The Integral Stage Expanded Universe (ISEU)

For the 39th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman cozies up in a yurt with Simon Cox to talk about his recent book, The Subtle Body: A Genealogy. Simon tells Layman about his history studying martial arts, including six years under a kung fu master on Wudang Mountain in China, and the path that led him to a deep, graduate-level comparative exploration of conceptions of the subtle b...

For the eleventh episode of The Soul of AI, Layman sits down with healer, artist, and AI entrepreneur and consultant, Cris Beasley, to talk about the interface of art and AI; the narcissistic dynamics that drive much of our modern structures, and bringing healing to those dynamics; "Letting the piranha eat us"; the difference between artificial intelligence and augmented intelligence; th...

The question of the promise and peril of AI is a proper one for our long-running Love the System series, but we thought it deserved its own spot as a sub-series due to the rapid development and proliferation of Large Language Models and other ground-breaking AI technologies over the past six months. It may be too early to tell yet, but with the clear power of this emergent technology, its potentia...

To shake things up a little on The Integral Stage, we are dropping down a few chakras to explore all the ins and outs of awakened sexuality, conscious relationship, and sensuously embodied spiritual practice. For episode 22, Layman is joined by Catherine Auman and Greg Lawrence of The Transpersonal Center in LA, to talk about the tantric arts, transpersonal dimensions of development, sexuality as...

Several years after the original Integral UFOlogy series was published, the Integral UFOlogy panel reconvenes to discuss the latest UAP news and disclosures, and the latest developments in their own research and experiences in these areas. Panelists: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Stuart Davis, Chris Dierkes, Giorgio Piacenza, Layman Pascal, and Bruce Alderman. Original Panel Discussion:    • Integral Ufol...

For episode 23, Layman is joined by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers, a sex educator and psychotherapist, to explore questions around gender and sexual development; the impact of shame on sexual development, and the relationship of shame and guilt; the problems in recent and contemporary sex education in the United States; the possibilities for a hedonic education; deeper forms of sexual identity and dev...

For the 37th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman meets again prolific metamodern author and friend of the channel, Brendan Graham Dempsey, to talk about his latest book, "Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics." In this much needed work, Brendan surveys the variety of "metamodernisms" that have emerged in recent years and, using some integrati...

Layman Pascal and Bruce Alderman meet with Terri O'Fallon to discuss her recent course exploring the intersections of Mahamudra practice and the STAGES model; the relationship of states and stages, and the role of states in higher psychospiritual development; the linguistic dimensions of development, and developmental assessment; nonduality and the embodied dimensions of language; prepositions...

In Postnormal Worldviews, Layman is joined by eco-village explorer and Fourth Way practitioner, Markus Feenstra, to inquire into the question of normalcy, how it gets socially established, and what processes, practices, and sensitivities allow for the establishment of new normals; the problem of mismatches between the 'normal' and what we might sense intuitively as what is deeply right; th...

Layman sits down with Aviv Shahar, host of the Portals of Perception, to explore his attempt at charting a grounded esoteric path that grows beyond our integrative metamodels.

For the 36th episode of the Integral Stage Authors Series, Layman beams Andrew M. Davis up to his orbital studio to talk about his recently published book, Metaphysics of Exo-Life. In this wide-ranging discussion, they talk about the renewed interest in and relevance of the field of cosmo-theology, as scientists are detecting possible indicators of life on remote planets and the government is appa...

For the ninth episode of The Soul of AI, Layman meets with coach and Circling facilitator, David Swedlow, to thread thoughtfully between the usual utopian and dystopian narratives on AI; and given the degree of speculation in the face of the unknown that even experts in the field are forced to do, to consider the roles and responsibilities each of us has to think these issues through carefully and...

Following on several episodes on The Integral Stage where we have discussed subtle energy, neo-shamanism, and related topics, Layman sits down with Robin, a Finnish shamanic practitioner and Jungian, to talk about the history of shamanism, the differences in its forms and manifestations around the globe, the various efforts to reconstruct lost shamanic traditions in our time, its intersections wit...

