Podcast appearances and mentions of Ernest Becker

In De ontkenning van de dood (1973) pakt Ernest Becker de grootste leugen van het menselijk bestaan aan: dat we onsterfelijk zouden zijn. Volgens de Amerikaanse antropoloog beschermt de gehele beschaving zich voortdurend tegen het besef dat de dood onontkoombaar is. Hij analyseert deze ontkenning op psychologische, filosofische en cultuurkritische wijze. Ironisch genoeg kreeg Becker zelf pas postuum brede erkenning. Twee maanden nadat hij in 1974 overleed aan kanker, won hij de Pulitzerprijs voor De ontkenning van de dood.Over zijn gedachtegoed gaan schrijver Arnon Grunberg en filosoof Marli Huijer met elkaar in gesprek. Met kunstenaar Babs Bakels doen wij een poging om de dood onder ogen te zien. Babs Bakels en Vibeke Mascini onderzochten of er een alternatief is voor doodsontkenning? In This body that once was you lieten zij bezoekers zittend in een veld van verneveld menselijk botstof hun eigen dood en ontbinding visualiseren. Onderzoek van prof. dr. Enny Das van de Radboud Universiteit bevestigt de missie van de kunstenaars: dat het toelaten van doodsangst een andere blik op dood en leven mogelijk maakt. Over ParadigmaIn de Paradigmareeks selecteren De Groene Amsterdammer en Uitgeverij Athenaeum invloedrijke non-fictie uit de vorige eeuw waar we nu op moeten teruggrijpen. De thema's die deze schrijvers belichten zijn actueler dan ooit, maar de boeken zijn vaak vergeten of onverkrijgbaar. Daarom geven ze deze boeken opnieuw uit en voorzien ze van een voorwoord van een hedendaagse denker. Eerdere avonden gingen over boeken van Rachel Carson, Edward Saïd, Friedrich Hayek, Michael Young en Elias Canetti.SprekersArnon Grunberg is een van de succesvolste Nederlandse schrijvers, zowel in binnen- als buitenland. Hij heeft een onvoorstelbare productie: van romans, toneelstukken, essays tot vele columns in verschillende bladen en kranten. Tot zijn bekendste boeken behoren Blauwe maandagen (1994) en Tirza (2006). Hiervoor ontving hij de literaire P.C. Hooftprijs 2022 en de Johannes Vermeer Prijs 2022.Marli Huijer is emeritus hoogleraar publieksfilosofie aan de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam en voorzitter Stichting Maand van de Filosofie. Van 2015 tot 2017 was ze Denker des Vaderlands. Zij is opgeleid tot filosoof en arts en promoveerde op het late werk van Foucault. Van haar hand verschenen o.a. De toekomst van het sterven (2022).Babs Bakels studeerde beeldende kunst en kunstgeschiedenis. Ze was medeoprichter en curator van Uitvaart Museum Tot Zover, is kunstenaar en publiceert over funeraire cultuur. In 2021 maakte ze de VPRO-podcast Kassiewijle. In 2023 was Bakels artist in residence bij het Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut in Rome en werkt sindsdien aan een kunstproject over de juridische transformatie van een osteo-archeologische collectie in Rome.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dying well We’re all going to die, but how we acknowledge death and dying is a very personal experience. Award-winning journalist and author Tracey Spicer and anthropologist Dr Hannah Gould explore etiquette, rites and traditions to find out what makes a ‘good death’. About the episode – brought to you by Australian Seniors. Join James Valentine for the sixth season of Life’s Booming: Dying to Know, our most unflinching yet. We’ll have the conversations that are hardest to have, ask the questions that are easy to ignore, and hear stories that will make you think differently about the one thing we’re all guaranteed to experience: Death. Featuring interviews with famous faces as well as experts in the space, we uncover what they know about what we can expect. There are hard truths, surprising discoveries, tears and even laughs. Nothing about death is off the table. Tracey Spicer AM is a Walkley award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. And she's an ambassador for Dying With Dignity. A vocal campaigner and advocate for voluntary assisted dying (VAD), Tracey penned a letter to her mother following her painful death in 1999. Dr Hannah Gould is an anthropologist who works in the areas of death, religion and material culture. She recently appeared on SBS documentary: Ray Martin: The Last Goodbye. Hannah’s research spans new traditions and technologies of Buddhist death rites, the lifecycle of religious materials, and modern lifestyle movements. If you have any thoughts or questions and want to share your story to Life’s Booming, send us a voice note – lifesbooming@seniors.com.au Watch Life’s Booming on YouTube Listen to Life's Booming on Apple Podcasts Listen to Life's Booming on Spotify For more information visit seniors.com.au/podcast Produced by Medium Rare Content Agency, in conjunction with Ampel Disclaimer: Please be advised that this episode contains discussions about death, which may be triggering or upsetting for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. If you are struggling with the loss of a loved one, please know that you are not alone and there are resources available. For additional support please contact Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. TRANSCRIPT: James: We're all going to die. Happens to all of us. But how we acknowledge death and dying is of course a very personal experience. With our guest and our expert, we're going to explore the etiquette, the rites and traditions seen in Australia and around the world. Someone who knows a lot about the rites and traditions of death is Dr Hannah Gould, an anthropologist who works in the areas of death, religion and material culture. We're also going to be joined by Tracey Spicer, she’s a Walkley award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster. And she's an ambassador for Dying With Dignity. Tracey and Hannah, welcome. Thank you so much. Tracey: Hello. James: Thank you for coming. Hannah Gould. Hello. Thank you for coming. Hannah: Thank you. James: Fantastic. Let's talk death! Tracey: Why not? There'll be lots of fun. James: Do you laugh in the face of death? Hannah: What else can you do? I mean, look, you know. Lots of sadness, lots of joy, every single emotion is reasonable, surely. I mean, it's like the question, the ultimate question of philosophy, of history, of every discipline. Every response is valid. Not always useful, or helpful. James: Yeah. Yeah. Hannah: But valid. Tracey: Well, it's a universal topic of conversation and that's why I've always loved dark humour. Because you do have to laugh, otherwise what do you do? James: I also think it's, it is the ultimate joke that we are all going to die, but we live like we're not going to. We live every day as though it's just not going to happen at all. Tracey: Especially in Western society, I think other cultures have got it right and we're in such deep denial about it. It's detrimental to all of us. James: Yeah. Now this is your area of expertise really, is that do other cultures have it right? Hannah: Everyone does it differently. Right or wrong is kind of a difficult thing to judge. I think certainly there's a big thing called, like, the denial of death thesis, right. And, and people like Ernest Becker, a lot of different philosophers and anthropologists and cultural, you know, analysis have looked at Western culture and gone, Oh my gosh, we are so invested in denying death, right. And whether that's through denying death by religions that say you're going to live forever, like, you know, don't worry, it's not the end. You'll pop off to heaven or whatever it is. Or through, you know, great heroic myths. Yes, you'll die, but the nation will remember you forever. So, you know, you won't really die. You'll be a martyr. Or contemporary, you know. Yes, you'll die, but have you seen how great the shopping is? You know, we can just ignore, we can deny death by being on Instagram and, you know, consuming, right, so, I think Western culture in particular, the way we've organised our society, allows us to not think about death. James: And we've organised death to be somewhere else, usually now. To be in a hospital, to be in palliative care somewhere. And they may be good, but they're not, they're not in the cottage, are they? They're not next to, not in the bedroom. Hannah: Not in the bedroom. So, we know that, say, 70% of Australians wish to die at home. Only about 15% do. And that is a rate that is lower than all these other countries we like to compare ourselves. So Australians are more institutionalised in their death than places like Ireland, like New Zealand, the United States of America, even Canada. We tend, more than other countries, to die in institutions – aged care, hospitals, and hospices. James: Yeah, right, right. The other way in which we deny death is, or the other way in which other cultures have a different attitude to death, will be that it'll either be more accepting – we are all going to die, will be part of their every day – or they may have a notion of reincarnation and coming back, which means that that's a very different attitude to death, really, than a, than a heaven and a hell. Hannah: Yeah, it's not necessarily an end so much. I think that's kind of quite common in, say, you know, Buddhist or Hindu or other kind of dharmic religions, particularly Asian religions. And then, obviously, there's a lot of Asian religion that's part of Australian society, so that's also quite present in Australia. But we can also have a kind of more secular idea about that. You know, a lot of these, a lot of my mum's generation in particular, have kind of a green environmental kind of reincarnation model where she will say, well, I don't particularly believe in heaven, but I do believe I'm going to become compost. Food for worms, you know, I'll come back as a tree or a flower or a tomato plant, you know, and that's, that's a kind of reincarnation of like reintegration into the natural environment, as it were. So there are some kind of myths or stories we can tell ourselves that perhaps help us think about death more positively. James: I've got a, a friend of mine who'd be into her 80s has said, oh, funeral? Just put me up the top paddock, let the crows have a go. Tracey: Yeah. My dad wants to be buried in a cardboard box, and I think that's a wonderful idea. James: We all say that, don't we? That's a really common one as well. I hear that a lot on the radio. People will go, mate, just, I don't care, put me out with the, on the hard rubbish day. Hannah: In the paddock, whatever it is… James: …the paddock, that’s the same sort of thing I said. You know, like, do we really want that, do you think? Hannah: Oh, do we really want that? I do think Aussies are pretty pragmatic about death. I do think we have a certain streak in us that's kind of like, you know what, it's all a bit much fuss, it's all too much. You kind of even get these people who therefore say, don't have a funeral. You know, I really don't want to have a funeral. Please don't even, you know, no fuss. That can be kind of sad sometimes because I think it's some people kind of not acknowledging how many people love them and miss them. James: Yeah. Hannah: Um, but maybe it's also a bit of an Aussie humour, dry humour, that, that black humour again of kind of, you know, trying to laugh in the face of death. Why not? Tracey: I would agree, but then we all get sucked in when we're in the funeral home, and they show you the cardboard box, and then they show you the glossy one that's 10 or 20 thousand dollars, and you think, did I really love that person that much, or should I do it? So it all feeds into what you were talking about before, that consumerism and overcommercialisation. James: Well, I also think sometimes, I would think it's about weddings. Weddings and funerals, well, who's it actually for? Tracey: Yeah, yeah. Well it's a punctuation mark, isn't it? I'm a lifelong atheist, but Tracey: I do enjoy, it sounds terrible, going to those kind of ceremonies, whether it's a funeral or a wedding, because it's important to celebrate or commemorate these changes, these huge changes. James: I love the sharing of stories at a funeral. People start talking. Tracey: Well, you learn so much about someone's life that you may not have known. And also often they're rich for that dark humour. I'll never forget my grandmother's funeral, who I was incredibly close to. And my father's new girlfriend loved my grandmother. She was so distraught she tried to throw herself into the hole in the ground on top when she was throwing the dirt in and I thought, well, that's intense. James: That's good. Tracey: That's, I've never seen that before. That's a first. Hannah: Oh, I've seen that before. Tracey: Have you?! Hannah: I will say that, you know, when you attend enough funerals or attend enough cremations for professional reasons, um, as it were, you kind of see everything, every range of human emotions. Like, we, we kind of think, you know, all funerals are all happy families. A lot of unhappy families, a lot of punch ups at funerals, lots of, uh, mistresses coming out of the woodwork at funerals, conversions, religious, you know, more and more people have recorded messages from beyond the grave that they play at their funeral, or, uh, they've decided that we're having a dance party, or we're having some sort of festivity or an event. I mean, you can do anything these days with a funeral. James: Do you go to a lot, just to observe? Hannah: Yeah, I do my research. So I, I research in death and dying and I, I work at a crematorium and I attend funerals and I hang around with other people in the death care sector. James: Yeah. Hannah: And you do see everything. James: Why do you want to… Tracey: …What got you interested in this? It's your job and I'm just fascinated by it… James: …We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll both do it. I think you've done this sort of thing! So, yeah. Well then, then, why do you want to be around death? Hannah: Oh. I mean, personal and professional. Professional, I'm an anthropologist, and anthropologists want to know what brings us together, what makes us all human, but then also why we do it so differently. And there is nothing else. It is the question, right, it is the one thing we all experience, and yet we've all decided to do it in completely different ways, and completely different ways throughout history. And then, personally, my dad died, and I thought, gosh, what on earth is going on? I suddenly was given the catalogue, of funeral, of coffins, right. James: And you were young. Hannah: I was 22, 23 when my dad died. An age that was perfectly old and mature at the time, I thought. But looking back, obviously, it was incredibly young. But yeah, I suddenly got handed this catalogue of, of kind of coffins, and they all had these really naff names, like, you know, these rich mahoganies, and like, it was like paint colours. Someone had, someone somewhere had decided, these were the options, right, that you were, that this is what was going to represent my dad. And I just felt this massive disconnect and I thought, ‘Hang on, I've got to work out what's going on there.’ So now I spend my life in death, as it were. James: Yeah. I suppose, most of us would think being around death would be a very gloomy kind of thing to be, or way to spend your day. Hannah: It can be very gloomy. But oh my gosh, the gallows humour that those boys in the crem – the crematorium – tell, uh, you know. James: Is there a joke you can share? Hannah: Ooh. Um. Not a lot of them are safe for work or anywhere. James: Tracey, you were going to jump in and ask something there before. What were you going to ask? You know, fellow professional interviewer. Tracey: I really see a connection with you being 22 when your father died and I was 32 when my mother died. Hannah: Mm. Tracey: Even at 32 I felt like I wasn't ready for it. James: Right, no. Tracey: And especially because it happened so quickly. Mum was the linchpin for the family, you know, smart and funny and she could do anything. She was one of those early super women kind of role models. And then all of a sudden at the age of 51 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with seven months to live and she lived seven months almost to the day. And it was blood and guts and gore. She was in agonising pain. My sister and I were injecting her with medication every day. We wanted her to die in the home. Tracey: But it got to the stage where we had to bring her to palliative care, and that's when we started having the conversations about voluntary assisted dying, because, um, Mum and Dad had always said, put me down like a dog. And again, it's one of those things that you think it's going to be easy at the time, but it's not. We talked to the doctor. The doctor said, I don't want to end up in jail. And my sister sat there with the morphine button. She pressed it so often she had a bruise on her thumb. James: Hmm, right Tracey: …we said, surely you can just increase the morphine, because Mum was having breakthrough pain. So everything was fine until she'd scream once an hour, and there was no way they could cap that. So it's cruel, right? It's cruel. I, I don't think there's any way they would have done it. We tried to have those conversations. James: …Yeah… Tracey: Which is why one night, because we were sleeping in a chair next to her overnight just to hold her hand when she was in pain, I picked up the pillow and I did try to put it over her face because I thought, what kind of daughter am I, to let her suffer? And then I stopped at the last minute and then I felt really ashamed of, you know, what a coward I am. Hannah: No, I was going to say the opposite. What an incredibly brave act to, to have so much love and compassion for this person and so much respect, what you knew her wishes would be, that you were willing to do that, you know, for, not – for her, not to her, for her, right? That's extraordinary. Tracey: It's lovely of you to say. James: Did she know what you were doing? Tracey: Oh no, she was out of it for about the previous two weeks, actually. In and out of it. And then she died in the next 24 hours anyway. So she was very, very close. And she'd had that kind of burst, you know, had that almost honeymoon period a couple of days beforehand where you think, Well, she seems like she's getting better and we've read about that, so we expected she was close. Hannah: …Yep, the final, the final burst… Tracey: Yeah. Is there a name for that? Hannah: You know, I don't know what it's called, but you know, that is when usually the palliative care doctors, the hospice workers will call up the family and say, guess what? They're up and about, they're talking, they're eating all of a sudden, and that's genuinely usually a sign that it's not going to be long. James: Wow, isn't that interesting. Hannah: It's the final burst of energy. One of the interesting things about the rise of voluntary assisted dying, of euthanasia, to speak more broadly in Australia, is it reflects this kind of cultural shift that we have about the importance of choice and control towards the end of our lives and how increasingly like that is becoming an important part of what we think about as a good death, right. Like I want to be able to control where I die and who I die with and when and the pain and suffering, right? And that hasn't always been the case, right, you know throughout history there's been periods of that. There's been periods of, ‘Leave it to God.’ Or there's also been periods of, ‘Yes, I must prepare. I have to write my final last note or poetry’, or whatever it is. But that's increasingly becoming important particularly for, we see within the baby boomer generation that they really want to, you know, have some sort of choice, and emphasis on choice. James: Well, I mean, I wonder whether a lot of it is a reaction to, um, the, the medical control over the end of our lives is so extreme that we can be kept alive for so long. And so, it's, it's, it's a reaction to that medical control, isn't it? To want to say, well, surely I can, we can, we can have both, can't we? You can either keep me alive or I don't want to be kept alive. Could you let me go? Hannah: It's one of the great paradoxes, they talk about this paradox of contemporary death and contemporary medicine, is that all of our interventions have increased, right. The medicalisation of death has meant that not only do we have pain control, but we can keep people alive for longer. You know, we have better medicines, drugs, palliative medicine is massively advanced. And yet, if we ask people, the quality of death and dying has not increased. James: Right… Hannah: …And if we look globally, more access to medicine doesn't necessarily correlate with a higher quality of death and dying. There's some correlation, like, do you actually have the drugs? Can you access, access them? But when it gets to kind of over a certain hurdle, just because you're dying in Australia versus dying in a country with no resources doesn't mean you're going to die better. James: What do you, what's a quality of death? How are we measuring that? What do you mean by that? Hannah: There's lots of things you can do to measure it and people try. So one of them is, you know, to ask, ask the family, to ask the dying person, to also ask the physician, did you think this was a good death? You know, how do we assess it? Because it's not just up to the dying person as well. Of course, it's also up to the family, right – How did you experience that death, that dying? It's a difficult thing to measure, right, because for some people death is never gonna be… You know, the words good death, bad death are kind of controversial now because it's like, oh my God, I have to try at everything else, do I also have to live up to a good death? Like, we can't make it good. Can we make it better? James: Yeah. What is a good death, Tracey? Tracey: I think this really intersects with, uh, competition. Everything's become a competition. And also quality of ageing. Hannah: Yes, yes… Tracey: …Because my darling dad, who's 84 and still hanging on after smoking and drinking himself almost to death when he was in his 50s – it's a miracle he's still alive. He has very close to zero quality of life. He's a lovely man, we love spending time with him, but he can barely walk. You know, where's the quality of life? So I've just written a book about artificial intelligence recently, so it worries me, that medtech space, that we're getting people to live longer, but there's no quality of life and also no quality of death. Hannah: There's this phenomenon we actually call, in scholarship, we call it prolonged dwindling. Tracey: Oh, which is so true, I love that. Hannah: What a term! But it's, it's… James: …Sounds like the worst Enya album ever… Tracey: …And it never ends… Hannah: …But yeah, it's, it's, there's exactly this thing, right. So it used to be, if you look at like the kind of time, it used to be that you'd either have a sudden illness, fall off a horse, through a sword, war, back in the day, and you, and then you would die, or you would have a, you know, a serious major illness, like a cancer or a heart attack, and then pretty soon after, you'd die, right? What we have now, what we tend to have now, is these kind of timelines towards the end of life of, you know, multiple hospitalisations, in and out of hospital, or you have something like Alzheimer's, right, where you have a very, very, very slow and long cognitive decline, potentially with very high care needs, so you're in hospital, you're in care for 20, 30 years, right? Which is unheard of previously, that you would need this level. So how we die is changing, and it's a completely different timeline. James: Yeah. Does… Tracey, let's just return to this moment when you started to perhaps really think about death. You know, you're confronting your mother's suffering, and you think about, you know, taking control of that, about doing something. Was that an impulse? Was it something that grew over time? Tracey: It was knowing my mother's character as being very forthright, and she was always in control, to speak to control. She would have liked me to try to control the situation. It was also, obviously, that you never want to see a loved one in suffering. But it taught all of us in the family a couple of important lessons. Dad’s now got an advance care directive that’s 28 pages long, so we know exactly what's going to happen. My husband and I still haven't done that, but we do talk to our kids who are aged 18 and 20 about this kind of stuff. I think part of that is my husband's a camera operator, I've been a long-time journalist, so in newsrooms, a very dark sense of humour, similar to the crematoriums, so we talk about death and dying an awful lot at home, but I think it's important to have those conversations and to prepare for a good enough death as much as you can. Tracey: I mean, what does a good enough death mean to you? Have you thought about that yourself? James: Yeah, well I have. I've had some, you know, health issues, had a cancer last year, and so that sort of thing, you know, you do start to confront it and think about it. I'm the fall asleep in the bed, you know, go to bed one night, don't wake up. Tracey: The classic. James: That's the classic. Give me the classic. I'm happy with the classic. Hannah: …Hopefully after you've just finished penning your magnum opus, surrounded by friends and family. James: The end, you know. For me to be onstage, I've just finished a searing saxophone solo, and everyone's just ‘Amazing! Unbelievable!’ Down you go. Something like I mean, sudden, seems to be, just immediate. Immediate and sudden, no suffering. Hannah: Well, that's the thing. Hannah: People always ask me, you know, do you fear death, are you afraid of death? And frankly, after studying it for this long, no, not at all. And I think in an odd way, there is some kind of horrific privilege of having at least one of your parents die young because all of a sudden, you do start thinking about all these things and you learn to live with death, even if you don't like it a lot of the time. I don't fear death, I do fear the prolonged dwindling. Right, like that, the kind of ageing poorly without support in a way that I can't make the controls, and and you know, can't make decisions. That's much more scary to me than death. Death is kind of a great mystery. James: Your interaction with your mother, Tracey, led you to looking at voluntary assisted dying. What did people say about it? What was the general, when you first started to talk about it, when you first started to campaign for it, what would people say? Tracey: What I noticed was a disconnect, that people in the community overwhelmingly supported this because they’d seen loved ones die. But in our parliaments, I saw there a lot of people, a higher percentage than the normal population, are quite religious in our parliaments. Hannah: …Completely unrepresentative... Tracey: …Unrepresentative. And so a lot of organised religions are pushing back against it and therefore there wasn't an appetite for change because of that. I think it took these wonderful lobby groups to get the politicians to listen and for them to realise that there was a groundswell of support. And also, of course, with the examples in the Netherlands and Oregon and Canada who have quite different laws to us. But very successful laws. You rarely see people, I think it's 99.9% successful – only a tiny amount of people who are abusing the legislation, tiny, tiny – but the rest of it, everyone overwhelmingly aligns with it. So it's done in a very ethical and proper kind of way. James: So do you feel as though when you first started talking about it, really, most people were on board? It wasn't something, it wasn't one of those things where we're really trying to, we had to convince people. Tracey: No, that's right, except for people who were particularly religious. Because, let's face it, everyone, pretty much, unless you're quite young, has had a loved one die, so this is something that affected everyone. James: Yeah. I suppose I was wondering. Like someone, some friend, the other day, you know, how have you been, blah, blah, blah. And he went, ‘oh, I had a weird thing yesterday, like, my uncle died’. And I went, ‘oh, that's sad’. And he said, ‘no, no, it was voluntary, he did the voluntary assisted death. He died yesterday afternoon at two o'clock’, you know. I went, ‘oh, wow, you know, you're there?’ ‘Yeah, we're all there, and, you know, it was great, we had a lovely morning with him. We had dinner the night before, and then it just all took place.’ I said, wow, how amazing. And what I was really struck by was what a normal conversation this was. It was a bit like saying, ‘we went to holiday in Queensland’. You know, like it was sort of, he wasn't describing some outlandish thing, you know, it was suddenly this thing, suddenly voluntary assisted dying was just part of the fabric of our, of our lives. You know, do you feel that that's happened in Australia? Tracey: I do feel it's become more normalised, to your point, over the last 20 years. But there's still a lot of academic debate about at what, at what point should you be able to do it. At the moment in Australia, it's overwhelmingly someone with a terminal illness. And it's done by themselves or their doctor, their practitioner. But there are people who want to bring it in for people who are elderly and, and suffering and don't want to live any longer, to support them there. So we're seeing, I guess, a fragmentation of the discussion and the arguments. And I'll be interested to see which way that goes down the track. There's a lot of debate about people, to your point earlier with Alzheimer's, people who have dementia. Hannah: Sensory pleasures. Like, people being able to taste and smell and touch and hug become really important at the end of life. Tracey: Oh, that reminds me of someone I know who did have a good death, who was my grandfather, Mum's father. He lived until 94, and I cared for him towards the end of his life. Our kids were little then, they were probably 7 and 8. And he had that burst, and they said, come on in, he'll die in the next couple of days. We brought in oysters, we brought in red wine. I brought in the kids because I think it was important for them to see that, and he had a good death within the next 24 hours. So it is possible. I think it's rare, but it's possible. James: Yeah, if you know what's happening. A lot of your speciality, Hannah, is in Buddhism. What do Buddhists make of voluntary assisted dying? Hannah: Well, I will say that Buddhism is a religion with over 500 million people in it. So it's kind of like asking, what are the Christians? James: …Right. Right. Hannah: …or what are the Western people think about voluntary assisted dying? So, a range of views. James: Range of views. Hannah: Really huge range of views. James: I suppose I was just wondering whether there was anything in the Buddhist canon as such or the Buddhist, you know, view that just went, no, let life take its course. That, you know, you must experience suffering, so therefore you must experience all life. Hannah: Well, suffering is pretty important to Buddhism, right? And suffering well, and learning to suffer well, is really important. So there are some Buddhists who would oppose voluntary assisted dying because there's a prohibition against killing, right? But most people in Buddhism will, say, weigh that prohibition against killing against, kind of, the experience of suffering, right, and lessening people's suffering. So certainly there are some Buddhists who would say, no, you know, we need to experience suffering and learn how to experience the suffering at the end of life. And that can be quite instructive. It's also why some Buddhists may, uh, deny pain medication and even, you know, deny anything that kind of clogs their mind, because they want to be conscious at the end of life. They want to experience it all, you know, see where their consciousness goes to the next reincarnation. But there's also a, you know, a massive Buddhist movement that has always kind of seen humanity on quite a similar level to animals, right, that we are all beings of this world, and therefore in the same way that we would, you know, have compassion for the suffering of a pet and, you know, euthanase a pet that's going through unavoidable suffering, with many Buddhists who would therefore support the euthanasia of a human being that's going through suffering, right, in the same way. Because humans are not particularly special, right, we're just another being in this world and we'd want to show the same compassion for both of those. James: Yeah, yeah. Hannah: Huge range of views. James: Yeah. Tracey, you said, you said you're an atheist. Does that mean, you know, once the final curtain falls, that's it? Tracey: Well, I'm one of those very open-minded atheists, James, who, if I am diagnosed with something, I fully am open to the opportunity of religion if I end up needing it at that time. And I imagine a lot of people do that. And if, if I do decide to do that, I would choose Buddhism. Hannah: There's actually a fascinating piece of research that just came out, Professor Manning, a religious studies scholar, and she looked at older atheists and what they think about the end of life. Because we tend to think, well, religious people have beliefs, but we don't really study atheists’ beliefs, right, we just think they all think nothing. But she actually found that there was kind of three different kind of world views or narratives that came out, that can be summarised as: lights out, recycling, or mystery. James: I'm all three. I'm all three. Hannah: So the first one is this idea, it's kind of like – death is like anesthesia, you just, that's it. You're at the end, you know, there's nothing, and it's often very biomedical, right. It's like sleep, but you don't dream, so it's more like anesthesia. You know, we've all, maybe all experienced that, and that's what these people believe, that that will be the end. The second one is recycling. So this is the food for worms idea, right, that yes, I will die, but my, you know… Carl Sagan: ‘We are all made of stardust’, right, we'll go back into the universe and one day I will be an oak tree or a, you know, something, quite, you know, a beautiful idea, which I, you know, I think I subscribe to that, I quite like that. And then the third one that they described around atheists was just mystery. That, for a certain group of people, who knows? And we can't ask anyone. And so that it was, it was almost kind of curiosity and excitement towards the end of life. So there are, yeah, you know, this is quite a great mystery, it's a great adventure, right, that we should all go on. James: Yeah, fantastic. We didn't talk much about, I suppose, the emotion we might feel around death at various points. You know, like, I've observed lots of conversations on the radio where my parents' generation, ‘stiff upper lip’... Hannah: …Stoicism… James: …‘How's she doing? Oh, very well.’ Which means she wasn't feeling anything at all. There's been no, you know, like, that's sort of how you're meant to feel. We now tend to be very emotional about death, you know, like it's, like it's part of our funeral rites, I suppose, to release that, to make sure we all howl. Hannah: Yeah, we have this kind of catharsis model of the funeral, right, which is this idea that, you know, you kind of, even if you might not want to, you go to the funeral and you cry it all out with other people and you have this communal experience of grief. And somehow that is helpful, if not entirely necessary for our long-term grief. But, you know, there's many cultures around the world where wailing is a big tradition, right, so that, you know, women physically throwing themselves at the coffin, howling, collectively crying. You know, it might be an extended period of wearing a certain colour, wearing black, you know, gathering together. Those kind of rituals can also be a way for people to process grief and emotion. You think of, particularly like, you know, in the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva, right, that after someone dies, you immediately gather, right, and there's an extended period of everyone sitting together and dedicated to experiencing grief together. That's quite different to our kind of one-day funeral a week or two after the person's died, and we all go back to our home. Hannah: And it kind of depends on, like, what kind of level of social ties that your cultural society engages in the funeral, right. Do you have a very small private funeral where it's only the immediate family who are the ones that are supposed to be grieving? Or is it everyone you knew in that society, and you have a responsibility to go and be there because you're part of a much larger social fabric, right. And that can be quite different – it can be a 300 or 400-person funeral. You know, one of the largest social groups in Australia is South Asian, Indian, Hindu migration, right? Often extremely large funerals, 300, 400 people in some cases, right, because there's a different expectation about who are the mourners, who is the congregation, who are the people that gather together and stand against death, as it were. Tracey: Another big difference seems to me, and I'd love to hear more about you on this, is the cultures that sit with the body for three days, or have the open coffin for viewing… James: …the body stays at home… Tracey: …of the body, or the body stays at home. Because my sister and I sat with Mum's body for as long as we were legally and practically allowed to in the hospital, which was hours and hours and hours. And when we told a lot of our Western friends, they said what an awful thing to do. But it was really lovely because it cemented the idea that she was actually gone. We told her stories. My sister and I laughed. We cried. It was actually incredibly therapeutic. Hannah: Yeah, and this is one of the difficulties, is people feel, because they have a lot of… People don't have a lot of information, right, so if you're lucky, very lucky, then you'll organise maybe one or two funerals during your whole life, right, and probably there'll be those for your parents, right. And you just don't have a lot of information because we don't talk about it. So you don't know what you're allowed to do. But you know, in all states and territories across Australia, you are allowed to be with that body for an extended period of time. You're allowed to bring that body home. You know, you can actively resist pressures from the hospital and the hospice and everyone else to get you out the door. You can say, no, I would like to be with this body for a bit longer. And as you say, there is also technologies that can allow you to bring the body into the home. I mean, the reason we call them funeral parlours is the front parlour of the house. That is the room where we used to display the body and be with the body and that still occurs in many cultures around the world. You know, it's difficult; it can be difficult. It's not always the right decision, you know, you have to think about your particular circumstances, but it is possible. James: Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Any final words? Tracey: Only that I think we should all choose our own funeral soundtrack. I've been doing that with a girlfriend lately. James: …What's she gone with? Tracey: …Because, you know… well, I've gone with Edith Piaf. Hannah:…Ah, classic… Tracey: …‘No Regrets’, of course. Absolute classic. And my friend is still choosing from five. But I think, otherwise someone else gets a choice, and they might choose something terrible. James: Yes, no, I think that's very important, get your, get your, get your funeral songs sorted out… Hannah: Catering, funeral songs… James: …the whole soundtrack, the catering you'd be concerned about, you want everyone to have something… Hannah: … delicious. James: …any special cheeses or wines you want? Hannah: French. Yeah, this is what we did for my dad as well. It was like red wine, good French cheese, baguettes, you know. If you're going to grieve, if you're going to cry, you need some sustenance to support you. Tracey: Comfort food. Hannah: Comfort food, exactly. James: Yeah, very nice. Tracey: Before we let you go, what's your funeral song? James: Do you mean, what do I want people to hear as the coffin's going out or something like that? I don't know if I've made that choice yet. I don't know. Hannah: Hard rock? Tracey: Jazz? Hannah: Pop? James: No, it'll be something jazz, I guess, or something in that tradition. It's probably none of the Frank songs. Tracey: Something majestic, though. James: So yeah, ‘Zadok the Priest’, Handel… Hannah: …Oh, I like that. Old school. James: …Something huge! I haven't decided. Yeah, it's, it's but you're right. Like everything, do it, put some effort into it, you know, and have all that stuff ready for your children, for those that are going to have to do it, a little folder somewhere. Tracey: You could play some of your television clips from over the years. James: Oh, I don't think so, Tracey. I think yours might have something like… Hannah: …a highlights reel… Tracey: …a showreel! James: Yeah, my showreel. No, let's not do that. It's largely children's television, Tracey. No one wants to see that. Tracey: That would be great at a funeral. James: I could conduct a – I'd like to conduct a beyond-the-grave talkback session, probably, talkback radio or something. That could be very fun. Hannah: People could all call in to your funeral. James: Oh, I love that! Tracey: Interactive funerals! James: It's a ‘simil’ funeral. It's being broadcast on the station and then people can call in with their tributes. Oh, that's good. Hannah: Anything is possible. James: That is good. Okay, we've got it. Thank you for helping me sort that out. Hannah: We've done it. James: Well, thanks so much to our guests, Dr Hannah Gould and Tracey Spicer. You've been listening to Season 6 of Life's Booming, Dying Well, brought to you by Australian Seniors. Please leave a review or tell someone about it. If you want more, head to seniors.com.au/podcast. May your life be booming. I'm James Valentine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the déjà vu allegedly caused by the Airborne Toxic Event have to do with a disease called Jumping Frenchman? How is Jack Gladney's “day of the station wagons” connected to the first female NHL player's longing for quaint hometown holidays? In Episode 24, DDSWTNP continue our White Noise residency by showing listeners all the hidden connections between DeLillo's most famous novel and his most obscure: Cleo Birdwell's Amazons, his pseudonymous 1980 collaboration with Sue Buck, written as a kind of lark but we think absolutely integral to the satiric vision of White Noise five years later. Our discussion suggests all the ways in which DeLillo seems to have used Amazons as a “laboratory” of sorts, developing Cleo's thoughts on ad shoots, celebrity athletes, Americana, and an ex-player in a deathlike suspension into the richer, more in-depth meditations on similar topics in White Noise. Naturally we give major attention to Murray Jay Siskind, a sportswriter in Amazons who's become an Elvis scholar in White Noise, expressing above all our gratitude that DeLillo came back to him and transformed him, reshaping an already very funny snowmobile obsessive into a Mephistophelean wit and one of the darkest, most memorable characters in the corpus. Those who haven't gotten to read Amazons but know other DeLillo will get a ton out of this episode, for we end up drawing surprising connections not just to White Noise but Americana, End Zone, Great Jones Street, Underworld, Zero K, and others. Turns out this prank of a novel in 1980 paid many dividends for DeLillo. Tune in to hear some fun thoughts as well about a prank of our own: an April Fool's post about a brand-new DeLillo novel we put on social media a few weeks ago. Texts and quotations referred to in this episode: “Pynchon Now,” including short essay on Pynchon's example by Don DeLillo, Bookforum (Summer 2005). https://web.archive.org/web/20050729023737/www.bookforum.com/pynchon.html Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (Free Press, 1973).  John N. Duvall, “The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise.” In Mark Osteen, ed., White Noise: Text and Criticism (New York: Penguin, 1998), pp. 432-55. Adolf Hitler, “Long Live Fanatical Nationalism” (text of speech). In James A. Gould and Willis H. Truitt, Political Ideologies (New York: Macmillan, 1973), p. 119. Gerald Howard and Mark Osteen, “Why Don DeLillo Deserves the Nobel: A Conversation with Gerald Howard and Mark Osteen,” Library of America, January 17, 2024 (source for Howard's remark that DeLillo's manuscripts need no editing).https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/why-don-delillo-deserves-the-nobel/

