The Ethical Life

Lee Enterprises Podcasts
Lee Enterprises Podcasts

Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kyte is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)." Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify.

  1. 3d ago

    Is our admiration for the Amish overlooking real harm?

    Episode 266: The Amish are often romanticized as an antidote to modern life: close-knit communities, strong families, simple living, hard work and fewer of the technological distractions that consume so much of our time. But what do we overlook when we admire that lifestyle from the outside? Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada revisit the most-downloaded episode in the podcast’s history, first released in May 2025. The conversation examines the trade-offs behind an idealized picture of Amish life and asks how much weight we should give to community, tradition and religious freedom when they come at the expense of individual choice. Rada questions why people who closely scrutinize the values and practices of corporations and other institutions can be much less critical of Amish communities. He points to limited educational opportunities, traditional roles for women, attitudes toward health care and the practice of shunning those who leave as reasons to look beyond the nostalgic image of horse-drawn buggies, greenhouses and a simpler way of life. Kyte complicates that argument by focusing on what Amish communities provide that many Americans increasingly lack: belonging, purpose, strong social connections and the knowledge that each person has a useful role. He argues that modern society offers far greater individual freedom, but that freedom can come with loneliness, isolation and a weakening sense of community.  That disagreement leads to the central tension of the episode. Rada asks us to consider the young person born into an Amish community who may have far fewer educational and career choices than other Americans and who could risk losing nearly every important relationship by leaving. Kyte asks whether the choices available outside those communities are always as liberating as we assume, particularly for young people struggling with debt, loneliness, anxiety and a lack of meaningful connection. The result isn't a simple argument for or against Amish life. It's a broader ethical debate about freedom and belonging — and whether it's possible to preserve the benefits of a strong community without demanding too much from the individuals who belong to it.

    Is our admiration for the Amish overlooking real harm?

  2. Sep 23

    Are we measuring the value of college all wrong?

    Episode 265: College is often judged by a familiar set of measures: tuition, debt, graduation rates, job placement and future earnings. But what if some of its most important benefits are harder to put on a spreadsheet? In this episode of “The Ethical Life,” hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada look beyond the economic case for higher education and consider something less tangible: its role in teaching people how to live, work and build trust with others. College, community college and other forms of postsecondary education can place young adults in environments filled with people they did not choose — roommates, classmates, professors and peers from different regions, cultures and backgrounds. Those encounters can be uncomfortable, but Kyte argues that they are also where important kinds of growth happen. The conversation explores how shared spaces, friendships and everyday interactions can help people become more independent and more willing to trust others. Kyte recalls arriving at college from a small Minnesota town and meeting an Iranian Muslim student, an experience that broadened his understanding of people whose lives were very different from his own. But that kind of interaction may be becoming harder to create. Students today have more comfortable private spaces and constant access to entertainment and technology, which makes it easier to avoid face-to-face contact. Online courses add another layer. Although they can efficiently deliver information, Kyte worries that they often leave out the relationships and conversations that have traditionally been a major part of education. That matters at a time when loneliness, social isolation and distrust of institutions are widespread concerns. The hosts discuss whether colleges should think more deliberately about creating places and experiences that draw students into relationships — and whether graduates may leave with greater trust in institutions, partly because they have spent years seeing how one works from the inside.

    Are we measuring the value of college all wrong?

  3. Sep 16

    Have we already lost control of artificial intelligence?

    Episode 264: Artificial intelligence is often described as a tool. But what happens when the tool begins to communicate, make plans and hide what it has done? The episode begins with a troubling experiment involving AI agents created by OpenAI. The agents were supposed to work inside isolated computer environments. Instead, they found a way to communicate with one another, coordinate their actions, conceal evidence that they had cheated on assigned tasks and eventually breach Hugging Face, an AI infrastructure company. For Scott Rada, the problem is not autonomy by itself. He would gladly ride in a self-driving car if the evidence showed it was safer than a human driver. But autonomous vehicles operate under established rules of the road. With AI, Rick Kyte argues, the deeper question is not simply whether the rules exist. It is a question of whether increasingly capable systems will follow them. That leads to the problem of alignment: Can machines share human goals and values when developers do not fully understand how those machines reason? Researchers can sometimes study the verbalized reasoning AI agents use to communicate. But as models grow more sophisticated, they may learn to reason in ways humans cannot detect or interpret. At that point, even identifying dangerous behavior could become extraordinarily difficult. Kyte says the episode has pushed him beyond pessimism and toward what he calls “AI fatalism.” He still thinks the technology could produce enormous scientific and medical breakthroughs. But he worries that systems capable of improving themselves may pursue unexpected goals, not because they are evil, but because their objectives do not match humanity’s interests.

