By all measures the American public is more polarized politically than anytime in recent history, and for many reasons -- including social media, the fragmentation of news outlets, and the lack of bi-partisanship in Congress. Does this mean it's okay to judge a person's character based on their political beliefs? (Something that certainly is happening with more frequency.) When might it be appropriate, as opposed to unfair, to make such judgments?

4.25 Expecting people to think

6.30 All politicians lie

8.48 Would it be okay if your child married someone from the opposite political party?

11.30 All the ways we judge people

15.57 One thing the government is really bad at

19.23 All the news that's NOT fit to print

In this episode, Doug and Chris discuss whether it's wise to let other people know about your weaknesses. While they agree it would have benefits, they also recognize the potential dangers of self-disclosure. Perhaps there are limits to complete transparency. Then again, transparency can make for some pretty good stories.

1.00 Are there benefits to revealing weaknesses?

2.26 Is vulnerability a sign of strength?

7.10 Showing weaknesses as a way to get out of work

11.18 Getting burned by exposing your weaknesses

14.10 Acknowledging your weaknesses to yourself

Fear of "the other" is a human trait rooted in our need for survival. Uncontrolled, however, fear of the other can undermine mankind's ability to achieve a higher consciousness -- or even live peacefully. In this episode, Chris and Doug discuss the reasons behind and the ramifications of our fear of "the other."

0:41 The essence of mankind's nature

4:15 How fear of "the other" is weaponized

5:48 The benefits of tribalism

7:17 A story of hope

9:55 Dehumanizing "the other"

13:00 Social media rewards extremism

14:20 Chris plugs "The 100"

18:00 Serving in the military teaches tolerance

In the U.S., especially among younger generations, polling shows diminished enthusiasm for capitalism and lower confidence that capitalism can deliver fair outcomes. Meanwhile, many who believe in capitalism recognize the need to confront its weaknesses. In this episode, we explore how capitalism can generate economic growth and opportunity, as well as how it can reinforce and accentuate disparities in wealth and political power.  

0:55     The benefits of capitalism

3:18     Adam Smith, David Hume, and The Scottish Enlightenment

5:43     Growing Income Inequality and The Rigged System

11:08   Declining life expectancy for white working class in the U.S.

15:00   The urban versus rural divide

17:37   Ideas for addressing capitalism’s challenges

Links:

The Infidel and The Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and The Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought, Dennis C. Rasmussen

Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and The Fall of American Business, by Rana Foroohar

Our health can be a fragile thing. In this episode, one of our cohosts encounters a medical mystery – a condition that may be chronic and life-changing, but is difficult to diagnose, even for the best doctors. Doug and Chris grapple with how to find the best medical care, how to ask the right questions when the answers are unknown, how to make sense of medical mysteries, and most importantly how to keep going when life throws you – or your good friend – a hard punch.

2:02 Today's Medical Mystery

9:50 The Possible Diagnosis

10:34 Looking Up Your Mystery Symptoms On Line

16:42 Another Medical Mystery

22:19 Getting Yelled At in the Emergency Room

30:19 How Can You Tell If You Have a Good Doctor?

34:24 Finding Emotional Equilibrium

Some of the hardest decisions in life are deciding when to quit something as opposed to when to double down. In this episode, Chris and Doug ponder how to make these decisions, in work and in life, and when they’ve made good and bad quitting decisions. They discuss when quitting is a good idea, when it’s a terrible idea, and the nuances of the murky gray areas of these big life choices. 

1:56     Here is when quitting a job is not a good idea, but Chris did anyway

4:57     Everything is either a Yes or a No

7:05     When to definitely quit your job

11:47   What to do when your personal life demands more than you can give

17:07   Booing yourself off the stage

19:03   Exit, voice, and loyalty

22:46   When it makes sense to quit without a plan

24:20   The workplace of the future 

Links

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty by Albert Hirschman

In a free-wheeling conversation, Chris and Doug speculate about what the Founding Fathers would have to say about America in 2019. They cover a wide range of topics, attempting to put themselves in the shoes of the Founding Fathers. You may or may not agree with their conclusions, but it will be hard to prove them wrong -- unless you can produce an original Founding Father or two.

3:28     What would almost certainly disappoint them

7:16     Constitutional amendments

8:30     Social media

9:30     The role of money in politics

11:00   The growth of executive power

15:05   Budget deficits

18:15   How would they view Trump?

We all experience failure, unless we attempt nothing and live in a cave. Certainly, Chris and Doug between them have had their share of less-than-optimal outcomes – divorce, missing payroll, losing a job, not finishing a grad degree, and even crashing at the end of marathons. Since we all experience failure, getting through life is more about how to move on when things haven’t gone as planned. In other words, how to get back up when life knocks you down.

  1:01  Why failure is more interesting than success

  2:42  Famous people who have failed

  5:30  Personal failures for Chris and Doug

12:28  Failure as a liberating force

14:11  Relationship failure

16:57  Crashing in marathons

19:57  The famous one-mile race

Especially as we get older, we tend to feel nostalgic for the past – often conveniently forgetting painful and even traumatic moments. How do we think about our history and past experiences in useful and productive ways, yet still change and grow? In what ways is nostalgia useful to sorting out our lives and moving forward, and in what ways is it counterproductive? In this debut episode of The Big Life Questions Show, cohosts Doug Schneider and Chris Nerney explore the pros and cons of nostalgia.  

1:56     Change is part of life; nostalgia can be a denial of change

4:24     Nostalgia evokes a shared history and shared connection

8:09     Do you go back to your class reunions?

8:57     Talking about the old days can be unhealthy

10:35   Still learning at 106 years old

12:43   Going back to places you used to live

14:20   Doug’s new book, Ten Marathons

15:10   Creating the space for change in your life 

Links: 

Ten Marathons by Doug Schneider