In this class series, Rabbi Shmuly will explore the Torah of the mind. Examining thinkers like Freud, Piaget, Maslow, Frankl, and so many others over 50 interactive sessions, we will explore how Jewish thought intersects with modern psychological studies and theories. Looking at consciousness, moral reasoning, ego, love, learning, and evil, how can we better understand why humans act as they do? Considering our relationships, traumas, memories, conflicts, and self-esteem, how can reflecting on the deep complexity of our minds help us live more meaningful lives? Further, how might Jewish ethics and Jewish philosophy help us ask not just “how do we live” but “how might we live?” Join us for a deep dive into the collective, individual, and the Jewish mind.Attended these classes live over Zoom by becoming a member for just $18 per month: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member.------------------Stay Connected with Valley Beit Midrash:• Website: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValleyBeitMidrash ★ Support this podcast ★

01:00 New York Post: OnlyFans model cries after sleeping with 101 men in a day: ‘Sometimes I feel so robotic', https://nypost.com/2024/12/11/lifestyle/onlyfans-model-lily-phillips-cries-after-sleeping-with-101-men-in-a-day/ 08:00 Failing the Severely Mentally Ill, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9kTPLfK7ZM 25:20 The wit of the child wards off the parent's depression, https://x.com/lukeford/status/1867313436742627570 27:00 How do you prevent major mental illness?, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158215 28:00 Niche construction, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158213 29:00 Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers (1986), https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158211 31:00 Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill (2017), https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158209 33:00 DJ Jaffe's TED Talk at NatCon18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eh_Keo5Xjw 48:00 What is a hero system according to Ernest Becker?, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158207 50:00 Commentary magazine crew: Pro Publica vs Pete Hegseth, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGiC0OQSahw 54:00 Explain buffered identity in liberalism, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158199 1:00:00 British business culture vs American, https://x.com/Thomashornall/status/1866433916027973671 1:05:00 ‘Conservative Claims of Cultural Oppression: On the Nature and Origins of Conservaphobia' by Rony Guldmann, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=158193 1:20:45 Reason: We Shut Down State Mental Hospitals. Some Want to Bring Them Back., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9aRo-aRRY0 1:34:20 Iran's Next Move - with Raz Zimmt, 1:38:30 Mark Halperin on Trump Transition News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPcrobfaLjI 1:45:00 The 2024 Elections: What Happened and What's Next? | DealBook Summit 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHBFl17RqL0 2:00:00 Democrats are a bigger mess than people know right now 2:02:00 Trump governs from the outside in while Biden governs from the inside out 2:04:00 Is Iran's Islamic regime vulnerable? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGR7ZZ9P02M 2:11:00 The media appears chastened by Trump's resounding victory 2:43:00 DJ Jaffe's Legacy and the Future of Mental Illness Policy Reform, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhn7-aR7Xmw

We are delve into how understanding death can be a catalyst for truly embracing life and becoming your best self.Drawing insights from Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death and Irvin D. Yalom's Staring at the Sun.We explore themes of personal growth, mental wellness, and the meaning found in authentic connections. From setting intentional goals and building resilience to fostering a lifelong love of learning, this episode offers a roadmap to a more purposeful, fulfilled life.Join us for deep reflections, actionable steps, and a community of like-minded listeners ready to take on life's journey with courage. Facing death doesn't mean living in fear; it means stepping into a more meaningful, joyful life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(NOTAS COMPLETAS Y ENLACES AQUÍ: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/kaizen/205-guerra-a-la-entropia/)

for this full episode, two extra episodes each month, and exclusive content please visit: patreon.com/thenickbryantpodcast video: https://youtu.be/flzSzQtoXiU  Sheldon Solomon, PhD, was integral to developing the concept of Terror Management Theory, which is based on Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning Denial of Death. He is the co-author of The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. Sheldon is a Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College.  nickbryantnyc.com EpsteinJustice.com

Can understanding primal fears reshape our polarised society? Join us for an interesting conversation with Kirk Schneider, an esteemed psychologist in existential-humanistic existential-integrative psychotherapy. Kirk shares his groundbreaking concept of the "polarized mind," a state driven by primal fear and anxiety, and reflects on how his upbringing, political interests and the US' response to the Iraq War shaped his thoughts on societal issues. Drawing insights from Otto Rank and Ernest Becker, he emphasises the importance of addressing our inner lives and existential struggles to foster a more harmonious society.In navigating some of the complexities of modern life, Kirk and Robbie delve into the tension between contemporary diversity and the nostalgic longing for simpler times. We discuss the allure and pitfalls of quick fixes versus the desire for a more contemplative existence. By exploring Emmanuel Levinas' ideas on recognizing shared vulnerabilities, we discuss the necessity of creatively engaging with diverse perspectives to bridge our societal divides. We also explore shedding light on the underlying fears that drive polarisation and the importance of addressing them to foster coexistence.Finally, we explore the political landscape through the lens of liberalism and conservatism, examining some of their tendencies and the dynamics of polarisation. By sharing practical insights from bridge-building dialogues, like those from the Experiential Democracy Dialogue and Braver Angels, we discuss tools that might be helpful in fostering understanding across ideological divides. We finish by discussing the role of fear in shaping reactive behaviours and the transformative potential of connectedness and embodied presence. Our hope is that this conversation might support appreciation for the power of meaningful, emotionally restorative interactions.

David and Tamler continue their discussion of Plato's allegory of the cave. We talk about the connections with mystical traditions including Gnosticism, Sufism, and Buddhist paths to awakening. We also dig deeper into what Socrates calls ‘dialectic' – what allows this method to journey towards the first principle (the Form of the Good) and then double back to justify the initial assumptions made at the start? And if only philosophers can embark on this journey, why does everyone think of them as useless and corrupt?  Plus we look at some research that attempts to provide empirical support for ‘terror management theory' which makes us yearn for the unfalsifiability of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. Links Schimel, J., Hayes, J., Williams, T., & Jahrig, J. (2007). Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility. Journal of personality and social psychology, 92(5), 789. [researchgate.net] Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate Mortality Salience Effect With and Without Original Author Involvement [ucpress.edu] Neoplatonism [wikipedia.org] Neoplatonism and Gnosticism [wikipedia.org] Plato's Unwritten Doctrines [wikipedia.org]

This evening we discuss the message Pinchas' actions are supposed to teach us, quoting from Ernest Becker, Dr. Phillip Zimbardo, Fredrik Backman, and Jodie Picoult. I share a characteristically brilliant story about Rav Nota Greenblatt, Z"L, and an esoteric but critical understanding of the incomplete "Vav" in our Torah portion, partially based on Shem MiShmuel and Maharal, and dramatically expressed in a poem by Tehila Siani, and a dramatic post by David Sherez. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (rabbi@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

David and Tamler conclude their discussion of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. We talk about Becker's philosophy of science (does he have one?), his sweeping explanations for strongman leaders, neuroses, mental illness, sexual fetishes, and the refreshing absence of an answer or resolution to the existential paradox at the heart of being human. Plus, a special Pod Save the Wizards intro - we have a political gabfest about Biden, the infamous debate, Kamala Harris, and more… The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [amazon.com affiliate link] The Denial of Death [wikipedia.org] Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

David faces his greatest fear as he and Tamler dive into Ernest Becker's 1973 Pulitzer Prize winner The Denial of Death. Blending existentialist ideas within a psychoanalytic framework, Becker argues that the ultimate source of human motivation is not the repression of sexual drives (as Freud thought) but our terror of death and the yearning for an immortality we can never possess. This episode focuses on Part One of Becker's book, and we'll conclude the discussion in the next episode. Plus are gun owners really dissatisfied with their penis size? We look at the numbers. Hill, T. D., Zeng, L., Burdette, A. M., Dowd-Arrow, B., Bartkowski, J. P., & Ellison, C. G. (2024). Size matters? Penis dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. American journal of men's health, 18(3), 15579883241255830. The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker [amazon.com affiliate link] The Denial of Death [wikipedia.org] Let us know where we should hold our 300th episode listener meet-up [surveymonkey.com]

(NOTAS Y ENLACES DEL CAPÍTULO AQUÍ: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/kaizen/203-el-misterio-de-la-vida-y-vi-mas-alla-de-la-muerte/)Tenía que pasar, después de toda la temporada hablando del misterio de la vida, de la consciencia y de todas esas cosas, era inevitable que acabáramos llegando aquí: a casi el final de la temporada (nos queda sólo un capítulo más después de éste) y, sobre todo, a qué demonios pasa cuando bajamos el telón de nuestras vidas. Que, a ver, no lo vamos a resolver, te lo digo ya. Pero creo que sí vamos a poder asomarnos a algunas ideas interesantes acerca de ese otro gran misterio de la vida del que no hemos hablado aún: el de qué puede haber más allá de ella. Tal vez, como en el estupendo relato corto de Andy Weir con el que comienza el capítulo, todo lo que nos rodea, una y otra vez a lo largo de los tiempos, no sea más que un huevo esperando a que nazcamos de verdad.Patrocinador del capítulo: Morfeo.com (150€ de descuento con el código KAIZEN) ¡Ya están abiertas las inscripciones para la 2ª edición del programa de desarrollo directivo y liderazgo que dirijo en Tramontana! ¿Te interesa? Toda la info aquí: https://www.tramontana.net/desarrollo-directivo-liderazgo¿Te gusta kaizen? Apoya el podcast uniéndote a la Comunidad y accede a contenidos y ventajas exclusivas: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/comunidad-kaizen/

Wanna chat about the episode? Or just hang out? Come join us on discord!   --- Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level. - Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death   Chris and Kayla talk about a theory that underpins everything we'll cover this season.   --- *Search Categories* Anthropological; Science / Pseudoscience   --- *Topic Spoiler* Terror Management Theory   --- *Further Reading* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory#cite_note-GPS-1 https://www.ernestbecker.org/book-film-reviews/worm-at-the-core?rq=terror%20management%20theory https://scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1340&context=mps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker   --- *Patreon Credits* Michaela Evans, Heather Aunspach, Alyssa Ottum, David Whiteside, Jade A, amy sarah marshall, Martina Dobson, Eillie Anzilotti, Lewis Brown, Kelly Smith Upton, Wild Hunt Alex, Niklas Brock Jenny Lamb, Matthew Walden, Rebecca Kirsch, Pam Westergard, Ryan Quinn, Paul Sweeney, Erin Bratu, Liz T, Lianne Cole, Samantha Bayliff, Katie Larimer, Fio H, Jessica Senk, Proper Gander, Nancy Carlson, Carly Westergard-Dobson, banana, Megan Blackburn, Instantly Joy, Athena of CaveSystem, John Grelish, Rose Kerchinske, Annika Ramen, Alicia Smith, Kevin, Velm, Dan Malmud, tiny, Dom, Tribe Label - Panda - Austin, Noelle Hoover, Tesa Hamilton, Nicole Carter, Paige, Brian Lancaster, tiny  

