Life Examined

Lisa Miller, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University and author of “The Awakened Brain; The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life,” talks about the connections between a spiritual life and mental health, specifically what happens inside the brain when a religious or a spiritual practice are introduced. Miller, a scientist and not a theologian, talks about her personal experience, work and research to develop a “new foundationally spiritually based treatment to help awaken our natural spiritual awareness..the awakened brain.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week, professor and director of the Convergent Behavioural Science Initiative at the University of Virginia Leidy Klotz explains why when it comes to solving problems or finding ways to improve our lives - subtraction rather than addition can be the less instinctive but often the most effective solution. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Oliver Burkeman, journalist and author of Four Thousand Weeks; Time Management for Mortals, explores our relationship with time and the modern obsession with time management, efficiency, and making the most of this valuable resource. Depressing as it may sound, Burkeman says, the average person has about 4,000 weeks. Drawing on history and philosophy, Burkeman offers a sane and sensible approach to how we spend our time, and suggests that we “not buy into the idea that more and more efficiency, and processing more and more tasks, is the path to happiness.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week, psychology and education professor Peter Coleman explains that conflicts and disagreements are not just normal in relationships but actually a good thing - we don’t learn without conflict. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Professor of American Indian Studies Mishuana Goeman addresses the common misconceptions about Native American land and the ties between the land and language.Indigenous ecologist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer draws on the knowledge of Indigenous peoples and speaks to the value of living in reciprocity with the natural world. A member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Kimmerer explains how our relationship with the planet can improve through a better understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture. “Human beings are newcomers here to this earth, and our existence is entirely dependent upon the gifts of the other beings who are already here,” she says. Mishuana Goeman (Tonawanda Band of Seneca) is a professor of Gender Studies and American Indian Studies at UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability and Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Affairs. She says Indigenous communities held strong ties to the land, and those ties varied from tribe to tribe through language, art, and song. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a guest speaker at UC Santa Barbara’s Arts and Lecture Series Tuesday November 14th at 7:30pm at Campbell Hall. Learn more about this and other events at artsandlectures.ucsb.edu. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Midweek Reset from Life Examined, where host Jonathan Bastian takes a small pause for a new perspective. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Doctor Sunita Puri and hospice and palliative RN Hadley Vlahos share their perspectives and first-hand experiences helping people approach the end of life. Puri, who is the Program Director for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the UMass Chan School of Medicine, says that more and more Americans are electing to die at home. Vlahos, author of The In- Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments, recounts some of the humbling and “beautiful” first hand experiences she’s had with her patients in the last stages of life. Later, biocultural anthropologist and Tibetan medical doctor Tawni Tidwell talks about some of the work she does with the Thukdam Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds and how neuroscientists are learning more about what happens to the body after death. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Midweek Reset from Life Examined, where host Jonathan Bastian takes a small pause for a new perspective. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Psychology and education professor Peter Coleman explains that conflict is “a necessary component of the human condition.” As the Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University, Coleman has worked with families, communities, and entire nations on building constructive resolutions and sustainable peace. Coleman says that humans have the ability to cooperate, resolve conflict, and solve problems together because we're “fundamentally hardwired to need each other. We don't learn without conflict.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Midweek Reset from Life Examined, where host Jonathan Bastian takes a small pause for a new perspective. This week, mentor and author of “Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words” Oscar Trimboli shares his tips on how and why to become a better listener. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Kemi Nekvapil, executive coach and author of POWER: A Woman’s Guide to Living and Leaving without Apology,shares how women are shifting the landscape when it comes to leadership and power. Allowing for an abundance of power enables us to promote and support each other, rather than hold power over each other and compete. “I'm not afraid of your power,” says Nekvapil. “If I have power, I will happily stand alongside you, support you, and elevate your power in the same way that you will elevate my power, because we're both standing in who we truly are in the world.”Katty Kay, journalist and coauthor of THE POWER CODE: More Joy. Less Ego. Maximum Impact for Women (and Everyone), further explores the history and meaning of power. “Most of the studies of power and what power is, what it means, who has it, and how it should be wielded, have been drawn up by men over the centuries,” says Kay. “Understandably, they were the ones that had power.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Midweek Reset from Life Examined, where host Jonathan Bastian takes a small pause for a new perspective. This week, educator and meditation specialist Sharon Salzberg shares an instruction from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition on finding a Middle Path and maintaining a healthy emotional life. