The sexual evolution continues! This week I look at the controversy raging over the dramatic emergence of transsexual identity and gender fluidity, particularly among young people. I place it in the context of the stage transformations of sex and gender through history, and even get a little personal. I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

Vladimir Putin’s ill-conceived war on Ukraine reveals a hidden aspect of consciousness evolution: newly emerging stages are seen by existing stages as a regression. Putin the autocrat saw democracies as weak and depleted. So did Hitler and the Japanese before World War II. It’s an old pattern that we can trace back to the warriors of old, who had contempt for the budding traditionalists beating their swords into plowshares.

Over time, however, the emerging stage wins, not only because it brings on new capabilities (traditional order, modern rationality, postmodern sensitivity) but also because every stage contains the capabilities of the previous stages, often repressed but available when the chips are down. Thus, Zelensky, with his media-savvy modern and cool postmodern vibe, reveals in battle the heart of a lion and calls it forth in his people — much to the surprise of Putin, the world, and perhaps the Ukrainians themselves.

The pattern continues in modernity’s misreading of postmodernity (I use a clip from Bill Maher’s show to illustrate this), and in the challenges being put to the emerging integral stage of consciousness and culture.

I finish the episode with stunning excerpts from the book, Bloodlands, the story of Stalin’s war on Ukraine, and how its karmic echoes are resounding today.

I hope you enjoy the episode! – Jeff Salzman

I’ve received many thoughtful and heartfelt comments on the war in Ukraine from my listeners. In this episode, I share their insights and add a few of my own.

Thanks for listening – you can write me at [email protected], or leave a voicemail here. – Jeff Salzman

Recorded 3/4/22

Vladimir Putin’s romantic Russian nationalism has metastasized into megalomania. Will  Russian society go along?  Will the modern world?  Witnessing the heartbreak and resistance of the Ukrainian people.

Integral Life’s Editor-in-Chief Corey DeVos and I are old integral pals who love talking about current events. Here we turn on the microphone to share our attempt to make sense of the Ukraine conflict. Recorded 3/2/22

Considering situations like the Ukraine war from multiple perspectives is like turning up the resolution on a google map. We are able to see more of what is there, how things fit together in a larger pattern and how to better navigate through it all. Recorded 2/25/22

A surprising step forward in defacto world governance, and keen eyes on the ongoing complexity of social media platforms.

Surprising support for woke politics from one of today’s leading anti-woke thinkers.

The New York Times columnist considers every motivation except authentic religious experience.

Reviewing media writer Peter Baker’s critique of Chloe Zhao’s integrally-flavored, retro-future commercial.