Love & Understanding

What happens when the mind tries to step outside itself and understand what it is?

In this conversation, I’m joined by writer, philosopher, and photographer Steven Seidenberg, author of Coda, a strange, funny, philosophically dense work that resists the very thing the mind continually reaches for: solid ground.

We explore the instability of the self, the unreliability and necessity of memory, and the difficulty of separating experience from the interpretations we place upon it. Steven argues that confusion and contradiction are not always obstacles to understanding. In fact, sometimes they are precisely where deeper inquiry begins.

Our conversation moves through Kant, Hegel, Spinoza, Wittgenstein, Karl Popper, Buddhist and contemplative traditions, and the question of whether philosophy might sometimes be better understood as a form of art rather than a transparent statement of what its author believes.

We also discuss the dangers of taking uncertainty too far. Recognizing the limits of our knowledge does not mean that every claim is equally doubtful, or that truth disappears. Steven reflects on evidence, moral truth, capitalism, exploitation, and the ways our culture encourages us to understand ourselves through productivity and economic value.

Toward the end, we turn to silence, mortality, and Steven’s photography. His images often preserve the traces of human beings while leaving the people themselves outside the frame—a practice that raises fascinating questions about objectification, absence, empathy, and what it means to represent another person without reducing them to an object.

This is a conversation about consciousness and groundlessness, but also about how to live within them: how to think clearly without demanding certainty, how to remain open to ambiguity without collapsing into relativism, and how art can help us see what our usual ways of thinking leave out.

In this episode, John speaks with Dr. Jeremy Shearmur about Karl Popper's popular paradox of toleration. They highlight the importance of distinguishing criticisms of a person from criticisms of an idea, and how this can be difficult since our identities can contain so many ideas. They emphasized the importance of bringing humility and the recognition of our own fallibility to any critical discussion. They discussed the importance of respecting "background knowledge"--the existing knowledge of experts in any field--while simultaneously acknowledging its fallibility. And finally, they discussed pluralism--not only the plurality of ideas, customs, and beliefs, but also the plurality of paradigms that hold those ideas, customs, and beliefs, including how the heuristics and epistemic approaches they each take--and how pluralism fits into the greater frame of critical rationalism.

Dr. Jeremy Shearmur is a Reader in Political Theory in the Faculty of Arts at The Australian National University. Professor Shearmur was educated at the London School of Economics (University of London), where he also worked for eight years as assistant to Professor Sir Karl Popper. Professor Shearmur's Ph.D. thesis on F. A. Hayek was a joint winner of the British Political Studies Association's Sir Ernest Barker prize in political theory. Prior to taking his position in Australia, Professor Shearmur taught philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and political theory at the University of Manchester. He also served as Director of Studies of the Center for Policy Studies and worked as a research associate professor for the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. Professor Shearmur has published The Political Thought of Karl Popper (1966) and Hayek and After (1996) and was joint editor of H. B. Acton's The Morals of Markets and Related Essays (1993). He has also published numerous papers in philosophy and political thought.

In this episode of Love & Understanding, I sit down with philosopher Jeremy Shearmur, who worked closely with Karl Popper for nearly a decade, to explore what it means to live in an “open society.”

We begin with Popper’s central insight: that knowledge is always provisional, and that progress depends on our willingness to be wrong, to receive criticism, and to revise our beliefs. From there, we examine how these ideas extend beyond philosophy into politics, institutions, and everyday life.

Together, we explore:

-The tension between certainty and fallibility

-The moral and epistemological foundations of an open society

-The rise of polarization, populism, and distrust in institutions

-How social media shapes (and distorts) our search for truth

-The role of criticism, pluralism, and intellectual humility in a functioning democracy

Shearmur also offers a rare, personal look into Popper as a human being—brilliant, driven, and deeply imperfect—and reflects on the challenges of embodying philosophical ideals in real life.

This is a conversation about truth, error, and the fragile conditions required for a society to remain open, self-correcting, and free.

In this episode, John speaks with Britt Hartley. Britt is the author of a #1 bestseller in secular spirituality. Her book is titled No Nonsense Spirituality. Britt has a masters degree in theology. She considers herself a secular spiritual director, sufi mystic, nihilism survivor, religious deconstruction coach, and a Program Director for Spiritual Direction Training.

Britt was a blast to speak with. She has one of the most brilliant minds I’ve come across. She expresses herself with both a humility and a confidence. I am grateful to have her as a leader in this space, especially to keep her male counterparts in check. I learned a lot from our conversation, and I hope you do too.

https://nononsensespirituality.com

https://a.co/d/0flKNN9w

https://www.instagram.com/nononsensespirituality/

In this episode, John speaks with Luka Bönisch, an artist, writer, and spiritual rebel, of sorts. John and Luka discuss non-duality, the role of spiritual teacher, the importance of play in life and in spirituality, the human need to create and express, the role of AI in art, and other topics.

Luka's writing

Luka's art

Luka's Book | Finding the Truth of You: Uncovering Your True Nature, and Stuff

In this episode, John speaks with the writer and philosopher Shiv Sengupta, who is quickly rising the ranks in Substack's top 100 Philosophers.

Shiv is an incredibly clear and introspective thinker, who carries a remarkable intellectual prowess while still remaining humble and ultimately grounded in wisdom - his empty, interconnected, ever-changing nature.

You can learn more about him at his website Advaitaholics Anonymous, as well as his Substack blog Dark Night of the Soul.

In this episode, John speaks with Linnea Butler. Linnea Butler is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Master of Science in Molecular Biology. She founded Bay Area Mental Health, where she helps people with trauma, PTSD, depression, and anxiety using a number of modalities, including DBT, sensorimotor therapy, ketamine assisted psychotherapy, among others.

In our conversation, we discuss the difference between shock trauma and developmental trauma, common struggles in relationships, shadow work, attachment styles, parts work, somatic work, and much more.

In any case, I really enjoyed our conversation, and I hope you do too.

In this episode, John speaks with Prashanthi Amarnath about her book Embracing Paradox, which pulls from Taoist wisdom. We discuss the Taoist concept Wu Wei, or effortless action, love, parenting, identity, and the paradox between science and mysticism, among other subjects.

You can find Prashanthi's book here.

In this episode, John speaks with Mike Kewley about his book The Treasure House: Discovering Enlightenment Exactly Where You Are.

Mike Kewley is a leading Mindfulness Teacher, TEDx Speaker, and Author based on the Isle of Man, UK. With over 25 years of experience exploring meditation, spirituality, and nonduality. Mike combines deep insight with practical wisdom to help people transform their everyday lives.

The eldest son of Meditation Master Dhammachariya Pannadipa, Mike holds degrees in Religious Studies and Western Esotericism. His teaching draws from both academic knowledge and decades of personal practice, offering a unique and grounded approach to mindfulness.

Mike has shared his work widely, delivering a popular TEDx talk on Happiness, appearing on Conscious TV, and being featured in publications including Mensa Magazine, The Liverpool Echo, Women’s Fitness and The Independent.

His first book, The Treasure House – Discovering Enlightenment Exactly Where You Are (New Sarum Press, 2022), was praised for its clarity and accessibility. He is currently writing his second book, The Living Moment – A Guide to Ordinary Enlightenment.

In this episode, John explores how we can apply the Buddha's four foundations of mindfulness to our daily lives.