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In this episode, Dr. John Sellars and I explore Stoicism, its origins in ancient Greece, and its development as both a philosophical system and a practical guide to living well. We begin by discussing its central teachings, including the relationship between logic, physics, and ethics, before addressing common misconceptions about Stoic emotions and how our judgements shape our responses to everyday experiences. Building on this, we explore practical Stoic exercises, the distinction between what is and is not up to us, and the importance of developing a virtuous character. We then examine the Stoic understanding of happiness and flourishing, including whether it is possible to live a good life despite suffering, and compare these ideas with Aristotle and Epicureanism. Finally, we discuss modern Stoicism, its limitations, and how Stoic philosophy approaches grief, mortality, and coming to terms with death.

In this episode, Professor Angie Hobbs and I explore Plato’s philosophy, heroism, celebrity, love, friendship, art, censorship, and the relevance of ancient Greek philosophy to modern life. Continuing our previous conversation on her book *Why Plato Matters Now* , we discuss how ideas of heroism have changed since ancient Greece, why we look up to particular individuals, and what our admiration of celebrities, billionaires, and powerful figures reveals about society’s values. We also explore Plato’s psychology, the importance of role models, and how social media can influence our character and understanding of success. We then discuss the power of myth, Plato’s allegory of the cave, misinformation, and the importance of distinguishing truth from falsehood. Professor Hobbs explains Plato’s views on art and censorship, how they differ from Aristotle’s, and the relationship between artistic expression, moral development, freedom, and personal responsibility. Finally, we explore friendship, romantic love, Platonic love, Plato’s *Symposium*, the ladder of love, codependency, and what ancient philosophy can teach us about loving others and living well.

In this episode, Professor Ariel Rubinstein and I explore economic theory, game theory, bargaining, bounded rationality, decision-making, language, and the relationship between economic models and the real world. Professor Rubinstein explains his view of economic models as mathematical stories or fables that can illuminate aspects of human behaviour without necessarily providing accurate descriptions or predictions of reality. We discuss what makes an economic model valuable, different approaches to economic theory, rationality, equilibrium, repeated games, and how people make decisions when their time, attention, and cognitive abilities are limited. We also explore the role of language and framing in decision-making, how patience and alternative options affect bargaining, and the distinction between economic models based on voluntary agreement and those based on power. Finally, Professor Rubinstein discusses the limitations of economic theory, the dangers of treating mathematical models as unquestionable scientific truths, the importance of intellectual curiosity, and his continuing work on alternative approaches to understanding economic interactions.

In this episode, Professor Jay Garfield and I explore Buddhist philosophy, Nagarjuna, emptiness, the two truths, no-self, compassion, and cross-cultural philosophy. We begin with his journey from logic and cognitive science into Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan epistemology, and his studies in India. Professor Garfield then explains the scale and diversity of Buddhist philosophy, including Theravada, Mahayana, Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Chinese Buddhism, Zen, and Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss Buddhism as an atheistic and naturalistic religion, Nagarjuna’s account of emptiness, why emptiness is not nihilism, and what it means to say that emptiness itself is empty. We also explore the ethical implications of interdependence and no-self, the distinction between conventional and ultimate truth, how Buddhist practice turns intellectual understanding into perceptual expertise, and why compassion is better understood as active care for the welfare of others.

In this episode, Professor Jon Abramowitz and I explore OCD, intrusive thoughts, compulsions, anxiety, uncertainty, reassurance, and exposure and response prevention. We discuss what OCD is, why it is much more than being tidy or washing your hands, and how intrusive thoughts can become distressing obsessions when they are treated as dangerous, meaningful, or morally important. Professor Abramowitz also explains why OCD often attaches itself to the areas of life people value most. We also discuss diagnosis, uncertainty, reassurance, relationship OCD, shame, disclosure to family and friends, and how loved ones can support someone without feeding compulsions. Finally, Professor Abramowitz explains ERP, why response prevention matters, how therapy helps people approach feared situations without rituals, and why successful exposure is about learning, not simply making anxiety go down.

