The Courageous Life

Joy gives life meaning, sustains hope, and helps us feel close to others.  It is the emotion that tells us: life is worth living, good things are possible, and you are not alone. And yet, many people find it difficult to allow themselves to feel, show, or even seek joy.  Instead, we often worry:  Is it selfish to want joy?  Is joy even possible when life is hard?  Instead of turning to joy as a re...

Why do so many conversations leave us feeling unheard and disconnected?  In her beautiful book Deep Listening ,  acclaimed BBC journalist, accredited executive coach, and mediator Emily Kasriel argues that it’s because we've forgotten how to truly listen. Distracted by our own agenda, we so often hear without understanding, impatiently waiting for our turn to speak.  In today’s conversation w...

What would life look like without the constant, crushing weight of guilt? Today’s guest, psychiatrist and author of: Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life From Unreasonable Expectations ,  Dr. Jennifer Reid argues that women today are living with so much guilt.  Guilt for working too much.  Guilt for not working enough.  Guilt for saying no, for saying yes, for taking a break, for asking for help.  Thi...

New things are everywhere. And they keep pulling us away from what matters the most in our lives.  In his revelatory book: Saying No to New , New York Times Editor, and celebrated journalist, Eric Athas shows us how to rewire our impulse to consume new things and reclaim control of our time, money and attention. Eric writes: “One of the biggest lies of modern times is that new is always better.  A...

By age twenty-five, Vijay Gupta had lived several lifetimes:  he played Carnegie Hall at eight,  studied at Juilliard and Yale before most had finished high school,  joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at nineteen,  gave a celebrated TED Talk seen by millions, and launched a nonprofit.  But behind the accolades was estrangement, addiction, and a private unraveling.  In his unflinching memoir: Rest...

When criminal justice expert and Stanford-Trained economist, Jennifer Doleac thinks about reform,  she’s not just hopeful,  she’s optimistic that second chances are possible—for the justice-involved population and the system as a whole.  In her eye opening new book: The Science of Second Chances , she reveals her powerful approach to reducing crime and incarceration.  Today, we’ll take a deep dive...

Emotional pain, of all kinds and magnitudes, is part of life.  We’ll never be able to find ourselves free of it;  no meditation or amount of therapy will cure us of the harder parts of being alive.  Celebrated author and therapist, Lisa Olivera has confronted this reality for years, weaving her exploration of it throughout her popular SubStack, Human Stuff .  She reminds us that the practice of tu...

Beloved Poet, spiritual teacher, and storyteller Mark Nepo, And  Writer, speaker, activist, and founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal , Parker J. Palmer,  Have touched the lives of millions of people around the globe seeking to live more courageously, authentically, and in ways that foster a more compassionate world.  For some time I’ve dreamt of getting the two of them together for a conv...

Author and Leadership Coach, Miroo Kim , spent much of her life  checking off every seemingly important box.  From getting into the right schools,  to a 20 year career in tech that spanned roles within some of the world’s most iconic companies, Places like Microsoft, Apple, and Meta.  It was what some might call a dream career. And yet, instead of the meaning and fulfillment one might expect to fi...

Violence is often regarded as an unavoidable fact of life.  The truth however is far more hopeful: violence is a disease that can be cured.  Using a bold new approach,  Epidemiologist and violence prevention specialist Dr. Gary Slutkin is reclassifying violence as a a disease:  One that enters the brain and infects people, communities, and countries via the same process as other epidemics.  Gary m...

Every one of us will experience pain,  be it back pain,  the pain of childbirth,  or living in an aging body.  Not a single one of us will escape.  But what if everything you thought you knew about pain was ... wrong? Many of us have been told that pain is purely physical,  something to do just with bones and body parts.  In her revolutionary new book: Tell Me Where it Hurts: The New Science of Pa...

Two time Emmy and Peabody Award winning Documentary Filmmaker  Deeyah Khan has dedicated over a decade of her life to making empathetic and unflinching films which deal with some of the most important and polarizing issues confronting our world today;  extremism, violence against women, inequality, racism and social exclusion. Deeyah has filmed with: battle-hardened jihadis,  members of armed mili...

