About Agora

Mary-Kate Boyle (MK) is a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her love of philosophy began in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she spent lunch periods reading questionably sourced PDFs of classic philosophical texts on her school-issued Chromebook. Drawn to philosophy not only by its ideas but by the possibility of finding others who shared her fascination with life's deepest questions, she graduated high school a year early to begin studying philosophy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

At UNL, MK immersed herself in philosophical community. She served as president of the Philosophy Club and founded an after-school philosophy program for local high school students through the Boys & Girls Club. Throughout her undergraduate years, she imagined graduate school as a place where rigorous intellectual inquiry and meaningful philosophical conversation would flourish together.

After moving to Madison to begin her PhD, MK discovered that while academic philosophy offered extraordinary depth, increasing specialization often left less room for the simple joy of reading great books alongside others. One afternoon, while discussing Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling with another reader in a local coffee shop, she rediscovered the power of slow, collaborative reading. Working through the text line by line transformed a difficult book into a shared intellectual adventure.

The experience sparked a larger realization: many people crave thoughtful conversation, deeper engagement with books, and meaningful community, but lack access to philosophy departments, book clubs, or fellow readers.

That realization became Agora: a platform designed to connect people through shared reading experiences, thoughtful discussion, and the pursuit of understanding. In a world optimized for speed, Agora is built around a simple idea: some of life's most meaningful conversations begin by slowing down and reading a great book together.