David McRaney is a science journalist, psychology nerd, and host of the popular podcast "You Are Not So Smart." What started as a blog in 2009 became an internationally bestselling book and a long-running exploration of self-delusion, cognitive bias, and the psychology of belief. He is also the author of "How Minds Change" — a fascinating deep dive into the science of beliefs, opinions, and persuasion that fundamentally changed how David himself thinks about thinking.

In this conversation, we explore what beliefs actually are and how the mind develops them through assimilation and accommodation, whether objective reality is something we can ever truly access, and why your beliefs are not as much your own as you think they are.

We get into how intellect can actually hinder our ability to change our minds, why you can't separate reason from emotion, how to transform pointless debates into genuinely fruitful conversations, and what to avoid when trying to change someone's mind — and what to do instead.

We also explore the self illusion, confirmation bias, how social media traps us in echo chambers, why we need to argue, and whether there is a form of knowing that exists beyond reason and belief entirely.

A rich and practically grounded conversation for anyone interested in the psychology of belief, critical thinking, and what it actually takes to change minds — including your own.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• David's personal site
•  You Are Not So Smart podcast
•  How Minds Change — in-depth book summary
•  How to Have Impossible Conversations — Peter Boghossian & James Lindsay
•  The Enigma of Reason — Hugo Mercier

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
2:09 - What are beliefs?
7:59 - How the mind develops through assimilation and accommodation
14:53 - Is there an objective reality?
18:23 - Is it possible to be agnostic?
19:52 - Why your beliefs are not your own
25:03 - The self illusion
29:26 - How intellect can hinder our ability to change our minds
34:58 - An exercise to improve critical thinking and intellectual humility
36:44 - Why you can't separate reason from emotion
40:09 - How to transform pointless debates into fruitful conversations
43:50 - Things to avoid when trying to change someone's mind — and what to do instead
56:42 - How writing "How Minds Change" changed David's mind
1:03:54 - Why we need to argue
1:06:23 - How social media traps us in echo chambers
1:10:32 - David shares a personal belief most of his social circle wouldn't agree with
1:12:17 - Jared Diamond on beliefs
1:13:20 - Deep down we all have the same values — going beyond polarization
1:18:05 - Is there a knowing that is beyond reason or belief?
1:23:11 - David shares the concept of his next book

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Stephen Jenkinson is a former palliative care worker, cultural activist, and master storyteller. He is the author of numerous books including "Reckoning," "A Generation's Worth," and the award-winning "Die Wise." He is also the co-founder of "Nights of Grief and Mystery" — a musical storytelling ceremony alongside Canadian singer-songwriter Gregory Hoskins that began as an improvisational collaboration and has since grown into an international tour and the release of several records, the two most recent being "Dark Roads" and "Rough Gods."

In our first conversation, we explored death, grief, and what it means to die wise. This time around, we go deeper — into the origins of Stephen's extraordinary gift for storytelling, what it means to apprentice under a master storyteller, and how being in the presence of genuine authenticity changes us.

We explore how Stephen's band "Nights of Grief and Mystery" came to be and why it represents cognitive dissonance for almost everyone who encounters it, the importance of keeping mystery alive in a world that wants to explain everything away, and why self-improvement won't save the world.

We close with one of Stephen's most profound insights — that how you live determines how you will experience death. 

A rare and deeply human conversation about storytelling, grief, mystery, and what it means to live a life worth dying.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• My first conversation with Stephen Jenkinson — Fear of Death, Processing Grief & How to Die Wise
•  Stephen's website — Orphan Wisdom
•  Nights of Grief & Mystery — Tour dates
•  Die Wise — in-depth book summary
•  Brother Blue — Master Storyteller & Stephen's mentor

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
 2:24 - Stephen shares the origins of his gift for storytelling
 6:25 - Apprenticing under a master storyteller — Brother Blue
 16:34 - How being in the presence of authenticity transforms us
 21:11 - How Nights of Grief & Mystery came to be
 34:03 - The importance of keeping mystery alive
 43:03 - Stephen speaks on creating the Rough Gods record
 47:23 - Stephen shares standout moments from touring
 53:10 - Why Nights of Grief & Mystery is cognitive dissonance for everybody
 55:09 - Comparing Stephen to Jordan Peterson — a message of responsibility
 58:20 - Why self-improvement won't save the world
 1:12:24 - How you live determines how you'll experience death
 1:20:00 - Is death an illusion?