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Long-distance walker, writer, and author Raynor Winn describes her 1000 mile walk from Scotland to the South West of England. With tents, backpacks, and minimal supplies, their plan was to walk the 230-mile Cape Wrath Trail — some of the toughest terrain in Britain. But after they completed that trek, they kept on walking. Winn talks about her passion for walking, how she feels “intrinsically enmeshed with the natural world,” and why she finds walking incredible distances to be transformative. Walking, Winn explains, had been the only thing that helped Moth, whose symptoms from a Parkinson’s-like disease had become increasingly dire. “When we walked on the coast path, it had just been about a walk,” she says. “It had been about walking because we had nowhere to be, but we discovered this change in his health and we'd sort of hung onto that over the years after, because we’ve tried to keep walking as much as possible. “ Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jonathan Bastian talks with Annie Duke, corporate speaker, former poker player, and author of “Quit: The Power Of Knowing When To Walk Away” about how poker informed her decision making. Duke sees quitting a vital skill and shares some of her tools and strategies. Whether you're an athlete, partner, or employee, Duke provides a better understanding when to quit and when to show grit.“There's no doubt that my previous life as a professional poker player, which went from 1994 to 2012, definitely informs my thinking about the importance of quitting as a skill. Because when to fold and when not to fold and being really good at that decision, is probably the single biggest thing that separates great poker players from amateurs.” Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jonathan Bastian talks with economist Russ Roberts, author of “Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us,” about a variety of approaches to tackling some of life’s big decisions, and how those decisions play a part in who we are and will become. Later, Susannah Furr, entrepreneur and co-author of “The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown,” shares her life story on starting a new business and offers tips on how to move forward and deal with fear and regret. Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Psychologist George Bonanno, author of “The End of Trauma: How the New Science of Resilience Is Changing How We Think About PTSD,” explores the history, science, and nature of trauma. He says that contrary to popular opinion, trauma plays a significant role in building human resilience and that people are overwhelmingly resilient to adversity. Trauma or traumatic events, Bonanno says, have “become an easy and convenient excuse as to why we can’t function.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Ross Gay, poet, essayist, and author of Inciting Joy, shares how losing his father impacted not only his writing, but more or less everything else that he now does. Witnessing his own sorrow, Gay says, was both terrifying and a revelation: “If you can't be close to your sorrow, then you're gonna miss your life. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Brad Stulberg writes and teaches about mental health and well-being, and is author of several books, most recently Master Of Change: How To Excel When Everything Is Changing — Including You. Stulberg dives into the science and some of the ancient wisdom behind change. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who wrote about the nature of reality and its relationship to change, famously said, “no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”“There's one tragedy that none of us can avoid, which is that the things that we love are going to change,” says Stulberg. “And yet, in spite of it, we can still trudge forward with a hopeful attitude because this is the life that we have, these are the cards that were dealt, and it serves us no good to despair.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Writer and expert on stoic philosophy Ryan Holiday explores the history and power of self discipline. Behavioral scientist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School Katy Milkman explains the science behind forming habits. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Amir Levine, associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and co-author of Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love, explains the origins and science behind attachment theory and how human bonding is a necessary element “from the moment we are born until we die.” As infants, humans’ bond between mother or caregiver is essential, what Levine calls “a necessary element in our thriving, just as much as food and water.” When those patterns of attachment are formed, they can also carry through into adulthood and impact subsequent bonds and attachments.Attachment theory was pioneered by British psychiatrist and child development specialist John Bowlby, whose research included working with children displaced during The Blitz in WWII London. “What they noticed [was] even though they were able to give them food and shelter, because there were so many, they didn't pay much attention to engaging with them,” Levine explains. “A lot of these very young infants and kids failed to grow properly and develop.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Lori Gottlieb, relationship therapist, podcast host, and author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, shares her experience both personally and professionally with couples therapy. Gottlieb says the de-stigmatization of mental health has helped normalize having a therapist, although its growing visibility on social media may have the opposite effect and creates a false idea of what therapy can and cannot do. “Therapy is a relationship in and of itself,” says Gottlieb. “A safe space where you can slow things down, look at ways that you interact or move through the world in this relationship so you can change it in those outside relationships.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Leland, writer and author of “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight,” shares his experience of slowly losing his sight after being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic eye disease for which there is no cure. From using a cane to learning braille and researching the history of inventions for the blind, Leland describes the accommodations he’s sometimes reluctantly made during his transition. Embracing the experience has expanded his perspective. Sometimes, he says, “the thing that seems to go wrong actually turns out to be the thing that makes it great.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Anthony Rostain, Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Cooper University Health Care and co-author of “The Adult ADHD Tool Kit: Using CBT to Facilitate Coping Inside and Out,” explains that the recent rise in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses among adults may be connected to an increasing awareness and acceptance of mental disorders, compelling many who have suffered in silence to now seek help and get treated. “When we look at the rates of ADHD in adults in the United States, we estimate that about 4% of the population of adults has ADHD,” Rostain says. “However, not even a quarter of them have really been assessed or treated. So there's a large number of people out there who were never diagnosed who are discovering it now.”Moira O’Connell, a BCBA (board certified behavioral analyst) from Massachusetts, shares her experience discovering that she had ADHD as an adult, and what it felt like struggling to stay focused and organized. “I can't be organized,” says O’Connell. “My husband would talk to me and I would never listen, which I would just always attribute to, ‘I'm not a multitasker.’ I can't chew gum and walk at the same time, but what it really was was that I was having trouble focusing and attending.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Pico Iyer, traveler writer and author of “The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise,” Pico Iyer explores his love for Japan and why it remains, for him, the “most unique and distinctive place I've ever been.” Iyer shares why he’s drawn to the culture’s appreciation of community and elders. “In California, many of us are trying to be as young and full of energy and enthusiasm [as possible], but in Japan, which is a very hierarchical place, the older the better, because age connotes wisdom, maturity, and experience,” Iyer says. More: In search of paradise — and why travel writer Pico Iyer says it may be withinIza Kavedžija, social and medical anthropologist at Cambridge University and author of “Making Meaningful Lives: Tales from an Aging Japan,” describes some of the principals and traditions which abound in Japanese culture and imbue a sense of meaning, purpose, and well-being into many older generations of Japanese people. “We don't tend to think of older people as driving the processes of social change,” says Kavedžija, “but that's exactly what they were doing.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jonathan Losos, evolutionary biologist at Washington University and author of “The Cat's Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa,” explores the evolution, peculiarities, and joys of our feline friends. Long before grumpy cat memes, cats were worshiped by the ancient Egyptians, and archaeological evidence suggests they were domesticated as far back as 10,000 years ago on the island of Cyprus. The ancestor of the domestic cat is a species called the North African Wildcat. Losos explains the evolution of the cat, their history of domestication, and how they have evolved from an ancient divine symbol to the common and loveable house cat.“Cats are consummate predators. There's this wildness to them and they are as good a predator as there is on the planet,” Losos says. “I think one of the appeals to many people of having cats as pets is that you've got a little bit of the Serengeti in your own living room.” Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Tracy McMillan, TV writer and author of Why You're Not Married . . . Yet: The Straight Talk You Need to Get the Relationship You Deserve discusses how her traumatic childhood and series of failed relationships led her on a voyage of personal self discovery and “correction.” Married and divorced three times, McMillan draws on her personal experience as well as the hundreds of couples she’s talked to on her reality TV show Family or Fiancé, which she hosts on The Oprah Winfrey Network. She dives deep into her own shortcomings, demystifies the stigma of divorce and talks about why attachment and avoidance are the key indicators as to whether a relationship will last or not. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Michael Specter, MIT professor, science journalist, and author of “Higher Animals: Vaccines, Synthetic Biology, and the Future of Life,” explains the enormous impact that new technologies like mRNA, CRISPR, and A.I. are having on our lives, particularly when it comes to medicine. New Yorker staff writer and author of “Future Sex: A New Kind of Free Love” Emily Witt talks about some of the latest research into reproduction and women's fertility. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Tara Brach, Buddhist teacher, psychologist, podcaster, and founder and guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, talks about journey into Buddhism and the importance of meditation, mindfulness, and trusting our “inner gold.” Brach is author of “Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha” and “Trusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness.”Later, Sharon Salzberg, educator, co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, and author of “Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom,” shares experiences from her early life traveling to India and discovering meditation, and the “unparalleled” sense of learning she discovered while studying under S.N. Goenka and others. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Joshua Coleman, psychologist, senior Fellow with the Council on Contemporary Families, and author of “The Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict,” describes firsthand his experience of family estrangement, which he says was “incredibly painful.” Coleman explains how his personal experience led to further research on family estrangement, including interviewing thousands of parents whose adult children have broken contact with them. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Minimalism is enjoying a resurgence, but can a minimalistic lifestyle and aesthetic bring peace and calm? Does having less stuff bring happiness? Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Philosopher Will MacAskill argues that protecting the future of humanity is the moral priority of our time. Historian Tyrone McKinley Freeman explains philanthropy’s rich tradition within the African American community. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jonathan Rosen, writer and author of “The Best Minds: The Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions,” tells the story of his childhood best friend Michael Laudor and his demonic battle with schizophrenia. The story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when good intentions lead to the worst possible outcome. Rosen describes how Michael’s life spiraled out of control, the challenges of dealing with mental illness, and addresses some of the ongoing failures to help the mentally ill. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

University of Washington Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Mark Sullivan, co-author of “The Right to Pain Relief and Other Deep Roots of the Opioid Epidemic,” explains common misconceptions surrounding pain and what some doctors and the medical community get wrong when it comes to diagnosing pain and managing relief. Elaine Scarry, author of “The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World,” describes the many dimensions of pain and why, when we are in pain, language and words fail us.“A key — absolutely key — feature of physical pain is the elimination of agency, the elimination of consent,” Scarry says. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

