#2419 - John Lisle
Historian John Lisle discusses the history of CIA mind control research, focusing on MKUltra, its OSS roots, and figures like Sidney Gottlieb, George White, and psychiatrist Ewen Cameron. He explains how the program was structured, the drugs and psychological techniques that were tested, the disastrous impacts on unwitting subjects, and the near-total lack of oversight. The conversation expands into government secrecy, real versus fabricated conspiracies, cognitive dissonance, cult dynamics, social media disinformation, and how human psychology shapes both science and belief in conspiracies.
Essentials: Using Hypnosis to Enhance Mental & Physical Health & Performance | Dr. David Spiegel
Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. David Spiegel about hypnosis as a state of highly focused attention that can enhance control over mind and body rather than diminish it. They discuss the underlying brain networks involved in hypnosis, including changes in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, insula, and posterior cingulate cortex, and how these changes support dissociation, cognitive flexibility, and altered bodily control. The conversation covers clinical applications such as stress reduction, sleep, pain management, phobias, trauma and PTSD treatment, hypnotizability assessment, the eye‑roll test, the role of breathing, and how hypnotic-like states show up in performance, children, and group settings.
Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal
Radiolab introduces a special episode from the series "Our Common Nature" in which host Ana Gonzalez and cellist Yo-Yo Ma explore West Virginia's coal country to understand how coal, music, race, and nature shape people's lives. Through stories from miners like Chris Saunders and his mother Zora, poet-activist Crystal Good, musician Kathy Matea, and others, the episode examines the pride, danger, and environmental harm tied to coal, as well as the resilience and community that persist in Appalachia. The journey weaves together mine history, the Upper Big Branch disaster, iconic songs, rafting on the New River, and intimate moments of grief and connection.
6 Lessons I Wish I Knew in My 20's & 30's (This Will INSTANTLY Give You Direction!)
Jay Shetty, speaking directly to people in their 20s and 30s, shares six psychological and life lessons about loving the process over results, distinguishing your inner voice from external noise, and separating success from happiness. He explains how real confidence is built through self-trust and small follow-throughs, why most rejection is statistical rather than personal, and how healing often feels messy and disorienting even as your brain and nervous system genuinely change. He frames the 20s as a training ground of "firsts" and identity disruption, encouraging listeners to treat confusion and failure as emotional data and practice rather than proof of inadequacy.
Most Replayed Moment: Anxiety Is Just A Prediction! Rewrite Old Stories and Build Emotional Safety
The host and guest discuss the concept of the predictive brain, explaining that the brain is not primarily a reactive organ but a prediction engine that prepares actions and experiences based on past learning. Using concrete examples such as language processing, thirst, coffee habits, exercise, trauma, and phobias, they show how prediction shapes perception, emotion, and bodily regulation. They also explore cultural inheritance, meaning-making, identity, and practical ways to change entrenched patterns by creating new experiences and dosing oneself with prediction error.
Focused Intensity Is The Only Way To Make Financial Progress
This call-in episode of The Ramsey Show features listeners seeking guidance on issues ranging from getting out of consumer and student loan debt to navigating financial infidelity, divorce fallout, and complex family dynamics. George Kamel and Dr. John Delony emphasize focused intensity on a single financial goal, the debt snowball method, and clear relational boundaries while discouraging debt consolidation schemes and emotionally driven financial decisions. The conversations also explore how money intersects with trauma, parenting, adult children supporting parents, and succession planning in a family business.
The Power of Family Stories
Host Shankar Vedantam first speaks with psychologist Robin Fyvush about how family stories shape children's memories, emotional development, identity, and resilience. They discuss research on parent-child reminiscing, different styles of family storytelling, and why knowing intergenerational stories predicts better well-being. In the second part, philosopher Massimo Pagliucci answers listener questions about stoicism, clarifying common misconceptions and showing how stoic ideas can help people handle anxiety, grief, relationships, and large-scale problems like climate change.
Quantum Refuge
Radiolab host Lulu speaks with 28-year-old Gazan physicist Qasem Walid about how quantum physics has become both a language and an inner refuge for him while living through war, displacement, and loss in Gaza. Over months of conversations, he describes daily life under bombardment, the deaths of his professor and relatives, and his experience of feeling like Schrödinger's cat-trapped in a box where his survival is uncertain and unseen by the outside world. He uses concepts like superposition, quantum tunneling, and harmonic oscillators to make sense of his own existence and to plead for the world to "open the box" and truly look at what is happening in Gaza.
