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These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance."These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nua…

These conversations …

These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance."These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nuanced.On the one hand I feel like this is all we can do, have an open conversation with someone, hear their thoughts, ask questions, and try to understand different perspectives better.On the other hand I feel like I should have pushed back much harder. Some of the words used weren't OK and I should have addressed that more, not to be combative but to try to get to a better place.You guys wi…

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions."Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humbl…

"Philosophy is actua…

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions."Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humble we might become.This conversation with Nikos was full of interesting and insightful thoughts. We talked philosophy, biology, evolution, psychology, and spirituality-- all with the same goal of trying to better understand what the hell we are doing here.Not because it is interesting to think about, but because it is the realest, most practical question we can ask.A more complete bio for N…

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that:1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underp…

Chad is a successful…

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that:1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underpin a lot of his thinking and his goals in life.2. On the surface, he can seem like a bit of a "finance bro" who overemphasizes his masculinity and his drive to win at life.As we do on this show, we spent the discussion trying to reconcile that, understand who Chad really is, and why he approaches life the way he does.We didn't shy away from the controversial areas or the potential contradic…

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has writt…

Cory is an author an…

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has written a book, The Magnetic Heart of God - Understanding the Five Cravings of Your Soul.We spent this conversation exploring Cory's understanding of those 5 cravings, why he is confident they are spiritual and non-biological, and what it actually means to embrace God to fulfill them.I always love the chance to talk to someone with deep spiritual beliefs, especially someone as open as Cory to exam…

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, com…

Kamal is a photograp…

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, compassion, and humanity show its true self--the true story of what was underneath it all.As you'll hear, he is also just a really authentic, thoughtful, self-aware person. It was fascinating to hear his stories, how he became so passionate about photography, and what he learned about humanity as he created his book, Black Astronaut.I love talking to photographers because most of them are natur…

Dana has experienced a lot of trauma and abuse in her life by narcissists. From a young age she dealt with it from her mother and step father and even later in life at the hands of her ex-husband. She…

Dana has experienced…

Dana has experienced a lot of trauma and abuse in her life by narcissists. From a young age she dealt with it from her mother and step father and even later in life at the hands of her ex-husband. She spent so much time struggling with this form of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse that it made her question the reality she was living in.As she explains in her work, narcissistic abusers create so much confusion and conflict in the mind of the abused. She's struggled with this for much of her life and that is why her value of finding the truth is so important to her.Dana was super …

Gerald is a psychoanalyst, who has studied human behavior for a long time. He has used that expertise to formulate hypotheses about social issues, like feminism, civil rights, and most recently mass s…

Gerald is a psychoan…

Gerald is a psychoanalyst, who has studied human behavior for a long time. He has used that expertise to formulate hypotheses about social issues, like feminism, civil rights, and most recently mass shootings in America. Some of his views have been called insensitive or offensive. For example, in trying to explore how to stop mass shootings, one of his ideas is to regulate who is allowed to parent a child. The thought being that ineffective child rearing (among other social/cultural issues) is leading to a number of mass shootings. That type of idea is the exact one I want to explore on the s…

My guest, Kent, believes humanity is in a crisis but he is very optimistic that we have the tools and knowledge to overcome that crisis. Much of the problem is rooted in our attachments (or lack there…

My guest, Kent, beli…

My guest, Kent, believes humanity is in a crisis but he is very optimistic that we have the tools and knowledge to overcome that crisis. Much of the problem is rooted in our attachments (or lack thereof) during childhood. We are all damaged children who grow up to become damaged adults and the work Kent is doing is to help us figure out how to heal that damage and be better going forward. If you've listened to the show before, you know I tend to take a much more cynical view of humanity. I look around and see all the damage Kent speaks of, but I don't see any reason to believe that we, at scal…

Olga has a belief that free will doesn't exist. This belief isn't rooted in spirituality or intuition, it is deeply rooted in science and reason. Olga believes if people understood that free doesn't e…

Olga has a belief th…

Olga has a belief that free will doesn't exist. This belief isn't rooted in spirituality or intuition, it is deeply rooted in science and reason. Olga believes if people understood that free doesn't exist, it would actually inspire us to be more humble, more caring, and increase our overall quality of life. These conversations are so rich with good discussion because there is so much to get into. Does free will really not exist, how would we know? What are the implications of free will not existing, how do we know it would make people better off knowing that? If free will doesn't exist does th…

Chris has a bold belief that he understands the issues with our current economic systems, the ways they are hurting society and the earth, and what needs to be done to fix them.His work, with his n…

Chris has a bold bel…

Chris has a bold belief that he understands the issues with our current economic systems, the ways they are hurting society and the earth, and what needs to be done to fix them.His work, with his non-profit (The Foundation of New World), is meant to build awareness and drive people to implement these fixes. At the root of the problem, Chris believes we are focusing on the wrong metrics (GDP, currency values, inflation, etc.) which are leading us to overproduce, overwork our employees, and destroy value.Although many people would agree that our current systems have issues, it is a massive …