In a swanky high-rise apartment, just beyond the Thunderdome, Layman sits down with Jason the McClain to talk about the attractions and the limitations of libertarianism, Jason's early formative experiences with it, and the experiences and insights that eventually led him to leave it behind. From a meta-level, they also discuss what it means, and what it takes, to be ready to let go of one&#39...

In this special, quasi-Author Series video, Layman meets with Patrick Gac to discuss an innovative, natural-cycle based divinatory system that Patrick argues is compatible with and informed by some of the leading theory in our liminal worldspace, from John Vervaeke's 4-E cogsci to Bobby Azarian's cosmology. Agromancy, meaning "divination of the fields", is a card deck based syste...

Layman is joined by Dr. Sally Adnams Jones & Dr. Jen Peer Rich to talk about the journey that led to the launch of their Radical Emergence podcast, and the ideas and vision that inspire it. What is meant by "radical emergence"? In this time of rapid change and transformation, why is it important to explore vulnerability and suffering, descent and embodiment? What are the roots and dy...

In this special episode, Layman is joined by leadership expert, Alan Watkins, and psychotherapist, Durwin Foster, to explore themes from Alan's new book, Lie-Ability: How Leaders Build and Break Trust. What are the seven dark arts of deception? From integral leadership and psychotherapeutic perspectives, how are we to address breakdowns in sensemaking and coherence in a culture where deceit ha...

For the eighth episode of The Soul of AI (or maybe this is episode 7.5), Layman sits down again with Jill Nephew to talk to her about her responses to some of the previous guests' positions on AI; the problems with scaling; and to go into more detail on her concerns about the limitations and dangers of this alluring technology. Jill Nephew is the founder of Inqwire, PBC a company on a mission...

Layman meets with Dr. Cadell Last to talk about a new philosophy anthology that Cadell co-edited with O.G. Rose, and to which Layman contributed as well: Abyssal Arrows: Spiritual Leadership Inspired by Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Through a review of a number of the essays in this volume, they explore the potential meanings and implications of the notion of Übermensch, especially in our times; the sha...

Layman meets with the co-authors of Human Work, Leanne Holdsworth and Naryan Wong, to explore the leadership mindsets that can help foster more livable, humanised workspaces (British spelling of humanized optional!). How can our work environments be transformed if learning and growth are regularly emphasized; if everyone is recognized as a leader in some capacity; if greater attention is paid to c...

For the seventh episode, Layman meets with Game-B godfather, Jim Rutt, to talk about his recent experiments of using AI to help with screenwriting, the intersections of AI and the creative arts, the likely positive and negative impacts AI will have on human cognitive development, the alignment problem and the seven most likely challenges that AI poses to our civilization, and his ideal vision of a...

For the 34th episode of the Integral Stage Authors series, Layman sits down with Daniel Garner of @O.G.Rose (Michelle.and. Daniel) to talk about their new book, Belonging Again -- the first in a series of explorations on the topic of "belonging" in our fragmented age. As they put it in the book's description: " Our identities, religions, nationalities, occupations, life choices,...

For the fifth episode, Layman sits down with John Vervaeke to explore the topic from the three angles John considers essential: the (cognitive) scientific, the philosophical, and the spiritual. John discusses why the initial announcements about LLM breakthroughs left him concerned and dismayed; why he is distrustful of both the apocalyptic and utopian claims around AI; what his greatest concerns a...

For the fourth episode, Layman sits down with Tada Hozumi to explore his thoughts on how a Shinto, animist approach to the world of living intelligences might help us wisely interface, also, with new AI systems, and to recognize some of their affordances perhaps not as readily apparent within our pervasive, materialist and reductionist worldviews. As their discussion deepens, they also get into ta...

Layman sits down with Branden Singletary, aka Nexumorphic, to talk about his metatheoretical model, Metaforma, and the philosophical and psychospiritual influences behind his singular and highly creative work. Branden is a designer and creator, focused on the demonstration of meaningful design – deliberate, purposeful construction, rich with context and meaning, executed with wondrous precision. P...