Tim Ferriss: 4 Science-Backed Tools That Rewired Decades of Childhood Trauma & Depression
Tim Ferriss discusses his frameworks for learning quickly, choosing projects, and structuring life around relationships and energy rather than rigid long-term plans. He shares in depth about his history of childhood sexual abuse, severe depression, and near-suicide, and explains how he has used tools like psychedelic-assisted therapy, brain stimulation, and metabolic psychiatry to dramatically improve his mental health. The conversation also explores emerging bioelectric medicine, the importance of social connection, the pitfalls of modern dating, and practical practices like annual mini-retirements to sustain long-term well-being and productivity.
Short Stuff: Third Man Syndrome
Josh and Chuck discuss "third man syndrome," a phenomenon where people in extreme, often life-threatening situations report sensing a distinct, guiding presence that feels like another person with them. They explore classic accounts from Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, mountaineers like Frank Smythe and Joe Simpson, and survivors of the 9/11 attacks, then consider possible explanations ranging from an innate survival mechanism to the bicameral mind hypothesis. The conversation stays grounded in reported experiences while acknowledging that science has no definitive explanation yet.
Gabrielle Bernstein: The Simple 4-Step Method to Heal Anxiety, Stop Overthinking, and Stop People-Pleasing for Good
Gabrielle Bernstein discusses Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and how it transformed her life, explaining the model of "parts" and the concept of Self as a calm, compassionate inner presence. She and the host explore how protector parts like anxiety, addiction, control, people-pleasing, and workaholism develop to guard against childhood pain, and how befriending rather than banishing them can reduce anxiety, overthinking, and people-pleasing. Gabrielle teaches a simple four-step daily check-in process, guides a live exercise, and shows how this work can improve self-judgment, relationships, parenting, boundaries, leadership, and self-forgiveness.
From Medal of Honor: Showing Up On Veterans Day
Host J.R. Martinez reflects on Veterans Day, encouraging listeners to move beyond a simple "thank you" by having real conversations with veterans and allowing them to share as much or as little as they wish. He recounts his own journey from enlisting after 9/11, surviving a devastating combat injury, and losing his identities as both soldier and young man, to rediscovering purpose through serving fellow patients, vulnerability, and storytelling. Martinez connects these experiences to the themes of the Medal of Honor podcast, emphasizing the power of simply showing up, the humanity behind acts of heroism, and the importance of veterans telling their stories in their own way.
#2408 - Bret Weinstein
Joe Rogan describes an unusually vivid dream involving humanoid beings and uses it as a springboard to ask Brett about what dreams are and how lucid dreaming works. They then move into an extended discussion of artificial intelligence as an emergent, biology-like phenomenon, its potential to manipulate humans, and its interaction with social media, sexuality, education, and governance. The conversation also covers intelligence agencies, systemic corruption, pedophilia and blackmail, COVID-19 policy and vaccines, pharmaceutical incentives, wealth, socialism versus markets, academic resistance to paradigm shifts, and whether there is a viable path from the current crisis to a healthier societal structure.
Selects: How Conversion Therapy Doesn't Work
The hosts examine the history, methods, and impact of conversion therapy, also known as reparative or ex-gay therapy, which claims to change a person's sexual orientation from gay to straight. They trace its roots from early pseudo-scientific psychological practices to its adoption by the Christian right as a major culture-war issue, and detail why the medical and psychological communities now condemn it as ineffective and harmful. The episode also covers specific abuse stories, research findings on mental health risks, legal efforts to ban conversion therapy for minors, and the movement's public unraveling through high-profile ex-gay leaders who later renounced it.
#2407 - Billy Bob Thornton
Joe Rogan talks with Billy Bob Thornton about aging, nostalgia, and growing up in the American South, along with the violence and roughness that shaped his early life. They dig into Southern stereotypes, Hollywood prejudice, and Thornton's philosophy of acting, music, and fame, including the creation of "Sling Blade" and his band The Boxmasters. The conversation also explores social media, critics, awards, the impact of technology on attention and culture, and how to stay grounded and sane while navigating fame and modern life.
The Mystery of the Death Valley Germans
The hosts recount the disappearance of a German family in Death Valley National Park in July 1996, tracing their planned vacation, the discovery of their abandoned minivan, and the initial failed search efforts. They then follow retired civil engineer and desert explorer Tom Mahood's detailed reconstruction of the family's decisions and route, culminating in his 2009 discovery of their remains nine miles south of the van. The episode highlights how misleading maps, underestimated desert danger, and reasonable but tragic choices led to the deaths, while also exploring theories that circulated in the years when the case was cold.
