Seize the Moment Podcast

On episode 261, we welcome Ilan Stavans to discuss the historical incarnations of god, god as a symbol of both oppression and liberty, Moses's rebellion against god and how it symbolizes modern faith, god as an ineffable experience, why we continue to create god, militant atheism as a response to deep-seated hope for the existence of god, Jesus dying for the sins of Yahweh, morality without religi...

On episode 260, we welcome David Ost to discuss the philosophy of the red pill movement, the similarities and differences between red pill and fascism, why people are drawn to authoritarian figures, the rise of Trump, populism as an ideological framework for fascism, Soviet communism as the extreme end of the left's failures to improve lives, sports and worker's rights, and the New York Knicks as...

On episode 259, we welcome Ann Larson to discuss her experience working as a grocery cashier during the COVID-19 pandemic, the complex emotional and structural factors involved in professional success and failure, meritocracy as a simplification of economic outcomes, the multiple forms of labor involved in supermarket work, the difference between one's status and skillset, food waste at the expens...

On episode 258, we welcome David Samson to discuss sleep hygiene and the wellness industry, how we misunderstand the optimization of sleep, glorifying and idealizing ancestral societies, sleep's relationship with mental health, moving from sleeping in trees to communal "shells," sleep's importance in regulating brain health, the paleo gear and the optimal gear in sleep science, the trade-offs in s...

On episode 257, we welcome Christian B. Miller to discuss the growing honesty crises shaping modern society, the philosophical and psychological roots of dishonesty and self-deception, the impact of AI and deepfakes on our ability to trust reality, the rise of AI use and academic integrity concerns in education, how social media rewards performance over authenticity, the spread of misinformation a...

On episode 256, we welcome Gail Straub to discuss her work empowering women across the globe, being a civilian diplomat, not being taken seriously in Russia as an American Marxist, lessons about inner strength from traversing the Himalayan mountains, the complexity of political activism in China, diversity as a core component of peace, the elements of human nature uniting all of us, and what insti...

On episode 255, we welcome Jonathan Vigliotti to discuss the 2025 Palisades Fire, the systemic failures that caused and maintained it, the ethics of hiring private fire brigades, how climate change influenced the fire, the political neglect and flawed reasoning around effective management, fire safety standards as the bare minimum, bureaucratic collapse, Mayor Karen Bass's mistakes, incentivizing...

On episode 254, we welcome Aaron Poochigian to discuss his new translation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Aaron's struggles with addiction and how the book helped him in recovery, suffering as stemming from interpretations of rather than facts about the world, meaning as stemming from virtue rather than reputation, learning to accept all of nature to manage suffering, applying the concept of '...

On episode 253, we welcome Christopher Mathias to discuss the meaning of fascism and what ANTIFA is, fascism's ideological roots in greed and domination, the Charlottesville protests, fascist masking and the threat of being charmed by appearances, whether we owe it to fascism to allow for open debates, whether fascists care about finding the truth, if it's possible to differentiate between conserv...

On episode 252, welcome Benjamin Saltzman to discuss the gesture of turning away, the shame and grief behind it, how it became a moral topic, turning away in art and Timanthes's lost painting of Agamemnon, Plato's tripartite concept of the soul and turning away as a mark of confusion, rigidity and steadfastness as signs of courage and character, cognitive flexibility and knowing when to turn away,...

On episode 251, we welcome Patricia Martin to discuss identity formation in the modern world, our preoccupation with external validation and why it's unsustainable in the internet age, Carl Jung's understanding of the persona and our tendency to perform, the persona and chronic self-doubt, socially prescribed perfectionism and the fog of self, physical practices to re-center oneself, and the impor...

On episode 250, we welcome Amy Nathan to discuss civil rights icon Sara Keyes Evans,  her own decision to not move to the back of a bus, the decades long legal battle that followed, the battle between federal and state laws regarding interstate travel for minorities, Sara's more measured and less aggressive stance on social justice, the values and temperament that were the foundation of her brand...

On episode 249, we welcome Jack El-Hai to discuss the Nuremberg trials and the recent film about them, the psychiatrist who analyzed Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas Kelley's motivations for doing so, whether Nazis were monsters and if being human makes them scarier, how the results of Göring's Rorschach test reveled a narcissistic personality, the foundation of evil, Kelley's stifled ambitions and why...

On episode 248, we welcome Dorothy Roberts to discuss the history of interracial marriage in the US, how it was used to help sustain Black slavery, Dorothy's resistance to and eventual acceptance of being biracial, her disagreements with her father (a fellow researcher) on the benefits of interracial marriages, defining race and why Nazis and white supremacists  both struggled to define whiteness,...

On episode 247, we welcome Lybi Ma to discuss the thought patterns we get trapped in, the differences between ruminating and deliberating, why avoiding and suppressing our emotions can make them feel more intense, challenging the negative narratives we create about our lives, why our brains are programmed for survival rather than happiness, why Freud was right, spotting cognitive distortions, the...

On episode 246, we welcome David Bather Woods to discuss the life and philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, how his father's suicide shaped his beliefs about suicide, suffering as the source of compassion, happiness as the negation of pain, Schopenhauer's anti-slavery sentiment, his difficult relationship with Marxist thought and its thinkers, whether writing about changing the world for the better c...

On episode 245, we welcome Michael Uebel to discuss the practice of equanimity, its similarities and differences from mindfulness practices, how perspective taking helps mitigate difficult feelings as in PTSD, how it can be used to help bridge political divides, shifting goals to less ambitious ones for greater equanimity, perspective taking and its influence on self-esteem, and psychoanalysis as...

On episode 244, we welcome Troyen Brennan to discuss the pitfalls of the US healthcare system, the fee-for-service model's implications for patient outcomes, primary care as a more viable alternative, Walmart's failed attempt to establish primary care clinics, Optum's contrasting success, how to incentivize primary care, AI streamlining prior authorizations, increasing government funding and ventu...

On episode 243, we welcome Eram Alam to discuss the experiences of foreign-born physicians practicing in the US, the structural problems that led to significant deficits in healthcare across the US, the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 and the other political underpinnings of migrating physicians to the US, skepticism of immigrant physicians from rural populations, the exploitation of healthcare by capital...

On episode 242, we welcome Cass Sunstein to discuss the foundations of fame, the roles of information cascades and reputation cascades in fostering one's success, the rise of Obama as a cascade, whether talent is enough for sustainable success, how group polarization influences our perceptions, network effects and our dependence on others, the significance of luck, why talent doesn't always see th...

On episode 241, we welcome Natalia Kholodenko to discuss the psychological impact of trauma, how the citizens in war-torn countries respond to trauma, Natalia's own trauma when fleeing from Ukraine after Russia began its bombing campaign, the importance of maintaining a strong value system in the face of tragedy, Judith Herman on the importance of reintegrating one back into a community when heali...

On episode 240, we welcome Mark White to discuss the ethical philosophies behind the fantastic four, applying utilitarianism to Reed Richards, deontology to Ben Grimm (The Thing), virtue ethics to Sue Storm, examining the moral growth of Johnny Storm, Dr. Doom's twisted morality, how superheroes embody the emotions associated with moral decision-making, whether moral decisions can be perceived as...

On episode 239, we welcome Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling to discuss his foray into the paranormal, our innate spiritualism and why some lean into it while others don't, how anti-establishment people and institutions misuse the scientific method, who's to blame for the widespread anti-science bias, the challenge of defining the 'soul,' what happens when experience conflicts with empirical data, alien ab...

On episode 238, welcome Emile DeWeaver to discuss reforming the US criminal justice system, the lack of a systematic understanding of crime in most rehabilitation programs, white supremacy as a version of the human tendency to dominate, the "near enemy" of incremental change, the roots of US policing and the need for a collective mind to replace it, the struggle with assimilation for formerly inca...

On episode 237, we welcome Steven Poser to discuss psychotherapy for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, the symbolism of hallucinations and delusions, transference and countertransference with psychosis, how trauma contributes to the forms hallucinations may take, treating hostile patients, the shared humanity with psychotic patients, psychological defenses as covers for deeper pain, and...