Where We Go Next

Social distancing has separated us from the ones we care about, and cut us off from the day-to-day lives we've so long known. The mental and emotional toll of this prolonged isolation has been excruciating for many. But can we find a silver lining? May we use this time to become better friends and better partners, even fuller versions of ourselves? Humanistic psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman offers insight into how we may overcome life's struggles through continued growth and even, potentially, transcendence.

The Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kaufman

Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, by Scott Barry Kaufman

Sailboat Metaphor, by Scott Barry Kaufman

Transcend with Scott Barry Kaufman, interviewed by physicist Sean Carroll - The Psychology Podcast

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Updated for the 21st century, with Scott Barry Kaufman for Big Think

The Science of Self-Transcendent Experiences with David Yaden - The Psychology Podcast

Humanistic Psychology - Wikipedia

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

scottbarrykaufman.com

Scott's Twitter: @sbkaufman

Scott's Instagram: @scottbarrykaufman

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

Society has got you figured out: they talk about you like they know you, like you're part of a collective. They take a group, and pair it with either an adjective or a noun. "White this." "Black that." There's too many of "you," and too few of "them." You talk like this long enough, and it can be easy to slip into a way of thinking about other people that makes them sound so different from you, and you lose sight of the fact that they're really... not. Motivational speaker and author Rahmaan Mwongozi has written extensively about his journey to discovering our human commonalities.

Talking $#!t podcast, with Rahmaan Mwongozi

Inner Demons: Blazing A Path To Happiness, by Rahmaan Mwongozi

Talking $*** About Life, Parenting, Sacrifice and Work w/ My Mother - Talking $#!t podcast

We Need a Second Great Migration, by Charles M. Blow via The New York Times

“My N****s” & “White People," by Rahmaan Mwongozi

223 w/ Van Lathan - "Productive Disagreements and Common Ground" - The Fifth Column

rocsworld.com

@TheRocsWorld

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

Why does nothing seem to make sense, anymore? Why do all of our important words seem so slippery, and our definitions ever harder to define? What is a liberal? What really is a conservative? And what does 'liberalism' - the philosophy that undergirds the foundation of American society - actually mean today? Writer and filmmaker Jay Shapiro has spent much of his life trying to figure out society's most confounding dilemmas.

Criticizing Freedom: Food First, Philosophy Later, by Jay Shapiro

S02E17: Atheistic Search for God - Dilemma Podcast

Talking $*** About Tech, Capitalism, Culture, & Philosophy - Talking $#!t Podcast

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;" - Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Dogs' Eyes Evolve to Appeal to Humans - BBC News

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau

"God is dead." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road, by Matthew B. Crawford

After Riding With Spanish Speakers, White Commuters Favored Anti-Immigration Policies - Big Think

Chesterton's Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking, by Shane Parrish

Ethics Explainer: Deontology

Ethics Explainer: Consequentialism

Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society, by Peter McWilliams

The Actual Abortion Debate, by Jay Shapiro

Fundamental Attribution Error - Ethics Unwrapped

The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? by Michael Sandel

On Directing Film, by David Mamet

Original Position (Veil of Ignorance) - John Rawls

"Abby Singer" - Filmmaking slang for 'Second to last shot of the day'

Optimistic Nihilism - Kurzgesagt

The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World, by David Deutsch

How to Build a Dyson Sphere - Kurzgesagt

The Fermi Paradox - Wait But Why

whatjaythinks.com

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

Climate change is a pressing issue that requires both our attention and our action. But why does so much of modern environmental activism seem to come from one side of the aisle? The American Conservation Coalition's Quill Robinson offers a conservative case for solving climate change.

American Conservation Coalition

Trump Is Out of Touch With Republican Voters on Climate Change, by Quill Robinson

Market-Based Strategies - Center for Climate and Energy Solutions

How an Alzheimers 'Cabal' Thwarted Progress Towards a Cure, by Sharon Begley

Solar's Future Is Insanely Cheap, by Ramez Naam

The Nature Conservancy

This Japanese Shop is 1020 Years Old. It Knows a Bit About Surviving Crises - The New York Times

Stop Blaming Climate Change for California’s Fires, by Michael Shellenberger

It's Time for the American Climate Contract, with Quill Robinson

Quill's Twitter: @QuillRobinson

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

Racism is real. Its devastating historical effects can still be felt today, and the misguided and harmful beliefs that we've inherited from previous generations can have a profound impact on how we see and treat one another. The anti-racist movement is a response to these injustices, and anti-racism training has sprung up across private and public businesses. But is there only one way to do anti-racism training, or to be anti-racist? Theory of Enchantment founder Chloé Valdary has spent the last several years developing a compassionate alternative.

Theory of Enchantment

TED: How Love Can Help Repair Social Inequality, with Chloé Valdary

The True and Only Heaven, by Christopher Lasch

The Omni-Americans: Some Alternatives to the Folklore of White Supremacy, by Albert Murray

James Baldwin & Nikki Giovanni, a conversation

Saudade

Shadow and Act, by Ralph Ellison

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving

On the Shortness of Life, by Seneca

Chloé's Twitter: @cvaldary

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

America isn't just a geographical location, or a mass of 330 million people living within a set of lines drawn on a map. America is the story it tells itself about itself. And adding new chapters feels natural enough - time marches forward, and so does a story. But what happens if, while expanding the scope of what's in front of us, we narrow the scope of what came before? Geneticist and cultural commentator Razib Khan shares how America's rich, complicated, and multi-ethnic history is at risk of being flattened by modern narratives.

Your Roots Are Showing, by Razib Khan

In God We Trusted, by Razib Khan

The Utility of White-Bashing, by Reihan Salam

The Consolations of Free Thought, by Razib Khan

The Original Chinese Man, by Razib Khan

Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow, a movie review by Roger Ebert

Razib Khan's Unsupervised Learning - Substack

razib.com

Razib's Twitter: @razibkhan

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

Why is patriotism increasingly a partisan issue, divided by party affiliation? Writer Siddak Ahuja has some theories on why certain political demographics are less patriotic than others.

The Case for a Left Patriotism, by Siddak Ahuja

Why Are Poor Americans More Patriotic Than Their Wealthier Counterparts? - The Guardian

The Left Case Against Open Borders - American Affairs Journal

The Road to Somewhere by David Goodhart – a Liberal’s Rightwing Turn on Immigration - The Guardian

How Race Politics Liberated the Elites - UnHerd

Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class—A Status Update - Quillette

A Left-Right Populist Agenda to Take Jobs Back From China, by Siddak Ahuja

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

When we talk about ways to combat climate change and address our nation's energy needs, we consistently leave the safest, most reliable, and most efficient energy source out of the discussion altogether. Joining us this week is nuclear engineer Nick Touran, PhD, who happens to be an expert in that exact type of energy.

whatisnuclear.com

Bicycles for Our Minds, with Steve Jobs

Nuclear Power May Have Saved 1.8 Million Lives Otherwise Lost to Fossil Fuels, Scientific American

Radiation Dose Chart, XKCD

Spontaneous Generation (Flies From Meat), Wikipedia

3 Reasons Why Nuclear Energy Is Awesome, Kurzgesagt

A Brief History of Tiny Nuclear Reactors, Popular Mechanics

Floating Nuclear Power Plant, Popular Mechanics

Nick's Twitter: @whatisnuclear

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

When we talk about the "culture wars" - issues of identity, race, ethnicity, immigration, gender, sex, sexuality - we often don't fully understand why exactly we believe the things we believe. Fashion stylist and cultural commentator Ayishat Akanbi says true understanding can come from deep introspection, and she has the experience to back it up.

The Problem with Wokeness, with Ayishat Akanbi

The Importance of Free Speech, with Ayishat Akanbi

The Problem with Cancel Culture, with Ayishat Akanbi

Ayishat Akanbi with Coleman Hughes, on Conversations with Coleman

Ayishat Akanbi with David Fuller, on Rebel Wisdom

Ayishat Akanbi: 'My problematic ideas are my favourite ones', The Guardian

ayishatakanbi.com

Ayishat's Twitter: @Ayishat_Akanbi

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast

What if I told you that sometimes, being polite does more harm than good? That the niceties we use to grease the wheels of our daily interactions can actually hurt the very people we want to help, and slow the pace of progress? Writer and speaker Alexandra Hudson advocates for an alternative to politeness that has a long and storied history in American politics.

The Value of Exercising Civility—in Both Oikos and Polis, by Alexandra Hudson

Bowling Alone at Twenty, by Alexandra Hudson

What's the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon? - How Stuff Works

Fundamental Attribution Error - Wikipedia

Civility and the Challenge of Ordered Liberty, by Alexandra Hudson

Daryl Davis: The Black Musician Who Converts Ku Klux Klan Members - The Guardian

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Alexa, Teach My Child to Be Polite, Please, by Alexandra Hudson

alexandraohudson.com

Alexandra's Twitter: @LexiOHudson

----------

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @wwgnpodcast