Essentials: Erasing Fears & Traumas Using Modern Neuroscience
Andrew Huberman explains the neuroscience of fear, trauma, and post-traumatic stress, detailing the brain and body circuits that generate and maintain these states. He describes how the autonomic nervous system, HPA axis, and amygdala-based threat circuitry interact with memory and prefrontal narrative systems to create adaptive and maladaptive fear responses. The episode reviews behavioral therapies, drug-assisted psychotherapies, physiological breathing protocols, lifestyle factors, and certain supplements that can help extinguish and replace fearful and traumatic memories.
No.1 Brain Scientist: Your Brain Is Lying To You! Here's How I Discovered The Truth!
Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor explains how four anatomically distinct brain systems shape our thoughts, emotions, and behavior, and argues that we can learn to consciously choose which "character" to lead with in any moment. She recounts her catastrophic left-hemisphere hemorrhagic stroke, eight-year recovery, and how losing her left brain radically shifted her perspective on identity, trauma, and the preciousness of life. Throughout the conversation she connects brain anatomy to practical tools for emotional regulation, trauma integration, lifestyle choices, and cultivating a more balanced, peaceful mind.
How Nature Heals Us
Host Shankar Vedantam speaks with psychologist Mark Berman about why exposure to nature can improve mood, reduce stress, and restore attention. They explore historical and personal stories, research on hospital recovery and nature walks, theories like attention restoration and biophilia, and how design choices-from walking routes to architecture and indoor greenery-can bring nature's benefits into everyday life.
Brené Brown: We're In A Spiritual Crisis! The Hidden Epidemic No One Wants To Admit!
Brene Brown discusses how vulnerability, courage, and emotional "armor" shape our lives, relationships, and leadership. She shares personal stories from a chaotic Texas childhood, her long-term marriage, and caring for her mother with dementia, illustrating how shame, fear, and control patterns develop and how they can be changed. The conversation also explores power and politics, systems thinking, responsibility of large platforms, connection and belonging, and the practical skills needed to build trust, recover from failure, and live more bravely.
#484 - Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming
Lex Fridman speaks with game writer and Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser about his creative process, influences, and the design of story-driven open world games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. Dan explains how films, literature, and war stories shaped his approach to world-building and character creation, including the tragic arcs of Niko Bellic, John Marston, and Arthur Morgan. He also discusses his new company Absurd Ventures, its universes such as A Better Paradise and American Caper, his views on AI and large language models, and reflects on mortality, family, and advice for young people.
The Alabama Murders - Part 6: The Porterfield Sessions
Malcolm Gladwell explores the life and psyche of death row prisoner Kenny Smith through the work of psychologist Kate Porterfield, who evaluated him after Alabama's botched attempt to execute him by lethal injection. Porterfield explains the unique physiological and psychological impact of mock and botched executions, situates Kenny's crime within a history of severe childhood abuse and family dysfunction, and reflects on how trauma and unconditional child-to-parent love shape later violence. The episode ends by tracing Kenny's deteriorating mental state, previewing his second execution via nitrogen gas, and questioning the human cost of the system that tried to kill him twice.
#833: Jack Canfield - Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen
Tim Ferriss interviews Jack Canfield about his life, from a difficult childhood and early teaching career to becoming co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and author of The Success Principles. Jack explains how mentorship from W. Clement Stone shaped his views on responsibility, goal setting, and success, and details the persistence and grassroots marketing that turned Chicken Soup for the Soul into a global phenomenon. He also discusses plant medicine experiences, limiting beliefs, decluttering "messes," aging, and why he is partly retiring to focus on family and creative hobbies.
Introducing: The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall
Host Sarah Marshall introduces her mini-series "The Devil You Know," exploring the 1980s satanic panic through individual stories and sociological context. This first episode focuses on "Diane," a pseudonymous photographer who became the target of satanism rumors while teaching photography in rural Kentucky, and on how a Hollywood film shoot involving black dresses in Hazard, Kentucky was misread as evidence of devil worship. With commentary from sociologist Mary de Young and local resident Patrick Balch, the episode shows how small, unusual events were amplified by anxiety, rumor, and self-appointed experts into a nationwide moral panic.
