2026 Philosophy in Media Fellowships

Directed by Barry Lam, Associate Director of Marc Sanders Foundation, Professor of Philosophy at UC Riverside, and Host/Executive producer of the Hi-Phi Nation Podcast, Philosophy in Media aims to identify and develop academically-trained philosophers to write, speak to, and produce for the general public in the major media market spaces. We concluded a year-long initial run of the program here with support from the John D. Templeton Foundation. Now, with a three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and generous funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Princeton University’s Center for Human Values and the Department of Philosophy, we are pleased to share that we are now accepting applications for our third and final year of fellowships in 2026. Fellows will be academically-trained philosophers of all career stages who aim to write, speak to, and produce media for the general public in the form of essays (long- and short-form), trade-book writing, or podcasting.

Fellows will be accepted from all areas of philosophy, but should indicate both their professional areas of specialization and competence, as well as the topics or areas they would like to talk about when they speak to the public. Special consideration will be given to applicants whose professional or public-facing work focuses on race and racism, social justice, applied ethics of biology, technology, or other special sciences, and to applicants who are affiliated with HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribal colleges/universities, or underserved/under-resourced smaller regional or state schools.

Successful fellows will receive a $1500 stipend and full room and board at one of our three media workshops, to be held between June 22 – June 30, 2026. Workshops will be held in Tarrytown, NY, just north of New York City. One workshop will focus on essay writing (short- and long-form), one on trade books and publication, and one on podcast production and distribution. All will be led by esteemed media editors, producers, publishers, and agents.

Each workshop will be three days long. Travel to and from the venue will be covered by Media Fellows.

The schedule of the workshops are organized as follows:

• June 22-June 24, 2026: Essay Writing (Short- and Long-form)
  Fellows will arrive the evening of June 21 and depart after the workshop concludes on June 24 at noon.
• June 25-June 27, 2026: Trade Books and Publication
  Fellows will arrive the evening of June 24 and depart after the workshop concludes on June 27 at noon.
• June 28 -June 30, 2026: Podcasting and Production
  Fellows will arrive the evening of June 27 and depart after the workshop concludes on June 30 at noon.