Humans have wrestled with questions about identity and purpose for millennia. So it’s no surprise that the insights of people who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago have stood the test of time. This week, philosopher Tamar Gendler explores how three great thinkers from ancient Greece understood the human psyche, and what we can still learn from th ... Show More
Jul 6
Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 2
Last week, we talked with psychologist Lisa Miller about the science of spirituality. Today, we explore what those ideas can look like in everyday life. Miller explains why moments of connection, spiritual practices, and even periods of suffering can sometimes open the door to de ... Show More
1h 33m
Jun 29
Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 1
Food, safety, and strong relationships are essential to our survival. Psychologist Lisa Miller says our brains also crave something else: transcendence. She suggests that spirituality is a universal human capacity, and that feeling connected to something larger than ourselves may ... Show More
50m 5s
Jan 2015
The Secret History of Thoughts
In "The Secret History of Thoughts," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller ask the question, "Are my thoughts related to my inner wishes, do they reveal who I really am?" The answer can have profound consequences for your life. Hear the story of a man gripped by violent thoughts, ... Show More
56m 26s
Nov 2023
The Lesser-Known Philosophy of the Iron Age Greeks
When we think of Western philosophers who pondered questions about the good life, we typically think of the classical era of Greece and the likes of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. But my guest would say that the poets and philosophers who came out of the preceding period, Greece ... Show More
45m 12s
Feb 2025
Socrates' "Mirror For The Mind" Will Transform Your Thinking
Socrates had a strange idea: that another person can act as a mirror for your own mind, showing you the thoughts you cannot see on your own. In this conversation with philosopher Donald Robertson, we follow that thread through Socrates on wisdom, self-awareness, and the art of as ... Show More
11m 31s
Nov 1999
Consciousness
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the problems of consciousness, one of the greatest mysteries facing science and philosophy today. The frustrations, the stubborn facts and the curiosities of today’s thinkers, philosophers, physicists and psychologists, demonstrate the elusiveness, ... Show More
27m 58s