The Daily Evolver

Very good podcast Jeff. Puts a lot of calm into a very chaotic time. – Nils Montan The day before this week’s US presidential election one of my favorite public intellectuals, Sam Harris, released a podcast where he announced a breakthrough in his understanding of what had heretofore been a mystery: the appeal of Donald Trump to his followers. His revelation: Trump offers what no pries...

One of my biggest surprises in this campaign has been the growth in my estimation of Joe Biden as a person, candidate, and possible President of the United States. No longer just the compromise contender to defeat Donald Trump, Biden has inspired me with a vision for America that seeks to integrate the two competing stories of our history, those of gratitude and grievance. I endorse him enthusiast...

That is great piece! Real manifestation of 2nd tear in practical terms. And eye opening even for people from abroad USA, which have bit different racial issues. – KuboF Hromoslav Powerful. Extremely informative. Thank you – Sue Brooks This is really good. Cindy Wigglesworth has a great balance between a lot of knowledge/wisdom with true humility. She’s doing good work in our world, y’a...

I remember hearing something like “any behavior is appropriate in some context”. Your presentation really brings this out! – George Shepherd Moral development involves increasing the categories of people who are inside one’s circle of compassion. At the green postmodern stage, we include people who have been marginalized because of race, looks or sexual identities, as well as fol...

Hey Folks, I recently checked in with Corey DeVos, Editor-in-Chief of Integral Life, about their long-awaited debut of Integral Life Practice (ILP), a “personal-evolution” program that integrates the best practices of spiritual, psychological, interpersonal and cognitive development. Integral Life has brought together dozens of deeply-experienced Practice Leaders to provide live, daily guided ILP...

That is the best and most integral commentary on the US presidential election I have come across so far. Thanks so much, Jeff. – John O’neill With less than a month left in the campaign, Trump, knocked back with Covid, stokes his base with new cries about “the Russia hoax”. Meanwhile Joe Biden, up in the polls, goes to Gettysburg to talk about faith in “One America.” In this episode I...

The first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is over – and I didn’t start drinking! In this episode, I show how an integral view helps us see the debate for what it is instead of a defective version of “what it should be”. Then I look at some of the issues the candidates addressed, and how together they moved the ball. By the way, I hope you’ll join me for my live show every Wed...

Hey Folks! In this episode, I respond to provocative comments from my very smart listeners, and share some photos from my trip to Trumplandia!  See topics and timestamps below. I love hearing what’s on your minds and hearts, so keep your comments, questions and critiques coming! You can write me at jeff@dailyevolver.com, or leave me a voicemail (which I may play on the show). And don’t forge...

In this episode of “Shrink and the Pundit,” Keith and I explore breathing practices described in a powerful new book, Breath, the New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor, as well as a muscle conditioning program developed by Dr. Zach Bush in his 4-Minute Workout. Both systems promised – and delivered – big results from easy effort, enabling both Keith, a master practitioner, and I,...

“Claire and I listened to Jeff’s latest podcast on Sunday and it was a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended if you’re upset by the current culture wars. (if you’re not, are you still alive?) Yes, Jeff uses some integral jargon from time to time but I think anyone will appreciate his view from 10,000 feet.” – Bill Epperly, PhD, of Integral Awakenings Every sta...

Integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt sparked this episode of our ongoing conversation, “The Shrink and the Pundit”, by writing to me about a dilemma that many evolutionaries share: In our personal relationships we are pretty good at harmonizing differences. But when it comes to politics and culture it is a much harder task. He writes: I’m mostly stable at teal and turquoise helping my cli...

One of the most powerful projects to come out of the integral movement is the practice of “authentic relating” with its core 2nd-person technology of “circling.” The Boulder Integral Center was a laboratory for its development, and Jason Digges was in the thick of it, first by being personally transformed, then by teaching it to others … and now with his terrific new book Conflict = Energy, The Tr...

We are in a cultural moment regarding race where we can literally see and feel the movements of history. It’s making for many great conversations among integralists, and in this episode I share one I enjoyed recently with two evolutionary thinkers, Greg Thomas and Phil Anderson. Our topics include differentiating the often-conflated concepts of race, culture and development … recognizing and...

My last episode, Toward A Post-Progressive View of Race Relations, sparked a lot of letters from listeners. In this episode, I answer some of the very good questions and very smart criticisms I received. Keep them coming! Send email to jeff[at]dailyevolver.com or leave a voicemail here. – Jeff

The videotaped murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police and the subsequent two weeks of demonstrations has galvanized the nation. In part 1 of this episode (00:10), I look at the evolutionary potency of the events of the last two weeks, which have brought into searing clarity the realization that a part of the American family has been grievously discounted and mistreated. And...

It’s subtle but some of you have noticed: I’ve changed the tagline of the Daily Evolver to “A post-progressive look at politics and culture”. It used to read “Integral insights into politics and culture”, which still describes what I attempt to do in this podcast: to point out what I see as the emerging edges of human and cultural evolution, and to foster new habits of thinking for people who wish...

I’m a big fan of The Integral European Conference (IEC), which has become the leading event in the international integral community. The fourth and latest IEC, Global Integral Awakens, was scheduled for the end of this month at Lake Balaton in Hungary. Then came COVID-19 and reluctant cancellation. But the show will go on – online! Founder Bence Ganti and his conference team have risen to th...

Human beings have evolved – and continue to – within the domains of first-person, second-person, and third-person reality. In first-person (I-space) we integrate ideas and worldviews. In third-person (it-space) we create new systems and technologies out in the world. This episode is about evolution in the domain of second-person (we-space), where we develop in relationship with others....

Dr. Keith Witt and I have way too much fun discussing the consequences, in all four quadrants, of life in the time of COVID-19.

Consider, friend, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you too shall be. Prepare, therefore, to follow me. This famous epitaph from a Scottish tombstone sums up the central dilemma of human existence: it ends in death. But is death the end? All peoples throughout history have intuited that there is more to this life than meets the eye. And they (we!) have created endless pra...

This week I take a look at the Coronavirus pandemic and humanity’s response to it. The integral lens helps us see more clearly the myriad forces rising out of this crisis, which increases our wisdom and compassion in dealing with it. The situation is changing day-to-day and I will no doubt comment further in future podcasts. Let me know what you’re thinking at jeff@dailyevolver.com.

As a psychotherapist, I have conducted over fifty thousand therapy sessions with men, women, couples, teens, kids, and families over the last thirty-seven years. And I’m here to testify that secret affairs literally screw everybody up. So says Dr. Keith Witt in this fascinating exploration of infidelity in marriage, which arises out of human beings’ two competing sexual drives: to pair-bond and to...

What a difference a Super Tuesday can make! Last week I and many others wrote off Joe Biden’s candidacy as hopeless. Now he is the front runner for the Democratic nomination in a two-man race with Bernie Sanders. What happened? And what might it reveal about the race going forward? To ponder these questions, I invite onto the podcast two of my favorite Integral political pals, Diane Musho Hamilton...

It’s the high political season here in the U.S., and like all good citizens I am called on to cast my vote. My fellow Coloradans and I are part of Super Tuesday, where one-third of the Democratic electorate will decide who we want to go up against President Trump in November. In this podcast, I attempt to bring an integral sensibility to my decisions on the six major candidates, and to share how I...

In the lineage of Integral philosophers, Jean Gebser is a mystic. Famous for delineating the structures of human consciousness as archaic, magic, mythic, mental and integral, he regarded them as arising not just sequentially in history but also vividly in an ever-present now. “While it is clear that adults possess various mental and physical capacities not possessed by children, and modern culture...