Is high self-esteem crucial to human flourishing, or, rather, a hindrance?

“The biggest problem with self-esteem is that it tends to be contingent,” says Kristin Neff. “We only feel good about ourselves when we succeed.” Far too often, high self-esteem breeds narcissism, bullying, and prejudice.

Kristin is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s also a prominent expert on the topic of self-compassion, which her research has found to be much more effective than self-esteem in helping people flourish. In this episode, she shares what makes self-compassion different from self-esteem, how to cultivate it, and how it can help us to flourish amidst stress, suffering, and everyday life. We also hear briefly from psychiatrist and author Curt Thompson illuminating the negative neurobiological effects of shame while Kristen explains how self compassion can remedy these effects.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance

Judith Moskowitz: How to Flourish Amidst Stress

Alfie Kohn: Why You Shouldn’t Punish–or Reward–Your Kids

Curt Thompson: The Soul of Shame

Resources mentioned this episode

Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff

Fierce Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff

Self-Compassion.org

Why Self-Compassion Works Better than Self-Esteem

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes

Transcription Link

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

This is our unabridged episode with Amy-Jill Levine.

What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus?

Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about.

Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor

John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously

N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry

Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World

Resources mentioned this episode

Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes

Transcript for Abridged Episode

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

See Privacy Policy:

What happens when you get a self-dubbed “yankee Jewish feminist” talking about Jesus?

Turns out, you get a fascinating conversation leaving folks of all faiths and worldviews with much to think about.

Amy-Jill Levine is a brilliant professor of New Testament, and, perhaps surprisingly, a practicing Jew. In this episode, she uses her knowledge of Jewish culture to highlight common mis-readings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s stance on societal and gender norms, and how “Christian fragility” can impede one’s ability to address religious and social questions honestly.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Amy-Jill Levine: Jewish, Yankee Feminist, New Testament Professor

John Dear: Taking the Beatitudes Seriously

N.T. Wright and the Bancroft Brothers: Theology and Poetry

Jesuitical: How Young Catholics See the World

Resources mentioned this episode

Sermon on the Mount: A Beginners Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes

Transcription Link

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy

Amazon Affi…

This is our unabridged interview with Angela Williams Gorrell.

What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering?

In this episode, author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell

Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness

Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection

William Paul Young: Author of The Shack

Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty

Resources mentioned this episode

The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell

The Epidemic of Despair

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell

Link to Transcript for Abridged Episode

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering?

In this episode, two guests discuss joy, describing both what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. And Yale theologian Miroslav Volf, himself no stranger to suffering growing up in a war torn country, explains the connection between joy and sorrow.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Philip Yancey: Where the Light Fell

Azim Khamisa: Ending Violence Through Forgiveness

Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection

William Paul Young: Author of The Shack

Christian Wiman: The Opposite of Faith is Certainty

Resources mentioned this episode

The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell

The Epidemic of Despair

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell

Transcription Link

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

This is our unabridged interview with Karen Korematsu.

What is it like to be an Asian American?

In light of the beginning of AAPI month, we present a re-airing of our episode from 2021 with Karen Korematsu and Eugene Cho, two Asian-Americans with unique stories of grief and hope.

Karen Korematsu tells the story of her father Fred Korematsu, a famed Japanese-American civil rights activist who refused Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order to report to what FDR himself called “a concentration camp” on American soil shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Eugene Cho: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk

Elise Hu: Obsessed with Beauty

Resources mentioned this episode

The Korematsu Institute

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Karen Korematsu

Transcript of Abridged Episode

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

What is it like to be an Asian American?

In light of the beginning of AAPI month, we present a re-airing of our episode from 2021 with Karen Korematsu and Eugene Cho, two Asian-Americans with unique stories of grief and hope.

Karen Korematsu tells the story of her father Fred Korematsu, a famed Japanese-American civil rights activist who refused Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order to report to what FDR himself called “a concentration camp” on American soil shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Eugene Cho discusses his experiences as a Korean-born American immigrant, and how we might learn to love our neighbors in the face of political polarization and racial discrimination.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Eugene Cho: Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk

Elise Hu: Obsessed with Beauty

Resources mentioned this episode

Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk by Eugene Cho

The Korematsu Institute

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Eugene Cho

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Karen Korematsu

Transcription Link

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

See Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Pro…

Today, we’re sharing a special episode from The Gist—hosted by Mike Pesca.

Sir David King, formerly the UK's Government Chief Scientific Adviser, is now the Founder and Chair at Cambridge's Center for Climate Repair. He advocates carbon capture technology as part of the mix of solutions to climate change. Many environmentalists are not sold.

Listen to more episodes of The Gist and follow the podcast: https://pod.link/873667927

This is our unabridged interview with Suzanne Stabile.

What is the Enneagram, and how can it help us live a good life?

“The unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates. But if that’s true, how are we to go about examining our lives, and what templates or metrics are we to use?

One of the best places to start, suggests author and speaker Suzanne Stabile, is the ancient wisdom tool known as the Enneagram. What at first glance seems like a Myers-Briggs-esque personality test for grouping humanity into neat piles is actually a tool for observing our way of seeing and being in the world and helps us see that not everyone experiences the world in the same way. Using the Enneagram, she says, “I teach people who they're not. I don't teach people who they are.” In this episode, she gives an overview of the ways in which the Enneagram just might help us become more understanding, compassionate, holistic people.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Ian Cron: Recovery, the Enneagram, and Being Human

Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance

David Brooks: Can We Save Society by Knowing Each Other?

Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection

Resources mentioned this episode

The Road Back to You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Cron

The Path Between Us by Suzanne Stabile

The Enneagram Journey podcast

Suzanne’s website

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes

Transcript for Abridged Episode

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube

What is the Enneagram, and how can it help us live a good life?

“The unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates. But if that’s true, how are we to go about examining our lives, and what templates or metrics are we to use?

One of the best places to start, suggests author and speaker Suzanne Stabile, is the ancient wisdom tool known as the Enneagram. What at first glance seems like a Myers-Briggs-esque personality test for grouping humanity into neat piles is actually a tool for observing our way of seeing and being in the world and helps us see that not everyone experiences the world in the same way. Using the Enneagram, she says, “I teach people who they're not. I don't teach people who they are.” In this episode, she gives an overview of the ways in which the Enneagram just might help us become more understanding, compassionate, holistic people.

Show Notes:

Similar episodes

Ian Cron: Recovery, the Enneagram, and Being Human

Tara Brach: Radical Acceptance

David Brooks: Can We Save Society by Knowing Each Other?

Kelly Corrigan: How Vulnerability Leads to Connection

Resources mentioned this episode

The Road Back to You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Cron

The Path Between Us by Suzanne Stabile

The Enneagram Journey podcast

Suzanne’s website

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes

Transcription Link

JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live shows

Subscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTube