society
Hosted by UCL Minds · society · EN
Reference to the self is ubiquitous in contemporary culture. But what is the self? Is it discovered or created? To what degree is it shaped by external forces and to what degree is it subject to internal control? How do the stories we tell about ourselves shape our identity? To what extent is it valid to invoke ideas of truth, sincerity, and authenticity in relation to the self? What kinds of self does literature delineate? These are some of the questions we will be asking in this UCL podcast. In each episode, a literary scholar and a philosopher ponder how present-day literary representations of the self relate to what philosophers have to say about it. The literary focus of the first season is Outline, by Rachel Cusk; the literary focus of the second is The Years, by Annie Ernaux. In each episode, chapters or sections of these books are discussed alongside a relevant intervention in philosophy.
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Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
17%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchReference to the self is ubiquitous in contemporary culture. But what is the self? Is it discovered or created? To what degree is it shaped by external forces and to what degree is it subject to internal control? How do the stories we tell about ourselves shape our identity?
Selfy Stories is hosted by UCL Minds. The show has published 12 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Season 2, Episode 5 - The Narrative Self: Alice Harberd, with special guest Emmanuel Campion-Dye" (5 November 2025, 48 minutes), "Season 2, Episode 4, The Self in Time: Marya Schechtman" (23 October 2025, 41 minutes), and "Season 2, Episode 3 Style and Personality: Jenefer Robinson" (15 October 2025, 45 minutes).
Selfy Stories publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 43 minutes across 12 episodes.
Booking probability for Selfy Stories is 17%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Selfy Stories requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Selfy Stories's contact route on record: public web form.
The strongest fits for Selfy Stories are Universities & Colleges. Selfy Stories has a society audience.
UCL Minds hosts Selfy Stories, a society podcast with 12 episodes published.
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Episode #5
<p>In this episode, we discuss the powerful, magisterial closing pages of Annie Ernaux’s The Years (pp.182-225) alongside philosophical work in progress by Alice Harberd, one of our hosts. In this paper, Alice considers...
<p>In this episode, we discuss the experience and the representation of the self in time. We consider philosophical approaches to the question of personal change, focusing on a paper by Marya Schechtman entitled ‘Glad...
<p>In this episode, we discuss Annie Ernaux’s writing in The Years alongside a paper by Jenefer Robinson entitled ‘Style and Personality in the Literary Work’. We consider Robinson’s assertion that an author’s style...
<p>In this episode, we discuss Annie Ernaux’s The Years alongside, an article by Prof. Lucy O’Brien entitled ‘Shameful Self-Consciousness’. Shame, according to this paper, is a feeling which arises when we become...
<p>In this episode, we talk about the importance of sociology to Annie Ernaux’s Nobel-Prize-winning literary project, specifically focusing on the influence of Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of ‘habitus’. Our special guest...
<p>Literature in the Age of the Self: A Conversation with Rachel Cusk, Brian Dillon, and Vidyan Ravinthiran</p><p> </p><p>This bonus episode consists in a recording of an authorial roundtable held at University College...
Episode #6
<p>In this episode, we discuss the fifth and final section of Cusk’s Outline alongside a draft book chapter by James Lewis entitled The Peculiar Allure of Another’s Aesthetic Worldview. Lewis argues that appreciating...
Episode #5
<p>In this episode, we discuss Chapter 6 of Cusk’s Outline alongside an essay by Murdoch called The Idea of Perfection. In this essay, Murdoch argues that the way we pay attention to the world is ethically significant...
<p>In this episode, we discuss Chapter 5 of Cusk’s Outline alongside Chapters 3 to 5 of Taylor’s book, The Ethics of Authenticity. Taylor identifies a tension between the sense of identity which is derived from...
<p>In this episode, we talk about Chapters 2 and 3 of Rachel Cusk’s Outline alongside a chapter from Williams’s book Truth and Truthfulness. The chapter considers the differences between sincerity and authenticity as...
<p>In this episode, we consider the first chapter of Cusk’s Outline alongside a paper by Daniela Dover entitled ‘The Conversational Self’. The paper examines the role of conversations in getting to know people, what an...
Episode #1
<p>Reference to the self is ubiquitous in contemporary culture. But what is the self? Is it discovered or created? What kinds of self does literature depict? And what do philosophers have to say about it? In this...
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PitchCentric classifies Selfy Stories under these industries. Guests from them are the closest fit, and each links to the best podcasts in that industry.
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