Independent Scientist and emerging public intellectual J.D. Haltigan left academia for a life of forced leisure and blue-collar employment, but he'd rather pursue his passion for psychological research at an institution. He joins the Dorx to discuss Covid masking, psychopathology, bike helmets, denial of death, the neurotic anxious failure to develop identity, attachment theory, gender and co-morbid mental illness, the perversion of the caregiving instinct, limit-setting, ideological capture, Social-Emotional Learning as a proxy for parenting, mama bears, religion, pseudoreligion, the narcissism of “rescuers”, and the upcoming detransition contagion. Did we miss anything? Hopefully this episode will provide listeners with enough structure to construct a coherent narrative of life; if not, well, go outside and touch grass. Links: J.D. on twitter: https://twitter.com/JDHaltigan J.D.'s substack: https://www.jdhaltigan.com/ J.D. Haltigan on The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker: https://www.jdhaltigan.com/p/reflections-on-beckers-the-denial?utm_source=twitter&sd=pf Lionel Shriver writes about Corrie Cohn: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/children-need-protection-from-adult-madness/ Abigail Shrier's Bad Therapy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/716567/bad-therapy-by-abigail-shrier/ For more information about RISE on The Land for WOMEN, email Char at riseontheland2020s@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heterodorx/support

It's been 50 years since Ernest Becker's breakthrough book The Denial of Death was first published, and its thesis has become more relevant than ever. Filmmaker Jef Sewell is the co-creator of a new documentary about Becker called All Illusions Must Be Broken. It features never-before-heard audio of the enigmatic anthropologist and puts his theories in a modern context.  Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Jef Sewell. Find out more about the film at www.twobirdsfilm.com  Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Be the first to hear new episodes of The Gray Area by following us in your favorite podcast app. Links here: https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by:  Producer: Jon Ehrens  Engineer: Patrick Boyd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, April warns people that they might need a break while listening; but in the end, it's surprisingly positive. Just like her!!!Episode 34 Show Noteshttps://www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-to-know-existential-dreadGood discussion of the basics of existentialism, existential dread, why existential crises occur and how to handle them.https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220929-the-unsettling-power-of-existential-dreadDavid Robson's article explains how existential dread changes the way we think, reporting on the upswing in conspiracy theories after distressing events that trigger existential dread.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_DeathYep, I'm citing Wikipedia here, but it's a decent discussion of Ernest Becker's groundbreaking work.https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/31/the-worm-at-the-core-on-the-role-of-death-in-life-solomon-greenberg-pyszczynski-reviewExcellent review of Solomon, Greenberg, and Psyzczynski's seminal work about terror management theory.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.595990/fullGreat article about how many individuals used creative expression to alleviate their distress during the Covid-19 pandemic.https://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/i-was-tested-limit-%E2%80%94-rwanda-genocide-survivorThe harrowing story of a Rwanda genocide survivor.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498956/The original researchers of terror management theory apply their understanding of it to the Covid-19 pandemic.https://mymodernmet.com/what-are-the-lascaux-cave-paintings/Take a look at these beautiful cave paintings--that's how you live forever, people! Do something amazing.

Without form, without figure, without resemblance am I; Vitality of all senses, in everything I am; Neither attached, nor released am I; I am Consciousness, I am Bliss, I am Shiva, I am Shiva. —Adi Shankara, Nirvana Shatakam, Hymns 3–6 Timothy Owen Desmond, aka Tod, is a philosopher and author. He majored in Philosophy and Political Science at Boston College University. Dedicated to a life of study, his unconventional path led to a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Religion from CIIS. Desmond explores the intersections of holographic string theory and Jungian psychology, detailed in his 2018 book, Psyche and Singularity. In 2023, he launched an online course, "Immortality and the Unreality of Death," integrating insights from Joseph Campbell and Ernest Becker. Tod's Course: Immortality and the Unreality of Death: A Hero's Journey Through Philosophy, Psychology, and Physics Takeaways: The intersection of Jungian psychology, physics, and string theory offers a comprehensive understanding of the nature of reality. Near-death experiences and mystical experiences provide insights into the ultimate nature of existence. Plato's cave allegory and archetypes reveal the shadowy nature of the material world and the existence of higher forms. String theory and the holographic principle suggest that the universe is an inside-out black hole, and information is recorded on a two-dimensional surface. The concept of psyche as a singularity implies that each individual is a point of infinite density and contains the entire universe within. Exploring these ideas can lead to a deeper understanding of reality and the nature of consciousness. Understanding the eternal nature of the soul can help address the fear of death. Belief in God and performing heroically for God is important for the development of the human psyche. The journey towards singularity involves a ladder of understanding that leads to a belief in the ultimate idea of the good. Future explorations in physics, philosophy, and artificial intelligence can further deepen our understanding of the psyche and singularity. Topics: 0:00 – Introduction 5:50 – Jung's Near-Death Experience 16:08 – Nondual Experiences: Dissolving Separateness 20:20 – Jungian Archetypes 23:46 – Platonic Philosophies 28:04 – Why there are seashells in the mountains? 33:30 – String Theory & Black Holes 43:16 – Infinity, Emptiness & Form 50:38 – Exploring the “why” of all of this?

QUOTES FOR REFLECTIONS“Most people, if they have really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.”  ~C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), literary scholar and profess at Oxford and Cambridge “I had no idea who I was, or what I could be away from tennis. I was depressed and afraid because so much of my life had been defined by my being a tennis champion. I was completely lost. Winning made me feel like I was somebody. It made me feel pretty. It was like being hooked on a drug. I needed the wins, the applause, in order to have an identity.”~Chris Evert, tennis star and record-holding seven-time French Open winner “Whatever controls us is our lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she want to please. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our lives.”~Rebecca Manley Pippert, speaker and author Modern man “still had to merge himself with some higher, self-absorbing meaning … If he no longer had God, how was he to do this? One of the first ways that occurred to him, was the ‘romantic solution' … The self-glorification that he needed in his innermost nature he now looked for in the love partner…. The failure of romantic love as a solution to human problems is so much a part of modern man's frustration … No human relationship can bear the burden of godhood … However much we may idealize and idolize [the love partner], he inevitably reflects earthly decay and imperfection … After all, what is it that we want when we elevate the love partner to this position? We want to be rid of our faults, of our feeling of nothingness. We want to be justified, to know our existence has not been in vain.”~Ernest Becker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Denial of Death “We obey God not because we are afraid of what He will do to us if we do not. Rather, we obey Him because we are moved by all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ. He has lovingly elected us and sprinkled us with the sin-forgiving, grace-abounding blood of Jesus.”~Anthony J. Carter, pastor and authorSERMON PASSAGEGalatians 4:8-20 (ESV) 1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. 12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn ordespise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, 19 my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

We're all going to die! Yet a powerful death taboo prevents us from masterfully meeting this part of our life's journey. It perpetuates fear and avoidance as our primary responses to death. As a result, too many of the 2.8 million Americans dying each year, and those who love and care for them, suffer through the experience emotionally isolated, frightened, ignorant of their options, and unprepared spiritually and practically. Many of us are coming away from a poignant experience around the death of a loved one believing that there must be a better way to approach death. In his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning book The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker first spoke of the American Death Taboo, calling it the vital lie ?? our refusal to acknowledge our own morality. The Death Taboo is at the core of the dualistic perspective through which we view birth as good and death as bad. Until we awaken from this collective delusion, how can we make peace with our mortality? Our culture fails to embrace the full depth and breadth of the human experience, leaving us ill- Equipped for living and dying with profound authenticity and competence. Making Peace with Death and Dying, A Practical Guide to Liberating Ourselves From the Death Taboo teaches readers to: ? appreciate death as a natural last event in life, as well as a life-long companion ? be of greater service to the dying ? allow mortality to embolden them to live with greater purpose and passion ? be more peaceful in the presence of death ? approach death on one's own terms with wisdom and competency Judith Johnson is an educator whose mission is to help others master the art of being true to themselves. For over forty years, she has been studying and teaching the dynamics of how our beliefs inform our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as individuals and in our relationships, social order, culture, and institutions. Johnson's work draws upon her own life lessons, wisdom teachings from around the world, doctoral degrees in social psychology and spiritual science, and her experience mentoring others. Ordained as an interfaith minster in 1985, she serves as a chaplain at her local hospital and counsels the grieving. Johnson is the author of Writing Meaningful Wedding Vows and live in New York's Hudson Valley. Find out more about here at www.JudithJohnson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're all going to die! Yet a powerful death taboo prevents us from masterfully meeting this part of our life's journey. It perpetuates fear and avoidance as our primary responses to death. As a result, too many of the 2.8 million Americans dying each year, and those who love and care for them, suffer through the experience emotionally isolated, frightened, ignorant of their options, and unprepared spiritually and practically. Many of us are coming away from a poignant experience around the death of a loved one believing that there must be a better way to approach death. In his 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning book The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker first spoke of the American Death Taboo, calling it the vital lie ?? our refusal to acknowledge our own morality. The Death Taboo is at the core of the dualistic perspective through which we view birth as good and death as bad. Until we awaken from this collective delusion, how can we make peace with our mortality? Our culture fails to embrace the full depth and breadth of the human experience, leaving us ill- Equipped for living and dying with profound authenticity and competence. Making Peace with Death and Dying, A Practical Guide to Liberating Ourselves From the Death Taboo teaches readers to: ? appreciate death as a natural last event in life, as well as a life-long companion ? be of greater service to the dying ? allow mortality to embolden them to live with greater purpose and passion ? be more peaceful in the presence of death ? approach death on one's own terms with wisdom and competency Judith Johnson is an educator whose mission is to help others master the art of being true to themselves. For over forty years, she has been studying and teaching the dynamics of how our beliefs inform our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as individuals and in our relationships, social order, culture, and institutions. Johnson's work draws upon her own life lessons, wisdom teachings from around the world, doctoral degrees in social psychology and spiritual science, and her experience mentoring others. Ordained as an interfaith minster in 1985, she serves as a chaplain at her local hospital and counsels the grieving. Johnson is the author of Writing Meaningful Wedding Vows and live in New York's Hudson Valley. Find out more about here at www.JudithJohnson.com

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College. He is best known for developing terror management theory with Tom Pyszczynski and Jeff Greenberg, which explores human psychology and mortality. In this episode, Robinson and Sheldon discuss Ernest Becker's groundbreaking book The Denial of Death, how it influenced him and his collaborators, and how they have studied—with the tools of contemporary social psychology—how humans are affected by their sense of mortality. The Worm at the Core: https://a.co/d/7p05yA6 OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:51 Introduction 03:33 Discovering Ernest Becker 08:29 What Is Self-Esteem? 19:04 Freud and the Denial of Death 27:20 Man and the Heroic Journey 46:41 Where Was Becker Wrong? 54:44 What Is Terror Management Theory? 01:06:26 Children's Fear of Death 01:10:23 A History of Death Denial 01:14:19 Possible Criticisms 01:18:00 A Prescriptive Dimension to Death Denial Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support

What I learned from The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker Join the Nat's Notes Newsletter to get my top highlights from the book. Get Two Months Free of Readwise Readwise is my favorite reading tool. I use it to automatically extract my highlights from physical books, and I use their Reader to read and highlight everything I find online. Then they automatically organize all of my notes and send them directly to my note-taking tool, so I can immediately look up anything I loved in past books I read. It's a total game changer for getting the most out of every book you read, and if you love books, you need to be using it. (00:00) Why Do You Do What You Do? (02:07) How Do You Feel Heroic? (11:22) The Fear of Death (15:07) Evolution and Anxiety (17:34) Why Aren't We More Courageous? (21:36) Struggle as a False Sense of Control (24:10) Automatic Cultural Man (NPCs) (28:03) The Foundation of Self Belief (31:10) Cosmic Heroism (33:36) Looking for Meaning (38:01) How to Live If you enjoyed this show, please let me know on Twitter (@nateliason) or Instagram (@nat_eliason)

