Jonathan Orchard is a musician and founding member of the post-punk band Jonah and the Wail. We talk about his musical career in the 80s and 90s and about his subsequent journey as a yoga teacher and the developer of a game designed to recreate through humour, story and song the synchronicities and processes of self-discovery that make up a life. Learn more about him at his website: http://jonathanorchard.com/

Dr. David Luke is a Senior Lecturer in psychology at that University of Greenwich where he studies the psychology of exceptional human experiences. In the podcast we discuss his research in this area, and his work on psychedelic drugs like DMT and LSD and their implications for our understanding of the mind and of the nature of reality. You can purchase his books here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B00JC9L5EK?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555852990&redirectedFromKindleDbs=true&ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&rfkd=1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&sr=1-1

Rachel Fulton Brown is an Associate Professor of Medieval History at the University of Chicago where she works on the history of Christianity with a focus on devotion to the Virgin Mary, a subject about which she has written two books. We talk about how she became a medievalist, how this led to her conversion to Catholicism, the experience of being a conservative and a Catholic in 21st-century academe, and why she teaches The Lord of the Rings. You can read more about her and find links to her publications and her blog here:https://home.uchicago.edu/~rfulton/

Prof. Roy Baumeister is a psychologist who has written prolifically on subjects including sexual difference, free will, the nature of evil and the nature of the self. Here we talk about intellectual diversity in academia, what the social sciences tell us about sexual difference and the claims of feminism, evil and free will, and his forthcoming work on the self.  You can find his personal website and links to his books and articles here: http://www.roybaumeister.com/

Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian-American poet and essayist who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has recently published his second book of aphorisms, Where Epics Fail. We discuss his journey from Egypt to America, the life of a poet in a time that doesn't value poetry, and the nature of evil, among other topics. You can find his books here: https://www.amazon.com/Yahia-Lababidi/e/B0042SRQWG%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Eli Serabeth is a professional tarot reader and a kabbalist. In this episode he explains his heterodox worldview and how it alienated him from mainstream academia where he did a Ph.D in theology before embarking on an individual path into esoteric thought and practice. You can read his work or contact him through his website: http://www.elitarotstrickingly.com/

We discuss the changing face of the culture wars since Jacoby's 1987 book The Last Intellectuals, the decline of the left's utopian imagination, and his forthcoming work on the concept of diversity. [Apologies for some sound distortion in parts of this recording]

Thomas Moore has written numerous books on spiritual topics, including Care of the Soul, Dark Nights of the Soul, and Care of the Soul in Medicine. Here we discuss the differences between soul and contemporary academic concepts of the self, between soul and spirit, how experiences of depression and failure can bring us closer to the soul, and ways to cultivate a more soulful life. You can buy his books here: https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Moore/e/B000AQ15XA

Thomas Moore has written numerous books on spiritual topics, including Care of the Soul, Dark Nights of the Soul, and Care of the Soul in Medicine. Here we discuss the differences between soul and contemporary academic concepts of the self, between soul and spirit, how experiences of depression and failure can bring us closer to the soul, and ways to cultivate a more soulful life.

Keith Gessen is a Russian-American writer, translator, and co-editor of the magazine n+1. In the first half of this podcast he discusses his new novel, A Terrible Country, about a young academic adrift in Russia, as well as his journalism about Russia. In the second half we discuss our differing views of the contemporary American academic scene. You can buy his book here: https://www.amazon.com/Terrible-Country-Novel-Keith-Gessen/dp/0735221316