Reframing the Battle of Wills
Host Shankar Vedantam talks with psychologist Stuart Ablon about why attempts to change others' behavior often fail when we assume the problem is a lack of motivation or willpower. Ablon explains how many challenging behaviors arise from lagging cognitive, emotional, and social skills, and describes his collaborative problem solving approach that emphasizes empathy, identifying unmet concerns, and jointly generating solutions. He illustrates the method with cases from psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention, families, and workplaces, and discusses research showing it reduces challenging behavior and builds skills in both the people being helped and the helpers themselves.
The surprising science of adolescent brains | Jennifer Pfeifer
Neuroscientist Jennifer Pfeiffer argues that adolescence is not a period of dysfunction but a transformative stage of growth spanning roughly ages 10 to 25. She explains how puberty, brain development, and social context shape adolescent behavior, debunks common myths about smartphones and mental health, and highlights the far greater importance of relationships and caregiver well-being. The talk calls for changing the cultural narrative about young people from doom and blame to respect, support, and shared opportunity.
Dr. Sara Szal: Stop Ignoring What Your Body's Trying to Tell You! (THESE Are the Hormone Signals You Can't Afford to Miss!
Host Jay Shetty speaks with physician and researcher Dr. Sara Szal about how hormones function as the body's messaging system, what hormonal imbalance looks like, and why stress and lifestyle are central drivers of issues like fatigue, weight gain, mood changes, and fertility challenges. They discuss cortisol, insulin, sex hormones, thyroid function, the impact of chronic stress and relationships, and practical ways to measure and rebalance hormones through testing, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and more informed choices about birth control. The conversation also covers life-stage hormone shifts, the risks and benefits of the birth control pill versus IUDs, natural family planning, and how integrating spirituality and self-awareness with medical science can prevent burnout and support healing.
#2399 - Daryl Davis & Jeff Schoep
Joe Rogan speaks with Daryl Davis, a Black musician known for befriending Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis and helping hundreds leave extremist groups, and Jeff Schoep, the former longtime leader of the National Socialist Movement who has since renounced white supremacy. They discuss how Jeff was indoctrinated into neo-Nazism, his rise to leadership, the gradual process of his de-radicalization after meeting Daryl and others, and his current work helping people leave extremist movements. The conversation also explores the psychology of hate, white supremacist recruitment strategies, demographic fears driving modern extremism, and practical approaches to reducing racism and improving race relations.
THE HUMAN SCREAM
Hosts Josh and Chuck explore the human scream, examining its acoustic properties, evolutionary functions, and how the brain uniquely processes it compared to normal speech. They discuss research on the "roughness" domain that makes screams and artificial alarms especially effective at triggering amygdala-based fear responses, even during sleep. The episode also covers different emotional types of screams, iconic film screams, extreme metal vocal techniques, the potential role of screaming in pain control, and the limited evidence for primal scream therapy.
The Alabama Murders - Part 5: Cruel and Unusual
Malcolm Gladwell examines the botched 2022 execution attempt of Kenny Smith in Alabama, situating it within the broader history and practice of lethal injection. Through interviews with Smith's mother, his longtime lawyer, a medical expert, and courtroom and press excerpts, the episode details Alabama's lethal injection protocol, previous failed executions, and the political response that extended the time window for executions. The story raises questions about what constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment and how a method designed to appear humane can mask severe suffering and systemic failure.
#832: The Return of The Lion Tracker - Boyd Varty on The Wild Man Within, Nature's Hidden Wisdom, and How to Feel Fully Alive
Tim Ferriss speaks with lion tracker, storyteller, and retreat leader Boyd Varty about formative experiences in the African bush, including leading an "elite" firefighting team, assisting his wild filmmaker uncle, and close calls with dangerous animals. They explore what Boyd has learned from a decade of nature-based retreats, the power of silence and wordlessness, and how time in the wilderness reawakens innate capacities for awareness, healing, and meaning. The conversation also covers Bushmen persistence hunting, modern masculinity and men's groups, and comedic but revealing encounters with a notorious baboon named Lunch.
#619 - Stan the Chauffeur
Theo interviews professional chauffeur Stan the Chauffeur, whose real name is Stanford Boyay, about his life journey from growing up in the Bronx to building a career driving limos and sprinters in Charlotte and Columbia, South Carolina. Stan shares how he left New York to be closer to his daughter, stumbled into chauffeuring, and developed a customer-first philosophy with many wild passenger stories. He also talks about quitting cocaine, a violent confrontation with a scamming contractor, a serious burn incident caused by his much younger girlfriend, his complicated love life, and his advice to young men to avoid the streets and pursue education.
