Life Examined

Alain de Botton on the complexity of modern love

Philosopher Alain de Botton shares his thoughts on love and relationships. Psychologist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary explains why  anxiety is on the rise.

Effective altruism and our collective human heritage

Philosopher Will MacAskill argues that protecting the future of humanity is the moral priority of our time. Historian Tyrone McKinley Freeman explains philanthropy’s rich tradition within the African American community.

How to find a therapist — and why it can be so hard

Psychiatrist Wesley Boyd talks about the challenges of accessing mental health care. Writer Charlotte Cowles describes her own experience seeking therapy for the first time.

Big life decisions and uncertainty: a toolkit

Economist Russ Roberts discusses the challenges of using rationality when facing big life decisions. Entrepreneur Susannah Furr discusses navigating and thriving with uncertainty.

How culture creates emotions — and how technology decodes them

Jonathan Bastian talks with cultural psychologist Batja Gomes de Mesquita, author of “Between Us: How Culture Creates Emotions” who makes the case that emotions are not innate but are rather shaped but our surroundings and cultures, made as we live our lives together. Later, Rosalind Picard, founder and director of the Affective Computing research group at the MIT Media Lab, explains how advances in AI can help computers analyze our emotions with the ultimate goal of making human lives better. Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.

The search for our psyches: A new path forward in treating mental disorders

Jonathan Bastian talks with Daniel Bergner, contributing writer for the New York Times, about his brother’s struggle with bipolar disorder and how the search for a better understanding inspired his latest book, “The Mind and the Moon: My Brother’s Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches.”
“The propulsion of the book is just acknowledging and dealing with that family fear, which I know so intimately,” Bergner says. “Not preaching against medication but raising questions about the way we view our psyches, about the way we think about mental health, and about the limitations of medications.”
Bergner brings readers on a journey, following three people who experience varying mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and symptoms of psychosis. Bergner speaks with researchers and top neuroscientists asking why we are still so far behind in understanding the way the mind works, how this affects modern treatment options, and also makes the case for alternatives to biological psychiatry.Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.

How animal senses reveal the hidden world around us

Ed Yong explores the hidden realms and senses of the animal kingdom. David Peña-Guzmán discusses the dream world of animals and what goes on when they sleep.

Global loneliness and the wonders of human touch

In the wake of the pandemic, there is much to be done to restore human connectivity, but loneliness is hardly a new phenomena. Long periods of isolated living in an increasingly virtual world is taking a toll on our health. 

The philosophy of middle age: From projects to process

Jonathan Bastian talks with philosopher Kieran Setiya, author of “Midlife: A Philosophical Guide”  about the meaning and feeling of hitting midlife and how philosophy helped provide answers to Setiya’s own anxieties and perceived failures. Later, Geoff Dyer, author of “The Last Days of Roger Federer And Other Endings” examines what it means to give up something you love and why last works and best works don’t need to follow a chronological order. Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.

Predicting the future: The true story of the Premonitions Bureau

Jonathan Bastian talks with Sam Knight, staff writer for the new Yorker, about his latest book, “The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold.” Knight tells the true story of British psychiatrist John Barker, who after learning that several people had predicted the 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales, became convinced that premonitions and the ability to see into the future were real. “[Barker] had this idea to call a friend of his who was a science reporter at the Evening Standard in London,” Knight says, “to put out a national call for premonitions.” Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.