Do you ever feel like your life is a constant chase for contentment? We've got some secrets to share. In our latest episode, we unravel the mystery that Apostle Paul refers to in Philippians 4:11. He speaks of a steadfastness and serenity that isn't dictated by your circumstances. The key isn't absconding ambition or goals, but finding satisfaction even when those goals aren't met. Astonishingly, the secret lies in a genuine bond with Jesus Christ. We also delve into the fascinating relationship between contentment and generosity. As we traverse through Philippians 4, we reveal how a true bond with Jesus provides us with a foundation of security and stability, even amidst adversity. This relationship encourages us to give, sprouting not just growth in our own lives, but in the lives of those around us too. We also discuss the story of Johnny Manziel, examining how his fame and wealth didn't bring him the contentment he yearned for. Ever wondered why Paul considers contentment a secret? We think we've got the answer. The world often equates contentment with material success. But we have found that contentment is rarely found in external sources. Interestingly, Ernest Becker, a secular guide, arrived at the same conclusion. So, if you're ready to discover this secret and experience the contentment that comes with a relationship with Christ - join us in this profound discussion.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“Man is literally split in two: he has an awareness of his own splendid uniqueness in that he sticks out of nature with a towering majesty, and yet he goes back into the ground a few feet in order blindly and dumbly to rot and disappear forever.”~Ernest Becker (1927-1974) in The Denial of Death “Religion used to be the opium of the people. To those suffering humiliation, pain, illness, and serfdom, religion promised the reward of an afterlife. But now, we are witnessing a transformation, a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.”~Czesław Miłosz (1911-2004), Polish-American poet and Nobel Laureate, regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century “The final dignity of a thing is its glory—that is, the realizing of its built-in potential for good…. The true glory of all objects appears when they do what they were made to do.”~J.I. Packer & Thomas Howard in Christianity: The True Humanism “The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God.” ~Irenaeus (c.130-c.202), early Christian leader in Against Heresies “Living according to the truth is the most authentic way to live because it's what we were made for.”~Alisa Childers, singer-songwriter and author “…a Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor…. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.”~Martin Luther (1483-1546), German reformerSERMON PASSAGEselected passages (ESV)John 14 – The Words of Jesus18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 15 – The Words of Jesus4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Colossians 26 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”~Albert Camus (1913-1960), French journalist and philosopher “Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level.”~Ernest Becker (1924-1974), in The Denial of Death “…over the past few decades, people have lost a sense of their own sinfulness. Children are raised amid a chorus of applause. Politics has become less about institutional restraint and more about giving voters whatever they want at that second. Joe DiMaggio didn't ostentatiously admire his own home runs, but now athletes routinely celebrate themselves as part of the self-branding process.”~David Brooks in The New York Times “‘You are enough' is a message that enslaves people…. It burdens them with the obligation of being the source of their own joy, contentment, and peace.” “You are not enough, but when your trust is placed in Jesus, his enough-ness is transferred to you.”~Alisa Childers, singer, songwriter, and author “The true penitent, though he dreads punishment, much more dreads sin…”~Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) “Modern secularism (which insists on keeping faith private) and modern pietism (which keeps Jesus safely contained in the hearts of individual believers) are usually assumed to be adversaries. But this feud is ultimately a battle between brothers. They share conceptual DNA with Marcion and the Gnostics.”~Ken Myers, contemporary Christian thinker “It is not a question of whether we worship, but what we worship.” “We are what we love. And love takes practice.”~James K. A. Smith, Canadian-born contemporary philosopher “The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God.”~Irenaeus (c.130-c.202), early Christian leader in Against HeresiesSERMON PASSAGEselected passagesJohn 1 (ESV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 1 John 3 (ESV) 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. John 17 (ESV) – The Words of Jesus 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them…. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. Colossians 3 (NASB95) 1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Greg Bennick is BACK!!! For another great episode. Greg Bennick is the author of the upcoming official biography of Ernest Becker. Greg has been speaking on stages worldwide for over thirty years.  Greg is a performer thought provoker, punk rock singer, and world traveller who infuses ideas and action everywhere he goes. He is the Executive Director and founder of One Hundred for Haiti, a non-profit supporting development programs in rural Haiti, and he is a co-founder of the Portland Mutual Aid Network, which collectively supports the houseless and unsheltered community in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Seattle, Washington. Greg's previous episode with us is https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/3-dolphins-to-wwii-with-greg-bennick-on-the-work-of-ernest-becker/ Contact our guest Greg: https://gregbennick.com/ Check out our research study on dreams, death anxiety and religion. Open to all >18 years https://dreamteam.study/   Links from our discussion Podcasts Dr Rachel Menzies on her book about denial of death “Mortals” https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/27-dr-rachel-menzies-mortals-how-the-fear-of-death-shaped-human-society/ Freeman Dyson and Stephen Blackwood: On the Freedom of Thought and Nature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSbY8I-3338   Books Ernest Becker books https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/ernest-becker/205137/ Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland https://www.amazon.com.au/Dominion-Making-Western-Tom-Holland/dp/1408706954 Dr Iain McGilchrist “The Matter with Things” https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/ Rene Girard, Scapegoats https://www.amazon.com.au/Scapegoat-Ren%C3%A9-Girard/dp/0801839173 Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel   People Ernest Becker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker Freeman Dyson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson Alan Watts https://alanwatts.org/life-of-alan-watts/ Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel   Information: Religious affiliation in Australia https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia Academic paper: Riordan, D.V. The Scapegoat Mechanism in Human Evolution: An Analysis of René Girard's Hypothesis on the Process of Hominization. Biol Theory 16, 242–256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-021-00381-y Follow us Ciaran on Substack https://substack.com/profile/23799980-quarrelsome-life The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides. Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au.  

Neste podcast: Clóvis de Barros Filho aborda o trabalho do antropólogo Ernest Becker para falar sobre a finitude e as angústias da morte.

How often do you read a book to learn versus reading for pure pleasure?In March 2023 I reviewed 4 books on this channel. My favourite was Mr Franklin's autobiography, he's a fascinating guy. All the others I was reading to get something out of them. Whether it was learning more about bad psychoanalytical ideas, pondering the grief I will likely feel in the future, grinding through some Peruvian slang or realising just how much I lack creativity even in coding. Lot of stuff to hurt my brain or that felt like a slog.No boostagrams nor support this month. Very sad puppy :(I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(0:30) - Reading books for purposes other than pleasure(5:57) - The Autobiography: Benjamin Franklin(13:16) - Algorithms For Dummies: John Mueller & Luca Massaron(15:28) - On Grief & Grieving: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler(18:02) - The Denial Of Death: Ernest Becker(23:17) - Boostagram Lounge(24:42) - Coming up for April 2023?(26:23) - V4V: Please reach outConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcast

Are you denying your anality?'The Denial Of Death' by Ernest Becker is a psychology theory that posits that civilisation and individuals behave in ways to obscure the knowledge of our mortality. This is done through transference to heroism, becoming immortal by participating in something that is bigger than ourselves.I summarised the book as follows. "From almost the beginning the main theory seemed unclear. If I concentrate I can put a positive spin on it, but required extra materials outside of the book to make sense of it. There are quite a few out of date conjectures and some loaded words which also don't help. I had higher hopes for this book and ended up skipping some sections towards the end."I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(0:29) - Synopsis(2:45) - Heroism: Transference away from mortality(8:45) - Observations/Takeaways(15:31) - Similarity to Either/Or by Kierkegaard(17:24) - SummaryConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcast

Series 12 of The Night School of the Faber Institute explores, Guest by Guest, month by month, how it happens that when evil has gotten into the fabric of a culture (e.g., American culture), the soul/a person instinctively “retracts” in revulsion (very often unnoticed by a person - this retraction). That is, evil is a toxin that corrupts things so central to the soul's essence that the soul/a person “pulls back” and finds/ establishes a defensive position in relation to that evil (doing this most often without noticing that he or she has done this). The soul/a person seeks a “safe” spot (i.e., a way of understanding himself or herself) in which to hide, something which Becker powerfully describes as “the vital lie”. When this is happening on a broad front in the people of an unhealthy culture, those people/that nation (government, church, social class) will quickly lose track of what being a human being actually is. Not knowing who we are at this fundamental level of awareness leaves us too able to be manipulated to “conform” to someone else's “safe” version - vital lie - of personhood.

Professor Sheldon Solomon is the Ross Professor for Interdisciplinary Studies at Skidmore College, New York. Professor Sheldon is one of the true pioneers in the fields of social and evolutionary psychology. Best known for developing terror management theory (TMT), along with Jess Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon and colleagues have revolutionised our understanding of how humans deal with their own sense of mortality and the often destructive effects of ‘death denial' on individual and collective behaviour. An engaging speaker and raconteur, in more recent years Sheldon has turned his attention to how death anxiety might be related to the anthropocene and the insatiable appetite of humans for more, whether that be cheap energy or lethal consumption. In this conversation we talk about why death denial is so pervasive, evidence underpinning TMT, death and the Hobbesian imperative in global politics, hope without optimism, Epicurus, Heidegger and much, much more. Solomon can be found here: https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php We discussed: ‘Death Denial in the Anthropocene' In the book: K. Zywert & Stephen Quilley (eds.), Health in the Anthropocene: Living Well on a Finite Planet (University of Toronto Press, 2020): https://utorontopress.com/9781487524142/health-in-the-anthropocene/ The Worm at the Core: On The Role of Death in Life (with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski) (Penguin/Random House, 2015): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/ Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (Free Press/Macmillan, 1973): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death Flight from Death, 2003 documentary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_from_Death

This episode is called Message in a Bottle because it is directed to the people of the future 200 years from now. Hopefully, they will find this recording and hear a unique description of the 21st century.

If there's such thing as a b-b-b-bonus B-B-B-BONUS ep, this is it. Psychotherapist Esther Perel is THE woman to turn to for relationship advice - IYKYK! Her two TED talks have been viewed over sixty million times, she's written two books that have both been featured on the New York Times Bestseller list, and her intimate podcasts with real people in real counselling sessions have positively changed the relationships of millions of couples - including ours. In this Academy of Imperfection, among other things, Esther tells Ryan and Josh (Hugh was sadly sick) why no relationship or partner is perfect, and to expect anything different is at our own peril. Whether you're already in a relationship or currently looking for a partner, YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS EP! Pinky promise. To learn more about Esther Perel and her work, follow this link: www.estherperel.com To listen to Esther's podcasts, Where Should We Begin and How's Work with Esther Perel, follow this link: https://www.estherperel.com/podcast To purchase Esther's card game, Where Should We Begin, A Game of Stories, follow this link: https://www.estherperel.com/australia2022 For tickets and tour information for Esther's remaining Australian shows, visit: www.tegdainty.com For book recommendation The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3gHVNCH

If there's such thing as a b-b-b-bonus B-B-B-BONUS ep, this is it.Psychotherapist Esther Perel is THE woman to turn to for relationship advice - IYKYK! Her two TED talks have been viewed over sixty million times, she's written two books that have both been featured on the New York Times Bestseller list, and her intimate podcasts with real people in real counselling sessions have positively changed the relationships of millions of couples - including ours.In this Academy of Imperfection, among other things, Esther tells Ryan and Josh (Hugh was sadly sick) why no relationship or partner is perfect, and to expect anything different is at our own peril.Whether you're already in a relationship or currently looking for a partner, YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS EP! Pinky promise.To learn more about Esther Perel and her work, follow this link: www.estherperel.comTo listen to Esther's podcasts, Where Should We Begin and How's Work with Esther Perel, follow this link: https://www.estherperel.com/podcastTo purchase Esther's card game, Where Should We Begin, A Game of Stories, follow this link: https://www.estherperel.com/australia2022For tickets and tour information for Esther's remaining Australian shows, visit: www.tegdainty.comFor book recommendation The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3gHVNCHSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker writes, “the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is the mainspring of human activity…” How does the fear of death affect us individually and how does it affect societies? How do men and women seek to overcome death? What is the Christian's answer to the fear of death? Join Pat as he interviews Dr. Clay Jones on man's greatest fear and how we seek to overcome our fear of death.

Cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker writes, “the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is the mainspring of human activity…” How does the fear of death affect us individually and how does it affect societies? How do men and women seek to overcome death? What is the Christian's answer to the fear of death? Join Pat as he interviews Dr. Clay Jones on man's greatest fear and how we seek to overcome our fear of death.

An in depth look at the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death is about human kinds struggle with the fundamental fear at the core of our existence, the fear of death.

