UTOKing with Gregg

In this episode, Gregg is joined by Dr. Baron Short to talk about Zendo, which is a potentially revolutionary brain stimulation device to help advance meditation and calm self-conscious neurotic tendencies. Dr. Short is an interventional psychiatrist and medical director of the Brain Stimulation Services at the Medical University of South Carolina. He and Gregg co-produced the UTOK video series, T...

In this episode, Gregg is joined again by Professor John Vervaeke, and the two share both individual updates and upcoming shared projects. John recently published his book, with Christopher Mastropietro, on Awakening From the Meaning Crisis, Part I, and he and Gregg discuss that and new ways to think about meaning in life based on the work they are doing. John and Gregg also briefly discuss Gregg’...

In this episode, Layman returns to the show for the seventh time to discuss his recently published book, Gurdjieff for a Time Between Worlds. In it, Layman recounts Gurdjieff’s fascinating life and approach to spirituality and why the book was a “hyperpersonal” endeavor that was appropriate for the metamodern age. Layman also clarifies some common misconceptions, explains why he has a unique take...

In this episode, the cognitive neuroscientist and author of The Romance of Reality (see here for Gregg’s review), Bobby Azarian joins the program to discuss his “unifying theory of reality” and vision for bridging science and religion. Bobby explains how he interprets the universe through a universal learning algorithm and shares what this means for how we make sense of ourselves and derive meanin...

In this episode, the philosopher Brendan Graham Dempsey joins Gregg to talk about his new book, A Universal Learning Process . It is the first installment of a larger work on The Evolution of Meaning. The book frames the complexification in the universe across the arc of cosmic evolution from the Big Bang to present as a kind of learning that goes through phases. Grounded in the ontology provided...

In this episode, the philosopher Matt Segall joins the program to talk about the book, The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience. Both Gregg and Matt had done reviews of the book. In this episode they share their respective endorsements and critiques of the book. Matt articulates how, from the vantage point of Whitehead’s process philosophy, how experience can be more effectively...

In this episode, the philosopher Rob Scott returns to talk with Gregg about consciousness and its relationship to identity. He breaks down the key domains of consciousness in terms of awareness, attention, self, narrative and shows how our identification patterns shift over time. He and Gregg discuss this in relationship to modern theories of consciousness and explore its practical implications.  ...

In this episode, Gregg is joined by Vivian Dittmar. Vivian is an author, wisdom teacher and founder of the Be the Change Foundation. She has a diverse background that includes experiences in traditional cultures, Far Eastern philosophy, and shamanic traditions, outlines a framework differentiating physical sensations, biological instincts, social feelings, unprocessed emotions, and transcendent ab...

In this episode, Gregg is joined by Faisal Mahbouba. Gregg connected with Faisal after Faisal reached out to learn more about UTOK. Faisal is a seeker. He connected with John Vervaeke’s work and then learned about Gregg’s work and found much synergy with his own thinking. As Gregg and Faisal talked more, Gregg learned of Faisal’s talent with words and artistic expression. Especially remarkable was...

In this episode, Gregg is joined by Max Borders. He is Executive Director at Social Evolution (social-evolution.com), a non-profit organization dedicated to solving social problems through innovation, and the author of The Decentralist, The Social Singularity and After Collapse. Max has a background in philosophy of mind, and recently he and Gregg have been having conversations about the nature of...

In this episode, I am joined by both Matt Segall and Bonnitta Roy to discuss process ontology and its connections to UTOK and Transcendent Naturalism. Matt is a philosopher who joined me and John on Transcendent Naturalism to discuss his take on Whitehead and Schelling. He recently published, Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whiteh...

In this episode we engage in a thought-provoking conversation with Bonnitta Roy about the complexities of process relational philosophy. Our discussion centers around the intricacies of internal and external relations, their various types, meanings, and the concept of asymmetry within these relations. Bonnitta Roy provides an in-depth analysis, connecting these ideas to broader metaphysical and ph...

Gregg welcomes Brendan Graham Dempsy back to the program (Episode #50; Toward a Metamodern Spirituality). Brendan is a writer whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He is also the host of the Metamodern Spirituality podcast, and has recently released a new book, Metamodernism: The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics. Gregg loved this book, and the e...

