cover topics ranging from the concept of happiness, to environmental ethics, to freedom of speech on campus. With the entire scope of ethics in question, no topic is off the table.
“Ethiscope goes beyond the theories and methodologies of the classroom to bring in true experts on timely topics, from the causes and consequences of residential racial segregation in America today to solutions for the affordable housing crisis in many cities,” says Sorens. “It’s our ability to identify experts on important ethical issues and provide reasoned, critical analysis from diverse perspectives that makes Ethiscope a unique podcast.”