Deep Transformation

Ep. 243 | In this outstandingly useful and timely conversation, Dr. Roger Walsh (more often the co-host of the Deep Transformation podcast) is our expert guest, sharing his passion for brain health and his knowledge about what we can do to keep our brains active, high-functioning, and well. With a Ph.D. in neuroscience and several awards for brain research, Roger was also on the first research team to discover the older brain’s neuroplasticity, and he has been excited about the possibilities and developmental implications of this ever since. Whether we’re talking about the body’s physical capabilities or the brain’s cognitive ones, Roger explains that a lot of what we thought was “normal” aging is actually “disuse atrophy”—in other words, use it or lose it—and beyond that, cultivate it and enhance it! Roger would like to write a book on all the helpful information he has learned about brain health, but with people he cares for beginning to acknowledge they are wrestling with cognitive decline, he decided it’s time to get this information out now.

After establishing the brain’s inherent potential for growth, Roger dives into the practicalities—outlining actions we can take that research shows will make a significant difference in either enhancing our cognitive functioning, increasing our longevity, reducing the risk of dementia, supporting a life of physical and mental well-being, or all of the above. From the startlingly beneficial effects of green tea to the harmful effects of plastics, pesticides, and wildfire smoke, Roger covers all the bases: exercise and diet, supplements and sleep, environmental risks and medical interventions, friendships and nature, meditation and service—in a way that feels inspiring and doable. This is brain health for everyone in a comprehensive nutshell, presented with Roger’s signature clarity, astuteness, warmth, and humor. Listen and reap the benefits. Recorded September 3, 2026.

The information about brain care in this dialogue is not meant to constitute personal medical advice for any individual. Rather, it is information that listeners can take to their personal physician to discuss and assess with the physician.

“If you’ve got to pick one thing, exercise is probably the best thing we’ve got for maintaining the brain and the body.”

• Introducing Roger Walsh, an MD with a PhD in neuroscience, several awards for brain research, author & professor emeritus of psychiatry, philosophy & anthropology (00:35)
• What we thought of as normal aging is actually “disuse atrophy” (02:10)
• What’s good for the body is good for the brain (05:37)
• Changing our cultural stereotype of aging (08:36)
• What affects us most: lifestyle choices + the genes we are born with (09:26)
• Neuroplasticity is the context our potential swims in (10:34)
• Care & maintenance of the brain falls into 5 major categories (11:42)
• Meditation’s significant benefits are both physical & mental (14:07)
• Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes: first comes exercise (16:18)
• For depression, exercise is both prophylactic & about as effective as antidepressants (19:29)
• Initiating new habits is the hardest part (21:24)
• The importance of friendships (24:17)
• The effects of our continuously fragmented attention (26:22)
• Sleep clears toxins—including plaques & tangles that can cause Alzheimer’s (29:02)
• The bad effects of light pollution (30:32)
• Purpose, service & contribution: people who serve live longer, happier, healthier lives (31:52)
• Being in nature cleanses psychic toxins: we are biophilic (38:19)
• Fluid intake has immediate as well as long-term benefits (47:55)
• Following the 3 main principles of diet (50:07)
• Environmental risks: we live in a chemical soup (54:11)
• Inhaling wildfire smoke particles moves them right into our brains (58:18)
• The overwhelming amount of plastic everywhere—including in our brains (1:00:18)
• Pesticides should be banned (1:03:27)
• Coffee, alcohol & the enormous benefits of green tea (1:04:21)
• Supplements: lithium, magnesium L-threonate & fish oils (1:07:23)
• Get regular medical work-ups! And correct any hearing loss or visual loss (1:15:48)
• Vaccinations have a significant benefit in reducing the risk of dementia (1:17:01)
• Olfactory enrichment can increase our olfactory capabilities but also enhance cognitive function (1:17:43)
• Poverty: reducing inequality is more important than ever (1:19:33)
• Roger’s motivation for getting this information out now (1:23:47)

• Roger Walsh’s website: https://drrogerwalsh.com
• Roger Walsh, Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
• Gerontologist Kerry Burnight on the Deep Transformation podcast: From Lifespan to Joyspan: Embracing A Growth Mindset for Aging
• Kerry Burnight, Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half
• Deep Transformation’s A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series
• Gloria Mark, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity
• Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia
• John Dupuy, Integral Recovery: A Revolutionary Approach to the Treatment of Alcoholism and Addiction
• Barbara Demeneix, “It is impossible to have a normal brain in these times.” Toxic Cocktail: How Chemical Pollution Is Poisoning Our Brains, Losing Our Minds: How Environmental Pollution Impairs Human Intelligence and Mental Health
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

---

Roger Walsh, MD, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology at the University of California, who has researched topics such as brain development, meditation, and psychological well-being. His books include Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices and The World of Shamanism, 2nd Edition, and his research and writings have received over twenty national and international awards. Roger is co-host of the podcast Deep Transformation: Self-Society-Spirit with listeners in over 190 countries, www.deeptransformation.io. His more curious careers include having been a circus acrobat, and having had an extremely brief and unsuccessful career as a standup comedian. For more information see www.drrogerwalsh.com.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 242 | What a gift to have Karen Johnson and A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) together in conversation to explore their extraordinary journeys of awakening and share the remarkable ways presence found to transform their hearts and minds—all of which culminated in the contemporary spiritual path known as the Diamond Approach. Karen’s book, The Jeweled Path (the basis for this Jeweled Path Series), chronicles Karen and Hameed’s spiritual adventures from the beginning: what happened in their childhoods, how they first met, the emerging realization that what they were experiencing was shaping into a unique path of awakening that others could follow and benefit from also, through the establishment of the Ridhwan School, home of the Diamond Approach.

