The Courageous Life

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. ...

You may know people who are seemingly unflappable.  Steadfast.  As if they’ve somehow been inoculated with antibodies to render them able to survive, strive, and even thrive through major life stressors and transitions.  What’s different about these people?  Are they born with resilient genes, or does culture play a role?  Do they have certain outlooks or behaviors that make them able to manage li...

What if the mental health symptoms we face aren’t the actual problem?  What if they’re signals that can help us see and solve the real problem?  Psychiatrist, award winning professor of medicine, journalist, and leading mental health expert,  Dr. Joanna Cheek invites us to lean into these questions Arguing In her timely new book:  It’s Not You, It’s the World, A Mental Health Survival Guide for Us...

In his new book Flourish , bestselling author, scientific journalist, and leading culture expert Daniel Coyle trains his eye on the groups and people who demonstrate exceptional connectivity, presence, and dynamism.  His focus driven by a deep curiosity to better understand some of life’s biggest questions: What is a meaningful life, and how do we make one?  And How do certain communities foster c...

There is an internal strength of mind and heart that is characterized by  non-reactivity and clear seeing.  It is a strength that holds the power to help us navigate the biggest challenges in our lives — not by ignoring them, not by reacting to them in destructive ways,  But rather by being present with, and open to, all the very real struggles of being human  without being hijacked by them.  In h...

There is a primal drive that in our species alone has been transformed into  one of our most persistent and universal motivations:  The longing to matter. In her revelatory new book:  The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us ,  MacArthur Fellow, National Humanities Medalist, and bestselling author, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein ,  Weaves powerful insights from biology...

Joseph Campbell, the visionary author behind The Hero's Journey, once wrote: " People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life.  I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking.  I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive." Today’s guest, leadership coach, organizational consultant, and wellbeing expert,  Vivien Tai in many ways has picked up where J...

We all have something we want to change about ourselves.  But whether it's quitting smoking, losing weight, or breaking some common bad habit, we feel a sense of failure when we don’t succeed.  This can often set off a cascade of negative feelings and discouragement,  making it even harder to change.  The voice in our head telling us: Why bother? In his profound book, How We Change: And Ten R...

10 years ago Chelsea Pottenger found herself in a psychiatric hospital.  Deep in the throes of severe PostNatal Depression following the birth of her daughter, Chelsea in many ways was fighting for her life and at the beginning of a long road  toward healing, and ultimately post traumatic growth.  Along the way she found herself in a monastery learning and practicing meditation, Arriving at new in...

What sets the most successful people apart?  You may think that the answer is hard work (and it’s certainly part of it),  but in her interviews of the most accomplished individuals— from entrepreneurs and investors to Olympic athletes and Pulitzer Prize winners— Distinguished Professor of Management, Dr. Laura Huang discovered  that what they called their gut feel, the product of their intuition, ...