What Buddhim really is (and isn't) about ... What various Buddhist traditions have to offer ... The Buddha as a practical philosopher ... How the Buddha revolutionized meditation ... The idea of not-self, and its connection to an ethical life ... Why death is not the end even if there's no rebirth ... The ethical dimension of enlightenment ...

Roger's work on emotions that drive ethnic conflict ... Perceived threats that unite Trump supporters ... The new identity of the white working class ... The "basket of deplorables" and the politics of indignation ... How Middle American and liberal elites see each other ... Are the perils of our time exaggerated? ...

Meet JP Sears, the New Age Stephen Colbert ... Josh receives ultraspiritual guidance from JP ... Shining a light of satire on the "shadow side" of spiritual practices ... Where JP's comedy comes from ... Stepping out of the comfort zone, and other spiritual disciplines ... Watch Josh transform into an ultra-ultra-post-spiritual guru ...

How is Hillary's 'basket of deplorables' different from Romney's '47 percent?' ... The root causes of xenophobia ... Trump's policy proposals as 'emotional metaphors' ... Struggling to empathize with Trump voters ... Political correctness and its opposites ... The warping effects of fear ... Who marginalized Middle America? ... Trumpism after Trump ...

The Gnostic version of enlightenment ... Modern Gnosticism's Christian roots ... Aeons, Archons, and the Demiurge ... What do Gnostics do? ... Salvation and the Gnostic afterlife ... A brief history of the Johannite Church ...

Erik's book The Birth of Insight and its hero, Ledi Sayadaw ... Three marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and not-self ... Origins and characteristics of American Buddhism ... How Burmese politics shaped Western Buddhism ... Ledi's take on how meditation leads to enlightenment ... The ethical side of Buddhist practice ... Erik's meditation practice ...

David Hume’s life and work ... How Hume influenced Massimo’s thinking ... What Hume got right about causality, and what he got wrong ... What shapes our moral instincts? ... Why Dan regards Arthur Danto so highly… ... …and what he thinks Danto got wrong ... The end of art history? ...

What is Russian cosmism? ... The religious side of cosmism ... Cosmism as a response to the challenges of the 20th century ... Nature as a temporary enemy and eternal friend ... Pavel Florensky, the Russian da Vinci ... Plant life as a spiritual ideal ... The father of the Soviet space program, and his weird spirituality ... Cosmism and transhumanism: Compare and contrast ... Cosmism as a Russian propaganda project ...

Can smartphones help you meditate? ... Bringing virtual reality and meditation together ... Vincent’s experience teaching meditation online ... Circumventing the rational mind via inquiry meditation ... Becoming conscious of consciousness ... Vincent's "modular" approach to meditation ... Is Vincent enlightened? ...

Why Robby refuses to support Trump ... Is history shaped more by social forces or human agency? ... Robby gives an insider’s view on why Appalachia is Trump country ... The declining influence of religion ... How a lack of humility poisons politics ... Contempt in current political rhetoric ... Robby: Politicians need to get out of the identity politics game ...