Barry Lam, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, studies the nature of epistemic rationality and justification (that is, updating your beliefs when receiving new evidence, mitigating cognitive biases, and examining why you believe what you believe). His scholarly works have ranged from the philosophy of language to philosophy and cognitive science.

The focus of Lam’s fellowship will be a series of podcasts called Hi-Phi Nation. Conceived as audio documentary in the vein of This American Life, The Ted Radio Hour, and Freakonomics Radio, its focus will be philosophical examination of ideas that arise from ordinary and remarkable stories of human life. With the series Lam hopes to advance the relationship between the public and academic philosophy and between philosophy and narrative-storytelling. Both relationships are currently strained or non-existent. While at Duke he will work closely with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong in Philosophy and with the faculty and students of StoryLab.