LSD and Ecstasy were once the hippy-trippy illegal substances for concerts, raves, and parties. Now these psychedelics are back in the news — this time for their positive impact on trauma and depression. Today nearly one in five American adults lives with a mental illness, and PTSD will affect an estimated 7.7 million Americans at some point in their life. That’s according to NAMI, the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Over the past 30 years, researchers and psychotherapists have discovered the transformative benefits of treating trauma, depression, anxiety and drug addiction in controlled therapy sessions using methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA). KCRW explores how psychedelics and specifically MDMA have shifted the paradigm when it comes to the treatment of trauma, and what the de-stigmatization and medical legalization of these drugs could mean for future treatments of mental disorders. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Teepa Snow, founder of the dementia support community Positive Approach to Care and author of “Understanding the Changing Brain: A Positive Approach to Dementia Care,” has spent 40 years working and advocating for those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s. She addresses our common misperceptions about the disease and why training is so important when it comes to care — not just for the patient but also for the caregiver. She also discusses building connections between patients and caregivers, and how one person’s experience caring for her father helped her build empathy through storytelling. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Meghan O’Gieblyn, author of “God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning,” writes about the intersection of humanity and technology. She joins us to explore what happens when technology matches our creative, psychological, and intellectual needs — and how that impacts who we are as a species. Plus, how chatbots are evolving as a useful tool in combating loneliness, depression, and anxiety and aid in tackling our mental health crisis. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jennifer Senior, Pulitzer-prize winning essayist for the Atlantic, tells the story of mourning, love and recovery. Bobby McIlvaine died in the Twin Towers on 9/11. In her latest book “On Grief; Love, Loss, Memory” author Jennifer Senior reflects the lives of the McIlvaine family and how 20 years after the loss of their son Bobby, their unspeakable grief lingers on. Senior shares their moving personal story and insight into how the long reach of grief impacted all of their lives in very different ways. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and the director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, provides practical tips and suggestions for a new way of having conversations about our differences that will help us get beyond cancel culture. In his latest book, “Say the Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice,” which Yoshino co-authored with David Glasgow, he argues that cancel culture has meant that important conversations about identity are being avoided as people are scared that what they say might seem offensive or be taken the wrong way. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Poet and philosopher Jennifer Michael Hecht shares how poetry provides joy, insight, and wisdom. In her latest book, “The Wonder Paradox: Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives,” Hecht ponders our need for the sacred, and says that seeking out a poem or verses that speak to our daily challenges in life can become a kind of secular replacement for faith. Later, Hecht openly talks about her bouts with depression and offers hope to those reckoning with suicidal ideation. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Legal scholar Adam Benforado explains how prioritizing our children’s future is the least costly and most effective way to address the major problems we face, whether that's poverty, or health or crime. Later, education reform specialist John Rogers says an increase in violent and hostile rhetoric within the public school system damages democracy and psychologist Erika Felix discusses the impact of gun violence, stress and trauma has on kids. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

German forester and author Peter Wohlleben explains how trees have a sophisticated method of communication and the ability to feel and heal. Author Susan Orlean talks about our love and relationship with animals, and what our fascination with them tells us about ourselves. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Hungarian-born network scientist and author of “The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success,” Albert-László Barabási, explains the disconnect between performance and success, and provides a better understanding of what success really is. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Geneticist Amander Clark and religion, culture, and gender studies professor Samira Mehta discuss how science and religion define when human life begins. Later, bioethicist and philosopher Nancy Jecker reflects on the moral, ethical, and practical challenges of defining personhood. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

British author Katherine May offers some (heart)warming advice on winter and explores simple ways to rediscover the joy of enchantment. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Win or lose — the art and nature of games have a deeper impact on our lives than we might imagine. What’s the appeal, and what do we learn about ourselves? Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Black writers and poets Quraysh Ali Lansana and Ishion Hutchinson share how their poetry is shaped by history, tradition, and the unearthing of forgotten histories. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Coach and author Brad Stulberg examines the science behind reaching our full potential, whether it be at work or in our personal lives. And shares his very personal story about getting diagnosed with OCD later in life. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Psychologist and author Dacher Keltner shares the science and mysteries surrounding awe, and suggests we make finding awe part of our daily lives. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, unlocks some of the secrets discovered via 80 years of research on happiness. Later, UCLA Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making Cassie Holmes reflects on how those who make the most of their time can be happie Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Renowned travel writer and author Pico Iyer reflects on how different cultures and peoples see life and death and find their own versions of happiness and paradise. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe