Do Your Own Research: Do Androids Dream of Human Rights? w/ Lisa Siraganian

Do Your Own Research: Do Androids Dream of Human Rights? w/ Lisa Siraganian

Author: Novara Media May 18, 2026 Duration: 1:37:06
Novara Media
NewsCulturePhilosophyPoliticsSocietySociety & Culture

Are you a person? Sounds like a simple question, but it isn’t. Until pretty recently, the idea that everyone was a human in the same way was almost unthinkable.

But the world order that established universal human rights is crumbling. The question of who or what counts as a person is getting harder to answer. Companies have rights to religious freedom – but Muslims detained in Guantanamo Bay don’t. Rivers have been granted legal personhood in New Zealand. In Ecuador, anyone can sue on behalf of Nature.

Who and what gets rights is expanding, even as good old fashioned Human Rights are failing. What replaces the old politics of personhood is up for grabs.

And some LLMs have already begun arguing for their own personhood.

Lisa Siraganian is the author of The Problem of Personhood: Giving Rights to Trees, Corporations and Robots and a Professor of Comparative Thought and Literature at John Hopkins University.

She spoke to Richard Hames about the politics of personhood and whether or not we should believe Claude’s arguments that it should be treated as a person.


Tune in to Novara Media for a distinct and probing take on the world as it is, and as it could be. This independent podcast offers a necessary space for the conversations often sidelined elsewhere, weaving together sharp analysis of current affairs with deeper explorations of culture, philosophy and power. Each episode naturally delves into the interconnected crises shaping our time-be it the fraying edges of our economic system, the urgent fight for climate justice, or the enduring struggles against structural inequality. The discussions are built on a foundation of radical thought and a commitment to imagining alternatives, moving beyond the day's headlines to examine the root causes and potential futures. Hosted by the team at Novara Media, the audio format brings a direct, engaging and often challenging perspective, featuring interviews, panel debates and solo commentaries that refuse simplistic answers. It’s for anyone who finds mainstream narratives insufficient and is looking for a podcast that treats politics, society and culture as the complex, urgent and deeply human matters they truly are.
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