Nostalgia Interviews With Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Todd Mei, Senior Lecturer and Head of Philosophy at the University of Kent. Born in California, in an environment that was a hotbed of Republicanism, Todd tells us about how his main passion when growing up was rock climbing and why Heidegger’s ‘Being and Time’ comprised the rebirth of his interest in Philosophy. We learn that Todd has made a film and worked for an insurance firm as a claims adjustor and that he wasn’t planning on becoming an academic. He talks about applying his philosophical work to the business world. We find out how Todd got into wind surfing and the extent to which it might be construed as a counterpoint to the world of academia, and indeed whether Todd could be an academic without also being a sportsman. We discover why Todd would consider himself to be a follower in terms of music, and the influence that ‘Quadrophenia’ had on him. We also find out that he got into breakdancing via his brother and later skate punk and then on to wrestling. The conversation then