The Daily Evolver

In this episode integral philosopher Steve McIntosh and I discuss his new book: Developmental Politics—How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself. Steve employs integral political philosophy to help overcome America’s hyperpolarized cultural condition. He offers a pragmatic yet inspiring approach to our national political dilemma through a new politics of culture—one that goes right to t...

Like everything, the practice of psychotherapy is evolving. Emerging in the field today is a new integration of modalities that have previously been siloed, each claiming to be the best. But best for who – and what? My guest today is integral psychotherapist and Zen priest, Chad Bennett, who explores the new integration of therapeutic processes that is taking shape. He starts by describing t...

My longtime friend and integral comrade Terry Patten and I have argued for many years about the state and trajectory of the world. And though we both strive to bring an integral perspective to the question, we do see it differently, and in ways that I think reflect differences of views within the integral community, and maybe within your own psyche. In this episode, we share the latest of our ongo...

President Trump’s drone assassination of Iran’s General Qassim Suliemani has dramatically increased the tensions between the US and Iran. It also raises concerns about Donald Trump’s motives and judgment in carrying out a U.S. President’s most deadly option, and what the ramifications may be. In this episode, I attempt to shed some integral light on the situation.

Today my guest is Bence Ganti, the driving force behind the upcoming Integral European Conference, a major six-day event for the Integral community which will commence on May 26th at the Azur Resort at Lake Balaton in Hungary. This fourth biennial conference will be the biggest and most comprehensive yet, with over 700 participants from 50 countries. Titled Global Integral Awakens, the conference...

Integral philosopher Steve McIntosh helps us usher in the new year (and decade) with a fresh look at an ancient formula for living a happy, productive and meaningful life. In this episode he explains “the virtues”, a philosophical concept with living roots reaching back to antiquity, including Plato and Confucius, as well as modern validity in the findings of positive psychology and social science...

In this episode, I point out some integral insights bursting forth from the world of comedy: Bill Maher, who ended his season of Real Time on HBO with a surprising sort-of-integral message Joel Stein, author of In Defense of Elitism, Why I’m Better Than You and You’re Better Than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book Eliza Schlesinger, who dissects her wedding – and worldview – in her Netfl...

In this episode, Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson’s latest book, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, where he challenges mainstream science to broaden its inquiry to include cultural and consciousness evolution, two pillars of integral theory. 

“All of us – researchers, practitioners and activists – are all looking for what it means to meet the call for transformative change. If we can bring in developmental psychology as one of the knowledge sets, I think we’re going to have some really exciting times ahead.” – Gail Hochachka Can developmental psychology help us respond more effectively to climate change? My gues...

As the star of Judge Judy, Judith Sheindlin presides over the #1 show in US daytime television, where she rules on small-claims disputes drawn from real-life litigants across the country. Now in its 23rd year, Judge Judy attracts 10 million viewers a day who are eager to watch the 76-year-old grandmother transform into a Valkyrie for Justice, laying waste to the mendacities of cheating lovers, thi...

“While we can easily plateau in our adult development, we don’t have to. In fact, there seems to be no upper limit to how much we can grow. The latest stages of human development remain a Mystery waiting to be lived.” … so says Thomas McConkie, founder of Lower Lights, a spiritual community that is practicing a new approach to integral spirituality. Based in Salt Lake City as well as operating vir...

President Trump has given us a taste of his America-First foreign policy by withdrawing from Syria, and his Trump-First foreign policy by arm-twisting Ukraine for political dirt. In all of the chaos there are patterns of a new integration arising in the way US voters think about who we are and our place in the world. This is edited from my live weekly webcast, hosted on Integral Life, every Wednes...

The culture war heats up and President Trump is fighting with gloves off, trashing precedent, propriety — and apparently the Constitution. Liberals can’t fathom how conservatives have chosen a lying, cheating philanderer as the standard-bearer for traditional values. In this episode I try to shed some integral light on the subject. This is edited from my live weekly webcast, hosted on Integr...

In this week’s episode, edited from the live webcast, I focused on listener response to my earlier podcast on Greta Thunberg and the environmental movement. Enjoy these highlights and tune in live when you can!

Many integralists are fans of Otto Scharmer, MIT professor and developer of “Theory U”, a brilliant tool for activating higher stages of consciousness that has gained wide acceptance in organizations. As a leading public intellectual Dr. Scharmer also writes about politics and culture. In this episode, integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt and I discuss Scharmer’s political theory as presented i...

In this episode I share some thoughts on the evolutionary power of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist, and her visit (via sailboat!) to the UN Climate Summit.

This week I examine the roster of Democratic contenders vying to unseat Donald Trump. It’s fascinating to watch them trying to create a larger public identity and harness the cultural forces they need to stand out. For my jumping-off point I consider two articles in last week’s Sunday Review in the New York Times: “Donald Trump Is Not A Sinister Genius”, by Ross Douthat, which makes the case...

This summer marks the finales of two multi-chapter fantasy epics that have both reflected and shaped our evolving culture. HBO’s Game of Thrones presented its eighth season, earning a record-breaking 32 Emmy nominations (it has 161 overall). Over at the movies, the Marvel franchise based on The Avengers comic books released its eighteenth and final installment, Avengers: Endgame, which has already...

“We have to accept the reality that to one extent or another everyone has chronically amped-up distress, and a persistent negativity that generates confusing, distorted stories and emotional pain.” This statement kicks off another fascinating conversation with my pal, integral psychotherapist Dr. Keith Witt. What makes our distress difficult to accept, Keith says, is that we live in a culture that...

Today’s guest, Sebastian Siegel, is the screenwriter and director of the upcoming movie, Grace and Grit. The film tells the true love story of iconic, Integral philosopher Ken Wilber and his wife Treya. Based on the acclaimed book that chronicles Treya’s journals, they fall madly in love in 1980’s California and are immediately faced with illness and challenges that tear them apart. They overcome...

My vision of a peaceful Colorado summer of slowed-down punditry and ramped-up gardening has been disturbed by a specter of menace entering the scene. While never reaching a crisis level, it has nevertheless presented a real-life dilemma that has taxed whatever integral capacities I have, and has proven to be potent grist for my daily evolving. In this podcast I share the story of my bully and me.

Every first-tier worldview wants to dominate the world, and given a chance they will run roughshod over all who dissent. But as humanity grows (and we individual humans grow) each worldview has to contend with opposing worldviews, a process that constrains the totalitarian impulses of each. In this way, worldviews, even as they stay true to their essence, become less dangerous as they arise in an...

My guest, Fleet Maull, is a criminal justice activist and integralist who shares the story of his time in prison and the work it has inspired. In the 1980s Fleet was a contemplative psychology graduate and student of Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa. But a double life caught up with him as he was convicted of drug trafficking, and he ended up serving 14 years in prison. While behind bars, Fleet so...

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Keith Witt about what he calls “the seductive power of quadrant absolutism,” riffing on the quadrant model (part of the AQAL Model) developed by integral philosopher Ken Wilber. Quadrant absolutism denotes the propensity each us of has to see the world through the lens of a preferred dimension of reality – the inner world vs. grounded reality, for instance, o...

By Jeff Salzman The Democratic field for US president is taking shape fast. Today I have a freewheeling conversation with Corey DeVos of Integral Life about our impressions of the emerging landscape, with a special focus on Marianne Williamson, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.