Life Examined

*This episode originally aired on January 14, 2023. From our earliest ancestors, we’ve been travelers — first as nomadic tribes, and later as raiders, traders, explorers, and colonizers. Whether by ship or by foot, it’s human nature to move and explore.   Jonathan Bastian talks with travel writer, podcaster, and vagabond  Rolf Potts  about the merits of travel. Potts is the author of several trave...

After 30 years of experience counseling couples, therapist  Terry Real  reflects on what makes building a long-term relationship difficult and the skills needed to keep a partnership intact. Reals says that even with changing dynamics and non-traditional partnerships, the age-old problems still exist. “Despite all of the gender fluidity and all of the experimentation, a two-person paired-for-life,...

Judith Orloff ,  UCLA clinical psychiatrist  and author of  The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World , explains that empathy is what connects us. It’s the ability to care, to listen, and to open our hearts. The practice of empathy, Orloff says, is a simple yet “precious gift” and that displaying empathy is  the “best of who we are.” Orl...

This week,  Katherine Morgan Schafler, author  of  The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control , explores our relationship with the ideal of being a perfectionist. Morgan Schafler encourages greater self-awareness in managing perfectionism, saying it’s OK to be inspired without the expectation that we will ever achieve that goal.  Katherine Morgan Schafler. Photo courtesy of Eric Michael Pearson T...

Doctor Elizabeth Comen and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse talk about gender bias and its lingering impact on women’s healthcare and reproductive rights. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week,  Casper ter Kuile ,  co-founder of  Nearness , and author of “ The Power of Ritual, ” discusses the value of building community and coming together, and offers some practical advice for forging meaningful connections including the ability to shift away from some of our accustomed patterns of giving advice and instead offer our full attention, loving presence and just listen.    Get full...

Jonathan Bastian talks with writer, lecturer, and author Susan Cain about the sweet joy of sadness. Cain, author of  Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole , reflects on the touch of sweetness that comes from sadness and despair and shares how a greater acceptance of these emotions can be beneficial and even therapeutic. Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joi...

This week,  Ryan Holiday , speaker and author of  “ Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self Control ” shares some advice on the stoic virtue of self discipline.  Holiday says that in today’s world of abundance, self discipline and self imposed boundaries are fundamental to meeting our potential, achieving balance and leading a good life.  Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack....

Psychologist Katherine Morgan Schaflter talks about her book The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control , the universal desire to seek perfection, and the need for greater self-awareness in managing perfectionism. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Pulitzer-prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses his memoir “ A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial ” and the challenges and pain he faced growing up a Vietnamese refugee. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week,  Gloria Mark  ,  Professor at the University of California at Irvine  and author of the book  “Attention Span:A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity,”  explains how much harder it has become to resist the urge to be distracted mostly because of the constant access to our our digital devices. Mark says we should be more cognizant of these types of distraction...

Scott Galloway discusses his book "The Algebra of Wealth" and the growing disconnect between young people and their economic futures. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Kieran Setyia, professor of philosophy at MIT and author of “ Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way ” reflects on failure and suggests we push back on how we frame our lives through successes and failures, winners and losers. Doing so, Setyia says, doesn’t make us succeed more but allows “failure to take a different shape and have less centrality” in how we value our liv...

Journalist Abraham Lustgarten and scientist-turned-activist Rose Abramoff discuss the impacts of climate research on human migratory patterns and activism. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

KCRW Life Examined host Jonathan Bastian makes a guest appearance on KCRW’s How’s Your Sex Life, and talks about his insights on relationships, divorce and heartbreak.  Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott Galloway NYU professor, podcaster and author of “ The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security,” reflects on life’s blessings. Galloway says he’s grateful for the many successes in his life, which he attributes not to hard work but to the people, time and circumstances that made them possible.  His message to others who share his good fortune, "don't hoard wealth...

After years of working at the intersection of immigration and education, journalist Lauren Markham offers a different approach to writing about immigration that may lead to greater understanding. In her book  A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging , Markham talks about challenging narratives and stories, looking at our own history, and asking what it means to belong to a place.​ Get full...

This week, renowned writer and author Michael Pollan on the new science of psychedelics. Pollan describes how new treatments using psilocybin can open pathways in our minds and when used with supervision, have been successful in treating depression, anxiety and addiction. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Renowned writer and author Michael Pollan delves into his three-decade odyssey exploring America's food systems. With six bestselling books to his name, Pollan's pioneering inquiries have raised the fundamental question: ‘What’s in our food, and where it comes from?’ Pollan also explores plants that influence our consciousness, citing caffeine as a prime example. Get full access to Life Examined a...

This week, psychology and education professor at Columbia University,  Peter Coleman  explains why in turbulent times at home and across the globe, Costa Rica remains peaceful and stable. In the aftermath of bloody conflicts, Coleman says, Costa Rica intentionally chose to stop war and designed their country around that vision. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscrib...

Neil Mullarkey, comedian, actor, and author of In the Moment: Build your confidence, creativity, and communication at work, shares his journey into comedy and writing and how he recognized the power of comedy at an early age. He’s toured the world, working with well-known comedians like Mike Myers, with whom he founded the Comedy Store Players in London. Mullarckey found that the skills he learned...

This week, Brad Stulberg writer and author of “The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success that Feeds – Not Crushes – Your Soul” on behavioral action and why the best way to feel good and bring about a change in mood is to force ourselves to start or to get going, even if when we don’t feel like it. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Jennifer Chatman, Professor of Management at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business , looks at the role of narcissism in leadership and why CEOs of corporations “are more likely to be narcissistic than the population at large, by about 6%.” Ramani Durvasula , clinical psychologist and author of It's Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People , provides the clinical definition of narc...

This week, clinical psychologist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach on activism and how easy it is to unintentionally absorb the hate and anger leveled at others. Brach suggests that rather than reacting with the same anger, try taking an additional step and move to a place of reflection, care and understanding.  Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the author of Psyche: The Story of the Human Mind, explores the history and controversial legacy surrounding the renowned 20th century Austrian neuroscientist Sigmund Freud. Modern psychotherapy has come a long way over the last century. Many of Freud’s bizarre theories on psychosexual development and the Oedipal complex have bee...