For decades globally renowned spiritual teacher Elias Amidon has been keenly interested in the possibility of awakening to our most enlightened nature. This fascination has led him to live a deeply engaged life.  Serving as Spiritual Director (Pir) of the Sufi Way, Working for many years in peace and environmental activism, Helping to cofound several schools including the Boulder Institute for Nat...

How can we find the courage to come back to love in perilous times?  To meet hate with curiosity?  And to see, with greater clarity, what connects us, rather divides us? These are the deep and challenging questions we’re continuing to explore in  A mini-series on the podcast that has brought together leaders across  disciplines to discuss the possibility of embracing impermanence,  leaning into my...

In his revelatory book Original Love ,  Zen meditation master, award winning author, poet, and renowned spiritual teacher Henry Shukman , offers a tantalizing proposition.  At any moment there is a powerful possibility available to us. One that involves piercing the illusion of separateness, And experiencing a deeper and more expansive sense of connection.  In these moments which are deemed by som...

What does it mean to choose love in the times we're in? What will help us to open our hearts again after they close?  And see with greater clarity, what connects us, rather divides us? These are the deep and challenging questions we’re exploring in the final chapter of this trilogy.  A mini series on the podcast that has brought together leaders across disciplines to discuss the possibilities...

Professor Stephen G. Post , one of the world’s leading scholars on altruism,  love, compassion, and the science of giving, has a beautiful new book out:  Pure Unlimited Love: Science and the 7 Paths to Inner Peace . In it, he writes: When the happiness, security, and well-being of another feels as meaningful and real to us as our own, or perhaps more so, we love that person. This love, which Steph...

For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for The Economist .  He’s seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community,  and how support can be withheld for those who don’t conform or have the right connections.  In his latest book, I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled and Imprisoned… For Being Right ,  Matt shines a li...

Why is it so hard to speak up even when you know something's wrong?  This is the question that physician, award-winning organizational psychologist, and tenured Professor at Cornell University,  Dr. Sunita Sah has been obsessed with for decades.  In her illuminating book: Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes She asks us: "How many times have you wanted to object, disagree, o...

In their powerful new book, Born to Flourish , Renowned neuroscientists and contemplative teachers  Dr. Richard J. Davidson and Dr. Cortland Dahl offer a radical and hopeful idea: All of us come into the world with an innate capacity for kindness, compassion, and human flourishing.  Through a powerful blend of storytelling, pioneering research, and ancient Buddhist wisdom,  they reveal how reconne...

Over the course of his more than 40 year career, Renowned psychotherapist Francis Weller developed a unique style of practice.  What he calls soul-centered psychotherapy .  Francis writes: “When we listen to soul, to what is latent in the symptoms of depression, anxiety or addiction, we hear a more subtle voice calling out for attention.  Only then do we come to understand the wisdom hidden in the...

In his book Letters to a Young Poet Celebrated author and poet  Rainer Maria Rilke wrote: “Be patient towards all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.  Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live ever...

Dr. David Treleaven is a a writer, educator, and trauma professional whose work lies at the intersection of mindfulness and trauma. At the heart of David’s work is the notion that mindfulness is more powerful when combined with an understanding of trauma. Part of what’s behind this is the growing realization over the years that mindfulness meditation isn’t all good. There are a number of potential...

We all know the feeling: That gut-wrenching post-conversation replay, cringing at how much we just revealed.  Many of us live in fear of saying too much, so we keep our mouths shut,  guard our emotions, and lock away our most personal thoughts.  But what if we’ve been worrying about the wrong thing? A growing body of research shows we vastly underestimate the value of sharing more than we think we...

In times of great division, disruption, and uncertainty, how can we find the ability to stay grounded?  While each of us may find we have different answers,  Here are a few that have been emerging for me recently: The first - remembering, in the words of one of today’s guests:  you don’t have to do it alone .  Remembering the power (and necessity) of seeking out supportive community, and friends. ...