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Steve March is the founder of Aletheia — a professional coach training school offering a paradigm-shifting, next-generation approach to coaching. With over 18 years of experience as a professional coach, 20+ years as an instructional designer and trainer, and 16 years in software development and organizational management, Steve brings a rare depth of experience to the question of how human beings actually change and grow. His work draws from the Diamond Approach, Internal Family Systems, and nondual traditions to help leaders and teams thrive in complex situations by applying their innate resourcefulness and creativity.

In this conversation, we explore what coaching actually is and how it differs from therapy, the Unfoldment Paradigm, and why it goes beyond conventional self-improvement, and the four levels of depth in human experience — parts, process, presence, and nonduality — and what each one can access.

We get into four different styles of nondual work, how to find the meditation or spiritual practice that's right for you, why Internal Family Systems is such a powerful modality, and the paradox of change — why genuine transformation requires something fundamentally different from self-improvement.

We also explore why the point of meditation is actually to stop self-improvement, and why we need wisdom more than ever in a time of increasing complexity.

A rich and practically grounded conversation for anyone ready to go beyond self-improvement and conventional development. 

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Aletheia Coach Training — Steve March
•  The Diamond Approach

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
1:00 - How Steve got into coaching
3:56 - What is coaching and how is it different from therapy?
8:52 - Going beyond self-improvement — the Unfoldment Paradigm
16:25 - Understanding and navigating depth in human experience
23:17 - The parts level of depth
26:54 - The process level of depth
28:54 - The presence level of depth
29:54 - The nonduality level of depth
33:34 - Steve speaks about his journey into nonduality
37:00 - Four different styles of nondual work
47:44 - How to find the meditation or spiritual practice that's right for you
58:50 - Why Internal Family Systems is such a powerful modality
1:06:23 - The point of meditation is to stop self-improvement
1:13:22 - The paradox of change
1:20:20 - Why we need wisdom more than ever

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Saj Razvi is the director of education at the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, a psychotherapist, and former clinical researcher in the MAPS phase 2 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. He is one of the primary developers of Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP) — a groundbreaking therapeutic modality that addresses mental health issues at the root cause level. His primary work is training clinicians to provide legal and effective psychedelic therapy in their private practices.

In this conversation, we explore how psychedelics work and differ from one another, why developing a strong somatic pathway is essential for deep psychedelic healing, and the biggest problem in psychedelic circles — why relational healing is so often overlooked and why it matters so much.

We get into the limits of talk therapy, and what lies beyond it, implicit memory and the unconscious mind, how Cannabis, Ketamine, and classic psychedelics compare as therapeutic tools, and the pitfalls psychedelic therapists and healers can fall into — including a powerful cautionary tale for healing professionals.

We also explore combining plant medicine ceremonies with psychotherapy, whether psychedelic therapy can resolve narcissistic personality disorder, and the importance of understanding traumatic transference in psychedelic work.

A rigorous and practically grounded conversation for anyone exploring the frontier of psychedelic healing, somatic therapy, and trauma recovery.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Psychedelic Somatic Institute
•  The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel Van Der Kolk
•  Saj on the Back from the Abyss podcast — Part 1
•  Saj on the Back from the Abyss podcast — Part 2

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
1:20 - What inspired Saj to become a trauma therapist
3:00 - Saj's personal experience with psychedelics
5:18 - How psychedelics work and differ from one another
9:14 - How developing a strong somatic pathway impacts the psychedelic experience
11:58 - The biggest problem in psychedelic circles — why we need relational healing
18:48 - The limits of talk therapy
22:03 - Implicit memory and the unconscious mind
23:50 - Unpacking Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP)
31:50 - Cannabis vs Ketamine vs classic psychedelics
49:46 - Psychedelic therapy training for mental health professionals
53:20 - Combining plant medicine ceremonies with psychotherapy
56:09 - Can psychedelic therapy resolve narcissistic personality disorder?
59:00 - Pitfalls psychedelic therapists and healers can fall into
1:07:11 - A powerful cautionary tale for healing professionals
1:18:30 - Artem speaks about his work as a mental health educator
1:20:23 - Further unpacking the PSIP training
1:26:20 - How the psychedelic experience can benefit therapists
1:30:00 - The importance of understanding traumatic transference
1:37:22 - Connect with Saj at psychedelicsomatic.org