Love 2.0: How to Move On
Host Shankar Vedantam speaks with psychologist Antonio Pascual Leone about why breakups are so difficult, the emotional mistakes people commonly make when relationships end, and practical therapeutic tools such as structured grief lists, narrative reframing, letter writing, and empty-chair dialogues to help people process loss and create their own sense of closure. In the second half, cognitive scientist Phil Fernback discusses the illusion of knowledge-why we routinely overestimate how much we understand, how this affects domains like politics, medicine, and everyday decision-making, and how to cultivate greater intellectual humility and curiosity in conversations with others.
#831: Frank Miller, Comic Book Legend - Creative Process, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300, and Much More
Tim Ferriss interviews legendary comics creator Frank Miller about his life, creative process, and the evolution of his work from Daredevil and Elektra to Ronin, Sin City, and The Dark Knight Returns. Miller discusses technical aspects of drawing and storytelling, his influences from European and Japanese comics, and his collaborations with figures like Neil Adams, Alan Moore, and Robert Rodriguez. He also reflects on professional failure, Hollywood adaptations, alcoholism and sobriety, and offers advice to aspiring cartoonists and storytellers.
Quinlan Walther: Stop Chasing Love Just Because You're Lonely! (Do THIS to Attract the RIGHT Relationship)
Jay Shetty interviews relationship coach and writer Quinlan Walther about how to stop chasing love from a place of loneliness and instead build the self-trust and clarity needed to choose healthy relationships. They discuss the difference between wanting and being ready for a relationship, the four C's of self-trust, emotional safety and growth in partnership, compatibility versus chemistry, patterns rooted in childhood wounds, boundaries, and how to navigate heartbreak. The conversation emphasizes accountability, values-based decisions, and seeing love as an ongoing action rather than just a feeling.
The Alabama Murders - Part 4: The Protocol
Malcolm Gladwell continues the story of John Forrest Parker, focusing on Parker's decades on Alabama's death row, his relationship with prison minister Tom Perry Jr., and the events of his 2010 execution. The episode then traces the improvised origins of the lethal injection protocol and presents medical evidence from autopsies suggesting that executions by lethal injection likely cause agonizing internal injury while appearing peaceful. Gladwell frames the narrative with James Keenan's idea that sin is the failure to bother to care, contrasting Perry's steadfast care with the broader indifference to how executions actually work.
Love 2.0: Reimagining Our Relationships
The episode first traces how marriage has evolved from an economic and political alliance into a love-based, self-expressive partnership, and explores how rising expectations can either suffocate relationships or, when met, produce unprecedented fulfillment. Psychologist Eli Finkel discusses his "all-or-nothing" model of marriage and offers practical strategies to align expectations with the time and energy couples actually invest. In the second half, psychologist Jonathan Adler examines how the stories we tell about our lives-especially redemption and contamination narratives-shape our well-being, illustrated through powerful listener stories about trauma, illness, grief, and resilience.
MALALA: The Story The World Hasn't Heard Until Now
Jay Shetty interviews Malala about her journey from a mischievous schoolgirl in Pakistan to a globally recognized girls' education activist after surviving a Taliban assassination attempt at age 15. She describes the loss of her old life, the pressure of being turned into a global symbol, her struggles with loneliness, PTSD, and therapy, and the long process of reclaiming her own identity, humor, and desires. Malala also explains her ongoing work through Malala Fund, the situation of girls in places like Afghanistan, and how she navigated love, self-image, and marriage while staying committed to girls' education.
Creation Story
Host Latif Nasser interviews paleoanthropologist and evolutionary biologist Alaa Alshamahi about her journey from an ultra-conservative, creationist Muslim upbringing and teenage missionary work to becoming an evolutionary scientist. She describes studying evolution at University College London as a "double agent" intent on disproving Darwin, the specific genetic evidence that shattered her creationist worldview, and the personal cost of leaving her religious community. Alaa then connects her own experience of crossing worlds to the story of human evolution, including interbreeding with Neanderthals and Denisovans, and explains how her crisis of faith now shapes a more empathetic approach to people who reject scientific findings.
Essentials: Time Perception, Memory & Focus
Andrew Huberman explains how different biological timing systems-from yearly and daily rhythms to 90-minute ultradian cycles-shape our perception of time, mood, energy, and performance. He describes how neuromodulators like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin alter how fast or slow time feels in the moment and how we remember events later. He then connects these mechanisms to trauma, novelty, and habits, showing how deliberate routines and environmental variation can structure our days, influence memory, and support better focus.