In this dialogue, Karen tells how incredible spiritual experiences would come to them right in the midst of life—in the grocery store, on the way to work, in a bar… And we hear the resonant story of when Hameed poured a life-changing transmission of presence into her hand. Karen and Hameed’s vivid descriptions of what they experienced—“explosions of consciousness,” “streams of awakening,” “becoming a body of light, fullness, and presence, nowness embodied”—are awakening transmissions in their own right. And the point they drive home—that they were not the founders of the Diamond Approach, rather the teaching found them—has the magical effect of opening us to see reality in a different way. Listening to Karen and Hameed discuss their experiences, insights, and the emergence of the Diamond Path is simply an amazing experience on its own. Recorded August 13, 2026.

“The interesting thing about presence is, if you talk about it when it’s not there, it’s just an idea—because presence is only now.”

• Introducing Karen Johnson, co-founder of the Diamond Approach, who joins Hameed Ali in The Jeweled Path Series which focuses on her book The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization (00:42)
• How did it come about that Karen & Hameed were able to found a spiritual path together? (01:51)
• The personal element in the Diamond Approach allows for the spiritual possibilities of relationship (10:01)
• Hameed & Karen’s conversations evolved into the student/teacher practice of inquiry so essential to the Diamond Approach (15:42)
• How Hameed switched from training to be a scientist to investigating the nature of reality (17:16)
• Hameed kept disciplined notes which allowed them to track their experiences, make sense of them over time, and realize this teaching was for others too (20:51)
• For Hameed, it wasn’t one awakening but a stream of awakenings (22:39)
• If Hameed talked about an experience, Karen would start to feel it (28:28)
• Karen’s experience of Hameed pouring a transmission into her hand (30:36)
• For some an awakening flushes out blocks & barriers, for others not (34:18)
• Hameed was able to collect presence in his hand and then give it away (36:53)
• For Karen, the transmission wasn’t just an experience, it was realizing: this is what you are (37:47)
• When a bubble of pure awareness came to Karen & Hameed in a bar (38:49)
• What is a transmission? (40:56)
• How Hameed’s motorcycle accident brought in the diamond structure (46:08)
• This is a spiritual path of felt understanding, not merely intellectual understanding (49:24)
• A teacher isn’t just transmitting all the goodies, they’re also transmitting all the grit (51:19)
• Hameed would receive transmissions from other teachings encompassing their whole path (52:32)
• Hameed & Karen were sure they would find explanations for their experiences in other teachings (54:40)
• Other twosome spiritual relationships: Aurobindo & the Mother, the founders of A Course in Miracles, Rumi & Shams, and more (56:19)

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) and Karen Johnson, co-founders of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
• Karen Johnson, The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization
• A. H. Almaas & Karen Johnson, The Power Of Divine Eros: The Illuminating Force of Love in Everyday Life
• A. H. Almaas, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach
• The 16th Karmapa and the Black Hat Ceremony
• Sri Aurobindo
• A Course in Miracles, Helen Schucman and the Foundation for Inner Peace

The Jeweled Path Series is based on Karen Johnson’s wonderful, in-depth recounting of how the Diamond Approach came into being through Hameed Ali and herself in her book The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization, so listeners may want to get a copy of this book to study and follow along on this journey of awakening to presence.

---

Karen Johnson is the co-founder of the Diamond Approach as it is taught in the Ridhwan School today, having worked alongside Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) for the last 50 years. Karen was trained in art and dance and began the journey into the spiritual universe at 14 years old with the guidance of her parents. First, she was introduced to yoga and meditation, and then learned about other forms of spiritual practice. After attending California College of Arts and Crafts, she befriended Hameed Ali, and began a new trajectory where journeying into the secrets of the universe of Being became central to her life.

The joy of discovery turned out to be a unique and specific approach to inner experience, which became the Diamond Approach. Karen received an MA in psychology JFK University in 1990. She continues to venture into the endless realms of the miraculous with her spiritual companion. She is the author of The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Self-Realization, and co-author with A. H. Almaas of The Power Of Divine Eros.

---

Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 241 | A deeply engaging conversation in which Alexander Love, adult development expert and coach, and author of the soon-to-be-published trilogy Evolutionary Gestures, introduces us to the post-tragic perspective, with all of its potential to nourish, ground, and open us to a world of possibilities. Alexander explains that post-tragic is not a developmental stage per se, but a dimension available to anyone willing to do the work. It’s part of a triad—pre-tragic innocence, tragic disillusionment, and post-tragic possibilities—encountered in every wisdom tradition, the hero’s journey, and every good story. Post-tragic is not about leaving the tragedy (trauma, pain, loss) behind, but about turning toward it and dropping into a dimension of being that can interface with it in a new way, from a place that isn’t divided or broken. It’s also about asking, what happens next, after the tragedy? How does the story proceed?

Shattering our certainty, a tragic event in our lives makes our world more diaphanous, Alexander continues, opening the way for us to lean further into the mystery. Here we encounter the vastness of possibility, the mystery being the first imagined wholeness, the seed of all potentiality, and we begin to see the sacred and the beauty in everything. Though the healing notion of facing our trauma and working through it is not new, Alexander’s pre-tragic, tragic, and post-tragic framework (deeply informed by his own experience) is compelling. With it, he has painted in the entire landscape around the core tragedy or trauma, giving us the full picture, the before and after, and connected us with a dimension of compassion and forgiveness that is liberating and full of promise. A wise, gentle, intense, warm, humble conversation. Recorded April 23, 2026.

“It’s not forgive and forget… It’s remember deeply. Become so intimate with what happened, feel every aspect of it, and let it be transformed by love.”