In this episode, Mr. Tim LeBon and I explore Stoicism, CBT, philosophical counselling, Stoic Week, and how ancient philosophy can be used practically in modern life. We discuss his work as a psychotherapist and CBT therapist, his involvement in Modern Stoicism, and the origins of Stoic Week as an experiment in trying Stoic exercises for everyday life. Mr. LeBon explains Stoicism as a philosophy of living well through virtue, wisdom, courage, self-control, justice, Stoic mindfulness, and learning to distinguish what is up to us from what is not. We also discuss the Stoic Attitudes and Behaviours Scale, the relationship between Stoicism and wellbeing, and how Stoic ideas connect with CBT. Finally, we discuss anxiety, depression, anger, intrusive thoughts, happiness, meaning, values, wisdom, ethical development, and philosophical counselling. Mr. LeBon also explains practical Stoic exercises such as morning premeditation, evening review, “minding the gap” between stimulus and response, and the STOIC framework for applying Stoic ideas in real time.

In this episode, Professor Harry Reis and I explore love, relationships, intimacy, listening, vulnerability, attachment, loneliness, and his new book How to Feel Loved. We discuss the difference between being loved and feeling loved, why relationships are central to happiness and meaning, and why trying to “make” someone love you is usually the wrong approach. Instead, we explore how curiosity, listening, compassion, and warm conversation can create a stronger sense of connection between people. We also discuss what makes someone a good listener, why feeling understood is so closely linked to feeling loved, and how vulnerability needs to develop gradually, with the right person, at the right time, and in the right context. Professor Reis explains partner responsiveness, intimacy, capitalization, self-disclosure, and how attachment styles shape the way people approach closeness. Finally, we explore chronic versus short-term loneliness, why loneliness can sometimes motivate connection, and why long-term loneliness can become deeply harmful.

In this episode, Professor William B. Irvine and I explore thinking, open-mindedness, Stoicism, audience capture, echo chambers, and how to become more reasonable in unreasonable times. We discuss his journey into philosophy, his work on thinking more and better, and how online platforms can tempt creators to chase numbers rather than produce genuinely valuable work. We also discuss how to choose better information sources, avoid intellectual blind spots, listen to critics, and recognise contradictions in our own beliefs. Finally, we explore thinkers vs feelers, the relationship between emotion and reason, why some beliefs become tied to identity, how social media strengthens echo chambers, and why admitting mistakes is essential if we want to train our minds and become better thinkers.

In this episode, Professor Karl Friston and I explore brain imaging, dynamic causal modelling, statistical parametric mapping, computational psychiatry, and selfhood through active inference. We discuss how functional brain imaging works, how it helps reveal specialised brain regions, and how researchers study the connectivity and causal interactions between different parts of the brain. Professor Friston also explains dynamic causal modelling, Bayesian model comparison, and how scientists test which models best explain brain imaging data. We then turn to computational psychiatry, false inference, belief updating, precision, prediction errors, neuromodulation, and how psychiatric conditions can be understood through changes in the way the brain updates beliefs. Finally, we discuss treatment, relaxing overly rigid priors, psychedelics, CBT, statistical parametric mapping, the disconnection hypothesis, the self as a hypothesis in active inference, depersonalisation, non-dual states, and the relationship between selfhood, consciousness, and the brain.

In this episode, Professor Michael Levin and I explore bioelectricity, collective intelligence, regeneration, aging, cancer, and the future of medicine. We discuss how cells communicate through electrical signals, how groups of cells coordinate to build bodies, limbs, organs, and faces, and how biology can be understood through goals, memory, problem-solving, and intelligence, not only chemistry. We also discuss how bioelectric patterns may guide development, repair, and regeneration, why humans usually scar instead of regrow limbs, and how tools like biodomes and drug cocktails could one day help cells return to regenerative states. Finally, we explore xenobots, anthrobots, novel biological competencies, aging as a possible breakdown of cellular coordination, and cancer as a failure of multicellular cooperation, where cells disconnect from the body’s shared goals and return to more individual, amoeba-like behaviour.