Louis Tomlinson: "The Room Was Cold That Day". When The Police Knocked... I Just Knew
Louis Tomlinson discusses his journey from a working-class upbringing in Doncaster to global fame with One Direction, and the impact that sudden success and its end had on his identity and mental health. He opens up in detail about losing his mother and younger sister, how those tragedies reshaped his sense of purpose and responsibility toward his family, and his evolving relationship with former bandmate Liam Payne, including Liam's death. Louis also reflects on fatherhood, redefining success in his solo career, and how his current happiness, relationship, and outlook are shaping his new, more uplifting music.
Short Stuff: The Call is Coming... FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE
The hosts discuss the classic urban legend known as "the call is coming from inside the house," also called "the babysitter and the man upstairs," explaining its narrative structure, cultural impact, and why it resonated in the pre-cell phone era. They share related campfire-style horror stories and their own experiences with being scared and startling others. The episode then explores a likely real-life inspiration for the trope, the 1950 unsolved murder of 13-year-old babysitter Janet Christman in Missouri, and how this case and others influenced horror films like "When a Stranger Calls," "Black Christmas," and "Halloween."
Celebrity Nutritionist Mona Sharma: Stop Stress Before It Becomes Disease! (Do THIS Before Every Meal)
Jay Shetty interviews nutritionist and wellness strategist Mona Sharma about her journey from corporate burnout, heart palpitations, and PCOS to healing through yoga, meditation, holistic nutrition, and nervous system work. Mona explains why she focuses on root causes rather than symptoms, emphasizing stress and nervous system dysregulation as precursors to disease. She shares practical tools like breathwork, visualization, heart coherence, and personalized morning routines to help people shift from chronic stress into a restorative state where true healing can occur.
How to Make Yourself Unbreakable | DJ Shipley
Retired Navy SEAL and former Tier 1 operator DJ Shipley discusses how he structures his days to protect and improve his mental, physical, and spiritual health after years of high-risk combat deployments and severe injuries. He details his rigid morning and evening routines, his strength and conditioning approach with coach Vernon Griffith, and how psychedelic-assisted therapy with Ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT helped him confront depression, addiction to prescription meds, and suicidality. Throughout, he shares stories from his SEAL career, the toll of loss and survivor's guilt, and his current mission to help veterans, first responders, and civilians develop unbreakable mindsets and bodies.
Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl
Radiolab revisits the Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, centered on the custody of Veronica, a child eligible for Cherokee Nation membership, and the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The episode traces the mid‑20th century history of widespread removal of Native American children from their families that led to ICWA, then walks through the conflicting narratives of Veronica's adoptive parents, her Cherokee father Dustin Brown, and their lawyers as the case moves through the courts up to the Supreme Court. A 2025 update explains that Veronica was ultimately returned to her adoptive parents and that, despite repeated legal challenges, ICWA was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 but continues to face ongoing challenges.
Most Replayed Moment: Sadhguru on Why You Don't Need a Life Purpose!
In this replayed conversation, Sadhguru challenges the common notion that humans must discover a singular life purpose, arguing instead that life has no inherent purpose and that inner joy and stability should be the focus. He emphasizes taking responsibility for one's inner experience, learning how the mind and body function, and cultivating inner balance through conscious practices rather than depending on external circumstances. The discussion touches on the impacts of social conditioning, trauma, the limits of intellect, and the importance of turning inward to manage one's own inner state.
Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body With the #1 Harvard Psychologist
Mel Robbins interviews Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer about her 50 years of research on mindfulness and what she calls mind-body unity. Langer explains how mindlessness underlies many personal and health problems, and how simple shifts in attention, language, and expectations can measurably change physical outcomes like vision, wound healing, blood pressure, and chronic disease symptoms. Through anecdotes and landmark studies, she offers practical ways to question rigid beliefs, reduce stress, and actively notice variability so that people can add more life to their years and influence their own health trajectories.
The Alabama Murders - Part 2: Coon Dog Cemetery Road
Malcolm Gladwell continues his exploration of the Alabama Murders by reconstructing the 1988 killing of Elizabeth Dorleen Sennett, the investigation that followed, and the early suspicions that her preacher husband Charles may have orchestrated the crime. Through interviews with congregants, investigators, and locals, he details the killers' confessions, the red flags in Charles Sennett's behavior, and the eventual revelation of Sennett's infidelity and suicide. Gladwell contrasts the messy, ongoing reality of this case with the tidy resolutions of typical crime stories, introducing the idea of a 'failure cascade' in the justice system.
