Life Examined

This week Peter Wohlleben , renowned German forester and author of   “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate,” talks about the age-old connection between humans and the forest and encourages us to take notice. Wohlleben says that research indicates sitting under a tree or ‘forest bathing’ is beneficial for our health - it can reduce blood pressure and help us to stay calm a...

Why do we get bored? And what exactly happens to us when we experience boredom?  Like joy and anxiety, boredom is a state of mind. Being bored does not mean you’re lazy and it has little to do with external factors like new cars, gadgets, or experiences. James Danckert, professor of psychology and director of  the Cognitive Neuroscience Area at the University of Waterloo , has been studying why we...

This week  Jamil Zaki,  professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of  “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness,” talks about our need to rebrand hope as a culture. ‘Hope,’  Zaki says, is the idea that things could turn out better than we might otherwise be led to believe and suggests ways and strategies we can take to combate our own cynical perspectives.  This  e...

*This episode originally aired on November 12, 2022. Jonathan Bastian talks with  Lauren Ober , producer, podcast host and executive producer of  The Loudest Girl In The World  shares her personal journey of her later-in-life  autism  diagnosis. Later,  Francesca Happe  Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at King's College London about advances and autism diagnosis and how that has impacted the wa...

What does it mean to lead a happy and fulfilling life?   Most of us seek happiness through pleasure, calm, and order — preferring to avoid the discomfort, confrontation, and anxiety that comes from obstacles and challenges. And while less worry and work, along with more time to relax and have fun may sound appealing… Life rarely happens as we plan it and that might just be a good thing.  According...

This week Esther Perel, psychotherapist, bestselling author and the host of the podcast “ Where Should We Begin? ” talks about a sexual recession. Perel says that compared with previous generations Gen Z is having less sex and becoming increasingly isolated - and the more time spent online is resulting in less time spent on the skills, experience or patience that help make a relationship work. Thi...

If you feel like we’re living in an era marked by increased mistrust, political tension, and cynicism — you’re not alone, research confirms this shift. Research shows that in 1972, half of Americans believed that most people were trustful. By 2018, the percentage had fallen to only a third.  The rise in distrust and cynicism is a central theme in the book  Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science o...

This week Robin Stern , psychoanalyst, and author of “ The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life,” talks about gaslight effect.  What to watch for in a relationship or perhaps with a manager, coworker or doctor and how to succesfully navigate the feelings of invalidation that accompany that behavior.   This episode with Robin Stern was ori...

Few people offer greater insight, sensitivity, and expertise on human relationships and sexuality than Esther Perel. Born and raised in Belgium, Perel’s studies took her from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to the United States where she built a career in couples and family therapy. Today, she is internationally acclaimed for her profound insights into eroticism and intimacy. She’s an author and t...

*This episode originally aired on January 28, 2023. Jonathan Bastian talks with Harvard Medical School Professor of Psychiatry  Robert Waldinger  about his latest book, “ The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness .” Waldinger is also director of the  Harvard Study of Adult Development , the home of the world’s longest-running studies on happiness. The project ha...

*This episode originally aired on October 25, 2023. This week, economist and author of “ Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us ,”  Russ Roberts  offers a different perspective and approach to tackling some of life’s biggest challenges and decisions. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

According to Chaplain Devin Sean Moss, death “informs how we live.” The idea of impermanence —the notion that everything is in a constant state of flux— and a “meditation on finitude,” Moss suggests, is a  “cheat code of sorts to making deliberate and intentional decisions and forces the hand of what are my values…to know what my core is about.”    For most people,  the subject and contemplation o...

This week  James Danckert , psychology professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario and co-author of  “Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom,”  provides some tips for parents to deal with kids who say they are bored.  As boredom is a natural occurrence, Danckert advises parents not to over schedule their kids or find things to keep them busy. Instead, whenever they can, parents should s...

Finding an ideal partner can be an elusive quest. Over the past three decades, attitudes on relationship roles and dynamics have shifted. Thanks to online dating, people of all ages have the opportunity to cast a wider net, expanding their horizons and redefining their expectations.  The journey doesn't stop at finding a partner; maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship is the ultimate go...

When it comes to relationships, a friendship can hold a far more nuanced and significant place in our hearts, than perhaps we fully appreciate. The  Platonic relationship,  an ideal talked about by the ancient Greek Philosopher  Plato , recognizes the existence of a closeness of mind and soul between two people, absent of any physical attraction. This kind of affection and tenderness is captured i...

This week,  Robert Waldinger,  director of the  Harvard Study of Adult Development  and co-author of “ The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness ,” talks about the merits of meditation. As a Zen practitioner Waldinger says meditation has helped him stay present, connect with the richness of life and worry less about the things that really don’t matter. Get full...

In today’s job market, “good communication skills” is often listed as a top requirement. This essential ability not only helps you connect and collaborate with others but also effectively express your needs within the workplace. Strong communicators can unite us, foster positivity, and create a sense of shared potential. Moreover, today’s technology has made communication more accessible and rapid...

This week,  Kemi Nekvapil , leadership coach and author of  “Power: A Woman’s Guide to Living and Leaving without Apology” shares a couple of power practices that can help women and especially women of color feel more empowered and reconnect with who they are. When it comes to standing in one's own power, Nekvapil says, practice, role play and experimentation are essential tools in helping to help...

There may be no greater pain in life than that of losing a child; the gaping hole felt when a young life is abruptly cut short, leaving parents to deal with a void that can be difficult to comprehend, and a journey to make sense of the heartache that follows. For poet Rosemerry Wahtula Trommer, the pain is palpable and the grief — the kind of grief only a mother can know — remains unwavering . Tra...

This week, Alain de Botton , philosopher, author and founder of The School of Life talks about why today’s social and cultural environment is contaminating our peace of mind. De Botton suggests that in order to switch off and achieve some kind of balance in our lives, we need to become better editors and curators of what we are exposed to and shut out as much external negativity and noise as we ca...

Sarah Hill, professor of social psychology at Texas Christian University and author of This is your brain on birth control: The surprising science of sex, women, hormones and the law of unintended consequences, shares her journey into exploring the effects of oral contraception on mental health.  “I actually spent my early career studying the way our sex hormones can affect psychological states an...

This week,  Terry Real , renowned couples therapist and author “ Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship”  reflects on the keys to building a successful long term relationship. In order to change inherited behaviors and dysfunction, Real cites his own struggle with family trauma and offers hope that with courage, discipline and hardwork change is indeed possible.   This epi...

If you’ve ever been accused of ‘gaslighting' someone, you might find yourself unsure about what exactly you're being accused of.  The term is the latest amongst a growing collection of popular psychological buzzwords used to describe manipulative or calculating behavior, but it's often misused and misunderstood.   The term originated from the 1940s black-and-white film Gaslight where a husband man...

*This episode originally aired on July 2, 2022. British writer Robert Macfarlane grew up loving mountains. A keen hiker, he says mountains are in his DNA – Macfarlane's father was a mountaineer and his grandfather oversaw some of the early expeditions and the first summit of Mount Everest in the 1950s.   Macfarlane’s own passion for the extremes of the mountains and the wilds of the outdoors foste...

This week,  Rabbi Steve Leder , author of “ For You When I Am Gone: Twelve Essential Questions to Tell a Life Story” reflects on the legacy we leave after we’re gone and suggests that rather than a long list of accomplishments, it’s the quality of our relationships, throughout our lives that have the biggest impact on our own happiness and how we are cherished and remembered by others.  This  epis...