THRIVING IN TIMES OF STRUGGLE

Comments? Send me a text message. What does it mean to live a virtuous life—and how does virtue relate to human flourishing? In this episode, we explore the moral dimensions of flourishing through both Western and developmental lenses. Drawing on classical ideas from ancient philosophy, we ask whether virtue is grounded in reason, emotion, or something deeper.  We focsu on the work of psychologist...

Comments? Send me a text message. What does it really mean to flourish as we age? In this second episode of Flourish As You Age , host Michael C. Patterson draws from his forthcoming book, Welcoming Wisdom: How Mature Minds Can Shape a Kinder, Wiser Future , to explore timeless and evolving ideas about the good life—from Aristotle and the Stoics to Buddhist teachings and modern psychology.  This ...

Comments? Send me a text message. In this inaugural episode of Flourish As You Age , host Michael Patterson introduces a new podcast series drawn from his forthcoming book, Welcoming Wisdom: How Mature Minds Can Shape a Kinder, Wiser Future .  The episode offers an overview of the book’s foundational ideas—redefining what it means to flourish as we age, exploring the cognitive strengths of mature...

Comments? Send me a text message. When do we start aging? What is aging?  What causes aging? These were some of the questions posed to aging experts (professionals, professors, graduate students) who were attending a conference on aging called “Systems Aging.”  The big takeaway from the survey was that there is no consensus about what aging is. The experts disagree about the definition of aging, i...

Comments? Send me a text message. GLP-1 Drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, originally developed to treat diabetes, have been found to lower risk-factors for a broad-range of conditions that accelerate the aging process.  But there are also risk factors that need to be taken into account.  The benefits of GLP-1 drugs include reduced risk of seizures, heart attack, stroke, other cardiovascular concerns...

Comments? Send me a text message. In this episode I focus on how our socioeconomic ecosystems affect our ability to flourish - or, more to the point, how they makes it harder for us to flourish.  Early this year, 2025, as the Trump administration took power, a group of politically diverse scholars published a Report Card on American Well-Being. On the one hand, the economy is doing great - for the...

Comments? Send me a text message. What is aging?  What do we mean when we say we are aging?  In this episode, I'll discuss our paradoxical attitude towards aging. On the one hand age implies physical and mental decline and debility. On the other hand age implies wisdom and sagacity.  I'll discuss the differences between Chronological and Biological Aging and Primary and Secondary Aging,...

Comments? Send me a text message. In the epilogue to his book, Achieving a Good Death, author Chris Palmer summarizes his thoughts on how we might reconceptualize our basic attitudes about the process of dying and death itself. Death tends to be a taboo subject, but death is a natural and inevitable part of life. It is death that gives meaning to life and makes it precious. Chris says that his goa...

Comments? Send me a text message. Taking steps to simplify our lives as we age has benefits not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones. In my ninth conversation with Chris palmer, author of Achieving a Good Death, we talk about simplifying, decluttering and minimalizing our physical environments.  The wealth of possessions we have accumulated over the years often do nothing but distract us...

Comments? Send me a text message. In this episode I talk with Chris Palmer, author of the new book Achieving a Good Death, about important documents you can prepare to make sure you have the kind of end-of-life experiences you want.   Chris and I discuss two broad classes of documents,  The first set of documents are concerned with recording and sharing important aspects of the legacy you want to...

Comments? Send me a text message. This episode, number 7 in MINDRAMP's End-of-Life series, is about having “The Hard Conversations,” those difficult, but important, conversations with your family and loved ones about the kind of death you want to have. As usual I am talking with my friend Chris Palmer the author of a new book called Achieving A Good Death .  Chris and I talk about why it is i...

Comments? Send me a text message. This is the sixth of my interviews with Chris Palmer, author of the new book called ACHIEVING A GOOD DEATH.   In this episode we discuss the purpose of remembrance rituals  - memorial services, eulogies and obituaries. Chris helps us to think about kind of memorial services we would like to have and reminds us to let our loved one’s know - ahead of time - the kind...