• Introducing Alexander Love, adult development expert, coach, acupuncturist & founder of eos, an organization focused on deep transformation (00:52)
• What brought Alexander to the field of adult development? (02:03)
• The sacred gap: the space between knower and known (03:46)
• The alternative to uncertainty and chaos is leaning into the mystery (05:53)
• Turning away from our traumas deepens our sense of separation (06:59)
• Meeting with his father’s murderer: an infinite degree of forgiveness is available (09:32)
• What is forgiveness? (13:00)
• How do we get closer to our pain? (16:52)
• Pre-tragic, tragic & post-tragic: innocence, disillusionment, possibility (19:38)
• Protecting children so they can internalize a sense of fundamental goodness (24:20)
• With tragic disillusionment our meaning becomes shattered (26:01)
• Both pre-tragic innocence & tragic disillusionment are within us (33:06)
• Orienting towards tragedy from an unbroken dimension of being; transmuting our pain by developing relationship (34:15)
• The arc of transformation requires going beyond awareness of our patterns to embracing them (39:13)
• The first 3 phases of transformation: fusion, differentiation, relationship (42:20)
• The post-tragic architecture includes finding sacred beauty in the world (44:20)
• Primordial purity: even with all the suffering, there is perfection (50:17)
• The tragic fracturing of meaning makes the world more diaphanous (52:05)
• Post-tragic possibility is a depth dimension, it’s not just “growing up” (54:04)
• Compassion is embracing another’s suffering with a quality of loving presence that transmutes the suffering (58:49)
• The Mystery is the first imagined wholeness, the seed of potentiality (1:04:47)
• An invitation to be curious, to ask how we are using our capacity to witness (1:07:15)
• Alexander’s book-in-progress, The Evolutionary Gestures Trilogy (1:13:20)
• We need a new chapter in history to address the complexity and the horrors of this time (1:17:10)

• Alexander Love, facilitator, developmental coach, acupuncturist, senior faculty at the Newfield Network & founder of eōs wellness center
• Alexander Love’s The Evolutionary Gestures Trilogy is expected to be published in the fall of 2026
• “The Room: A Story from the Evolutionary Gestures Trilogy” read by Alexander (YouTube video)
• Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory: What is the Integral Approach? (Integral Life website)
• Oscar Mandel, A Definition of Tragedy
• Judy Schavrien, “Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and the Mystical Particular: Redemption, Then and Now, for a Disassembled World”
• Frederick Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim
• Joseph Goldstein, Living on the Spiritual Edge (Deep Transformation podcast)

---

Alexander Love, MCC, NCC, M.Ac. is an acupuncturist, developmental coach, and facilitator. He serves as Director of Curriculum Development and Senior Facilitator at the Newfield Network, an international coach training, personal transformation, and leadership development organization, where he facilitates trainings in the United States and leads advanced trainings in Chile. He also teaches with Stages International and is a certified STAGES scorer.

Alexander’s forthcoming book, The Evolutionary Gestures Trilogy, is a mythopoetic exploration of the sacred gap — the space between self and world where insight awakens alongside the deep pain of separation. The work is grounded in the story of his father’s murder and the restorative justice dialogue he later held with the man who took his father’s life — an experience that profoundly shaped his understanding of healing, accountability, and reconciliation, and continues to inform his work today. Through magic realist memoir, evocative artwork, and a novel articulation of human becoming, this volume opens toward post-tragic possibility while introducing a distinctive developmental vision. You can learn more about Alexander at alexanderlove.org and newfieldnetwork.com.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 240 | Co-host Roger Walsh found the novel concepts that A. H. Almaas presents in The Inner Journey Home’s Appendix G so intriguing, he asked Hameed for one last discussion to complete Deep Transformation’s systematic exploration of Hameed’s magnum opus. In Appendix G (and in this conversation), Hameed says that while there are many valid paths of awakening, different paths do not culminate in the same realization or experience. In other words, the Chinese proverb that says there are many ways to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same is not accurate. Each spiritual teaching has its own logos, Hameed explains, its own “logic of experience and logic of practice that will naturally unfold the consciousness to open up to the secrets of reality and the depth of it, according to that particular logos.” This makes it possible for all different types of people, also from very different cultures, to “open to the perfection of reality in a way that liberates and makes sense to them.”

The logos of a spiritual teaching is not created by anyone, Hameed continues. This is reality practicing its intelligent, creative, and loving magic by manifesting through an individual or community to provide us with different ways of realizing true nature. When we find the right path, the teaching will “click,” Hameed says, and with time and practice, we may crack the code of the logos of our chosen path and fulfill our spiritual destiny. The conversation weaves in and out of the fascinating implications of Hameed’s teaching, clarifying why Eastern and Western spiritual teachings are so different, and what differentiates the logos of the Diamond Approach. In wrapping up, Roger and John acknowledge that their intensive study of The Inner Journey Home provided them with a transmission—and a transformation. Hameed agrees; by deeply contemplating this book, he says, we open ourselves to the transmission, to the understanding and experiencing of what is presented. Recorded July 16, 2026.

“Each path takes a human being deeper, vaster, bigger places… each particular logos can be seen as an expression of the optimizing force of the universe and logos.”

• Introducing dialogue #20 in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, focusing on Appendix G of The Inner Journey Home: “Logoi of Teachings” (00:54)
• Defining “logos”: reality has an order to it, it’s not haphazard (03:13)
• Each teaching has its own logos, its own order & logic (08:34)
• Comparing the goals of Mahayana Buddhism & Advaita Vedanta: clarity & emptiness versus beingness (11:27)
• Getting beyond the idea of the “transcendental unity of religions” (14:59)
• For the logos to reveal the mystery of the teaching, you have to crack the code (19:31)
• The optimizing force of the logos: some are aligned with it, most people are not (21:56)
• Why are Eastern traditions very different from Western traditions? (25:40)
• Most masters don’t explore other teachings (28:07)
• Matching the teaching to the student (35:23)
• The challenge is to find the wisdom path that speaks to you so you can fulfill your spiritual destiny (39:38)
• Krishnamurti and the pathless path (42:08)
• The logos manifests through an individual or community; it’s not created by anyone (44:44)
• The logos of the Diamond Approach does not cloak reality by calling it illusion (45:55)
• The absolute: the dimension of mystery (49:05)
• Different traditions emphasize different spiritual qualities; some don’t even mention qualities (51:51)
• The logos of the shamanic realm (56:18)
• What differentiates the Diamond Approach’s logos from other traditions? (57:45)
• Contemplating The Inner Journey Home deeply, it becomes a transmission (1:04:48)
• The Deep Transformation journey with Hameed will continue (1:09:27)