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Emil Ejner Friis is a theory artist, wordsmith, and author who has spent the last decade working to understand how to create a listening society — a kinder, more developed world that deeply cares for the happiness and emotional needs of every citizen. He is one half of the Hanzi Freinacht duo, the alias under which he co-authored "The Listening Society" and "Nordic Ideology" — two groundbreaking books unpacking metamodern philosophy and its implications for politics, culture, and human development.

In this conversation, we explore what really matters in life and why recognition is far more overrated than most of us realize, how negative social emotions develop and what they reveal about our culture, and what it will actually take for metamodernism to take hold beyond intellectual circles.

We also get into expanding our understanding of freedom, how hardship creates purpose and meaning, the constraint of money and miserable jobs on human flourishing, how to create a society where everyone can be an artist, and why solarpunk might be what metamodernism actually looks like in practice.

A wide-ranging and honest conversation about meaning, culture, and what a genuinely better society could look like.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Hanzi Freinacht's blog
•  Nordic Ideology — in-depth book summary
•  The Listening Society — in-depth book summary

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction — why you should never mention Hanzi
 2:59 - Why Emil moved to Thailand
 4:02 - Emil is tired of speaking about the Nordic Ideology
 7:09 - What Emil is currently working on — the six hidden patterns of history
 9:28 - Creating a metamodern bootcamp to train metamodern activists
 15:20 - Becoming developmentally aware
 19:16 - Expanding our understanding of freedom
 27:10 - Why recognition is overrated
 34:00 - What really matters in life
 42:48 - The constraint of money, miserable jobs, depression, and the dream life
 50:12 - How to create a society where everyone can be an artist
 1:03:41 - How hardship creates purpose and meaning
 1:08:08 - What it will take for metamodernism to take hold
 1:11:39 - How negative social emotions develop
 1:19:53 - How sklavenmoral exposes our everyday narcissism
 1:29:34 - Artem speaks about how he got into metamodernism
 1:33:54 - Connecting local metamodern nodes globally
 1:37:10 - Life imitates art — why metamodernism won't emerge as a social movement
 1:40:59 - Solarpunk is what metamodernism looks like
 1:45:20 - Integrating intellectual pursuits with art and music

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Zak Stein is a writer, educator, and futurist working to bring greater sanity and justice to education. He studied religion and philosophy at Hampshire College before completing his doctorate in educational neuroscience, human development, and educational philosophy at Harvard. He is the co-founder of Lectica Inc — a nonprofit dedicated to transforming standardized testing across K-12, higher education, and business — and the author of "Education in a Time Between Worlds," a powerful exploration of the future of schools, technology, and society.

In this conversation, we explore what the crisis of education actually is and how it connects to the broader crises of our time, the deep problems with today's dominant schooling system and why it is failing students, and what a genuine future of education could look like beyond the current institutional model.

We also get into the nature of teacherly authority — organic versus institutionalized — pathways for homeschooling and educational hub networks, the problem of reducing education to a commodity, and why the global measurement crisis reveals something profound about what we value and what we've lost.

We close with one of the most important insights of the conversation — that most of reality simply cannot be measured, and what that means for how we educate the next generation.

A wide-ranging and urgent conversation for anyone who cares about the future of learning, human development, and civilization.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Zak's personal site
•  Education in a Time Between Worlds — in-depth book summary
•  The Master and His Emissary — Iain McGilchrist
•  The Ascent of Humanity — Charles Eisenstein

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
 2:01 - What is the crisis of education and how does it relate to other crises of our time?
 8:55 - The problem with today's dominant schooling system
 35:15 - The future of education — beyond schooling
 38:36 - Understanding teacherly authority — organic vs institutionalized
 52:51 - Pathways for homeschooling and educational hub networks
 1:00:11 - The problem of reducing education to a commodity
 1:14:58 - Understanding the global measurement crisis
 1:30:15 - Why most of reality can't be measured

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Forrest Landry is a philosopher, writer, researcher, scientist, and craftsman whose work spans social architecture, sensemaking, ethics and governance, and existential risk. His experience as a master woodworker led him to create the Magic Flight Launchbox — a beautifully crafted wooden portable vaporizer beloved by cannabis enthusiasts worldwide. He is also the author of several profound philosophical works including "An Immanent Metaphysics," "Effective Choice," "The Tiny Book of Essential Wisdom," and most recently "Western Core Tantra."