The Alabama Murders - Part 1: The True Church
Malcolm Gladwell opens a seven-episode series by introducing psychologist Kate Porterfield and the death row client "Kenny," whose botched execution and focus on love after trauma lead Gladwell into an Alabama murder case decades in the making. The episode then shifts to northwestern Alabama and explores the culture and theology of the Church of Christ, including its strict rules, lack of grace, and practices like disfellowshipping, and how that environment shaped the life and unraveling of preacher Charles Sennett. Through interviews with Church of Christ members and ministers, Gladwell sets up the idea that a rigid, shame-driven religious system helped create the conditions for a moral and legal catastrophe that will unfold in the series.
Jay's Must-Listens: Are You Still Holding Onto Childhood Trauma? (Follow 3 Steps & FINALLY Heal) Ft. Gabor Mate & Oprah Winfrey
This episode is a curated collection of conversations about trauma, grief, and healing, featuring insights from Dr. Gabor Mate, John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Bruce Perry, and Anita. Jay Shetty explores how trauma can be loud or subtle, why it often hides behind overachievement or people-pleasing, and how reframing the question from "What's wrong with me?" to "What happened to me?" opens the door to compassion and recovery. The guests share personal stories and frameworks on authenticity, grief, intergenerational wounds, and learning to live fully while carrying past pain.
The Auralyn with Blair Braverman
Survival correspondent Blair Braverman tells Sarah the little-known true story of Maurice and Marilyn Bailey, a British couple whose yacht Auralyn was sunk by a sperm whale in 1973, leaving them adrift on a liferaft for 118 days. Blair walks through their improvised survival strategies, the couple's contrasting mindsets, and how Marilyn's optimism, ingenuity, and traditionally "feminine" tasks became central to their endurance. Together, Blair and Sarah reflect on gender norms in survival narratives, the role of hope and realism, and what this story reveals about relationships, depression, and everyday forms of resilience.
Atheist vs Christian vs Spiritual Thinker: The Paperclip Problem That Exposes Religion!
The host brings together three thinkers-an atheist/agnostic philosopher, a Christian apologist, and a Hindu-trained psychiatrist and spiritual practitioner-to explore why so many people today report a lack of meaning and purpose. They debate whether purpose is objective or purely subjective, how religion, spirituality, neuroscience, trauma, technology, and social conditions contribute to a "meaning crisis," and whether any worldview can adequately address deep suffering such as children dying of cancer. Alongside high-level philosophical disagreement, they also discuss concrete psychological tools and spiritual practices that can help individuals move from feeling lost to experiencing more direction and purpose in their own lives.
TED Talks Daily Book Club: How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons | Shaka Senghor
Host Elise Hu interviews Shaka Senghor about his new book "How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life's Hidden Prisons," which draws on his journey from childhood trauma and 19 years of incarceration to personal transformation. Senghor explains his concepts of "hidden prisons" like grief, shame, guilt, anger, and unworthiness, and shares practices such as gratitude, forgiveness, journaling, vulnerability, and presence as keys to freedom. He also discusses masculinity, mentoring young men, his work with incarcerated people, and how embracing joy and hope coexist with accountability for past harm.
SYSK's Fall True Crime Playlist: The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping
Hosts Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant recount the 1976 Chowchilla school bus kidnapping, in which 26 children and their bus driver Ed Ray were hijacked, transported, and buried alive in a moving van trailer as part of a bungled ransom plot. They detail the conditions inside the buried trailer, the escape led largely by 14-year-old Mike Marshall with crucial help from Ray, and the frantic search and relief in the town of Chowchilla. The episode also examines the wealthy but inept perpetrators, the planning and failures of the crime, the legal aftermath and parole debates, the long-term trauma experienced by the victims, and closes with a listener email about structural reasons behind racial disparities in traffic ticketing.
SYSK's Fall True Crime Playlist: The Harrowing Story of the North Hollywood Shootout
The hosts recount the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, detailing the backgrounds of bank robbers Larry Phillips and Emil Matasoranu, their prior crimes, the meticulously planned Bank of America robbery, and the ensuing 44‑minute gun battle with hundreds of police officers. They describe how the event exposed gaps in police firepower, contributed to the militarization of U.S. police forces, and raised ethical questions about medical treatment of wounded suspects. In a closing listener mail segment, they read and respond to a detailed correction from Kenton "Factor" Grua's widow about a previous episode, emphasizing accuracy and sensitivity when portraying real people.
