Discussing the Value (or Lack Thereof) of Political Discourse w/ Nathan Ormond @RahulSam

Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

I came across Nathan Ormond a few months ago and have since enjoyed his thoughtful and insightful livestreams. As a person with a background in computer science, statistics, and philosophy, Nathan manages to discuss ongoing political events through a philosophical lens, whilst not making it academic political science or philosophy per se, which the general public may find abstruse and off-putting.

Discussing the Value (or Lack Thereof) of Political Discourse w/ Nathan Ormond

$Philosophers Should Not Arbitrate for Science (and Vice Versa) Robin Muller and Jeffrey Yoshimi discuss the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Pontys views on the role of the philosopher in science. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/YPmuFqUwSLw Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $The Truth Lies in the Unsaid An excerpt of my conversation with Andrew Flores on Lacans metapsychology and theory of the subject. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/Wzu63JKoB3w Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Wittgenstein Contra Lacan on the Limits of Language Andrew Flores gives a Lacanian twist to Wittgensteins infamous sense-nonsense distinction. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/Wzu63JKoB3w?si=snYmtBp9vcZDzqqL Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Humans Are Distributed Systems Watch the full podcast here: You can find more of **guest name* work at RSam Podcast # Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {References & Resources} {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj Chill Lofi Hiphop - Breath by l33 is under a Free To Use YouTube license SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nocopyrightlofi/no-copyright-chill-lofi-hiphop-breath-by-l33 If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Graham Harman & Matthew David Segall: OOO vs. Process Philosophy Prof Graham Harman is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. He was also a professor at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and a professor of philosophy at the European Graduate School. Prof Harman is one of a handful of contemporary philosophers who are constructing the position called speculative realism, and his specific position centres on Object-Oriented Ontology. Prof Harman has authored numerous books such as Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything, Objects Untimely: Object-Oriented Philosophy and Archaeology and Architecture and Objects. His upcoming book, to be released in Feb 2026, is Waves and Stones: On the Ultimate Nature of Reality. You can find more of Prof Harmans work at https://www.sciarc.edu/people/faculty/graham-harman and https://pact.egs.edu/biography/graham-harman/ a/Prof Matthew David Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher, writer, and philosopher applying process-relational thought across the natural and social sciences, as well as in the study of consciousness. He is the Associate Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and the Director of the Process and Science Network at the Centre for Process Studies. a/Prof Segall has authored many books, including Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead and is the creator of ⁨https://www.youtube.com/@Footnotes2Plato/ You can find more of a/Prof Segalls work at https://footnotes2plato.com/mds/ RSam Podcast #90 Previous episodes: https://youtu.be/01GPP197OKU?si=tmGJNMBPv6Ohzj5r https://youtu.be/-mxVOtDR2V0?si=kkpq9PTdGdP_qBVu https://youtu.be/0dPL5T14xnM?si=70Uk34OEXx44JjqE Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {References & Resources} https://cliff-salad-4e8.notion.site/Graham-Harman-Matthew-David-Segall-Object-Oriented-Ontology-Process-Philosophy-2ed96d43c59b8037bb98ef225f8d043e?source=copy_link {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj Chill Lofi Hiphop - Breath by l33 is under a Free To Use YouTube license SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nocopyrightlofi/no-copyright-chill-lofi-hiphop-breath-by-l33 If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Christian Nationalism vs. the Void of Christianity (w/ Richard Boothby) Prof Richard Boothby is a professor of philosophy at Loyola University Maryland who works in psychoanalysis, philosophical psychology, phenomenology, existentialism, and contemporary continental philosophy. He is the author of Death and Desire, Freud as Philosopher, Blown Away and numerous other books. In this episode, we discuss his religious work (as a response to Christian Nationalism and identity politics) along with the book Embracing the Void: Rethinking the Origin of the Sacred, which Todd McGowan has said is the best psychoanalytic take on religion. You can find more of Prof Boothbys work at https://www.loyola.edu/academics/philosophy/faculty/boothby-richard.html Adus video essays: @adu RSam Podcast #71 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Reference Links} https://nupress.northwestern.edu/9780810145382/embracing-the-void/ https://youtu.be/sLM1cODM65w?si=RyaUA7-gWJljCkYj {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Decentralized Innovation Harnessing Consumer Insights for Tech An excerpt of my conversation with philosopher of science Dr. Vlasta Sikimić. In this episode, we discuss the relationship between science and capitalism. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/eV6OoFxckAw Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Evolution of Deep Learning and the Abstraction Explosion Abstraction, mimesis and the evolution of deep learning: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-023-01688-z Prof Thomas Hamelryck is a lecturer and researcher in machine learning and computational biology at the Bioinformatics Centre at the University of Copenhagen Biocenter. He specialises in Bayesian modelling and probabilistic machine learning, and his current research focuses on applying these methodologies to protein structure prediction and protein evolution. Prof Hamelryck is also a deep reader of Réne Girard and works closely with Philosophy Portal and other independent education institutions. You can find more of Prof Hamelrycks work at https://thamelry.github.io/ and his Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YoTlzjkAAAAJ&hl=en Dr Jon Eklöf is the Global Chief Data & Analytics Officer at GKN Aerospace. He has a background in law, professional negotiation, and computer science. He also did his PhD at the University of Copenhagen with a thesis titled ‘AI transformation in the manufacturing industry.’ The paper ‘Abstraction, mimesis and the evolution of deep learning’ was based on his PhD research. You can find more of Dr Eklöfs work at https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/persons/jon-ekl%C3%B6f and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-ekl%C3%B6f/ Dr Cadell Last (@PhilosophyPortal) is an anthropologist and Hegelian philosopher who is interested in biocultural evolution, mind-matter relations, and speculative futures. His PhD thesis, Global Brain Singularity, focuses on all three of these topics. He is the author of Systems and Subjects, Enter the Alien, and many other interdisciplinary books. Dr Last has taught multiple courses on Hegel’s Science of Logic, Sigmund Freud’s Unconscious, Alenka Zupančič’s What IS Sex? and is also the founder of Philosophy Portal, an education platform focused on teaching the foundational philosophical discourses of the modern world. You can find more of Dr Lasts work at https://philosophyportal.online/ and https://www.youtube.com/@PhilosophyPortal With the rise of companies like OpenAI and DeepSeek, Artificial Intelligence is the in-vogue talk of the day. In this episode, we discuss the philosophy of AI, the evolution of deep learning and how the abstraction explosion, along with René Girards mimetic theory, applies to machine learning. RSam Podcast #66 Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Reference Links} https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-67981-1 https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/does-chatgpt-enjoy/ https://youtu.be/W1qEhkr9k8c?si=2TmrnyyPJXxzN4zd https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.03757 https://www.crisiscritique.org/storage/app/media/2020-07-22/krecic.pdf {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Do Humans Have General Intelligence? Before discussing AGI, its worth asking what we even mean by general intelligence. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/J8kDj53uxwE?si=1kBZ0FIRMICYBhGD Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $Unknowable Mathematical Truths or... | Cambridge Professor of Logic on Gödels Discovery One of the worlds experts in the history of analytic philosophy and philosophical logic, Prof. Michael Potter, comments on how Kurt Gödel turned the foundations of mathematics, logicism, and the whole of 20th-century philosophy on its head. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/0H7iPfcDQ8E Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$ $The Difference Between Žižek and Badiou Žižek and Badiou, like all philosophical giants, have their arguments and quarrels. Prof Kenneth Reinhard, who has studied and worked closely with them both, outlines a few differences in their fundamental philosophy. Watch the full podcast here: https://youtu.be/0WQEZsD4aGQ?si=umHlCpA3VPVhtGK- Please consider financially supporting my work (ONLY if you have the means). Patreon: https://patreon.com/trsam?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com PayPal: https://paypal.me/rsampod?country.x=AU&locale.x=en_AU {Podcast} Substack: https://rsampod.substack.com/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4ryEqjut4r6SMtfxLdM1Le SFP: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rahul-samaranayake {Website} https://rahulsam.me/ {Social Media} https://substack.com/@trsam/ https://www.instagram.com/name_is_rahul/ https://x.com/trsam97 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-samaranayake-981a9315b/ {Reference Links} https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo16265666.html {Music Used} Supapao - Cant Fall In Love is under a Free To Use YouTube license https://soundcloud.com/supapao Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/VZkFJAb_gx4?si=J6AwKLAmikAzoqHj If the ideas I discuss in this channel evoke your interest, consider visiting https://theunhappyman.substack.com/ Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statutes that might otherwise be infringing. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of the related material, please email me at trahulsam@gmail.com, and we can sort it out. Thank you.$