
Kathryn Mannix is a palliative care doctor and the author of With The End In Mind.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Regret, mistakes, and living fully(02:05) Hospice work and “encountering death”(04:40) Early medicine: oncology training and dying patients(07:20) Falling out of love with oncology research culture(10:10) The hospice “statement from fate”(13:05) Ordinary dying vs Hollywood’s scary version(16:05) Living while dying: love, family, relationships(19:05) Practical “sadmin”: sorting life before death(22:10) Why regret gets a bad rap(25:30) Doing the work: turning wounds into scars(28:55) Dying environments: people and mood matter most(32:10) Nana’s wisdom: losing familiarity with dying(35:40) Medicine “kidnapped dying” and death taboo(38:50) Values-based planning: “what matters most to me”(41:55) Death education, pets, and breaking secrecy(44:10) What dying looks like: hearing and breathing changes(47:25) Trauma from misunderstanding dying sounds(50:35) Comfort meds, guilt, and what happens after death
Feb 6
53 min

Jonathan Zimmeramn is a Professor of History of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of the books "Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn" and "Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools."------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) intro(00:27) Polarized, pessimistic America(02:10) From Birchers to viral clicks(05:05) Decline of religion as fuel(08:12) “Love thy enemy” vs “I hate my opponents”(10:45) Cross-tribe media: why I watch Fox(13:18) Dopamine diets and tribal brains(16:02) Roots beyond social: 90s, higher ed divides(18:40) Education sorts and isolates by degree(21:15) Overlaps and humbling lessons from Fox (Ukraine, MIC)(24:05) Charlie Kirk: free-speech ideals and contradictions(27:22) Assassination & the internet underworld(30:10) Boys, meaning, and failing institutions(33:05) Digital cults, religion, and liberal education(36:10) Learned Hand’s “spirit of liberty”(38:22) Printing-press analogy, AI, and Postman’s question(41:05) Phones out K-16 and secondhand distraction(43:38) Anxiety on campus and adult responsibility(45:30) Free-speech hypocrisy & the “American Hour” proposal
Oct 31, 2025
47 min

Judith Thurman is a staff writer at "The New Yorker," and the author of many books, including "Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller" and "Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette."------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------(00:00) “How’d you get to be that thing you are?”—origin story(02:18) Precocious reader, teacher mom, “foreordained” to write(04:52) Yes-and-no confidence; from drivel to good(07:10) Poet in Europe: barmaid, tutor, no money(09:48) 1970s NYC—dangerous, electric, cheap rent, first bylines(12:22) Nation → Ms. magazine → journalism takes off(14:05) Knocking on The New Yorker’s door; Gottlieb says yes(16:40) How a New Yorker piece gets made—editors, rewrites, heat(19:12) Subjects and boundaries: strong & “lost” women(21:58) Emily Wilson to Vanessa Beecroft; fasting spa detour(24:41) Writing (against) Gertrude Stein; Handmaid’s Tale hindsight(27:20) Why Stein’s “cult” endures—salon as tourist attraction(29:58) Anne Frank’s freedom to feel; the monumental annotation(32:36) Amelia Earhart—image-making, legend, and dying young(34:28) Biographies as marriages; choosing a life to live with(35:57) Isak Dinesen begins: Ms. piece, Denneny, the $10k “bride price”(38:43) Rethinking colonialism—Kenyan correspondent, mea culpa(41:52) Writing life: night vs. morning, momentum, humility; truth famine & journalism’s role
Oct 17, 2025
45 min

Liesbeth van der Horst is the director of the Verzetsmuseum - the Museum of WWII Resistance in Amsterdam.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Origins of the Resistance Museum(02:05) Moving Locations and Growth(04:12) Becoming Director in 2003(06:45) Lessons from Resistance Figures(09:30) The 1940 German Invasion(13:10) Early Occupation and Dutch Nazis(16:42) The February Strike of 1941(21:20) Gradual Anti-Jewish Measures(25:18) Deportations and Camp Westerbork(29:35) Dutch Traditions of Tolerance(33:10) Hiding, Families, and Anne Frank(38:28) Who Resisted and Why(42:15) Gerrit van der Veen’s Story(44:50) Fake IDs and Underground Efforts(47:08) Remembering Resistance Fighters(49:05) Why the Museum Still Matters
Sep 26, 2025
49 min