In the first episode of the 'cult'ure series, Candice invites us to get real about the relationships and groups we occupy. What does it mean to be psychosocially ‘under the influence' and why are we humans so prone to surrendering personal agency? Candice shares more about what's challenged her most when it comes to living at the center of her own story, revealing the recent therapeutic ah-hah that led to the creation of this podcast summer series. Spiritual wounds are defined, as well as the Buddhist concept of near enemies and what they have to teach us about abuse of power, specifically in group wellness circles. She challenges the thought-terminating cliche 'there are no victims' and speaks openly about the dangers of idealistic generalizations arguing that often the suppression of pain is far more oppressive than laying claim to victimhood. We unpack the 4-letter word 'cult,' embracing its nuance with an acknowledgment that the dynamics of social control can be both subtle or severe and that, in either instance, they have a measurable impact on human agency. Ernest Becker's work helps us to understand why it is do-gooders are so often the ones making such a goddamned mess of things, and Candice unpacks ‘bounded choice' - the psychological mechanics of staying put - why it is we stick around even when we shouldn't. The episode wraps with a sneak-peek into the 'cult'ure series gameplan moving forward. This episode is foundational for the conversations to come, so light a candle, pull up a floor cushion, & get thee some headphones! [cue culty music]

An in depth look at the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death is about human kinds struggle with the fundamental fear at the core of our existence, the fear of death.

Shermer and Ward discuss: religious immortality • Church of Perpetual Life in Florida • what it means to live forever • why lives have doubled in length the past century • Stein's Law: things that can't go on forever won't • Why do we age and die? • how to live to 100, 1000, 10,000 years • escape velocity to reach immortality • Aubrey de Grey's program • tech billionaires programs • transhumanists/extropians • diet, exercise, supplements, stem cells, telomeres, and other aging hacks • Ray Kurzweil • cryonics • nanotechnology • brain preservation • mind uploading and digital immortality • Ernest Becker and Terror Management Theory Peter Ward is a British business and technology reporter whose reporting has taken him across the globe. Reporting from Dubai, he covered the energy sector in the Middle East before earning a degree in business journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His writing has appeared in Wired, The Atlantic, The Economist, GQ, BBC Science Focus, and Newsweek.

With death close at hand, Castaneda races against the clock to finish what will be his very last book. But in order to complete it, he will need to author the final chapter of his own life.  After listening, be sure to check out:Episode Slide Show: bit.ly/38bJ9YcOne Extra Thing: bit.ly/3P5a8oODiscussion Thread: bit.ly/3MRWBPIwww.tricksterpodcast.com Trickster: The Many Lives of Carlos Castaneda is a guppy production:Creator and Executive Producer: Frank HortonProducers: Ville Haimala, James Orestes, Yuval ShapiraCo-Producers: Kevin Barth, Steve Barilotti, Colin Stewart, Ybrahim Luna, Ana Djordjijevic, Dan Girmus, Celeste Cuevas, Collins Harris IV, Robert(a) Marshall, author of an upcoming biography of Carlos Castaneda, American Trickster, Katie Kidwell, Justin AierSenior Producer: Pablo VacaComposer: Ville HaimalaSound Designer and Mixer: Randy WardEditors: Frank Horton, with additional editing by Randy Ward, Paul Calo and Yuval Shapira We wish to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the research of scholars, journalists and authors who have contributed tiles to the mosaic that is our project. Trickster is based, in part, on the following books and articles:Ultimas Noticias Sobre Carlos Castaneda by Arturo Granda, Conversations with a Young Nahual by Byron de Ford, Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde, Ascent and Descent of the Sacred Mountain by Claudio Naranjo, Tezcatlipoca: Trickster and Supreme Deity edited by Elizabeth Baquedano, Fractured Times by Eric Hobsbawm, All Things are Possible Selected Essays by Lev Shestov, La increíble hisotoria de Carlos Castaneda by Ybrahim Luna, Castaneda's Journey and the Don Juan Papers by Richard De Mille, Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians by Barbara Myerhoff, Theory in anthropology since the sixties by Sherry Ortner, Viscerality, faith, and skepticism: Another theory of magic by Michael Taussig, Introduction to the Teachings of Don Juan by Octavio Paz, A Thousand Plateaus by Deleuze & Guattari, A Hushed Death for Mystic Author by J.R. Moehringer, Missing Amalia by Matt Ward, Sonoran Fantasy or Coming of Age? by Ralph Beals, Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico by Richard A. Diehl, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition by M.H. Abrams, Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion by James Maffie, The Mirror of Magic: A History of Magic in the Western World by Kurt Seligmann, Filming Castaneda: The Hunt for Magic and Reason by Gaby Geuter, America by Jean Baudrillard, Carlos Castaneda: American Trickster by Robert(a) Marshall, Endeavors in Psychology by Henry A. Murray, Ronald Reagan The Movie: And Other Episodes in Political Demonology by Michael Rogin, Yucatan by Andrea De Carlo, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence by Adrienne Rich, The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Policies by James A. Clifton, Fear of Freedom by Carlo Levi, The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico by Octavio Paz, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent by Lionel Trilling, Freedom & Its Discontents: Reflections of Four Decades of American Moral Experience by Peter Marin, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, Feet of Clay Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus by Anthony Storr, The Storyteller Essays by Walter Benjamin, Life of Dreams: Field Notes On Psi, Synchronicity, And Shamanism by Douglass Price-Williams, Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt, The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrere ,High Culture: Drugs, Mysticism, and the Pursuit of Transcendence in the Modern World by Christopher Partridge, The Metamorphoses of Don Juan by Leo Weinstein, Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria, Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing by Michael Taussig, Shamans of the 20th Century by Ruth-Inge Heinze, Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge edited by Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley, The Human Career: The Self in the Symbolic World by Walter Goldschmidt, In Sorcery's Shadow by Paul Stoller, The Diabolic Root by Vincenzo Petrullo, Native Studies: American and Canadian Indians by John A. Price, The World of Time Inc by Curtis Prendergast, For Those Who Come After: A Study of Native American Autobiography by Arnold Krupat, Another Life by Michael Korda, The Contemporary Culture of the Cahita Indians by Ralph L. Beals, The American Adam by R.W. Lewis, A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan, Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and Americans Identities by Laura Browder, The Theatre of Don Juan by Oscar Mandel, Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity by Christopher Miller, The Sense of an Ending by Frank Kermode, Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie Fiedler, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam, Melville's Quarrel With God by Lawrance Thompson, Shamanism Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, Extrasensory Ecology: Parapsychology and Anthropology by Joseph K. Long, On Phenomenology and Social Relations by Alfred Schutz, Seeing Castaneda by Daniel Noel, Prophetic Charisma by Len Oakes, Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Death Valley and the Amargosa by Richard E. Lingenfelter

Intimating the end, Castaneda decides it is time for him to anoint his successor, the next nagual. His selection is Tony Karam—a student not only of his but also the Dalia Lama. Castaneda informs Tony that has a year to decide whether or not to take the position of the nagual. After listening, be sure to check out:Episode Slide Show: bit.ly/3vA6Ge4One Extra Thing: bit.ly/3y3clv7Discussion Thread: bit.ly/3MY1cjdwww.tricksterpodcast.com Trickster: The Many Lives of Carlos Castaneda is a guppy production:Creator and Executive Producer: Frank HortonProducers: Ville Haimala, James Orestes, Yuval ShapiraCo-Producers: Kevin Barth, Steve Barilotti, Colin Stewart, Ybrahim Luna, Ana Djordjijevic, Dan Girmus, Celeste Cuevas, Collins Harris IV, Robert(a) Marshall, author of an upcoming biography of Carlos Castaneda, American Trickster, Katie Kidwell, Justin AierSenior Producer: Pablo VacaComposer: Ville HaimalaSound Designer and Mixer: Randy WardEditors: Frank Horton, with additional editing by Randy Ward, Paul Calo and Yuval Shapira We wish to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the research of scholars, journalists and authors who have contributed tiles to the mosaic that is our project. Trickster is based, in part, on the following books and articles:Ultimas Noticias Sobre Carlos Castaneda by Arturo Granda, Conversations with a Young Nahual by Byron de Ford, Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde, Ascent and Descent of the Sacred Mountain by Claudio Naranjo, Tezcatlipoca: Trickster and Supreme Deity edited by Elizabeth Baquedano, Fractured Times by Eric Hobsbawm, All Things are Possible Selected Essays by Lev Shestov, La increíble hisotoria de Carlos Castaneda by Ybrahim Luna, Castaneda's Journey and the Don Juan Papers by Richard De Mille, Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians by Barbara Myerhoff, Theory in anthropology since the sixties by Sherry Ortner, Viscerality, faith, and skepticism: Another theory of magic by Michael Taussig, Introduction to the Teachings of Don Juan by Octavio Paz, A Thousand Plateaus by Deleuze & Guattari, A Hushed Death for Mystic Author by J.R. Moehringer, Missing Amalia by Matt Ward, Sonoran Fantasy or Coming of Age? by Ralph Beals, Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico by Richard A. Diehl, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition by M.H. Abrams, Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion by James Maffie, The Mirror of Magic: A History of Magic in the Western World by Kurt Seligmann, Filming Castaneda: The Hunt for Magic and Reason by Gaby Geuter, America by Jean Baudrillard, Carlos Castaneda: American Trickster by Robert(a) Marshall, Endeavors in Psychology by Henry A. Murray, Ronald Reagan The Movie: And Other Episodes in Political Demonology by Michael Rogin, Yucatan by Andrea De Carlo, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence by Adrienne Rich, The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Policies by James A. Clifton, Fear of Freedom by Carlo Levi, The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico by Octavio Paz, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent by Lionel Trilling, Freedom & Its Discontents: Reflections of Four Decades of American Moral Experience by Peter Marin, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, Feet of Clay Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus by Anthony Storr, The Storyteller Essays by Walter Benjamin, Life of Dreams: Field Notes On Psi, Synchronicity, And Shamanism by Douglass Price-Williams, Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt, The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrere ,High Culture: Drugs, Mysticism, and the Pursuit of Transcendence in the Modern World by Christopher Partridge, The Metamorphoses of Don Juan by Leo Weinstein, Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria, Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing by Michael Taussig, Shamans of the 20th Century by Ruth-Inge Heinze, Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge edited by Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley, The Human Career: The Self in the Symbolic World by Walter Goldschmidt, In Sorcery's Shadow by Paul Stoller, The Diabolic Root by Vincenzo Petrullo, Native Studies: American and Canadian Indians by John A. Price, The World of Time Inc by Curtis Prendergast, For Those Who Come After: A Study of Native American Autobiography by Arnold Krupat, Another Life by Michael Korda, The Contemporary Culture of the Cahita Indians by Ralph L. Beals, The American Adam by R.W. Lewis, A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan, Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and Americans Identities by Laura Browder, The Theatre of Don Juan by Oscar Mandel, Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity by Christopher Miller, The Sense of an Ending by Frank Kermode, Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie Fiedler, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam, Melville's Quarrel With God by Lawrance Thompson, Shamanism Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, Extrasensory Ecology: Parapsychology and Anthropology by Joseph K. Long, On Phenomenology and Social Relations by Alfred Schutz, Seeing Castaneda by Daniel Noel, Prophetic Charisma by Len Oakes, Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Death Valley and the Amargosa by Richard E. Lingenfelter 

