*This episode originally aired on July 23, 2023.
Navigating the relentless pace of the modern world often means being bombarded by daily distractions, sleep deprived and perhaps a little stressed or anxious. It’s not easy. When it comes to looking for a moment of reflection and recalibration, it’s worthwhile to reexamine some of the philosophies and practice ... Show More
Jul 2025
Robert Macfarlane: "Is a River Alive?"
Robert Macfarlane of Cambridge University shares his extraordinary journey writing and researching his latest book “Is a River Alive?” and explains why a river can be viewed very much as a metaphor for life, always flowing, twisting, changing and adapting while at the same time p ... Show More
48m 33s
Sep 2024
Fabio Rambelli, "Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019)
In Japan, a country popularly perceived as highly secularized and technologically advanced, ontological assumptions about spirits (tama or tamashii) seem to be quite deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric. From ancestor cults to anime, spirits, ghosts, and other invisible dimens ... Show More
55m 24s
May 2022
Susan Westhafer Furukawa, "The Afterlife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Historical Fiction and Popular Culture in Japan" (Harvard UP, 2022)
Popular representations of the past are everywhere in Japan, from cell phone charms to manga, from television dramas to video games to young people dressed as their favorite historical figures hanging out in the hip Harajuku district. But how does this mass consumption of the pas ... Show More
40 m
Oct 2024
Destiny: Kamla Kapur, The Privilege of Aging
An inspiring guide to embracing your mortality and living a fulfilled life
• Shares the author’s inner adventure to face aging, illness, and death, along with hard-won wisdom on the art of resting, happiness, and letting go
• Draws on stories from different spiritual traditions a ... Show More
1h 32m
Oct 2024
What is Happening to Us in Our 20s!? How to navigate the pressure of your twenties for joy and success (with research)
<p>Hiiiii friends, welcome back to this lil corner of the internet!!! The third episode of ✨Finding your Casual Magic✨ (it still doesn’t feel real ahhh).
Thank you so much for all the love on my first two episodes, the launch of episode 1 was incredible and I had the most amazi ... Show More
44m 54s
Nov 2024
Ghosts, death and ecstatic states
With Day of the Dead, Halloween and All Souls Day being marked in different countries around the world - Shahidha Bari's guests discuss the belief in ghosts and the search for meaning in mysticism. They are:Dr Chris Harding is a cultural historian of Japan, India and East-West co ... Show More
57m 10s
Dec 2024
My grandfather the Aikido master, by Kino MacGregor
<p>Growing up half-Japanese in South Florida, Kino MacGregor spends a lot of time feeling uncomfortable in her own body. But her Japanese grandfather is always there for her, and they spend joyful hours together every day, playing hide-and-seek, cooking and eating, practicing aik ... Show More
34m 4s