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
• The Rigveda, the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text
• A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Dialogue #15 focuses on the chapter “Logos & Creative Dynamism” in The Inner Journey Home (YouTube video)
• Mahayana Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, Dzogchen
• The Rimé movement, spearheaded by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye in Eastern Tibet
• Krishnamurti, Truth is a Pathless Land
• A. H. Almaas, Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery
• Kashmir Shaivism
• The Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas (Deep Transformation podcast series)
• On the qualities of the Diamond Path: A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series Dialogue #4, Discovering the Soul’s Treasures
• Karen Johnson, co-developer of the Diamond Approach, The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization

---

The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series generally follows the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

---

Deep Transformation is excited to let you know that our talks with A. H. Almaas will continue. Following this A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, we plan to release a delightful and deep Jeweled Path Series with Karen Johnson, author of The Jeweled Path, and Hameed Ali together, as co-founders of the Diamond Approach. After that, we plan on exploring Hameed’s Runaway Realization: Living a Life of Ceaseless Discovery, which gets into the further turnings of his teaching, in the same systematic way we have enjoyed exploring The Inner Journey Home.

---

If you are interested in taking a course offered by Diamond Approach Online, Hameed’s team at the Ridhwan School have offered a special 20% discount for Deep Transformation listeners. You can access the Course Catalog here: https://online.diamondapproach.org/catalog/. And enter the code DTP20 to receive your discount when you sign up.

---

Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 239 | Renowned gerontologist and author Dr. Kerry Burnight is passionate about changing the way we think about aging. Growing older isn’t a bad thing, she emphasizes, let’s look at what gets better as we get older! Early in Dr. Kerry’s career, she marveled at how elderly people with the same degree of physical health could be absolutely miserable or happily engaged with life, and she dug into finding out why. Her research revealed four pillars of aging that together make all the difference in the quality of our well-being. Kerry urges us to adopt these practices as soon as we can, because just like with cardiovascular training, the earlier we start, the more benefit we accrue. In fact, the evidence is clear: research shows that people who have a “decline mindset” about aging die an average of seven years earlier than their counterparts with a “growth mindset.” It seems our beliefs about aging can easily become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Finding joy in the second half of life involves not only cultivating connection and growth among other things, but also, very importantly, countering our own internalized ageism. Dr. Kerry gives some telling examples of common derogatory thoughts we have about ourselves as we age, and shows us how we can turn this around and step into our power as older people. In a moving testament to the special beauty and authenticity of the elderly, Kerry expresses gratitude for her opportunities as a gerontologist to be infused with the presence of her patients, in all their humility and greater appreciation of friendships, nature, music, art—of life itself. A poignant, lovely, illuminating, and inspiring conversation with someone who lives her talk and is making a meaningful difference in a culture that has lost its way in its approach to aging and caring for elders. Recorded September 18, 2025.

“When we step into our power, we can revolutionize longevity.”

• Introducing “America’s gerontologist,” Dr. Kerry Burnight, author of Joyspan, The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half (00:59)
• What is missing in the field of gerontology in America? (01:52)
• Lifespan, healthspan…what does “joyspan” signify? (02:44)
• The multibillion dollar anti-aging industry works on fear (04:57)
• Stepping into our internalized ageism (06:11)
• From revering elders for their wisdom to depending on youth to help us with technology (07:38)
• How is AI dividing us? (10:05)
• Kerry’s 4 pillars of aging: grow, connect, adapt, give (12:55)
• The psychological & physical benefits of service & the ripple effects of joy (21:51)
• Differentiating joy from happiness: practicing soul-centric activities (23:07)
• Beliefs about aging become self-fulfilling prophecies: the decline mindset vs the growth mindset (27:02)
• What gets better with aging? (30:23)
• How to get this research out to people? (33:24)
• Elder abuse, neglect & exploitation: the critical need to protect elders’ access to healthcare & housing (35:01)
• World wide poverty and the future for elders (40:47)
• Leaning into the older version of ourselves (43:37)
• We will all face tough stuff on this journey… but there are things that get better as we age (44:46)
• Counter your internalized ageist thoughts! When we step into our power, we can revolutionize longevity (46:56)

• Dr. Kerry Burnight, Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half
• Roger Walsh, Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
• Dr. Laura Mosqueda at UC Irvine (Dr. Kerry’s partner in aging research)
• M. T. Connolly, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life
• Bernadette Boden-Albala, founding dean of public health at UC Irvine

---

Dr. Kerry Burnight, known as America’s Gerontologist, is on a mission to help people fall in love with the rest of their lives. Fed up with the fear-driven, anti-aging hysteria, millions of people turn to her for a proven approach to navigating the new longevity—one based upon a profound truth: the key to good longevity isn’t the length of your life, it’s the quality of your life. Efforts to maximize lifespan, and even healthspan, don’t address the whole picture. Longevity is meaningless if you don’t like your life. In her New York Times best-seller, Dr. Burnight introduces the critical concept of “joyspan,” based on the science of well-being, contentment, connection, meaning, growth, and choice.

Dr. Kerry Burnight taught Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology for 18 years at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, where she co-founded and directed the nation’s first Elder Abuse Forensic Center. She currently teaches at the University of Chicago and has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine, CBS Mornings, Oprah Daily, CNN, and BBC News. She is the longevity health advisor at Forbes Health and in the TIME 100 Health.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 238 | In this brilliantly articulated and illuminating conversation, renowned international facilitator Thomas Hübl shares his deep understanding of the dynamics of collective trauma as well as practical wisdom about how we can heal the large, often inherited, wounds we carry. Thomas conveys the magnitude of problems created by shoving our collective wounds out of sight and mind, perhaps the worst consequence of which is when we do this, we are destined to repeat the same horrors over again. What we need, Thomas explains, is to develop an architecture that would provide a healing space to deal with our wounds (racism, genocide, and immigration, to name a few). Meeting our collective pain in this way would allow us to mature to a level of forgiveness where we could collaborate globally on urgent issues like AI and climate change. Without this healing, Thomas says, the energy that can forgive remains frozen in the wound.