With the start of the ‘80s, Carlos Castaneda has now become the darling of the New Age movement.  But while New Agers are busy championing his past work, Castaneda has begun turning his sights to something new—a secretive project unlike anything he's done before. To secure the help needed, Castaneda opens up admission to his circle of followers. Hollywood producer Janet Yang soon becomes one of his most prized recruits.  After listening, be sure to check out:Episode Slide Show: bit.ly/3vecjyMOne Extra Thing: bit.ly/3vdhZcjDiscussion Thread: bit.ly/3xSWMG5www.tricksterpodcast.com Trickster: The Many Lives of Carlos Castaneda is a guppy production:Creator and Executive Producer: Frank HortonProducers: Ville Haimala, James Orestes, Yuval ShapiraCo-Producers: Kevin Barth, Steve Barilotti, Colin Stewart, Ybrahim Luna, Ana Djordjijevic, Dan Girmus, Celeste Cuevas, Collins Harris IV, Robert(a) Marshall, author of an upcoming biography of Carlos Castaneda, American Trickster, Katie Kidwell, Justin AierSenior Producer: Pablo VacaComposer: Ville HaimalaSound Designer and Mixer: Randy WardEditors: Frank Horton, with additional editing by Randy Ward, Paul Calo and Yuval Shapira We wish to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the research of scholars, journalists and authors who have contributed tiles to the mosaic that is our project. Trickster is based, in part, on the following books and articles:Ultimas Noticias Sobre Carlos Castaneda by Arturo Granda, Conversations with a Young Nahual by Byron de Ford, Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde, Ascent and Descent of the Sacred Mountain by Claudio Naranjo, Tezcatlipoca: Trickster and Supreme Deity edited by Elizabeth Baquedano, Fractured Times by Eric Hobsbawm, All Things are Possible Selected Essays by Lev Shestov, La increíble hisotoria de Carlos Castaneda by Ybrahim Luna, Castaneda's Journey and the Don Juan Papers by Richard De Mille, Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians by Barbara Myerhoff, Theory in anthropology since the sixties by Sherry Ortner, Viscerality, faith, and skepticism: Another theory of magic by Michael Taussig, Introduction to the Teachings of Don Juan by Octavio Paz, A Thousand Plateaus by Deleuze & Guattari, A Hushed Death for Mystic Author by J.R. Moehringer, Missing Amalia by Matt Ward, Sonoran Fantasy or Coming of Age? by Ralph Beals, Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico by Richard A. Diehl, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition by M.H. Abrams, Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion by James Maffie, The Mirror of Magic: A History of Magic in the Western World by Kurt Seligmann, Filming Castaneda: The Hunt for Magic and Reason by Gaby Geuter, America by Jean Baudrillard, Carlos Castaneda: American Trickster by Robert(a) Marshall, Endeavors in Psychology by Henry A. Murray, Ronald Reagan The Movie: And Other Episodes in Political Demonology by Michael Rogin, Yucatan by Andrea De Carlo, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence by Adrienne Rich, The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Policies by James A. Clifton, Fear of Freedom by Carlo Levi, The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico by Octavio Paz, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent by Lionel Trilling, Freedom & Its Discontents: Reflections of Four Decades of American Moral Experience by Peter Marin, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, Feet of Clay Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus by Anthony Storr, The Storyteller Essays by Walter Benjamin, Life of Dreams: Field Notes On Psi, Synchronicity, And Shamanism by Douglass Price-Williams, Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt, The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrere ,High Culture: Drugs, Mysticism, and the Pursuit of Transcendence in the Modern World by Christopher Partridge, The Metamorphoses of Don Juan by Leo Weinstein, Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria, Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing by Michael Taussig, Shamans of the 20th Century by Ruth-Inge Heinze, Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge edited by Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley, The Human Career: The Self in the Symbolic World by Walter Goldschmidt, In Sorcery's Shadow by Paul Stoller, The Diabolic Root by Vincenzo Petrullo, Native Studies: American and Canadian Indians by John A. Price, The World of Time Inc by Curtis Prendergast, For Those Who Come After: A Study of Native American Autobiography by Arnold Krupat, Another Life by Michael Korda, The Contemporary Culture of the Cahita Indians by Ralph L. Beals, The American Adam by R.W. Lewis, A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan, Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and Americans Identities by Laura Browder, The Theatre of Don Juan by Oscar Mandel, Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity by Christopher Miller, The Sense of an Ending by Frank Kermode, Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie Fiedler, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam, Melville's Quarrel With God by Lawrance Thompson, Shamanism Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, Extrasensory Ecology: Parapsychology and Anthropology by Joseph K. Long, On Phenomenology and Social Relations by Alfred Schutz, Seeing Castaneda by Daniel Noel, Prophetic Charisma by Len Oakes, Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Death Valley and the Amargosa by Richard E. Lingenfelter   Trickster Podcast, LLC. All rights reserved.

This is an encore for a previous episode of Critical Matters. One in five US residents receives ICU care at the end of life. In this episode, we discuss different aspects of end of life care in the ICU. Our guest is Dr. BJ Miller, a physician, author, and speaker. He is a practicing hospice and palliative medicine physician and is best known for his 2015 TED Talk, "What Really Matters at the End of Life." BJ has been on the teaching faculty at UCSF School of Medicine since 2007. He is a powerful advocate for the role of our senses, community, and presence in delivering palliative care and for ushering in a new perspective on living with death. Additional Resources: What really matters at the end of life, BJ Miller presented at TED 2015: https://bit.ly/3EcOslB Clinician-Family Communication About Patients' Values and Preferences in Intensive Care Units. Scheunemann LP et al, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019: https://bit.ly/3jzNqqD A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death. BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger: https://amzn.to/3rpl6LM Vital Talk courses, a set of online and in person courses designed to equip clinicians with the tools to have difficult conversations with patients and families: https://www.vitaltalk.org/courses/ Books Mentioned in this Episode: Man's Search for Meaning. Viktor Frankl: https://amzn.to/37l3Mk9 Mortally Wounded: Stories of Soul Pain, Death and Healing. Michael Kearney: https://amzn.to/3xsyAKI Bering Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Atul Gawande: https://amzn.to/3Jz3OlG The Denial of Death. Ernest Becker: https://amzn.to/3vfQ22e

Meltem Demirors is the Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, a digital asset investment firm that manages $4B. Meltem is also known as the vibes sorceress, curator of vibes, and the queen of crypto. She's been in the space for more than eight years and has seen the ebbs and flows of not only the markets, but the people that make up the space. As a whole, the people that make up the space are part of the entire crypto cult. Whether you're team Bitcoin or Ethereum, or whichever other coins, protocols, DAOs, people, etc. you support—you're part of the cult. We don't mean the negative connotation of the word cult, anon. Relax. Cults are everywhere. Over the years, the online magic of crypto has bled into the IRL side of the space. How will this trend impact the future of the space? Why are cults everywhere? What advice does Meltem have for new crypto participants? Answers to these questions and so much more in the episode. ------

In this episode, poet and critic Elisa Gabbert (The Unreality of Memory) joins host Catherine Nichols to discuss Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death. The book draws from psychology and philosophy to develop a theory of human behaviors motivated by fear of death and the desire to influence the world past an individual's natural life span. Gabbert and Nichols talk about how Becker's ideas look in a modern context of climate change, pandemic and sexual liberation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Krawisz (aka The Bitcoin Emperor) shares with me his latest thoughts about what Fredrick Nietzsche and Ernest Becker had to say about taking risks in life. Daniel implores us to consider taking some calculated risks in life. Thanks, The Bitcoin Cash Podcast for the chapter marks! Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:42 Discussing economics 00:03:10 Presentation start 00:06:34 Nietzsche and Becker 00:11:21 Random walks 00:14:51 Fear of death 00:16:32 Economics and Becker's psychology 00:23:05 Darwinian influence 00:24:14 Theory summary 00:26:00 Rationality of instinct 00:30:47 Fauci 00:33:57 Summary of attitudes 00:40:35 Application of theory 00:45:00 Optimal strategy 00:48:35 Modern cultural groups 00:57:58 Men and danger, philosophical approaches 01:03:00 Practical implementation and Warren Buffet 01:07:00 Scams/games 01:10:00 Value of money and Bitcoin --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aaronolson/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aaronolson/support

In search of a creative elixir to bring new life to his flailing film career, the great Italian director, Federico Fellini, pursues his long-cherished dream of adapting Castaneda's books into films. But on his trip to Los Angeles, in 1984, to meet Castaneda, his dream soon turns into a nightmare. After listening, be sure to check out:Episode Slide Show: bit.ly/3a5adFLOne Extra Thing: bit.ly/3A1ykQoDiscussion Thread: bit.ly/3ivJGGy www.tricksterpodcast.com Trickster: The Many Lives of Carlos Castaneda is a guppy production:Creator and Executive Producer: Frank HortonProducers: Ville Haimala, James Orestes, Yuval ShapiraCo-Producers: Kevin Barth, Steve Barilotti, Colin Stewart, Ybrahim Luna, Ana Djordjijevic, Dan Girmus, Celeste Cuevas, Collins Harris IV, Robert(a) Marshall, author of an upcoming biography of Carlos Castaneda, American Trickster, Katie Kidwell, Justin AierSenior Producer: Pablo VacaComposer: Ville HaimalaSound Designer and Mixer: Randy WardEditors: Frank Horton, with additional editing by Randy Ward, Paul Calo and Yuval Shapira We wish to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the research of scholars, journalists and authors who have contributed tiles to the mosaic that is our project. Trickster is based, in part, on the following books and articles:Ultimas Noticias Sobre Carlos Castaneda by Arturo Granda, Conversations with a Young Nahual by Byron de Ford, Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde, Ascent and Descent of the Sacred Mountain by Claudio Naranjo, Tezcatlipoca: Trickster and Supreme Deity edited by Elizabeth Baquedano, Fractured Times by Eric Hobsbawm, All Things are Possible Selected Essays by Lev Shestov, La increíble hisotoria de Carlos Castaneda by Ybrahim Luna, Castaneda's Journey and the Don Juan Papers by Richard De Mille, Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians by Barbara Myerhoff, Theory in anthropology since the sixties by Sherry Ortner, Viscerality, faith, and skepticism: Another theory of magic by Michael Taussig, Introduction to the Teachings of Don Juan by Octavio Paz, A Thousand Plateaus by Deleuze & Guattari, A Hushed Death for Mystic Author by J.R. Moehringer, Missing Amalia by Matt Ward, Sonoran Fantasy or Coming of Age? by Ralph Beals, Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient Mexico by Richard A. Diehl, The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition by M.H. Abrams, Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion by James Maffie, The Mirror of Magic: A History of Magic in the Western World by Kurt Seligmann, Filming Castaneda: The Hunt for Magic and Reason by Gaby Geuter, America by Jean Baudrillard, Carlos Castaneda: American Trickster by Robert(a) Marshall, Endeavors in Psychology by Henry A. Murray, Ronald Reagan The Movie: And Other Episodes in Political Demonology by Michael Rogin, Yucatan by Andrea De Carlo, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence by Adrienne Rich, The Invented Indian: Cultural Fictions and Government Policies by James A. Clifton, Fear of Freedom by Carlo Levi, The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico by Octavio Paz, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent by Lionel Trilling, Freedom & Its Discontents: Reflections of Four Decades of American Moral Experience by Peter Marin, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, Feet of Clay Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus by Anthony Storr, The Storyteller Essays by Walter Benjamin, Life of Dreams: Field Notes On Psi, Synchronicity, And Shamanism by Douglass Price-Williams, Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt, The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrere ,High Culture: Drugs, Mysticism, and the Pursuit of Transcendence in the Modern World by Christopher Partridge, The Metamorphoses of Don Juan by Leo Weinstein, Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria, Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study in Terror and Healing by Michael Taussig, Shamans of the 20th Century by Ruth-Inge Heinze, Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge edited by Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley, The Human Career: The Self in the Symbolic World by Walter Goldschmidt, In Sorcery's Shadow by Paul Stoller, The Diabolic Root by Vincenzo Petrullo, Native Studies: American and Canadian Indians by John A. Price, The World of Time Inc by Curtis Prendergast, For Those Who Come After: A Study of Native American Autobiography by Arnold Krupat, Another Life by Michael Korda, The Contemporary Culture of the Cahita Indians by Ralph L. Beals, The American Adam by R.W. Lewis, A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan, Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and Americans Identities by Laura Browder, The Theatre of Don Juan by Oscar Mandel, Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity by Christopher Miller, The Sense of an Ending by Frank Kermode, Love and Death in the American Novel by Leslie Fiedler, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam, Melville's Quarrel With God by Lawrance Thompson, Shamanism Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade, Extrasensory Ecology: Parapsychology and Anthropology by Joseph K. Long, On Phenomenology and Social Relations by Alfred Schutz, Seeing Castaneda by Daniel Noel, Prophetic Charisma by Len Oakes, Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Death Valley and the Amargosa by Richard E. Lingenfelter