Throwback Thursday Encore: I listened to Ezra Kleins NY Times Opinion podcast the other day as Ezra interviewed one of my favorite Buddhist authors, Stephen Batchelor. It reminded me that I’d interviewed Stephen in 2016 and loved chatting with him. His philosophy is timeless, so I thought I’d encore it today. 

Stephen is a Scottish Buddhist teacher and Author known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. His focus is on experience, ethics, and human flourishing over traditional doctrines like karma and rebirth. He was previously a monk in the Tibetan and Zen traditions before developing a more skeptical, and pragmatic buddhist approach, detailed in his earlier books like Buddhism Without Beliefs and Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist. His current book is called Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times. We don’t cover this here since our interview is from 2016…but I’m looking forward to reading the new book. 

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Today’s Encore episode is with Anese Cavanaugh, an award winning Speaker, Author, Teacher and Strategic Advisor for many innovative organizations and individuals. She’s also the CEO of Active Choices, a strategic advisory and training company. Today we get to the heart of many of the ideas she has shared in her books, and we dive into her proprietary approach to leadership called IEP, Intentional Energetic Presence. The bottom line…how we show up in the world MATTERS, regardless of whether you’re at work or at home. It matters. Your intentions energy and presence can have a positive OR negative impact, depending on the choices you make. She unpacks why we need tools and practices for self awareness, honest reflection, 

I love this quote from one of her books: “We create our experience in every moment, contract or expand, repel or invite, fear or love, abdicate or lead. We choose.”

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Resources: activechoices.com. Books available at all major booksellers.

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Today’s guest is Ben Katt — a meditation teacher, spiritual coach, author and storyteller known for his wise and “inspiring” guidance. He is the author of THE WAY HOME: Discovering the Hero’s Journey to Wholeness at Midlife. Ben is also a former ordained minister, teaches meditation in prisons, and volunteers as a hospice companion. And, he is part time faculty at Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy. 

In our conversation today, Ben shares his personal journey of transformation, weaving themes from the classic hero’s journey into his storytelling. He discusses the importance of inner work, the call to adventure, and the steps necessary to reclaim one's heart and purpose as we go through different stages of life. Through practical tools and rituals, Ben emphasizes the significance of slowing down, embracing authenticity, and navigating relationships during times of change. His insights, and his invitation to face the unknown as essential for growth, provide a roadmap for cultivating a deeper sense of self.

As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential. Check out choosemuse.com and use code untangle15 for your discount. 

Resource: https://www.benjaminkatt.com/

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Today’s encore episode is with guest Katy Milkman, Wharton University Professor and author of the national bestseller, How to Change, The Science of Getting from Where you are to Where you Want to Be. The book was named one of the top 8 books for healthy living in 2021 by the NY Times. Katy has devoted her career to the study of behavior change, inspired by the fact that 40% of premature deaths are due to behaviors and habits we can actually change. She discusses the importance of understanding the barriers that stand between you and the change you’re trying to make so that you can find the right solution to each particular roadblock. Turning an uphill battle into a downhill one is one of the keys to success. She goes through the most common barriers which tend to be short-term rewards or instant gratification, procrastination, and forgetfulness. She provides some great research and tools to support habit change. Encore.

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Wow…I loved talking to today’s guest, Kieran Setiya, an Author and Professor of philosophy at MIT. I’ve always loved philosophy, but I was especially taken with the way Kieran applies it to our most challenging events, as well as to our day to day lives. In his book Life Is Hard, How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way — he offers us a roadmap for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to loneliness to grief to failure and the myth of the ideal life to injustice and even the absurdity of the world. It’s hard to summarize this discussion because there’s so much here, but his wisdom is rich with guidance on how we can face suffering and life’s inevitable hardships. He’s so eloquent in how he shares his insights on life >> from his rich archive of philosophy to his own personal journey. Life is a collection of small successes and small failures. And A good life, he says, is a way of living every day, DESPITE the hard stuff. He inspired me to reflect on quite a bit here. How do I live well, what makes a life meaningful, how do I face regret, aging, uncertainty…even what should I hope for given where I am in my own life. 

He was originally inspired to philosophy by his own sense of wonder and undertow of worry at 7 yrs old. I love that…a blend of worry and wonder, anxiety and awe. How perfectly true!!