Hajar cares deeply about humanity. She believes in humanity and that we can figure out ways to stop finding reasons to divide ourselves, causing suffering, and hating one another. She is also knowledg…

Hajar cares deeply a…

Hajar cares deeply about humanity. She believes in humanity and that we can figure out ways to stop finding reasons to divide ourselves, causing suffering, and hating one another. She is also knowledgable enough to know that it won't be easy. That's why she's dedicated her life as a professor and author to try to better understand humanity and figure this thing out. This thing is messy though. If I have learned nothing else from doing this show it is that. So we dove into the messiness of it and tried to understand together. We talked about civil rights, American Exceptionalism, poverty, human…

Radell's mission is to have authentic conversations, expand people's perspectives, and find a way out of the toxic political discourse that exists in our world today. He hopes to use his podcast (http…

Radell's mission is …

Radell's mission is to have authentic conversations, expand people's perspectives, and find a way out of the toxic political discourse that exists in our world today. He hopes to use his podcast (https://www.purplepoliticalbreakdown.com) to show people that you can use logic, reason, and understanding to work through some of the most complex and nuanced issues that society faces. This approach obviously resonates with me and I enjoyed digging into some of today's political issues to see how Radell's approach might help solve them. Maybe even more so, I enjoyed getting to better understand him,…

There are some conversations, where you feel like you are truly examining the human experience; not for any specific reason, but just because both people are so fascinated with understanding.This d…

There are some conve…

There are some conversations, where you feel like you are truly examining the human experience; not for any specific reason, but just because both people are so fascinated with understanding.This discussion with Troy (https://troyhadeed.com/) was a beautiful, deep look into what this existence is really all about. Neither of us would be so naive to assume we have all the answers, but that is not the point. The point is caring enough to explore it.Troy has lived an interesting life and has a super unique perspective. Maybe most importantly he cares a lot about humanity and the world aroun…

I am not there yet, I know that. I want to be able to have conversations with people, like my guest Frank, and actually get to the root of it. I want to be able to understand what makes people see the…

I am not there yet, …

I am not there yet, I know that. I want to be able to have conversations with people, like my guest Frank, and actually get to the root of it. I want to be able to understand what makes people see the world so differently. I want to understand what makes one person think racism and the aftermath of slavery still loom large in our country, whereas another person thinks it is not much of an issue at all.It is hard though. Maybe it shouldn't be so hard, but I find myself trying to walk the line of curiosity and confrontation. Both are necessary at times, but I still find myself hesitant to pus…

Sean, at one time in his life, was angry, overweight, drinking too much, and not the person he wanted to be in life. There were various reasons for these issues, but if you had to sum them up, it was …

Sean, at one time in…

Sean, at one time in his life, was angry, overweight, drinking too much, and not the person he wanted to be in life. There were various reasons for these issues, but if you had to sum them up, it was that he never really believed he was capable of anything different. Sean was raised a certain way and started to form certain beliefs/habits that seemed impossible to break.This isn't some magical story of transformation, where someone went on a quest to find themselves (not there is anything wrong with that). There was no spiritual awakening or near death experience that prompted the change. S…

A solo session where I reflect on some of the things I am learning, examine the value of cynicism, and explore how we (humans) might be better.

A solo session where…

A solo session where I reflect on some of the things I am learning, examine the value of cynicism, and explore how we (humans) might be better.

Jamie is developing a philosophy called sentientism (as hard to write as it is to say), which is based on the idea of using evidence and reason to determine what living beings are sentient and then sh…

Jamie is developing …

Jamie is developing a philosophy called sentientism (as hard to write as it is to say), which is based on the idea of using evidence and reason to determine what living beings are sentient and then showing compassion for them. This is one of those concepts that seems so obvious and hard to argue, until you get into the weeds of it. As with any philosophy, there are aspects of it that become subjective. How are we defining sentient, how are we defining compassion, what is the underlying rationale for needing to show compassion?As I spoke with Jamie I realized there was a strong theme of tryin…

Daniel is a philosopher with a strongly held belief that western philosophy is one of the most important contributions in the history of humanity. This is obviously directly in my wheel house so I was…

Daniel is a philosop…

Daniel is a philosopher with a strongly held belief that western philosophy is one of the most important contributions in the history of humanity. This is obviously directly in my wheel house so I was excited for this discussion, although I know for some people deep philosophical conversations can feel abstract or tough to follow. For that reason I tried to ask questions that brought the abstract concepts back down to practical terms, to make sense of how valuable they really are to humanity.Daniel has a deep base of knowledge and some really well thought out view points on how Western Philo…