Comments? Send me a text message. This is the fifth episode of my end-of-life interviews with Chris Palmer, author of the new book called ACHIEVING A GOOD DEATH. To flourish as we age we need to live the best life we can and also have the best death we can. MINDRAMP's end-of-life series is about  the second part of that equation - figuring out what a good death means to us, and then figuring...

Comments? Send me a text message. Chris Palmer, author of the new book Achieving a Good Death , and I discuss the different choices we have about how to exit our lives.  Chris offers five "exit strategies," including:  Withholding Life Saving Treatment Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) Palliative Sedation  Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Switzerland We discuss hospice care, palli...

Comments? Send me a text message. This short essay., written for the Winter 2025 edition of 3rd Act Magazine, focuses on how modern media platforms provide propagandists with powerful vehicles for the disseminating of disinformation.  I discuss Marshal McLuhan's idea that the medium is the message, worry about the proliferation of niche media platforms and discuss how advocates of authoritari...

Comments? Send me a text message. The third episode in our end-of-life series Chris Palmer and I (Michael C. Patterson) focus our conversation on what happens when we are in the process of dying.   Chris points out that we can die in two ways: suddenly or slowly. Some of us might, unexpectedly, get hit by a truck and die suddenly. But, the vast majority of us these days will live a long life and w...

Comments? Send me a text message. To flourish we need not only to live well, but also to die well. And, conversely, the best way to insure a good death is to live as well as we can. This is the second episode in a series of conversations with Chris Palmer who has recently published a book called Achieving a Good Death. Chris explains that he became interested in end of life issues because he was q...

Comments? Send me a text message. In this series of MINDRAMP Podcasts we will continue to discuss how to flourish as we near the end of our life - but with a special focus. To flourish we need to live a good life and die a good death.  This series of podcasts will focus on achieving a good death. The series is built around a number of interviews with my friend Chris Palmer, who is an expert on end...

Comments? Send me a text message. This is a reading of an article I wrote for the Fall 2024 edition of 3rd Act Magazine. I recall the 60's and 70's when many of us had a youthful passion to create a better world.  Now, decades later, we may not have the energy and exuberance of our youth, but we can still be passionate about our values and our convictions. We can still work to realize ou...

Comments? Send me a text message. This episode summarizes my current thinking (as of September 2024), about how we can manage our minds to flourish as we age.  I suggest that the quirky nature of our mind is more understandable when we realize that we have multiple, semi-independent minds that compete for our attention.  I offer four examples of multiple minds . Each one causes its own form of con...

Comments? Send me a text message. The indictment of former president Donald J. Trump related to his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election is, arguably, the most significant trial in American history.  We are all witnesses to history and should understand the full extent of the charges against Trump and the nature of the evidence being offered to back up those charges.  To that end, I hope this r...

Comments? Send me a text message. Trump and MAGA Republicans are following a playbook for the future (Project 2025) that was put together by The Heritage Foundation and The Danube Institute of Hungary.  The Danube Institute is dedicated to spreading Viktor Orban's vision of authoritarian rule around the world and The Heritage Foundation is a willing partner in this project.   A vote for Repub...

Comments? Send me a text message. In addition to taking personal responsibility for your brain health and mental well-being, you must recognize that the environment you live in and the social support systems that are available to you also have a profound effect on your brain and mind.  In this episode I am revisiting an 2022 interview I conducted with Daniel R. George, author with Peter Whitehouse...

Comments? Send me a text message. On July 6, congressman Jamie Raskin send President Biden a letter encouraging him to caucus with Democratic leaders to hear their concerns about his continuing in the campaign. On July 21, Biden decided to withdraw from the campaign and to endorse Vice-President Kamala Harris to take his place on the ticker.  Much of Raskin's letter consisted of deep raise fo...

Comments? Send me a text message. This episode explores how and why psychedelics, like psilocybin, are capable of making our minds more plastic and malleable. Research on Psilocybin has found that the drug de-synchronizes the Default Mode Network (DMN).  The DMN is a brain network that becomes active when we are day-dreaming, when our mind wanders. I think of the DMN as the producer of our concept...