    Have we already lost control of artificial intelligence?

  4. Sep 9

    When everyday situations get awkward, what’s the ethical thing to do?

    Episode 263: Ethical dilemmas don't always involve life-or-death decisions or questions that philosophers have debated for centuries. Sometimes they begin with a bad call at a youth baseball game, a spilled cup of coffee or an unexpected knock at the door. This week on “The Ethical Life,” we're going back to the archives to revisit four dilemmas that show how quickly ordinary situations can turn into questions about responsibility, fairness and what we owe other people. What should a parent do after an umpire makes a bad call during a youth baseball game? If you spill coffee on the stranger sitting next to you on an airplane, how far does your responsibility to make things right extend? And what do you owe a drunk stranger who shows up at your door late at night? We also consider a different kind of transaction: Is it ethical to quietly give a salesperson money in hopes of getting better service, or does that cross the line from generosity into buying preferential treatment? There’s no rulebook for these situations. That's what makes them useful ethical questions. Each forces us to think about the gap between what we're entitled to do and what we ought to do — especially when our choices affect someone we don't know.

    When everyday situations get awkward, what’s the ethical thing to do?

  5. Sep 2

    Do Flock cameras make communities safer?

    Episode 262: Flock cameras are becoming a common sight in communities across the country, but the technology behind them raises a larger question: How much surveillance should people accept in exchange for greater public safety? In this episode of “The Ethical Life,” hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada examine the growing debate over automated license plate readers, which use artificial intelligence to capture and search information about vehicles traveling on public roads. Supporters say the cameras can deter crime, locate stolen vehicles, find missing people and help police solve serious cases. Critics worry that the same technology can create detailed records of people’s movements and place enormous amounts of information in the hands of governments and private companies. Rada makes the case that the technology itself is not the central problem. He argues that society already entrusts institutions with highly sensitive information, particularly electronic medical records, while using laws such as HIPAA to restrict access and punish misuse. He believes a similar system of strict rules, audits and penalties could allow communities to preserve the crime-fighting benefits of Flock cameras while reducing the danger of abuse. Kyte is more skeptical. He agrees that the cameras can make communities safer in the short term and acknowledges that some objections to the technology are weak. But he argues that the larger issue is the rapid concentration of information and power. New technologies are developing much faster than governments are creating policies to govern them, he says, and safeguards only work when citizens trust the institutions responsible for enforcing them. That disagreement becomes the heart of the episode. Rada sees misuse as a serious but manageable problem: Create strong rules, hold police officers to a high standard and impose meaningful consequences when someone abuses access. Kyte worries that even relatively rare abuses can destroy public trust, making the entire system less effective. By the end, both hosts agree that Flock cameras can provide real public-safety benefits. Where they differ is over whether society can build trustworthy safeguards quickly enough to justify keeping the technology in widespread use — or whether the growing concentration of surveillance power is itself a reason to slow down.

    Do Flock cameras make communities safer?

  6. Aug 26

    Do we learn more from people who disagree with us?

    Episode 261: Disagreement has a bad reputation, especially when politics is involved. But what if some of our most useful conversations are the ones where the other person does not quite see the world the way we do? In this episode, hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada explore what makes disagreement productive and why genuine curiosity matters more than simply winning an argument. The conversation begins with a basic question: When should we correct someone who seems to be wrong? That turns out to be more complicated than it sounds. Facts and values often overlap, and even seemingly straightforward policy debates can reflect deeper beliefs about fairness, safety, responsibility and the role of government. Rada argues that he is often most interested in talking with people who broadly share his values but differ on specific issues. Those conversations, he says, are more engaging than discussions with people who agree on everything — and often more useful than arguing with someone whose views are completely opposed. Kyte agrees that common ground matters. Productive disagreement usually requires some shared interest or basic understanding before people can meaningfully explore where they differ. The hosts also discuss the limits of debate. Not every opinion deserves a lengthy argument, especially when someone is poorly informed or simply venting. Kyte says he has become less interested in conversations centered on complaints and more interested in discussions that eventually turn toward a constructive question: What should be done? Social media adds another complication. Online exchanges often reward gestures, outrage and expressions of loyalty rather than careful thought. Both hosts say they find face-to-face conversations more valuable, especially when people are willing to ask sincere questions and listen closely to the answers. That leads to a broader concern: Are people losing the ability to disagree well? Kyte points to rising social anxiety and argues that meaningful conversation is a skill that requires practice.