The dialogue becomes profoundly hopeful as Thomas describes someone who has met their pain and healed themselves of individual and collective trauma. Listening is like receiving a transmission—for a moment we feel ourselves to be this person: integrated, authentic, vulnerable, fully attuned to our reality, at peace with both the beauty and the difficulties, free of false hopes and unrealistic dreams. If we could embrace the power of collective healing that Thomas has witnessed again and again in his work, and “melt the permafrost of our collective trauma,” we could step out of the never-ending cycle of violence, cruelty, and misunderstanding that will otherwise continue to haunt us. This conversation goes right to the heart of things: if we recognize our interrelatedness and find a way to practice interdependence, we can grow beyond our individual and collective pain into a tremendously more hopeful future. Recorded October 30, 2025.

“Unconscious information is destiny. Conscious information has a choice, has a future.”

• Introducing teacher, author & facilitator Thomas Hübl, who offers a deep understanding of collective trauma—and collective healing (00:49)
• How is Thomas able to stay attuned and hold this large field he works with? (02:43)
• Attunement is another way to say interdependence (05:56)
• A grounded spiritual practice helps to hold the space & learn from the process, rather than direct the process (06:57)
• How does Thomas understand the healing process? (10:51)
• Bringing awareness to a collective wound allows it to give its gift (14:03)
• Has Thomas found a way of working with the Israel/Gaza situation? (16:03)
• Hot trauma is different from historical or ancestral trauma (21:55)
• Without processes to deal with large wounds, the repetition compulsion will keep happening (23:00)
• How to deal with authoritarian regimes whitewashing history? (25:47)
• Huge trauma wounds in the U.S.: racism, genocide, and now immigration (27:07)
• We need a collective healing space; everybody who is alive has been born into this legacy and it has become normalized (28:22)
• In this global village, there is no “them” anymore (30:25)
• Cultural amnesia allows us to live with violence; nonviolence is a natural consequence of realizing interdependence (32:06)
• Ethics and health are inherently interrelated (34:17)
• You cannot erase history; it’s a felt experience in our bodies (36:14)
• The exaggeration of separation & self-righteousness by social media (37:11)
• The reality we create with each other is painful; hope lies in a sense of agency (40:16)
• How can we forgive horrific violations of life? Melting the permafrost of our collective trauma (42:58)
• What does a person look like who has faced these deep issues and healed? (49:08)
• The power of healing collectives is very hopeful for accelerating social transformation (55:58)

• Thomas Hübl’s website: https://thomashuebl.com/
• Thomas Hübl’s podcast: Point of Relation
• Thomas Hübl, Healing Collective Trauma
• Thomas Hübl, Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World
• Thomas Hübl & Richard Schwartz (founder of Internal Family Systems), Releasing Our Burdens: A Guide to Healing Individual, Ancestral, and Collective Trauma
• Global Restoration Institute, promoting global interconnectivity & long-term peace through integrating innovative trauma-informed practices with conflict resolution & prevention methods

---

Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma.

Thomas is the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World, Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds, and most recently, co-author of Releasing Our Burdens: A Guide to Healing Individual, Ancestral, and Collective Trauma, with Richard Schwartz. Hübl has served as an advisor and guest faculty for universities and organizations, as a coach for CEOs and organizational leaders, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Ep. 237 | In the 19th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, an exploration of the final chapter of The Inner Journey Home, Hameed Ali looks at the evolution of Western culture and how it happened that soul, world, and God became divided as the culture developed. Hameed explains this was a necessary evolutionary step, an inherent part of our development, and though we lost our spiritual footing in the process (with secularization came a “gaping emptiness, meaninglessness, a lack of true fulfillment”), the separation of science and Church freed science and later psychology to take off on their own trajectories, leading to great strides in our understanding of our physical world and psychological make-up. The secularization of society turned out to have plenty of benefits, including improving the physical and economic well-being of many.

But where does that leave us now, and what does the future hold? Will there be an integration of these disparate parts, where spiritual ground becomes a foundational piece of our next stage of evolution? Can the scientific perspective, with its precision and clarity of mind, be brought to bear on our inner life of spiritual inquiry as well as the outer nature of reality? In realizing that our soul needs life’s encounters to mature—meditation alone is not enough—will we find the lost “pearl beyond price” individually and possibly collectively or in small groups? Hameed concludes by telling us that the Diamond Approach is about redeeming the mind: integrating the diamond clarity of the intellect with spiritual depth. He shares his vision of fully realized scientists merging a spiritual perspective with precise and penetrating inquiry, and ends with the wish for all human beings to know: “People who are listening… it’s possible for you.” Recorded June 11, 2026.

“The spiritual ground that science doesn’t deal with is needed to complete the story.”

