- Jerrold Katz, The Metaphysics of Meaning

In 2025, I subtly teased that I was starting to work on a long-term project. More on that below.

Why Didn’t You Get My Last Email?

First, some of you may have received the previous newsletter from December in your spam or “Promotions” tab. Behind the scenes, Gmail and other email services recently changed some backend settings. For those who 1) didn’t know this (like I didn’t) and 2) didn’t do a bunch of digital work to again verify that your emails are legit (also me), we saw our open rates get decimated. That is not ideal. I don’t have a team dedicated to my email settings and marketing, keeping up with the latest trends and tech. I am the team. So hopefully this edition will have more success, and I’ll continue to monitor those settings.

Why Did I Talk to A Morning Radio Host?

In the latest podcast episode, I talk to my friend Nick McIlwain.

​

Nick worked in radio in Philadelphia for 26 years, and was an on-air personality on one of the most successful rock stations, WMMR, and morning shows, The Preston & Steve Show, of all time. In 2021, his show was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in the “Spoken Word On-Air Personality” category. This past year, Preston and Steve received the prestigious Major Market Personality of the Year award at the “Oscars of radio”, the NAB Marconi Radio Awards, while WMMR won the biggies: “Legendary Station of the Year” and “Major Market Station of the Year” in the same ceremony.

Over his long career, Nick and I interacted quite a bit at events, on air, and when I was lucky enough to visit the show’s studio. So I thought it would be fun to hear about what a long career in morning radio is like. In those early days in the mid-late 2000’s, Nick and the show were absolute rock stars in Philadelphia. The show is still very popular and successful, as I noted above, but as we all know the medium of radio is dwindling. Admittedly, that makes me nostalgic and sad. So if you’re interested in hearing his story, you can watch on YouTube or listen on the podcast. It's my most viewed episode so far, and I just crossed the threshold to become a YouTube Partner. More on that in the coming weeks.

What I’m Focused On in 2026 (and Beyond)

Now for that long-term project. I believe that physicalism—the view that only physical things exist—ranks as one of the most obviously false positions in the history of philosophy. It’s a metaphysical view, meaning a view that says something about the nature of reality, what the world is like.

My interest in this topic goes back decades, before I knew what “metaphysics” meant or had any conceptual tools to articulate the anti-physicalist position and its defense. I have always been a theist, became a Christian in high school, and it was not until college that I learned more about the branches and topics in philosophy and theology. Just before applying to PhD programs, I got interested in these things I had been thinking about but didn’t have a label for: abstract objects. Things like numbers, possibilities, meanings. I thought I would devote my PhD research on the topic, but my interest made a pit stop in the metaphysics of language. Part of what drove my interest in the metaphysics of language was a question I never articulated in grad school:

Can there be any explanation or evidence for the occurrence and success of language using only the objects, laws, and principles of physics and chemistry?

Absolutely not. Language requires more than just the physical. And obviously so.

So I’d like to use at least some of these posts to “think in public” about this topic. There are volumes more to say, both in defense of and articulating a more robust portrayal of physicalism than I can do here.

Until next time.

Jared

Missed a week?

You can access all previous newsletters on my Creator Profile here.

I am an affiliate of Kit, the newsletter service I use to send this out weekly. If you are interested in creating your own newsletter, I couldn't recommend it more highly. Click here to get started using my affiliate link!

If you like listening to just audio in the car, on a run, or while you're supposed to be working, subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode:

If you like watching the conversation, subscribe, and the latest episode will show up in your feed. (Extra credit: like whatever videos you watch if you genuinely like what you're hearing.)

Take a sec to follow me on your favorite social platform:​

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246

This email contains affiliate links, which means I’ll earn commission on any purchases made through my link. This supports me to keep making content for you!​
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​