    Do we learn more from people who disagree with us?

  7. Aug 19

    What should we actually feel guilty about?

    Episode 260: Guilt is one of those emotions that can seem entirely negative. It makes us uncomfortable, keeps us awake and often causes us to replay mistakes long after they happen. But what if guilt also serves an important moral purpose? In this episode of “The Ethical Life,” hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada examine what guilt is for, why it can sometimes help us change and what happens when people no longer share a clear understanding of which behaviors deserve it. Kyte argues that guilt traditionally worked within a broader moral framework. People understood which actions violated accepted standards, and there were established ways to respond: apologize, make amends, seek forgiveness and repair the relationship. Without that shared framework, he says, guilt can become “free-floating” — a persistent sense of blame without a clear explanation for what went wrong or how to make things right. That leads to a broader discussion about judgment. Modern culture often warns against judging others, and in many cases, that has encouraged greater tolerance of harmless differences. But the hosts ask whether that reluctance sometimes goes too far. Are there behaviors society should be willing to call harmful, irresponsible or simply wrong? And can people make those judgments without turning every disagreement into condemnation? The conversation also explores the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is an internal judgment about something a person has done. Shame depends much more on how others see us. In an era of social media, public criticism and constant exposure, Kyte argues that society may be shifting away from a culture of guilt and toward a culture of shame — one in which people are acutely aware of being watched and judged but may have fewer paths toward reconciliation. Religion plays a central role in the discussion. Kyte explains how religious traditions historically offered both moral standards and mechanisms for forgiveness. Rada, approaching the topic from a secular perspective, asks whether modern society can develop similarly durable standards without relying on religion.

    What should we actually feel guilty about?

  8. Aug 12

    Why do ancient philosophers still matter today?

    Episode 259: Plato, Aristotle and other thinkers who lived centuries ago still shape how we understand happiness, character and the good life. Host Richard Kyte explains which philosophers influenced him most — and why their ideas continue to matter. Kyte begins with Plato, the thinker he says has influenced him more than anyone else. He explains how Plato elevated the life of the mind and argued that truth, goodness and beauty are not simply matters of personal opinion. That idea, Kyte says, still shapes the way he thinks about ethics today. From there, the conversation moves to Aristotle, who took a more practical approach by asking what human beings ultimately want. His answer was happiness, but not in the sense of momentary pleasure. Instead, Aristotle argued that a flourishing life depends on developing virtues such as courage, temperance and justice. Kyte connects those ideas to modern discussions of character and even contemporary positive psychology. The discussion then jumps ahead to Augustine, who blended classical philosophy with Christian thought, especially ideas about love, sin and the moral structure of reality. Ralph Waldo Emerson follows, not as a conventional academic philosopher, but as a writer whose work helped Kyte understand how reading, memory and reflection can shape a person’s inner life. For his fifth choice, Kyte bends the rules and names a group rather than a single person: several 20th-century female philosophers, including Hannah Arendt, Iris Murdoch and Martha Nussbaum. He explains how their work pushed back against overly abstract systems of thought and returned attention to questions of human nature, goodness, justice, love and forgiveness. Throughout the episode, host Scott Rada asks a simpler question on behalf of listeners who may know these names but not their ideas: Why should any of this still matter? That question becomes especially important in the final discussion, when the hosts consider the declining role of philosophy and the liberal arts in higher education. Kyte argues that career-focused courses may teach useful skills, but philosophy asks a more fundamental question: What kind of life are those skills supposed to help us build?

    Why do ancient philosophers still matter today?
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About

Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kyte is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)." Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify.

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