Episodios

  • Do Beliefs Actually Transform People? (Elaine Pagels, PhD)

    Do Beliefs Actually Transform People? (Elaine Pagels, PhD)
    Apr 3 2025
    For decades, Elaine Pagels’s work has been changing the historical landscape of Christian religion. She’s also changed the way many people, including myself, see the world. Pagels is a religion professor at Princeton University, and the author of seminal, award-winning books like The Gnostic Gospels, and her newest, Miracles and Wonder. We talked about the surprising things she’s learned about Jesus and his followers; what his most radical teaching was; and why Jesus, this essentially unlikely traveling rabbi, emerged as the figure he did in our culture. And why this all still matters today. We talk about Pagels’s own story, her personal spiritual pull; as well as a vortex I went down in boarding school that made me understand how susceptible we all are to constraints that explain the world in overly reductive and simple ways. We reflect on how natural it is for us to want some sense of connection with a transcendent being. And how this has shaped the way Elaine approaches her work: not with the intention of destroying a framework, but looking for ways to expand it. For links to all of Elaine Pagels’s book and the (many) show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    55 m
  • Stretching Out Your Life Frame (Phil Stutz, MD)

    Stretching Out Your Life Frame (Phil Stutz, MD)
    Mar 31 2025
    I had the great honor of writing a book with legendary psychiatrist Phil Stutz. Now that True and False Magic is out, I got to ask him about some of the concepts that have remained on my mind: the lie of certainty, the purpose of creativity, why some of the hardest parts of life are also what makes it compelling and fun, and why he believes I should be 10 percent more evil (and maybe you should, too). For our book, more of Phil Stutz’s work (including The Tools and Coming Alive), the documentary Stutz, and the rest of the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    40 m
  • Activating Your Life Force (Phil Stutz, MD)

    Activating Your Life Force (Phil Stutz, MD)
    Mar 27 2025
    I had the great honor of writing a book with legendary psychiatrist Phil Stutz. Now that True and False Magic is out, I got to ask him about some of the concepts that have remained on my mind: the lie of certainty, the purpose of creativity, why some of the hardest parts of life are also what makes it compelling and fun, and why he believes I should be 10 percent more evil (and maybe you should, too). For our book, more of Phil Stutz’s work (including The Tools and Coming Alive), the documentary Stutz, and the rest of the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    47 m
  • How to Love Better (Yung Pueblo)

    How to Love Better (Yung Pueblo)
    Mar 20 2025
    Diego Perez is widely known by his pen name, Yung Pueblo. He’s a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and his latest book is How to Love Better. Today, we both share a bit about our own relationships, and what we’ve learned from our partners. We talk about the myths and archetypal relationships that are served to us, and how many of us have been conditioned to go into a relationship looking for someone to solve all our problems. We talk about more realistic ways to create harmony in a relationship, and how to avoid the trap of assuming your partner can read your mind. For the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    47 m
  • What Are Non-Speaking Telepathic Autistic Savants Trying to Teach Us? (Diane Hennacy Powell, MD)

    What Are Non-Speaking Telepathic Autistic Savants Trying to Teach Us? (Diane Hennacy Powell, MD)
    Mar 13 2025
    Diane Hennacy Powell is now known as the neuroscientist from The Telepathy Tapes podcast (it’s created by Ky Dickens, and it’s great). Hennacy Powell trained at Ohio State University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she received her MD and psychiatric training. She has been on faculty at Harvard Medical School. And she is a leading expert on autism and savant syndrome. Her research focuses on autistic children who appear to have ESP as a savant skill—in other words, children who seem to perceive information that is beyond our known senses. Their profound abilities and Hennacy Powell’s work with them expands our understanding of the human mind and how consciousness might actually work. And within this, there is possibly an even larger, and more critical message for us—to help humanity save humanity from itself, as Hennacy Powell says. For more on Diane Hennacy Powell, how to get a copy of her book, and all the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 m
  • Putting Action Before Contemplation (Richard Rohr)

    Putting Action Before Contemplation (Richard Rohr)
    Mar 6 2025
    This episode has been a very long time in the making: Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar, the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, and one of the most profound teachers. Today, we explore the prescient themes from his new book The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage. He helps us to make sense of disorder, evil, anger, and grief—and he helps us to find our fulcrum of growth. He makes the case that the impulse to deconstruct is ultimately less useful than the impulse to construct, or reform. He breaks down why we fall into scapegoating, and the reputation lie. And we talk about why he puts action before contemplation. For more on Richard Rohr and all the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h y 4 m
  • When You Quit Being Defensive (Chelsea Handler)

    When You Quit Being Defensive (Chelsea Handler)
    Feb 27 2025
    Chelsea Handler shares my favorite stories from her new book I’ll Have What She’s Having, along with a few poignant lessons she’s gleaned while growing up. She talks about a pivotal conversation she had after Jane Fonda called her in; what she learned about the futility of defensiveness in therapy; and how we might tend to our jealous thoughts. We also talk about how Chelsea has big-sistered so many women, including me. And what I’ve learned from how comfortable she is with her own shadow and humanity, and how she does not project onto others. For the show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    48 m
  • Who Is a Prophet, and Who Is Profiteering? (Monthly Solo)

    Who Is a Prophet, and Who Is Profiteering? (Monthly Solo)
    Feb 24 2025
    After finally getting to meet the incredible Richard Rohr (interview coming to the podcast soon), I sat down to reflect on: The unlikely road I’ve been on to become so immersed in Christian writers (was never on my bingo card), and what I misunderstood in my original interpretation of Jesus. What I’ve learned about dying to your small self and growing into your big self. What it means to be a prophet—not a fortune-teller, but a truth-teller—and in this age of profiteering online, how we can be more aware of when people are profiting by pretending to be a prophet. How we can avoid marketing drama triangles. And, the tools that are helping me, in this moment, to get fear out of my body. For the (many) show notes, head over to my Substack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 m