The Pocket Contemplative

Dave is pessimistic. Val and Tom are optimistic. Climate researcher Greg Carmichael helps them sort it out.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about a grand unifying theory on why churches talk past each other and why some believers can’t make it work in most churches.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom have a freewheeling conversation on how any progress ever happens with Stuart Firestein, Columbia department chair in biological sciences, whose TED talk “The Pursuit of Ignorance” is pushing 2 million views.

North Carolina's anti-LGBTQ HB2 law is already notorious, having provoked boycotts from PayPal, Deutsche Bank and Bruce Springsteen and drawing widespread condemnation. But it's one in a series of such laws, including a recent comparable one in Mississippi. Dave, Val and Tom take a look at what's going on.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about what Tom has learned as a psychiatrist working with veterans with PTSD. How is PTSD different than the sort of stress that we all have? And are there ways to help alleviate both? Then they talk about the related topic of spiritual disciplines. “Discipline” sounds like a drag, and yet millions of people swear by these things.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom continue last week’s conversation with their friend Arianne Graham about the challenges and opportunities of talking about race in a country that’s desperately trying to figure this conversation out.

This week, Dave, Val and Tom invite their friend Arianne Graham to help them talk about Flint, Beyonce, the Oscars controversy and, mostly, the ins and outs of talking about race in a country that’s desperately trying to figure this out. 

This week, Tom, Val and Dave talk about the phenomenon that is Donald Trump. What are we to make of his support among evangelicals? Are there stakes to his campaign worth considering both personally and nationally?

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about Val’s Horatio article on how laughter and grief go together. Is there a “right way” to go through tragedy? And then they’ll talk about the ethics, promise and freakout-worthy-ness of our newfound ability to modify human genetics. Have we entered into a real-life sci fi movie? 

This week, Dave, Val and Tom talk about the presidential primaries and learn from Tom about the awesomeness of the Iowa caucuses. Then they talk about the new “curvy Barbie.” Does it matter that Mattel is offering a doll that looks a little more like an actual woman?