Lisa Marchiano is a Jungian analyst and is the co-host of This Jungian Life podcast.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Finding Jung Feels Like a Native Tongue(02:10) Early Memories: Mother and Jung’s Mysterious Books(04:35) The Story of Jung’s Bell and the Paranormal(06:20) From History and Humanitarian Work to Inner Crisis(08:15) A Breakup Sparks a Deep Depression(10:50) The Columbus Avenue Bookstore Ritual(13:10) Stumbling Upon “On the Way to the Wedding”(15:35) Reading the Book That Changed Everything(18:10) Writing Down Dreams and the Rabbit Hole Begins(20:25) Realizing Suffering Has Meaning(22:50) Deferring Law School for Work in Bosnia(25:05) Growing Doubt About Her Career Path(28:15) The Phone Call to the Jung Institute(31:10) Refusing the Call but Unable to Let It Go(34:20) Wrestling With Persona and Prestige(38:15) Choosing Social Work Over Law(41:40) The Calling Becomes Stronger in Bosnia(45:05) Returning to New York and Social Work School(48:20) Balancing Training With Motherhood(50:40) Why Jung’s Ideas Are So Beautiful and Expansive(55:20) The Rise of Jung’s Popularity and the Podcast(60:15) Depth Versus Ideology: Why Jung Resonates Today(64:10) Jungian Work as a Container for Meaning(67:50) Defining Synchronicity and Its Significance(70:00) Her Mother’s Legacy and Final Reflections
Aug 1, 2025
1 hr 12 min

Walter Robinson is an investigative journalist, an editor-at-large at "The Boston Globe," and is the Donald W. Reynolds Visiting Professor of Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.This is a rebroadcast of episode 42, from 2022.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:58) A path to journalism(10:00) The power and state of the Catholic Church during the late 80s and 90s(21:40) "The Boston Globe's" "Spotlight" team(28:10) The Catholic Church's reputation before the Spotlight team’s investigation(35:59) What was revealed in the church’s internal documents(40:56) The Church’s consistent strategy of protecting abusive priests(46:58) Nearly every bishop in every diocese knew about abuse and participated in a cover-up(53:27) The role of the Church's celibacy vow in incentivizing abuse(59:36) What explains the abusive behavior of Catholic Church priests?(01:04:06) Women's second-class status and the role of a free press(01:07:55) The need for a full confession from the Church(01:15:48) The role of investigative journalism today and why it matters(01:20:43) The importance of investigative journalists to think outside the box
Mar 28, 2025
1 hr 26 min

Mark Clifford is president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong and the author of "The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong's Greatest Dissident, and China's Most Feared Critic."------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------00:00 Intro00:57 Mark's relationship with Jimmy Lai06:40 Jimmy's journalism in Hong Kong10:41 The source of Jimmy's devout anti-communism18:27 Jimmy's interest in journalism21:35 Was Jimmy optimistic about Hong Kong's future?24:27 China's public enemy #133:22 Jimmy's core principles39:40 Lessons from Jimmy's example44:14 Hong Kong and JImmy's future49:47 Jimmy's eccentricities and flaws
Mar 21, 2025
54 min

James Hollis is a Jungian psychoanalyst and the author of many books, including "A Life of Meaning," which is the primary subject of our conversation.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------00:00 Intro01:05 Why Jim wrote "A Life of Meaning"05:28 The shadow08:38 Why confront one's shadow?10:48 The numinous and finding your calling25:20 Lethargy is a threat to living29:55 A modern culture of distraction32:28 Jim's decision to become a public educator37:02 Jim's growth beyond his family of origin44:30 Psychopathology 48:26 Sin: missing the mark55:15 Fear - the spirit of evil is negation of the life force by fear 58:50 Jim is a "recovering nice person"
Mar 14, 2025
1 hr 1 min

Daniel Lieberman is a psychiatrist, the SVP of mental health at Hims & Hers, and the author of the best-selling book, The Molecule of More.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:59) What would humans be without dopamine?(01:29) Donating dopamine to phones, not friends(03:58) What is dopamine?(07:53) What are the signs of someone with high dopamine?(11:56) How can high dopamine people live wisely?(18:50) Can workaholics change their insatiability? (22:22) "The modern devil is cheap dopamine"(28:58) What does a wise future look like re: smartphones?(31:37) Dopamine in relationships and love(38:46) Skills to develop to sustain long-term relationships(43:11) Are we on the cusp of a conservative cultural shift?(48:02) Modern dopamine and men in society(54:42) What advice does Daniel give to his sons?(57:14) What's next for Daniel?
Mar 7, 2025
58 min

Orna is an Israeli sociologist, a teacher at Tel Aviv University, and the author of the landmark book, "Regretting Motherhood." This is a rebroadcast of episode 78, from 2023.
Feb 28, 2025
57 min
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