Kieran is also the author of Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Times,the Boston Review,the London Review of Books, The Atlantic, and The Yale Review.

As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential. Check out choosemuse.com and use code untangle15 for your discount. 

Resource: ksetiya.net

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Today we chat with Author of the book, Relationship Bootcamp, and Relationship Coach Roy Biancalana to explore his personal journey from chaos to conscious connection in his own relationship. And what a journey it’s been! He calls his early relationship life a train wreck — decades of painful patterns, a 19–year marriage that turned into co-parenting roommates, a devastating broken engagement, and a string of chaotic rebound relationships—that finally forced him to look at HIMSELF in the mirror. Roy shares his transformative insights on how our past shapes our present, the importance of emotional intelligence, and the power of rewriting our love stories AND how this all impacts how we approach our own relationships. Whether you're single, in a relationship, or somewhere in between, this conversation will inspire you to look within and embrace your own path to authentic love. We’ll also get a glimpse of the 7 key muscles we need to strengthen if we want relationship fitness. 

Resource: https://www.coachingwithroy.com 

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As always, we’re untangle, the podcast from Muse the brain sensing headband that helps to transform your brain. Use promo code untangle 15 at choosemuse.com for your discount. 

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This was such a fun interview — our encore guest today is Dr. Robert Waldinger, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a practicing Psychiatrist, Zen Master and author of the book The Good Life, Lessons from the Worlds Longest Scientific Study on Happiness. This study, which began in 1938, reveals what it takes to build a good life. What does that exactly mean, I wondered…fulfilling, satisfying, meaningful, happy? All of it. There's no one size fits all. BUT…the one thing that was consistent? Relationships. All kinds of relationships. The quality of the social connections that we make throughout our lives means everything. He says…Human connection is our superpower. Good relationships help us get through life’s inevitable challenges, and they keep us happier and healthier. and the research shows that they actually help us to live longer. Robert reminds us that we should pay attention to the things that we really care about…the things and people that energize us. AND pay attention to the things and people that deplete us. He shares the keystones of healthy relationships — things like safety security, emotional closeness, fun and relaxation, learning and growth…and there’s more. 

Resources: The Good Life is available at all major booksellers.

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Our guest today is Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald, Trauma researcher and Author of the book, "The Joy Reset: Six Ways Trauma Steals Happiness and How to Get It Back.” Her book isn’t just about finding joy; it’s about rewiring our brains and rediscovering our power to cultivate joy EVEN in the darkest moments of life. 

She describes the barriers that keep us from accessing joy—hypervigilance, emotional numbing, fear of loss, conditioning, guilt, and shame—and then defines ways to tap into positive emotions that can become the very foundation of psychological resilience.

 In our interview she shares some exercises that make joy, hope and gratitude both bite-sized and accessible and how they can show up even in our toughest moments.

I love how she weaves neuroscience into her exploration of trauma and joy, explaining how our brains are biologically wired to both adapt to trauma and heal from it. And…good news…we ARE always biologically capable of joy. 

Quote from her website: "Joy does not exist only in the moments that are free of pain. In fact, the brightest, tiniest, most important pieces can only be found in the dark. I want to teach you how to harness and amplify the power of that glinting magic–because this sustainable, endless light source will do more than help you get through your darkest, scariest, loneliest times."

As always, we’re untangle, the podcast from Muse the brain sensing headband that helps to transform your brain. Use promo code untangle 15 at choosemuse.com for your discount. 

Resource: https://www.drmcmcdonald.com/

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Today’s encore episode is with the always popular Dr. Rick Hanson — a Psychologist and NY Times Best Selling author of several books, including the book we discuss in this interview “Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence." He shares how we can hardwire our brains for happiness using practices that help us cultivate and experience the good in our lives while reducing our natural negativity biases. He shares why is it easier to ruminate over hurt feelings, negative feelings rather than to bask in the warmth of being appreciated or positive feelings. The negative stuff is like velcro…it sticks to us. But it doesn’t have to. He says we can build our inner strengths and capacity to override the brains habit of defaulting to pessimism. He suggests a simple method that uses the hidden power of everyday experiences to build new neural structures full of happiness, love, confidence, and peace. 

As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential AND Meditation Studio the five star app. Unlock 30 days of Meditation Studio for free at choosemuse.com/meditationstudio. 

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