In episode 73, Gregg welcomes Professor Rick Repetti. Rick is a philosopher who has long standing interests in meditation, the self, agency, and free will. He was previously on an Inside UTOK conversation with Gregg, where his shared his views of the meaning crisis, work with John Vervaeke, and his development of a new vision for truth systems call the Knowledge Coin. In this episode, he and Gregg...

In episode 72, Gregg welcomes Rafe Kelly. Rafe is a movement coach, founder of Evolve, Move, Play, and frequent interlocutor with John Vervaeke. In this episode, Rafe recounts his journey from gymnastics and martial arts into parkour and finally into the Evolve, Move, Play vision. He also explains how we became interested in Jordan Peterson’s work and then moved into syncing up with John Vervaeke....

In episode 71, Gregg welcomes Dr. Steven Mandel. Steven is an internationally recognized expert and pioneer in the use of ketamine infusion therapy to treat mental health disorders and chronic pain. He has more than 40 years of experience utilizing ketamine as a board-certified anesthesiologist. He also earned his master’s degree in psychology. He is the founder and president of Ketamine Clinics L...

In episode 70, Gregg welcomes Bonnita Roy. Bonnita is an award-winning author, philosopher and insight guide. She is well-known in this corner of the internet and currently runs the Pop-Up School, an innovative online educational platform. In this episode, Bonnita shares with Gregg her analysis and critique of the Transcendent Naturalism Cognitive Science Show Series that Gregg has been doing with...

In episode 69, Gregg welcomes Dr. Iris Stammberger. Iris is trained as systems engineer, a family systems therapist, a mindfulness teacher, and an organizational change consultant. A self-described "tool lady," she has always been in pursuit of those tools that facilitate systemic and systematic change at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal level. She is the founder of the Wisdom P...

In episode 68, Gregg welcomes Professor Dan Fishman. Dan is an emeritus professor of clinical psychology at Rutgers University, and is editor-in-chief of the online journal, Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. His scholarly contributions span interests in the systematic case study method, pragmatic psychology, philosophy of science, cognitive behavior therapy, program evaluation, community ps...

In episode 67, Gregg welcomes Howard Bloom. Howard is a polymath who has lived an amazing life. He was a music publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for singers such as Prince, Billy Joel, and Michael Jackson. He has published six books, including an autobiography, How I Accidentally Started the Sixties, and three books on human evolution and group behavior: The Genius of the Beast, Global Brain, and T...

In episode 66, Gregg welcomes Ethan Kobayashi-Hsieh. Ethan works at the intersection of actor training and 4E cognitive science. He is a Life Coach, Yoga Instructor and Bodywork Healer with coaching clients in China, Thailand, and Australia. He has developed the Integrative Approach and Methodology of Active Transformation (TIAMAT) through practice-as-research with the company, conducting workshop...

In Episode 65, Gregg welcomes back Layman Pascal. This is Layman’s sixth time on the podcast, so he needs no introduction. Both Gregg and Layman have been following John Vervaeke’s After Socrates, and in this episode they sync up to explore some of the key concepts, such as constructive versus destructive opponent processes and its implications for clinical psychology and spirituality.   - - -  ℹ️...

In this UTOKing with Gregg, John Vervaeke returns to the program, and they share the developments in their work. John’s major effort has been focused on developing the After Socrates series, which Gregg has been following. Gregg shares the beauty he has seen in watching the series, and how he found the way John framed After Socrates to be illuminating and inspiring. In addition, Gregg explains why...

In Episode 63, Gregg welcomes Jill Nephew. Jill has expertise in software engineering and climate science. She is passionate about developing models, theories and tools that require the artful interplay between combinatorial complexity, abstract modelling, and nuanced human perception to create systems that enhance humans cognition and decision making towards creating a world that makes sense. Jil...

In Episode 61, Gregg welcomes Rich Blundell back to the program (see Episode 57). This episode continues their conversation about the philosophy of Oika and its connection and overlap with UTOK. In this episode, Rich talks about his experience as being a scientist/scholar in residence on the island of Nantucket. He is working to share his vision of the intersection of Big History, ecological intel...