How do you turn hope into action? A doctor and a public health expert answer | David Fajgenbaum and Celina de Sola
Host Elise Hu introduces a TED Intersections conversation between public health expert Selena De Sola and immunology researcher David Fagenbaum on how they turn hope into concrete action in their respective fields. Fagenbaum shares how surviving Castleman disease led him to repurpose existing drugs and build the nonprofit EveryCure, now using AI to match old medicines to new diseases, while De Sola explains how her organization, founded in El Salvador, works to create trauma-informed public systems across schools, healthcare, and law enforcement. Together they discuss holding hope and grief simultaneously, navigating setbacks, scaling systemic change, and the leadership, teamwork, and vision required to sustain impact.
Secret Agent (Evy Poumpouras): Never Be Yourself At Work! Authenticity Is Quietly Sabotaging You! - Evy Poumpouras
Former U.S. Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras discusses why over-identifying with past trauma and 'authenticity' can disempower people, arguing instead for radical acceptance of reality, emotional self-regulation, and personal responsibility. She explains concepts like cognitive load, decision fatigue, and the 'iceberg' model of personality, and shares lessons from presidents and law enforcement on confidence, communication, and decision-making under pressure. The conversation also explores victim mindsets, boundaries in relationships and work, the dangers of low-vibration environments, and how online culture and algorithms are amplifying polarization and political violence.
#612 - Pete Davidson
Comedian and actor Pete Davidson sits down for a long-form conversation about his life, from losing his firefighter father in the 9/11 attacks and how that shaped his childhood, to his struggles with depression, suicidality, addiction, and eventual decision to get sober. He discusses the emotional toll of fame and tabloid culture, his tendency toward self-sabotage and people-pleasing, and how therapy, recovery, and supportive relationships-especially with his mother and older comic friends-have helped him. Pete also talks about gearing up for his first international tour, reflecting on a previous Amish guest, and his excitement and fears around becoming a father for the first time.
The Alabama Murders
This short episode introduces a special seven-episode Revisionist History series titled "The Alabama Murders." Using the 2003 Northeast blackout as an analogy for a "failure cascade," the host frames a decades-long Alabama murder case as a moral and legal cascade involving a woman killed in her home, a charismatic preacher, disputed jury and judicial decisions, long imprisonment, lethal injection, and far‑reaching harm. Interview clips hint at themes of religious culture, judicial power, the death penalty, and how a justice system meant to respond to suffering can instead amplify it.
(#9) Elise's Top Ten: Rethinking infidelity ... a talk for anyone who has ever loved | Esther Perel
Host Elise Hu introduces a replay of therapist and podcast host Esther Perel's TED talk, "Rethinking Infidelity, a talk for anyone who has ever loved." Perel examines why people cheat, including those in seemingly happy relationships, and how modern expectations of marriage intensify the impact of affairs. She explores the psychological meanings behind infidelity, the dual nature of betrayal and self-discovery, and offers ways couples can understand, heal from, and sometimes grow after an affair.
(#10) Elise's Top Ten: What almost dying taught me about living | Suleika Jaouad
Host Elise Hu introduces a talk by writer, teacher, and activist Suleika Jaouad, who recounts being diagnosed with leukemia at 22 and spending four years in treatment as "patient number 5624." She explains that surviving cancer did not end her struggle; instead, the hardest part was reentering life afterward, dealing with physical limitations, grief, PTSD, and the myth of the heroic, ever-grateful survivor. Jaouad describes a 15,000-mile road trip to visit readers who had written to her, and shares what she learned about meaning, hope, and living in the in‑between space between sickness and health.
Most Replayed Moment: Can Eye Movements Heal Trauma? Bessel Van Der Kolk Explains EMDR Therapy!
The conversation explores how common trauma is, how it affects brain function, and how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can change traumatic responses. The guest explains specific brain regions involved in danger signaling, body awareness, and time perception, showing how trauma leads to chronic fear, loss of perspective, and reliving rather than remembering events. They then discuss EMDR's mechanisms, research evidence, and demonstrate a brief EMDR-style exercise that quickly reduces the host's emotional activation around a recent unpleasant experience.
#2381 - Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch discusses bowhunting, life in Montana, and the craft and psychological toll of acting in intense, often real‑life roles. He describes deep preparation for projects like "Lone Survivor," "American Primeval," and "Waco," including working closely with Navy SEALs, Native communities, and survivors. Kitsch also opens up about helping his sister through years of severe fentanyl and heroin addiction, founding the Howler's Ridge nonprofit, his father's death and funeral, and broader reflections on veterans, cult dynamics, grief, and the importance of staying uncomfortable and fully committed to challenging work.