• Introducing dialogue #19 in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, in which Hameed Ali explores the final chapter of The Inner Journey Home (00:45)
• The development of Western culture & the idea that soul, God, and world are separate (03:27)
• The separation of God, soul & world was a necessary evolutionary step (05:39)
• This secularization of society allowed the scientific point of view to develop (09:15)
• The bifurcation happened also in the field of psychology, especially with the influence of Freud (14:49)
• Our inherent spirit of inquiry came to be applied to the outer world instead of the inner; with secularism, the spiritual perspective was left behind (17:50)
• With secularization came meaninglessness; capitalism & communism focused on economics (26:16)
• Will integration happen? Can secularization find its spiritual depth? (30:08)
• What does the future hold? Hameed thinks humanity’s enlightenment is a LONG way off (34:47)
• Valuing autonomy is an outer reflection of the valuing of the uniqueness of the individual, the pearl beyond price (36:06)
• Gurdjieff thought humans don’t live long enough to grow spiritually (40:12)
• Finding the lost pearl: the soul matures through encounters in life—not just in meditation (42:24)
• The complete pearl integrates the compassion, love & intelligence of boundless awareness: the personalization of the absolute (45:00)
• What are the possibilities of developing a cultural pearl or a species pearl? (47:00)
• The Fermi paradox, the future, AI, and the importance of personal experience (51:20)
• Can we teach AI to make truth the #1 priority? (56:22)
• Roger reads the epilogue of The Inner Journey Home, a beautiful distillation of the soul’s journey (57:17)
• Having a few spiritual individuals living their true nature is what keeps humanity alive (59:49)
• Redeeming the mind: this teaching integrates the diamond clarity of the intellect with spiritual depth (1:00:23)
• Hameed’s wish for all human beings (1:05:49)

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
• Roger Penrose, prize-winning physicist & philosopher of science
• Isaac Newton’s occult studies, Hermeticism
• Bertrand Russell, philosopher, logician, mathematician
• Ken Wilber, Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Greatest Physicists
• Kieran Fox, I Am Part of Infinity: The Spiritual Journey of Albert Einstein
• G. I. Gurdjieff, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson: All and Everything
• A. H. Almaas, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach
• The Fermi paradox asks why, given the vast number of potentially habitable planets in our observable universe, there is no clear evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations

---

The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series generally follows the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

---

If you are interested in taking a course offered by Diamond Approach Online, Hameed’s team at the Ridhwan School have offered a special 20% discount for Deep Transformation listeners. You can access the Course Catalog here: https://online.diamondapproach.org/catalog/. And enter the code DTP20 to receive your discount when you sign up.

---

Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 236 | In The Call of the Cosmos, cosmologist and astronomer Stephan Martin brings a new and revelatory perspective into play on Deep Transformation, sharing his profound knowledge of the evolving cosmos and its relationship with consciousness. To cover the immensity of the mystery we are involved in, Steve explains, we need to look at both the inner dimension—consciousness—and the outer mystery, the cosmos. Steve does a remarkable job of explaining the psychological, spiritual, and ethical implications of living in an evolving universe, and draws fascinating parallels between cosmic evolution and human evolution, and the manifestation of being and cosmos. Steve teaches that we can expand the concept of self from separate, small self to ecological self to planetary self, and beyond—to cosmic self.

Steve says the fundamental essence of the universe is creativity, and invites us to heed the call of the cosmos and align ourselves with cosmic creativity by expressing the whole through our individual modes of being. “What is the causal cosmic chain that leads to our allurement to do a certain thing?” he asks, adding, “13.8 billion years of cosmic evolution have led to this moment.” The universe is participatory, Steve has discovered, and we live in a relational reality. Put on your paradigm shifting hat for this lively, wise, and impassioned conversation. Your relationship with the cosmos will be illuminated for sure, and quite possibly entirely transformed. Steve is also a gifted author; you can explore more in his books Cosmic Conversations, This Playful Universe, Becoming the Change, and soon, Traveling in the Shadow of the Moon. Recorded August 21, 2025.

“If you look at the universe through telescopes, you see stars and galaxies… However, if you engage in a relationship with the universe through, say, devotional or contemplative practices, you discover other qualities.”

• Introducing astronomer & cosmologist Stephan Martin, author of Cosmic Conversations and This Playful Universe (00:46)
• The relationship between cosmos and consciousness (03:34)
• What does it mean to be part of an evolving, dynamic universe? (05:09)
• Einstein’s “greatest blunder” (08:18)
• The emergence of complexity theory & the idea of the self-determining universe (09:48)
• Thomas Berry’s 1st universal dynamic: differentiation; every being is a unique mode of the universe (14:29)
• Is consciousness an emergent part of the universe? Thomas Berry’s 2nd dynamic: subjectivity (18:07)
• The universe is participatory (22:06)
• What quantum theory brings crashing down is the idea of a static universe; reality is relational (26:39)
• Cosmic leadership: the intuitive callings we feel… do they come from the universe? (30:10)
• The earth is what’s in charge here and, by extension, the cosmos is what’s in charge (31:54)
• What is the causal cosmic chain that leads to a creative impulse? (33:15)
• Expanding the concept of self to a cosmic dimension (34:43)
• The fundamental essence of the universe is creativity; the cosmic imperative is aligning with that (38:32)
• Are ethics a mind-made construction, or are they tied with something deeper? Thomas Berry’s third dynamic: the principle of communion (42:46)
• The concept of ego is Newtonian static cosmology internalized (51:10)
• The manifestation of being parallels the manifestation of the cosmos (53:12)
• Are we living in a multiverse? (57:34)
• What does the universe desire? (01:01:32)
• Are we living in an AI simulation? Is our universe a hologram? (01:05:07)
• Is there life on other planets? What types of “life” haven’t we considered yet? (01:11:34)
• Looking for other humans to talk to: the era of cosmic loneliness (01:15:52)
• What is the current edge for cosmologists? (01:20:16)
• Stephan’s new books: Becoming the Change with Carol Kilby & Traveling in the Shadow of the Moon (available for pre-order) (01:26:32)