In this conversation, we explore how to better think about truth, the relationship between ethics and morality and why they're not the same thing, and how free will, choice, and decision are three distinct concepts that we routinely confuse.

We also get into the relationship between spirituality and religion, how the collapse of religion is contributing to the meaning crisis, the deep sense of divinity and sacredness woven through Forrest's philosophical work, and what metaphysics can actually transform in you — not just intellectually but as a lived reality.

We also dissect the climax of Forrest's epic conversation with John Vervaeke and go deeper into the metaphysics of integrating technology, humanity, and nature.

A rigorous, wide-ranging, and mind-expanding conversation for anyone serious about thinking more clearly about the biggest questions.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Forrest's personal site and blog
•  Western Core Tantra — full text
•  Western Core Tantra — in-depth book summary
•  Purchase Forrest's other philosophical works
•  Magic Flight
•  Forrest's conversation with John Vervaeke
•  Forrest's thoughts on Capital Truth

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
 1:46 - Contrasting and comparing Forrest's philosophical works
 7:19 - Integrating technology, humanity, and nature — the motivation behind Forrest's work
 17:04 - How to better think about truth
 27:02 - The relationship between ethics and morality
 34:12 - How free will, choice, and decision are different
 51:11 - The relationship between spirituality and religion
 58:30 - How the collapse of religion is contributing to the meaning crisis
 1:11:34 - Dissecting the climax of Forrest's conversation with John Vervaeke — going deeper into the metaphysics
 1:28:10 - The deep sense of divinity and sacredness in Forrest's work
 1:34:54 - Forrest shares the motivation behind Magic Flight and his blog

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, founding director of the Greater Good Science Center, host of the award-winning Science of Happiness podcast, and author of several books including "The Power Paradox" — a groundbreaking exploration of how we gain and lose influence in our lives, relationships, and communities.

In this conversation, we explore what power actually is and how it differs from status, money, and social class, how we gain power through social and cultural capital, and what the power paradox reveals about why those who achieve power so often abuse it.

We get into how to mitigate abuses of power, how powerlessness affects people psychologically and physically, the Machiavellian approach to power and why it ultimately fails, and how to more skillfully navigate the power paradox in your own life.

We also discuss political correctness and cancel culture, white privilege, race, class, and other forms of inequality, indigenous cultures and well-being, and how modern living is making us sick — a wide-ranging and honest conversation about one of the most complex forces shaping human life.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Greater Good Science Center
•  The Power Paradox — in-depth book summary
•  Is life a game of power?
•  Polarity Management — Barry Johnson
•  How Daryl Davis got 200 KKK members to give up their hoods

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
 1:40 - How Dacher came to study power and what the power paradox is
 4:12 - Our culture's dominant understanding of power and what power actually is
 5:52 - How power is different from status, money, and social class
 9:02 - Gaining power through social and cultural capital
 11:18 - How to mitigate abuses of power
 13:24 - Political correctness and cancel culture
 15:15 - How powerlessness affects people
 19:55 - Trump and the Machiavellian approach to power
 24:57 - How to more skillfully play with the power paradox
 28:50 - The thinkers and leaders that impacted Dacher's worldview
 32:10 - Artem and Dacher discuss white privilege, race, class, and other forms of inequality
 42:41 - Indigenous cultures, nature, well-being, and how modern living is making us sick
 49:31 - The good, the bad, and the paradoxical
 53:25 - Where to connect with Dacher

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Eric Wargo is the author of "Precognitive Dreamwork and the Long Self" — a mind-expanding book that challenges everything you think you know about dreams, time, and reality. He holds a PhD in anthropology from Emory University, works as a professional science writer, and writes about science fiction, consciousness, and the paranormal on his popular blog The Nightshirt.