In this episode, Professor Nancy McWilliams and I explore psychoanalysis, personality, defenses, trauma, shame, narcissism, and the therapeutic relationship. We discuss what psychoanalysis is, why unconscious feelings and thoughts matter, and how personality styles develop from early adaptations to a person’s childhood environment. Professor McWilliams explains how therapists understand personality not just through checklists, but through patterns, themes, and their own emotional responses in the therapy relationship. We also discuss psychological defenses such as denial, repression, intellectualization, humor, splitting, and dissociation, as well as how trauma, shame, guilt, and narcissism shape people’s inner lives and relationships. Finally, we explore what makes a good therapist, the importance of trust and safety in therapy, transference and countertransference, dreams, the history of psychoanalysis, and how psychoanalysis has become more collaborative over time.

In this episode, Professor Stuart Firestein and I explore ignorance, failure, uncertainty, and how science really progresses. We discuss why science is driven by questions as much as facts, why education often rewards answers over curiosity, and how better questions can lead to deeper understanding. We also discuss why failure is not the opposite of success, but an essential part of discovery. Finally, we explore It Could Be Otherwise, uncertainty, optimism, progress, medicine, biology, and how society might learn to see uncertainty not only as frightening, but as full of possibility.

In this episode, Professor David Veale and I explore OCD, intrusive thoughts, compulsions, avoidance, reassurance seeking, and how OCD is treated. We discuss what OCD is, why intrusive thoughts become powerful, how obsessions often attach to the things people value most, and why OCD is not simply being tidy, clean, or perfectionistic. Professor Veale explains different forms of OCD, including contamination fears, responsibility for harm, unacceptable sexual or violent thoughts, religious fears, ordering, checking, and relationship OCD. We also discuss CBT, exposure and response prevention, tolerating uncertainty, and why reassurance can make OCD worse by feeding doubt and undermining confidence. Professor Veale explains how family members can support someone with OCD without reinforcing compulsions, the role of SSRIs, how OCD can overlap with autism, ADHD and trauma, and how body dysmorphic disorder relates to OCD. Finally, we talk about good quality therapy, newer treatments, lifestyle factors such as sleep, exercise and connection, and why OCD is a treatable condition.

In this episode, Lord Martin Rees and I explore cosmology, the Big Bang, exoplanets, alien life, multiverses, and humanity’s long-term future. We discuss how our understanding of the universe expanded from Earth-centred views to galaxies, the Big Bang, and the possibility of many other worlds where life may exist. Lord Rees also explains why humans may still be near the beginning of our story, if we can avoid destroying ourselves this century. We then turn to existential risks, including nuclear war, engineered pandemics, AI, climate change, and the fragility of global infrastructure. Lord Rees argues that we need to think much further ahead, become better ancestors, and leave a stronger legacy for future generations. Finally, we discuss public trust in science, human versus robotic space exploration, Mars, Elon Musk, artificial intelligence spreading beyond Earth, and what the far future of intelligence might look like.

In this episode, Professor Nancy Sherman and I explore Stoicism, emotions, virtue, military ethics, moral injury, and what it means to live well. We discuss common misconceptions about Stoicism, especially the idea that being Stoic means suppressing emotion, and explore how Stoicism instead aims to train our emotions, judgments, and responses. We also discuss anger, proto-emotions, joy, distress, practical wisdom, courage, generosity, friendship, and how ancient philosophy can guide everyday life. Finally, we turn to war, PTSD, and moral injury, exploring why dehumanising the enemy is dangerous, how moral injury involves guilt, shame, and conscience, and how veterans can be supported after returning home.