• Stephan Martin, director of the Deeptime Leadership Program
• Stephan Martin, Cosmic Conversations: Dialogues on the Nature of the Universe and the Search for Reality and This Playful Universe (audiobook narrated by Michael Toms)
• Stephen Martin & Carol Kilby, Becoming the Change: Evolutionary Rituals and Practices for Everyday Emergence
• Stephan Martin, Traveling in the Shadow of the Moon: A Deep Cosmology Journey in Baja (available for pre-order)
• Edwin Hubbell and the discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy
• Georges Lemaître, first physicist to argue the recession of galaxies is evidence of an expanding universe, who also made the first formulation of the Big Bang theory
• Erich Jantsch, The Self-Organizing Universe, The Evolutionary Vision
• Thomas Berry, theologian and evolutionary thinker, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future
• Panpsychism
• A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series (Deep Transformation podcast series)
• Ken Wilber introduced Integral Methodological Pluralism in his book Integral Spirituality
• Carlo Rovelli, Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution
• The Copenhagen interpretation
• Brian Swimme, co-founder of the Center for the Story of the Universe
• Matthew Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
• A. H. Almaas’ Diamond Approach
• Cosmological constant
• David Chalmers, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy
• Enrico Fermi’s paradox

---

Stephan Martin is an astronomer, author, educator, and cosmic guide who has spent more than thirty-five years exploring how scientific discovery, spiritual inquiry, and human experience can deepen our relationship with the evolving universe. Through his work with the Deeptime Network, along with workshops, retreats, lectures, and contemplative stargazing experiences, he helps people bring the wisdom of the cosmos into everyday life. He is the author of Cosmic Conversations and Living a Cosmic Life, co-author of Becoming the Change (with Carol Kilby), and author of the forthcoming Traveling in the Shadow of the Moon (January 2027). His work invites people to align their lives with the creative unfolding of the cosmos and participate more consciously in our shared evolutionary journey. www.cosmicconversations.org and dtnetwork.org.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 235 | In the 18th dialogue of the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, Hameed Ali delves into the fascinating subject of how the physical world is related to the absolute. From a nondual perspective, reality includes the physical world, he explains; the world cannot be reduced to an illusion. Material reality is every bit as compelling as the spiritual perspective, he continues. How we perceive it depends on where we find our stance, what we are immersed in—in the formless or the world of form. Hameed recognizes and honors physical reality, while describing material objects as expressions, or glimmerings, of the ground of being—the physical and the ground of being inseparable, whether pure presence or pure emptiness.

And how does the relationship between creator and creation relate to the individual? Hameed presents his mystical theology: a triadic reality formed by God, the individual, and the physical world, where each maintains its own truth. Because the absolute is inherently not self-aware, it needs an individual to become aware of itself, he explains. We are its “knowing instruments.” Hameed’s mystical theology, establishing the relationship between the human being, the world, and God, or true nature, is both elevating and grounding, enlightening and somehow comforting. The essential puzzle pieces of reality fitted together, creating unity. From atoms and quarks to what happens after death and how all dimensions can possibly exist in exquisite harmony when there is so much disharmony in the world, this conversation is far ranging, stimulating, and punctuated with laughter, as Hameed, Roger, and John continue to explore The Inner Journey Home. Recorded May 14, 2026.

“When we experience the absolute, we see it as the truth of everything, the nature of everything—all are glimmerings of the absolute.”

• Introducing dialogue #18 in the A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series, an exploration of the chapter titled “Reality” in Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home (00:49)
• Hameed explains how the Path of Love Series relates to the The Inner Journey Home/Wisdom Series (04:51)
• Seeing the physical world from the perspective of the absolute (06:10)
• Why do we experience the world as so very solid? (09:28)
• From the absolute perspective, material objects are glimmerings of the ground of being (11:49)
• From the scientific perspective, the physical world is “rock-level real” (14:45)
• The physical world should not be reduced to an illusion; it has properties that cannot be denied (18:13)
• In the physical world, death means no longer alive; spiritually, death is a transformation (21:50)
• Does the individual soul continue after death? (25:04)
• Why isn’t everyone awakened if we’re all part of the absolute? (26:40)
• Standing in the absolute, all dimensions are inseparable, existing in exquisite harmony, but this does not negate people’s experience of disharmony (30:38)
• The absolute is inherently not self-aware, that’s why it needs an individual to become aware of itself (32:56)
• The divine coma is the entry to the absolute (35:38)
• The relationship between the human being, the world, and God (38:59)
• Is there a personal God? (41:47)
• You can be an individual without being separate (47:33)
• God fulfillment & soul fulfillment are one and the same (50:36)
• The concept of service has many stages (52:57)
• Hameed’s mystical theology: a triadic reality, each with its own truth (57:06)
• The dimension of energy (01:04:26)
• Reality appears differently from different perspectives; this teaching is from the nondual perspective (01:06:10)
• Dzogchen & Hameed both give an inherent meaning to life; traditions espousing illusion do not (01:09:19)
• Individual creativity gives voice to the creativity of the universe (01:12:24)

• A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), founder of The Ridhwan School, home of The Diamond Approach
• A. H. Almaas, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality
• Advaita Vedanta
• Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That
• Beginning of a famous Hadith Qudsi: “I was a hidden treasure and wanted to be known…”
• Sufi master Ibn Arabi, “God needs a soul just as much as a soul needs God.”
• A. H. Almaas, The Pearl Beyond Price: Integration of Personality into Being: An Object Relations Approach
• The Path of Love Series with A. H. Almaas, Deep Transformation podcast series
• Meister Eckhart, German Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher & mystic
• Ramana Maharshi, Hindu sage and liberated being
• Longchenpa, Dzogchen poet

---

The A. H. Almaas Wisdom Series generally follows the sequence of Hameed’s magnum opus, The Inner Journey Home (which John describes as psychoactive and spiritually, psychologically, and intellectually transformative), so listeners may want to get a copy of this book, to study and follow along on this exhilarating path of awakening.

---

If you are interested in taking a course offered by Diamond Approach Online, Hameed’s team at the Ridhwan School have offered a special 20% discount for Deep Transformation listeners. You can access the Course Catalog here: https://online.diamondapproach.org/catalog/. And enter the code DTP20 to receive your discount when you sign up.

---

Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas) was born in Kuwait in 1944. At the age of eighteen, he moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California in Berkeley. Hameed was working on his Ph.D. in physics when he reached a turning point in his life and destiny that led him to inquire into the psychological and spiritual aspects of human nature rather than the physical nature of the universe. He left the academic world to pursue an in-depth journey of inner discovery, applying his scientific precision and discipline to personal, experiential research. This included study with different teachers in different modalities, extensive reading, and continuous study of his own consciousness in an effort to understand the essential nature of human experience and reality in general.

Hameed’s process of exploration led to the creation of the Ridhwan School and, with his colleague Karen Johnson, resulted in the founding and unfoldment of the Diamond Approach. He is the author of 20 books, including Nondual Love: Awakening to the Loving Nature of Reality, Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart, Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type, The Unfolding Now: Realizing Your True Nature through the Practice of Presence, and more.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.

Ep. 234 | Renowned thought leader, speaker, and prolific author Warren Farrell has a passion for getting the truth out about issues that matter deeply—issues with enormous human consequences that might begin to heal if people better understood the forces driving these trends: the boy crisis, fatherlessness, the cultural tendency to vilify men, and the lack of healthy and effective communication between men and women. Warren has authored several data-driven bestselling books that go right to the heart of these matters, and in this conversation his expertise is clearly evident, right alongside his dedication to do everything he can to shift the evolution of the harmful idea that women are good but men are bad.

Warren has put himself on the line time and again to stand up for fatherless boys. He puts out a clarion call to couples to communicate with care, so that a father can be involved with the raising of a child, and in his books and workshops, Warren offers concrete steps to minimize children’s trauma, such as his four must-do’s after a divorce and the caring and sharing practices he teaches couples around accepting criticism without getting defensive. Immensely insightful, immensely practical, Warren points the way forward through a territory that has become murky, difficult, and hateful. Guaranteed, you will learn things about our contemporary culture you didn’t know before, and be inspired to do what you can to heal the disastrous divide between the sexes. Recorded September 25, 2025.

“We’re all in this together. We’re all in the same family boat.”

• Introducing Warren Farrell, outstanding feminist, intellectual father of the men’s movement, champion of gender role innovations & prolific author (00:54)
• How did Warren come to champion the women’s movement? (02:33)
• The opposite of power & privilege: what men are giving up (05:35)
• Toxic masculinity (11:05)
• Why do men commonly trade put-downs? (14:29)
• Misinterpreting male behavior & the need for dialogue between men & women (18:29)
• Sexual harassment and the “believe women letter” (22:01)
• After a divorce, the child’s needs need to come first (26:04)
• Speaking up about the importance of father involvement in raising boys changed Warren’s professional trajectory (30:29)
• Death from overwork, called kuroshi in Japan (33:55)
• Fatherless children have issues in 55 different areas, and the biggest predictor of male suicide is lack of father involvement (37:10)
• The idea that women are good, men are bad (38:26)
• Biological effects of lack of father involvement (40:22)
• 4 must-do’s after divorce to minimize children’s trauma (41:37)
• Rough-housing is a gift (44:07)
• A father’s unconditional love incorporates conditions (49:07)
• Teasing, one of the 7 important contributions that fathers make (50:31)
• Couples counseling: why is criticism so hard to handle? (54:04)
• Teaching couples to communicate effectively is the most important way to prevent the boy crisis (58:03)
• The relation between dad-deprived youth, gang membership, prison & being a victim of sexual molestation (58:53)
• The worst thing you can do after a divorce (01:05:11)
• The biggest hole in my heart and the best decision of my life: John Lennon (01:09:16)
• The ramifications of dad-deprivation in 1965 and currently (01:17:40)
• A closer look at gender differences in income (01:21:57)
• The feminist argument against Warren (01:31:00)
• When only one sex wins, both sexes lose (01:36:06)
• What can men do to help boys? (01:38:37)
• We need to work toward equality while recognizing our evolutionary differences (01:40:50)
• Our bias about men being full-time dads (01:45:06)
• Important skills Warren teaches in his Role Mate to Soul Mate book & his online course (01:51:48)
• Warren’s current book-in-progress, The Man Crisis (01:57:17)
• Roger’s summary of the extraordinary impact Warren has had on our culture (01:59:00)

• Warren Farrell’s website, https://warrenfarrell.com/, and YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/drwarrenfarrell
• Warren Farrell & John Gray, The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It
• Warren Farrell, Why Men Are the Way They Are, The Myth of Male Power, Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap – and What Women Can Do About It
• Warren Farrell, From Role Mate to Soul Mate: The Seven Secrets to Lifelong Love
• National Organization for Women (NOW)
• National Coalition for Men (NCFM), a non-profit educational & civil rights organization that addresses sex discrimination against men and boys
• Marilyn French, The Women’s Room
• John Gottman, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
• Spotlight, movie about the Boston Globe uncovering a massive child molestation scandal within the local Catholic Archdiocese
• The Boy Crisis TEDx talk with Warren Farrell
• The 1965 Moynihan Report on the huge population of black, dad-deprived youth
• Gloria Steinem, leader of second-wave feminism in the U.S.
• The Boy Crisis: Cancel Warren Farrell (YouTube documentary)
• Mankind Project: Initiation Weekend + Integration Training
• Boys to Men Mentoring, co-founded by Joe Sigurdson
• Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend, founded by Mark Schillinger
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
• John Gray, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex

---

Warren Farrell, PhD, has been chosen by the Financial Times of London as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders. His books are published in 19 languages. They includeThe New York Times bestseller Why Men Are the Way They Are, and the international bestseller The Myth of Male Power. Dr. Farrell presented the findings of The Boy Crisis (2018) worldwide, from the White House to the Norwegian Parliament. It was a catalyst for bipartisan legislation for father involvement in Florida. He is currently working on The Man Crisis.

---

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos and Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell

Mentioned in this episode:

We’re a Signal Awards Finalist!

Deep Transformation has been named a Finalist in Thought Leadership.