In this conversation, we explore the science behind precognition and what it actually means for our understanding of time and reality, the barriers that prevent us from recognizing precognitive dreams, and how Eric's encounter with precognition fundamentally changed his view of self and consciousness.

We get into how Freud and Jung viewed dreams and how Eric's understanding radically differs, the three steps to doing precognitive dreamwork, the importance of dating your dreams through calendrical resonance, the fractal nature of dreams, and the paradox of free will that precognition reveals.

We also debate materialism and the nature of mind, discuss Bernardo Kastrup's work on idealism, and explore what precognitive dreamwork reveals about the superpower of intuition and what it means to have a "long self" that extends beyond ordinary time.

A genuinely mind-bending conversation at the intersection of consciousness studies, parapsychology, and the philosophy of mind.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• In-depth summary of "Precognitive Dreamwork and the Long Self"
•  Eric's blog — The Nightshirt
•  Eric on Twitter
•  Dream Game — Ann Faraday
•  Daryl Bem's study on precognition
•  An Experiment with Time — J.W. Dunne
•  Mutants and Mystics — Jeffrey Kripal
•  Authors of the Impossible — Jeffrey Kripal
•  The Invisible College — Jacques Vallee

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction
 1:09 - How Eric got into studying dreams
 4:51 - The science behind precognition
 9:13 - What is precognition and the barriers to recognizing it
 20:51 - How precognition impacted Eric's view of self and reality
 21:15 - Eric and Artem debate materialism and science
 29:45 - How precognition changed Eric's understanding of self and reality
 35:09 - Science not only gives us answers but expands our questions
 38:01 - How Freud and Jung viewed dreams — and how Eric's understanding differs
 44:30 - The three steps to doing precognitive dreamwork
 48:16 - The importance of dating your dreams — calendrical resonance
 51:47 - The fractal nature of dreams
 56:11 - The most important thing to understand about precognitive dreams
 1:03:11 - The paradox of free will
 1:11:12 - The reward of precognitive dreamwork
 1:16:17 - The superpower of intuition
 1:18:36 - Advice Eric would give to his teenage self
 1:21:51 - Eric's most recommended books
 1:24:00 - Eric's understanding of mind and consciousness
 1:28:08 - Artem and Eric discuss Bernardo Kastrup's work and further debate materialism
 1:35:48 - Where to connect with Eric

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional

Stephen Jenkinson is an author, poet, storyteller, cultural activist, and farmer — a genuine renaissance man whose work cuts to the heart of what our culture has lost in its relationship to death and dying. He holds a master's in theology from Harvard and a master's in social work from the University of Toronto, and spent years as a palliative care worker — an experience documented in the film "Griefwalker." His award-winning book "Die Wise" is one of the most profound and challenging explorations of death, grief, and meaning in print.

In this conversation, we explore what people are really afraid of when it comes to death — and why it's rarely what they think — what it means to carry the dead, how language shapes our understanding of dying and reality, and how death can fundamentally change how you live.

We also get into why hope is hopeless and what it means to live hope-free, why you don't have to accept death, how to be with the dying as a genuine act of love, and what it means to take responsibility for being in and a part of the world.

A rare, uncompromising, and deeply honest conversation about death, grief, and what it means to be truly alive — for anyone willing to look at what our deathphobic culture would rather avoid.

🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗

• Stephen's site — Orphan Wisdom
•  In-depth summary of "Die Wise"
•  Nights of Grief & Mystery — Stephen's band
•  Griefwalker film

🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️

0:00 - Introduction — Artem shares his experience with death
 3:40 - What is life and end of life?
 7:40 - How language shapes our understanding of reality
 9:10 - How much of our fear of death is biological?
 13:46 - Is death inevitable?
 18:55 - What people are really afraid of when it comes to death
 29:29 - What does it mean to carry the dead?
 44:11 - How can you tell if someone knows they're going to die?
 54:02 - How death can change your life
 58:30 - Why hope is hopeless — how to live hope-free
 1:07:05 - Taking responsibility for being in and a part of the world
 1:13:40 - Why you don't have to accept death
 1:17:47 - How to be with the dying — a new understanding of love
 1:25:05 - Where to connect with Stephen and what's next — Nights of Grief & Mystery

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast 

*Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional