Podcasts about Joseph Campbell

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes New York Times bestselling author Sara Pennypacker to discuss her powerful new historical novel, The Lions' Run. Sara shares how her father's experience as a teenage POW in a German prison camp during World War II influenced the story—and how a little-known Nazi program called the Lebensborn became the emotional trigger that set her empathetic orphan hero, Lucas, into action.From redefining what courage looks like for young readers to trusting kids with big, complicated questions about justice and resistance, Sara reveals why empathy is the true root of all bravery, how Joseph Campbell's storytelling wisdom shaped a pivotal cherry strudel scene, and why Jon Klassen's breathtaking cover art inspired her to go back and make the book even better.Whether you're a parent looking for meaningful middle grade historical fiction, an educator exploring WWII through a fresh lens, or a fan of Pax eager to see what Sara does next, this conversation is a moving celebration of quiet heroism and the enduring power of story.Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review (coming soon)⁠.Highlights:The Epigraph That Says It All: Why an African proverb about elephants and grass perfectly captures the heart of the bookThe Lebensborn Program: The little-known Nazi eugenics program that inspired the story—and why Sara felt compelled to bring it to light for kidsEmpathy as Courage: Why Lucas was never really a coward, and why Sara believes true bravery always begins with caring about someone other than yourselfThe Termite Theory: How many small, quiet acts of resistance—not one loud heroic moment—can take down something enormousCherry Strudel and Joseph Campbell: How the antagonist's own power gets turned against her in one of the most satisfying scenes in the bookJon Klassen's Cover: How seeing the finished art sent Sara back to her manuscript for one final, vibe-elevating revisionBig Cheese Preview: A sneak peek at Sara's next book—and why she's finally giving a child character all the powerNotable Quotes:"The true root of all courage is empathy. You have to care enough about someone other than yourself to go into some kind of action." —Sara Pennypacker"No matter what you are resisting, you are not alone. There are people working behind the scenes." —Sara PennypackerBooks Mentioned:The Lions' Run by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠The Borrowers by Mary Norton: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠About Sara Pennypacker:Sara Pennypacker is the New York Times bestselling author of the beloved Clementine series, the Pax duology, and her newest novel, The Lions' Run. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and have earned numerous awards and honors. A former painter, Sara brings a visual artist's sense of structure and scene to every story she writes. She lives in Florida.Credits:Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Sara PennypackerProducer: Bianca Schulze

Originally aired April 25, 2018. American philosopher and best-selling author Jean Houston describes herself as an "evocateur of the possible" and a "midwife of souls." She sits down with Oprah to talk about her expansive career, mythologist Joseph Campbell, her work with luminaries like Hillary Clinton and the moment she had her spiritual awakening at age 6. Jean discusses her book "The Wizard of Us: Transformational Lessons from Oz," which examines the timeless American classic "The Wizard of Oz," a mythic tale brimming with spiritual insights and lessons. Jean reveals how Dorothy's journey can be a catalyst to live an authentic life filled with heart, brains and courage. Oprah also shares her favorite spiritual lesson from "The Wizard of Oz." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are men taught to be strong at the cost of being whole, and is that inner fracture driving disconnection, addiction, and despair? Josh Trent welcomes Connor Beaton to the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast, episode 801, to break down the myth of modern masculinity, why suppression masquerades as strength, how porn, stress, and emotional avoidance become coping mechanisms, why men need initiation and mentorship to move from numbness to mastery, how shadow work and confrontation build real confidence, and why emotional leadership is the foundation of healthy relationships and fatherhood.

By Andrew Bryant is the founder of Self Leadership International and author of POTENTIAL-IZE: Unlock Potential, Maximize Performance, Inspire Excellence (Wiley, 2026). AI can now compose symphonies, pass the bar exam, and generate text that reads like it was written by a human hand. So, when people ask me, "What is left for us to do?" I give them an answer that surprises them. Tell stories. Not because storytelling is a quaint leftover from the pre-digital era, but because it is the one capability that reveals exactly where the boundary between human and artificial intelligence lies. And understanding that boundary is the key to thriving in the age of AI rather than being diminished by it. Humans Tell Stories, AI Can Only Simulate Them The Necessity, Not Just the Ability AI can undoubtedly generate compelling text that mimics stories. Large language models produce narratives with structure, tension, and resolution. On the surface, the output can be impressive. But there is a fundamental difference between simulating a story and telling one. When humans tell stories, we do not simply relate to sequences of events. We weave meaning, emotion, and significance into experience. Our stories emerge from the texture of being embodied in the world: feeling pain, desire, love, loss, and wonder. Our narratives build upon generations of shared wisdom, values, and traditions. Through stories, we make sense of our existence, creating purpose in a universe that does not readily offer obvious meaning. AI has none of this. It has no childhood memories. No experience of triumph or despair. No fear of death or hope for transcendence. It cannot love. These are not limitations that will be solved by the next model upgrade. They are the defining characteristics of what it means to be human. What makes us distinctive is not just the ability to tell stories but the necessity of doing so; our fundamental need to transform experience into narrative as we search for meaning in our finite existence. Why This Matters for Leaders This is not a philosophical abstraction. It has direct implications for how we lead, hire, and build organisations. Neuroscience research (Stephens et al., 2010) demonstrates that storytelling creates "neural coupling." When someone tells a story, the listener's brain activity mirrors that of the storyteller, creating a deep emotional connection. This is how trust is built. This is how cultures are formed. This is how human beings decide to follow someone into the unknown. No algorithm replicates this. When Klarna deployed AI to handle 2.3 million customer service conversations, it worked brilliantly on paper. But the company quietly rehired humans because efficiency is not the same as effectiveness. Customers in distress did not want processing. They wanted presence, and presence lives in stories. In my research for POTENTIAL-IZE (Wiley, 2026), I studied hundreds of leaders who have successfully navigated the AI transition. They all follow, often unconsciously, six interconnected principles I call the IGNITE framework: Inspire, Guide, Nurture, Integrate, Transform, and Evaluate. The first element, Inspire, is where storytelling lives. Leaders who inspire do not recite data points or strategic objectives. They share stories that give people permission to reimagine who they are and what they are capable of. They become, as mythologist Joseph Campbell described, the mentor in someone else's hero's journey, the person who sees potential where others see limitations. But here is what IGNITE reveals that most leadership models miss: storytelling is not just a communication technique. It connects to every other element of the framework. When leaders Guide through questions rather than directives, they are inviting people to author their own stories. When they Nurture belief and belonging, they create the psychological safety for those stories to be told honestly. When they help people Transform through adversity, they are reframing s...

In this episode, we welcome Brandon Boyd. Best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the multi-platinum band Incubus, Brandon has cultivated a parallel life as a painter, writer, and visual artist. He has published three books of visual art, exhibited internationally, and created large-scale installations and residencies in the U.S. Across music and visual work alike, his creative output returns to themes of impermanence, identity, nature, and transformation. Alongside his work with Incubus, Brandon continues to release solo music while expanding into acting and mentorship.In this conversation with Tyler Lapkin of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, we explore where creativity begins, Brandon's movement between music and painting as a single inner current, the influence of myth and Joseph Campbell, and the artist as a conduit for something larger than the self.For more on Brandon visit: https://www.brandonboyd.me/ For more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribeThe Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Tristan Batt.All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)

Different gym owners need different leadership books.In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper shares a simple plan to help you use the contents of any book to improve yourself and your business, and then he recommends specific books in each realm of leadership.Self-Leadership (to go fast, go alone):“Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty“The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin“Courage Is Calling” by Ryan Holiday“Dare to Lead” by Brené Brown “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield“Drive” by Daniel PinkTeam Leadership (to go far, go together):“Be the Unicorn” by William Vanderbloemen “Good to Great” by Jim Collins“Vivid Vision” by Cameron Herold“Leadershift” by John Maxwell Peer Leadership (share the mission beyond your gym):“Influence” by Robert Cialdini “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller“The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale CarnegieTribe Leadership (influence your community at scale): “The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell” by Michael Toms “The Dichotomy of Leadership” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin “Enchantment” by Guy Kawasaki “Resilience” by Eric Greitens “Tribes” by Seth Godin Plus, from Feb. 9 to 13, 2026, only, Coop is giving away free digital copies of his 10 books for gym owners.Go to Gym Owners United (linked below), DM him with your biggest challenge, and he'll send you the right book to start with.LinksGym Owners UnitedBook a Call1:56 - Your leadership diagnostic6:31 - Self-leadership books8:44 - Team leadership books10:57 - Peer leadership books11:58 - Tribe leadership books

In der 106. Ausgabe von VWFNO begrüßen Roland und Gerry den Althistoriker Dr. Michael Kleu. Als Experte für Antikenrezeption beleuchtet Kleu die Schnittstelle zwischen klassischer Geschichte und moderner Popkultur. Dabei erfahren die beiden unter anderem, warum Mythen, Monster und Helden der Antike auch im 21. Jahrhundert in Kino, TV, Videospielen und Literatur allgegenwärtig sind, was es mit der zeitlosen Faszination von Archetypen auf sich hat und warum die Heldenreise ein universelles Erzählmuster bleibt. Zudem gibt Kleu Einblicke in seine Arbeit als Brückenbauer zwischen akademischer Forschung und Fandom, etwa bei der Analyse antiker Strukturen in Franchises wie Star Wars oder dem Marvel Cinematic Universe. Viel Spaß

When your coaching business feels too hard, it's rarely just about strategy.In this conversation (a follow-up to Episode #115), Ruth Saville, Alex Whitton and Robbie Swale explore three of the biggest pressure-points coaches face as they try to stay in the work for the long game: self-doubt, money, and the quiet temptation to question everything when things feel wobbly.Together, we talk about:Self-doubt: how it shows up, why it's so persistent, and what helps you stay grounded (including building your own evidence bank of impact)Tactics and alignment: the difference between “hard because it's growth” and “hard because it's avoidable suffering”Money pressure: why financial scarcity affects how we think, and how simple, practical actions can bring steadiness backStaying in the game: creating systems that help you keep moving even when you're tired, overwhelmed, or questioning your pathThis is an episode for coaches who want to keep going - without pretending it's easy, and without needing to take themselves quite so seriously along the way.And if you'd like support with all of this - building the business and staying human while you do it - you can explore The Coach's Journey Community here: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/communityListen to Part 1 of this conversation: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/115-what-do-you-do-when-your-coaching-business-feels-too-hardDownload Robbie's ebook, An Introduction to The Coaching Business Flywheel, here.For more information about Ruth, visit https://www.ruthsaville.co.uk/For more information about Alex , visit http://www.exploregrowbe.com/For more information about Robbie, visit https://www.robbieswale.com/Read more about The Coach's Journey at www.thecoachsjourney.com.Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQgTo support the Coach's Journey, visit www.patreon.com/thecoachsjourney and to join the Coach's Journey Community visit www.thecoachsjourney.com/community. THINGS WE MENTIONED THAT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED INFree Ebook: An Introduction to the Coaching Business Flywheel: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/the-coaching-business-flywheelThe Coach's Journey Community: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/community Get to know Ruth better: Robbie's interview with Ruth on The Coach's Journey Podcast https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-66-ruth-saville-how-to-be-a-rebel-misbehave-more-and-set-your-sights-on-being-a-master-coach Get to know Alex better: Robbie's interview with Alex on The Coach's Journey Podcast https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-64-alex-whitton-balancing-the-being-and-the-doing Part 1 – What Do You Do When Your Coaching Business Feels Too Hard https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/115-what-do-you-do-when-your-coaching-business-feels-too-hard The Power to Choose by Robbie Swale: https://geni.us/powertochoose The Power to Choose in conversation on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-114-robbie-swale-the-power-to-choose-calm-complexity-and-the-courage-to-be-fully-yourself The Coach's Journey – Writing: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/writing The Coach's Journey – Videos: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/videos Joseph Campbell quote from the Power of Myth and Alex's blog on it: https://www.exploregrowbe.com/blog/what-are-the-rules-we-hold-ourselves-to-where-did-they-come-from-and-how-are-they-serving-us-nownbsp Campbell and Bill Moyers talking about Myth, Sacrifice and Bliss: https://billmoyers.com/content/ep-4-joseph-campbell-and-the-power-of-myth-sacrifice-and-bliss-audio/ Philosophise this - Silence, Obedience and Joy https://www.philosophizethis.org/podcast/episode-158-the-creation-of-meaning-nietzsche-the-ascetic-ideal-f8k5h-k8xfx Ashana Crichton on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/98-ashana-crichton-the-potential-for-true-partnership-if-we-pay-attention-to-power Chloe Garland on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-65-chloe-garland-the-jam-donut-principle-quarter-life-crises-and-the-philosophy-of-coaching Jenny Bird on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/109-jenny-bird-the-joy-of-sparkly-new-things The ICF's Global Coaching Study report - https://coachingfederation.org/resources/research/global-coaching-study/ Patrick Quinton-Smith on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/107-patrick-quinton-smith-clarity-is-revealed-in-momentum-so-build-momentum-and-clarity-will-come Henrietta Nelson on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-46-henrietta-nelson-nobody-else-can-put-a-feeling-in-you Rebecca Norton on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/96-rebecca-norton-how-coaching-walks-can-guide-us-to-new-pathways-through-life Robbie's book How to Keep Going When You Want to Give Up: https://geni.us/justdoit Dan Pink – “When” (timing & energy rhythms) https://www.danpink.com/books/when/ Elizabeth Gilbert - Big Magic - https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/books/big-magic/Ellie Scarf on The Coach's Journey: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/102-ellie-scarf-our-stories-and-scars-can-be-points-of-connection Ellie Scarf's podcast episode, The Funds are in the Follow Up - https://www.elliescarf.com/podcasts/the-business-of-executive-coaching/episodes/2148989827James Clear, Atomic Habits - https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habitsAtomic Habits – Business appendix (PDF) https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic%2BHabits/Business%2BAppendix.pdf The Art of Possibility (Zander & Zander) https://www.benjaminzander.org/the-art-of-possibility/ Robbie's Zone of Genius blog - https://www.robbieswale.com/the-12-minute-blog/2022/2/3/the-zone-of-genius-the-most-powerful-thought-experiment-for-personal-transformation The Prosperous Coach (Rich Litvin & Steve Chandler) - https://richlitvin.com/book/

„Wer nichts verändern will, wird auch das verlieren, was er bewahren möchte.“ – Gustav Heinemann [ Willkommen bei „Zuckerfrei beginnt im Kopf“. In dieser Folge geht es um einen entscheidenden Moment deiner Heldenreise: die Weigerung des Rufs – also genau den Punkt, an dem du tief in dir spürst, dass sich etwas mit Zucker verändern darf, aber alles in dir am liebsten in der alten, scheinbar sicheren Welt bleiben möchte. In dieser Podcastfolge erfährst du: ⭐ woran du deinen „Ruf zur Zuckerfreiheit“ erkennst – von Müdigkeit und Heißhunger bis zu diesem leisen Gefühl: „So will ich nicht weitermachen.“ ⭐ warum die Weigerung („Jetzt ist kein guter Zeitpunkt“, „Ich schaff das eh nicht“) ein normaler Teil der Heldenreise ist – und was sie mit Angst vor Veränderung zu tun hat. ⭐ wie Geschichten wie die von Jona im Bauch des Fisches, Simba im Exil oder Luke Skywalker vor seinem Aufbruch dir helfen, deine eigene Flucht vor dem inneren Ruf zu erkennen. ⭐ was Joseph Campbells Heldenreise über Ruf, Weigerung und das Überschreiten der ersten Schwelle lehrt – und wie du diesen ersten Schritt in Richtung zuckerfreies Leben konkret für dich gehen kannst. ⭐ wo du eine weitere Folge von mir findest („Deine Heldenreise & Growth Mindset: Zuckerfrei werden“), wenn du noch tiefer in die Heldenreise rund um Zuckerfreiheit eintauchen möchtest: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/deine-heldenreise-growth-mindset-zuckerfrei-werden/id1635441287?i=1000708361884 ✨ Empfehlung – zuckerfreie Pralinen zum Valentinstag Wenn du dir oder einem Herzensmenschen zum Valentinstag etwas Besonderes schenken möchtest, kann ich dir die zuckerfreien Dattelpralinen mit Erdbeerfüllung von Odilia empfehlen. Sie sind richtig lecker und nur mit Datteln gesüßt – ganz ohne zugesetzten Zucker. Rabattcode: LEANDRA10 für deine Bestellung. Werbung Weitere Links für dich:

Building on their recent podcast episode on Kung Fu Panda (John Stevenson & Mark Osborne, 2008) with screenwriter John Yorke, Alex takes Chris through the mechanics and mysteries involved in the hero's journey, Joseph Campbell's famous structure and patterning of narrative, to discuss how such storytelling archetypes link to Jungian approaches towards the process of character individuation. Topics include the big-screen reworkings of the hero's journey and its industry function as a screenwriting template; theorisations of form and formalist frameworks for understanding narrative organisation; Campbell's interests in the traces of our unconscious mind as found in collective archetypes that surround culture; and the way that the formula for heroic action and its calls to adventure can and do work within the creative spaces of fantasy. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo** **As featured on Feedspot's 25 Best London Education Podcasts** **As featured on MillionPodcast's Best 10 UK Animation Podcasts and Best 60 Movie Podcasts in the UK**

EVEN MORE about this episode!Did your soul choose this life—and its challenges—before you were born? Join Julie Ryan and developmental psychologist Robert Atkinson, PhD, as they explore pre-birth planning, destiny, déjà vu, and how ancient myths reveal the deeper purpose behind your life's journey. Through powerful spiritual stories and folklore— including tales of souls receiving their life path before birth—they explore whether experiences like déjà vu may be echoes of a greater design meant to guide our growth and awakening.This episode dives into myths and sacred stories not as literal history, but as profound psychological and spiritual maps. Dr. Atkinson reveals how timeless narratives—from Jonah and the whale to Gilgamesh and Odysseus—share a universal structure rooted in Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, offering a blueprint for transformation that transcends culture and time. These stories, he explains, are invitations to wholeness—calling us to face trials, claim meaning, and evolve beyond duality.Together, Julie and Dr. Atkinson explore how imagination, community, meditation, prayer, and spiritual guidance help us interpret these stories in a modern world overflowing with information but starving for wisdom. This rich conversation will change how you view your life story—inviting you to see your challenges not as obstacles, but as sacred signposts guiding you toward purpose, unity, and deeper consciousness.Guest Biography:Robert Atkinson, PhD, is an award-winning author, educator, and developmental psychologist whose work bridges storytelling, personal transformation, and the evolution of consciousness. He is the author or co-editor of more than a dozen influential books, including The Way of Unity: Essential Principles and Preconditions for Peace (2025), A New Story of Wholeness, The Story of Our Time, Year of Living Deeply, and Mystic Journey, earning multiple Gold and Silver Nautilus Book Awards for his contributions to unitive and evolutionary thought. Dr. Atkinson holds a PhD in cross-cultural human development from the University of Pennsylvania with a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Chicago, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern Maine, and is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in life story interviewing, personal myth-making, and soul-centered development. He is the director of StoryCommons, founder of One Planet Peace Forum, a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award as a Visionary Leader from the Visioneers International Network.Episode Chapters:(0:00:01) - Soul's Purpose and Life's Journey(0:12:24) - The Power of Myths and Legends(0:26:42) - The Power of Stories and Imagination(0:37:23) - The Power of Parables and Healing(0:55:43) - The Path to Wholeness➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Español YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Português YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Deutsch YouTube➡️Subscribe to Ask Julie Ryan Français YouTube✏️Ask Julie a Question!

What if the stories you tell about innovation are actually working against you? In this episode of the Innovation Storytellers Show, I do something a little different. I open a new series by inviting other storytellers I deeply admire, people who bring their own lenses, frameworks, and lived experience to the craft of story. I want you to think about storytelling as an expansive, evolving practice, not a single narrative you perfect once and reuse forever, but a skill you keep refining as your audiences, challenges, and ambitions change. To begin that journey, I sat down with Park Howell, a 40-year veteran of brand storytelling and host of the Business of Story. Park shares how he found storytelling through advertising, why stories have a repeatable structure rooted in human biology, and what he calls the science and bewitchery behind stories that truly move people.  We unpack his deceptively simple "and, but, therefore" framework, why leaders lose rooms with bullet points, and how story becomes the bridge that helps people move from status quo thinking to real behavior change. We also explore why storytelling so often fails in organizations, especially when leaders make the story about themselves rather than their audience.  Park explains how innovation stories should focus on outcomes, not offerings, and why emotional connection must come before logic if you want ideas to stick. From the hero's journey and Joseph Campbell's influence to the reality of selling ideas in five-minute executive meetings, this conversation is packed with practical insights for anyone trying to communicate change under pressure. We close by looking at how AI fits into modern storytelling, including Park's work on the Story Cycle Genie, and why emotional intelligence combined with artificial intelligence may shape the next era of leadership communication. If innovation is ultimately about getting people to move, decide, and act, how might your stories need to change to meet them where they are, and what could happen if you finally told the story they were waiting to hear?  

The daily news is filled with stories of division, wars, mass shootings, rights getting overturned, political chaos, and so much continuous devastation. What can we do collectively to ease the pain? Our guest today, scholar, philosopher, and researcher Jean Houston, Ph.D., delves into the idea of finding possibility, even during these times of great grief. We have been conditioned to respond to the terrible, but it does not have to be this way. As an icon in the Human Potential movement, Jean shares ideas about how the Renaissance, with its advancements in music, art, poetry, and cosmology,  came after great plagues and times of war, much like the world's situation today. Could we be in a new Renaissance period now? We are once again in a similar time of radical growth, and we have the power within us to see new possibilities and reach mythical potential in our human evolution.   Jean shares stories of her travels and talks about her friendship with scholar Joseph Campbell and how they would have "beautiful fights" which were friendly arguments and deep discussions about mythology and the fate of humanity. Campbell wrote extensively about the "Hero's Journey," while Jean considered the "Heroine's Journey." Part of the problem is that 50% of the human race is not being recognized for women's immense creativity and power. Women's ways are missing. With an emphasis on compassion, cooperation, community, and process rather than product and competition, humane creativity must be celebrated by acknowledging the achievements of women.  She also talks about her fateful meeting of evolutionary philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who became one of her mentors when she was much younger. At an early age, they would have profound discussions of time, history, and transformation, as she gained an alternate education of possibilities through their talks. Info: https://www.jeanhouston.com/

If our storytelling allows us to build trust, build credibility, and build a bond in sales, then we’re telling the right stories. If it’s just designed to be manipulative, then save your breath. David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today’s episode, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the power of storytelling in sales. Jay, tell me a story. Jay: Listen, I am a storyteller. I love to tell stories and I like to build when I tell stories, right? This is something that I use on a regular basis when I’m talking to people. And it’s not just telling a story. I think it’s putting people in a story and what character are they in that story? And I think most people want to be the hero in their own story, right? David: They do. Which gets to the whole idea of the hero’s journey, for anyone who follows that sort of story arc. The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell. But it’s a book and it describes essentially the plot of most of the most popular movies of all time. Jay: Yeah, David: Right. Star Wars, Rocky, anything where you’ve got this person who is initially kind of beaten down and not winning. Then they come into contact with a mentor. They learn new things and have a confrontation and it might not go well. Then they learn some more things and then eventually they come out triumphant. There’s a whole arc. And you’re right, a lot of people want to be the hero, and the challenge as a salesperson is, in our storytelling, we can’t be the hero. Mm. Right. We need to make sure that the person we’re talking to is the hero and that we are the mentor or guide. We’re not Luke Skywalker. We have to be Yoda. We have to be the one who’s helping Luke to destroy the Death Star. Jay: Yeah. This is a really hard thing, I think for a lot of people. Because we want to go in and think we’re the hero, right? I’m coming into your business. I’m going to provide something that is going to save the day, and then I’m going to walk away and you’re going to praise me and you’re going to pay me. But that’s not what really is supposed to be happening, right? It’s that I have the tools and the resources that you need to be the hero. David: Yes, and it’s easy to forget that, particularly when we’re trying to read ourselves in as the hero to each story. But one of the things that I’ve noticed in sales is that many, if not most of the very best salespeople are also the best storytellers. You can say. “Hi, do you know what time it is?” And instead of getting the time, you will get a fantastic story that might weave the time into it. Jay: Mm. David: But you’re going off in all kinds of directions, and when they do it right, it’s captivating enough that you sit there and pay attention. Jay: Yeah. But you pointed out “when you do it right.” David: Yes. Jay: Right. so let’s talk about that a little bit. Let’s talk about your feedback on doing it right. David: Well, number one, as we already touched on, it can’t just be all about you. You can’t make the story about yourself. You need to make it about them, and a lot of that upfront comes from finding out about them, which means you’re asking more questions, then you’re answering, hopefully in the early stages. Jay: Yes David: Because customers always just want to know what it’s going to cost upfront, and you don’t generally want to lead off with that. So a lot of our storytelling will actually have to come from the conversations that ensue after we’ve gathered enough information. Jay: Yeah. David: To know what those stories need to be about. If we just go in and we meet somebody for the first time and we start telling them stories, that’s probably not ideal. We need to still initially do some sort of diagnostic upfront to find out what their interests are. Now, of course, a lot of salespeople, they do the whole thing about walking into the office, looking around, oh, I see a big buck hanging up there on the, Jay: mm-hmm. David: On the wall. The person’s a hunter. You start talking to them about hunting, that type of thing. And, it’s very obvious. It works in some situations to break the ice, so you can ask the person. Because the other thing about storytelling is it doesn’t just have to be you telling stories. If you can get the prospect to be telling stories to you, then they’ll be more likely to engage in a longer conversation because most people are more interested in hearing what they have to say versus what somebody else has to say. Jay: Yeah. David: So sometimes you can just let somebody talk for a long time and they feel like they had the best conversation, even though the salesman didn’t say anything at all. Jay: Yeah, I’ve had people like look at the pictures on the wall and stuff, and that can come off as so plastic and so fake. But I do think the most important thing is to get them talking. And the more talking they do and the less talking you do, the better off those things are. If you can get them to be the storyteller and then you can help them improve that story or tell them how that story’s going to get better, that’s the zone where you want to be. David: Yeah, exactly. And I think that a good sales process does that, in the sense that when you’re leading off with intelligent, probing questions that don’t come across as intrusive -it can’t be like you’re giving them the third degree. You got a light shining in their face. Jay: Yeah. David: And you’re trying to get information out of them. It can’t be anything like that. But if you’re asking intelligent, probing questions and you’re finding out about them, they’re going to open up more. And the more they talk, the better it is for you. Another thing that a lot of salespeople do is they mistakenly ask yes or no questions. They ask binary questions instead of open-ended questions. If you ask an open-ended question, they’re likely to talk more, which is going to allow the conversation to flow a lot more organically. They can tell stories. You can then potentially tell some sort of story about something that relates to something they said. Again, keeping it focused on them and what they need and what they’re looking to do. For salespeople, case studies, testimonials, things like that can be good stories as long as they’re not just being forced down people’s throats. If somebody’s talking about a promotion that they did or something that they did in the past that worked well, then you can acknowledge that. “Wow, that’s great. That sounds like that was really amazing. We had a similar situation with a client where this happened or that happened,” and then you can relate with that story. But that also brings up another thing. If somebody tells a story, then you don’t want to try to tell a story that’s designed to sound better than theirs. Mm-hmm. Right? So you don’t want to change gears. But if you can establish some sort of comradery among them by indicating that you’ve had similar experiences, then your stories will go a lot farther. Jay: Yeah. And I think a couple things from my own experience: don’t interrupt. Don’t cut them off. Right? Let them talk. But I think where people really miss out and you know that I interview people for part of my living, right? David: Mm-hmm. Jay: And I’ve been a professional interviewer for 20 years, and I find that the key is not the initial question. Yes, ask open-ended question. That’s very, very important. But the key is always the follow-up question, and that’s where people fall down. They ask the question, they got the person talking, and then they dive into their product spiel, right? If you ask a follow-up question, it shows that you’re listening. It shows that you’re interested. And it will take you places that you never ever thought you could go. Like I have interview s where people send a list of questions and I’m like, just so you know going to ask you follow up questions and we’ll bounce around, and those kind of things. And by the time they’re done, they’re energized and they just feel so appreciated. and it’s because of active listening and good follow up questions. David: Yes. And that is so completely critical in sales. Jay: Yeah. David: People who don’t get that are at a tremendous disadvantage. You know, one of the big advantages of storytelling is that it allows you to potentially infuse emotion into an emotionless conversation. Jay: Mm-hmm. David: A lot of sales conversations are very sort of clinical and product oriented and detail oriented and price oriented, and it’s hard to get somebody into the zone. It’s hard to get them emotionally positive about the idea of buying something without being able to trigger something inside. Otherwise, it’s just a list of details and facts and specifications where if we can get them engaged with how they feel about what the product or service is going to do for them, the end result that they’re getting. What’s the thing that they want to have happen as a result of engaging in this promotion or doing whatever it is that they’re going to do? If they can tell you that and get themselves into a state of enthusiasm over your product, they’re going to be a hundred times more likely to buy it. Jay: Oh yeah, absolutely. I think that the natural fallback for salespeople is to focus on specifications. You know, I’ve been there on the car lot and the guy wants to show me all the specifics and horsepower and all those things. And then I’ve had people talk about, what are my goals and focusing more on my life than on this particular one item. It really shows, you know, more caring and that they’re more interested in me. David: It does, and you also have to be aware of the person you’re talking to. Because sometimes people will hear something like that and they’re like, I don’t want to get into that. Jay: Yeah. David: Just tell me how much it costs, or whatever. Jay: Yeah. David: And for some, that might be a disqualifier, right? Jay: Mm-hmm. David: And for others you say, okay, well I’ll provide the information. I’ll see if this goes anywhere. But a lot of times when people are unwilling to communicate at a deeper level, to me it indicates they’re not a good quality prospect to be interacting with. I was talking with someone earlier today. I had a situation where they booked a strategy session call with us and like had absolutely no idea why they were calling and Jay: mm, David: And so there was a video that they went to, to watch. He hadn’t watched the video and he is, he didn’t know why he was calling. And I said, well, listen, out of respect for your time, why don’t we do this? Take a look at the video, see if it makes sense for us to have a conversation. If it does, we can go back here and regroup. And he said, okay, fine. Right. So the call was over in three or four minutes. Jay: Yeah. David: But it was respectful for both of us. It was respectful of his time. It’s respectful of mine, and I think that all sales conversations need to do that. They need to be respectful of both the prospect and the salesperson. And too often, as salespeople, we feel so sort of humbled or so disadvantaged or whatever it is. we always put the needs of the prospect first. You’ve heard the customer’s always, right. Jay: Yeah. David: Which is not always true. Jay: Agreed. David: But you want to treat them as if it is. Particularly in the early stages, until you find out that it’s not the truth. But in those situations, if you recognize that your time is just as valuable as theirs, we all have a certain number of ticks on the clock. We don’t know what that number is. We want to make sure that we’re spending our time as well as possible, as productively as possible, with the people who are on the same wavelength and who are ready to interact with us. Jay: Yeah. And that goes back to the podcast we did recently about pre-qualifying people and really finding out ahead of time if they really, you know, fit within your business model and those kind of things. But, you know, a lot of times you’re not going to know unless you just start talking to somebody and you start asking them questions and I think if you’re doing this right, it’s not going to feel plastic, it’s not going to feel fake. I have a genuine desire to learn about people and to find out about them. David: Yeah. Jay: And you know, if that’s what you’re doing, they’re going to sense that. If you’re just doing it to, okay, now let’s cut to the chase and let’s get to the details and hopefully I can sell you. They’ll sense that too, David: Right. Yeah. I think that if our storytelling allows us to build trust, Build credibility, build a bond, then we’re telling the right stories. If it’s just designed to distract and be a shiny object to try to get them to tell something. If it’s designed to be manipulative, then save your breath. Jay: Yeah, absolutely. How do people find out more, David? David: You can go to TopSecrets.com/call, schedule a call with myself or my team. There’s actually a video right on that page. What I would encourage you to do, it says at the top right there, before you schedule a call, watch this video. So take a look at that, get an idea of how we’re helping other people, what it does for other people. If it makes sense for you, then you can just scroll down and you can schedule a call and we can work with you essentially to find out where you are now in your business versus where you want to be. We can look at your visibility in the marketplace. How are you doing in terms of visibility, in terms of sales, in terms of profit? And just walk you through a couple of things will allow you to maybe think more clearly in terms of how you can get from where you are now to where you want to be. So it’s TopSecrets.com/call. Love to have a conversation with you. Jay: And I’m sure you’ll tell ’em a great story. David: I just might! Jay: David. It’s always a pleasure. David: Thanks Jay. Are You Ready to Tell More Stories that Lead to Sales? If so, check out a few ways we can help: Just Getting Started? If you (or someone on your team) is just getting started in promotional product sales, learn how we can help. Ready to Grow & Scale Your Business Fast? If you're an established distributor serious about growing your sales and profits now, check out this case study and schedule a call with our team. Need EQP/Preferential Pricing? If you're an established distributor doing a decent volume of sales, click here to get End Quantity Pricing from many of the top supplier lines in the promo industry.

Everything you need to know about why sobriety alone isn’t enough – and what real recovery actually looks like. Listen, I see this pattern ALL the time with the people I work with. They quit drinking, they think they’ve done the hard part, and then a few weeks or months in… they’re confused. They’re disappointed. They’re thinking, “Is THIS what the rest of my life is going to be like?” And the answer is: only if you stop here. Sobriety is quitting. Recovery is healing. And the only way to stay sober – the only way to actually build a life you love – is to do the healing work Most people quit drinking hoping sobriety won't be too inconvenient. They want the same life.The same relationships.The same routines.Just… without alcohol. And at first, it works. You feel better. Clearer. Less foggy. But then — weeks or months in — the feelings come back. Anxiety.Overwhelm.Anger.Fear. All the things alcohol was quietly managing for you? They're still there. And now they're loud because you aren’t numbing them anymore. That doesn't mean sobriety is failing.It means your nervous system is healing. Today, I’m sitting down with Michael Z, who has 30 years of sobriety. And let me tell you, this conversation is GOLD. Michael is old-school AA, incredibly honest, and he shares exactly what it was really like in early sobriety and what it takes to build a life you actually want to live long-term. Because recovery isn't a destination — it's a practice. If you’re newly sober and struggling – if you’re thinking “why is this so hard?” or “I thought things would be better by now” – you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just in the gap. The gap between sobriety and recovery. Grab your headphones, get comfortable, and let’s talk about what it really takes to stay sober. Trust me, this conversation is going to give you the clarity and the roadmap you need to move forward. If you're done white-knuckling, overthinking, or feeling stuck in that miserable middle — and you want real support to build a solid recovery foundation — I can help.

The year 2025 marked the sixth without a new Star Wars movie in theaters since The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Sequel Trilogy. In the past few years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC superhero films have struggled with consistency at reaching their prior levels of box-office earnings and fan satisfaction. We found it interesting, then, that two 2025 superhero movies – the MCU's rebooted The Fantastic Four: First Steps and DC's new iteration of Superman – showcased several prominent storytelling elements that we wish Lucasfilm had been able to incorporate into the Sequel Trilogy, as we talked about on the blog and podcast when the Sequel Trilogy was in development and production. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss how these two movies show the path that Star Wars missed in advancing new and important ideas for today's heroic tales. These two superhero movies have three big ideas in common that would have worked well for the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, too. First, neither First Steps nor Superman is an origin story. The titular characters, the Fantastic Four quartet and the Metropolis icon, are already established celebrity superheroes on their worlds when the movies begin. Rather than learn how to use their powers, they instead face the challenges of how to use their powers – and what to do when their powers can't solve the problem they're facing. Second, both movies are focused on themes of family and teamwork, rather than the lone-hero formula so familiar from Joseph Campbell's monomyth. The Fantastic Four has two siblings, a husband, and a best friend, and each of them has a character arc. James Gunn's Superman finds support from several superhero allies while Clark Kent relies on his colleagues at The Daily Planet to help carry the day, and his emotional journey in the films is inseparable from his connections to his birth parents on Krypton and the adoptive Kents on Earth. Third, both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman are works of aspirational heroic fiction, fitting audience expectations for the characters as well as finding human truths in their themes and characterizations that urge the audience to want to be better people, too. In tandem with these analyses of the two superhero movies, we examine how the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would have benefitted from similar storytelling elements. Star Wars contained plenty of examples for telling stories about Jedi apprentices who are already trained in the Force, rather than necessitating Rey's first movie to mirror Luke's in discovering her connection to the Force in the first instance. Similarly, the Sequel Trilogy mostly abandoned the Skywalker family saga and failed to form a consistent and coherent heroic trio like the Original and Prequel Trilogies did. The Sequel Trilogy also failed to successfully tell aspirational stories with its legacy characters or its new characters. Perhaps most importantly, the storytellers developing the Sequel Trilogy had access to plenty of precedent, both within Star Wars and in contemporary genre stories, to have been able to identify areas in which the Star Wars franchise could help to push forward new ideas and themes in today's storytelling, rather than simply repeating the old tropes and beats from the Lucas films. Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

In this episode of The Podcast With A Thousand Faces, mythologist Leigh Melander joins longtime friend and fellow Campbell scholar Brad Olson for a wide-ranging, playful, and deeply human conversation about myth, imagination, and meaning.Drawing from their shared history at Pacifica Graduate Institute and their long involvement with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, Leigh and Brad explore myth not as a static archive of ancient stories, but as a living, breathing way of seeing — one that quietly shapes how we understand ourselves, our culture, and the world we're making together.Along the way, Leigh brings her full mythic lineage into the room: her background in cultural mythology and psychology, her longtime leadership with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, and her work as co-founder of Spillian, a regenerative center for imagination and creativity in the Catskills. She shares how her scholarship and creative practice converge around play, frivolity, and the imaginal as serious forces for transformation — whether through ritual, community, writing, or her evolving SpillianQuest project, a mycelial web of tools and adventures designed to help people create meaning in times of change.What emerges is a conversation rooted in friendship and intellectual play — a reminder that myth doesn't give us answers so much as it sharpens our questions. It's an invitation to loosen our grip on the literal, re-enter the imaginal, and remember that myth is still alive, thinking through us, and quietly asking us to participate.Learn more about Leigh and Spillian at https://spillian.com/ For more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribeThe Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Tristan Batt.All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)

Why This Episode Matters This milestone 550th episode brings the Business of Story full circle to its foundational inspiration: Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey. Host Park Howell interviews John Bucher, PhD, Executive Director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, revealing why the Hero's Journey is more than a story framework - it's a neurological blueprint for business success. What You'll Discover The Neuroscience of Storytelling Modern research shows the Hero's Journey mirrors the exact neurological patterns your brain uses to solve problems. When you structure business communications around this framework, you're speaking the native language of human decision-making. How Customers Really Make Decisions John Bucher reveals the truth most businesses miss: Customers make emotional decisions first, gather evidence to support those feelings second, then justify logically third. As Robert McKee said, "The conscious mind is simply the PR department that justifies all the decisions the emotional subconscious mind makes." This is why stories (which communicate feelings) are more powerful than data alone. The Two Paths to Business Transformation Discover how the "Call to Adventure" manifests differently for entrepreneurs versus managers: • Entrepreneur's Journey: Driven by dissatisfaction, voluntarily leaves comfort zone, proactively pursues opportunity • Manager's Journey: Forced by circumstances, faces organizational changes, adapts to involuntary transitions Understanding both paths helps you connect with any audience. Your Customer Is the Hero (Not Your Brand) The positioning shift that transforms marketing from pushy to magnetic: Your brand is Yoda, not Luke Skywalker. You're the mentor providing guidance, not the hero seeking glory. John explains: "We all trust ourselves more than we trust anyone else. When we create the framework for listeners to tell themselves the story, it's so much more powerful." What You're Really Selling "Chevrolet doesn't sell automobiles, they sell freedom." Customers don't buy based on specifications - they buy emotional stories about what products enable in their lives. You're selling transformation, not products. From Intuitive to Intentional Storytelling We're all natural storytellers, but there's a difference between intuitive and intentional storytelling. Learn how to replicate storytelling success consistently without becoming a story theorist. The Hero's Journey as Life Instruction Manual Christopher Vogler calls the Hero's Journey "an instruction manual for life." John Bucher agrees: "No matter how good things are going, bad times always come. That road of trials is something we all keep returning to." The framework helps you recognize patterns, identify mentors, and embrace transformation as natural. Guest Expert John Bucher, PhD, is a renowned mythologist and story expert who has been featured on the BBC, the History Channel, the LA Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and numerous other international outlets. He serves as Executive Director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and is a writer, storyteller, and speaker. John has consulted and worked with government and cultural leaders around the world, as well as organizations such as HBO, DC Comics, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, A24 Films, Atlas Obscura, and The John Maxwell Leadership Foundation. He is the author of six influential books on storytelling and has worked with New York Times best-selling authors, YouTube influencers, Eisner winners, Emmy winners, Academy Award nominees, magicians, and cast members from Saturday Night Live. Holding a PhD in Mythology & Depth Psychology, he integrates scholarly insights with practical insights, exploring the profound connections between myth, culture, and personal identity. His expertise has helped shape compelling narratives across various platforms, enriching the way stories are understood, told, and experienced globally. Website: tellingabetterstory.com Episode Highlights • The Deathbringer and Lifebringer Native American story that illustrates what you're really selling in business • Why Joseph Campbell opposed dogmatic application of the Hero's Journey (and championed diverse adaptations) • Park Howell's synchronicity experience: Lights flickering when mentioning Campbell's death anniversary • How Park's career demonstrates multiple hero's journeys (agency founder at 35, story consultant at 55) • The Refusal of the Call in sales: Why customer resistance is a natural stage, not permanent barrier • John Bucher's accidental hero's journey (enrolled in music program, ended up in film/TV by mistake) • The Fundamental Attribution Error and how it affects business communication • Why the Hero's Journey is a form (not formula) - the tango dancing metaphor • How to use storytelling language to create deeper listening and engagement Resources Mentioned Quick Introduction (3 minutes): "What It Takes to Be a Hero" by Matthew Winkler (TED-Ed video) - Created by a teacher to help struggling teens understand they're not alone Accessible Learning: • "The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler (5th edition) • "The Power of Myth" book and PBS series with Bill Moyers (6 one-hour episodes) • "Finding Joe" documentary Deep Study: • "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell (1949 - warning: very arcane) New Release: • "Joseph Campbell on the Hero's Journey" - Joseph Campbell Essentials series pocket gift book (available on Amazon) Business Application: • Story Cycle System by Park Howell • Venables Bell & Partners Audi campaigns (perfect 30-second Hero's Journey examples) Key Quotes John Bucher on Decision-Making: "When we understand story, we start to get shortcuts into the thinking of people behind how they make decisions." On Campbell's Philosophy: "Joseph Campbell was not a fan of dogma. He was interested in putting things out on the table for thoughtful engagement and good conversation." On Story Power: "Stories bypass the head and go straight to the heart. We've heard it all before in business - we're looking for different ways to bring information that hold just a bit of surprise." Park Howell on Intentional Storytelling: "We are all by nature intuitive storytellers. But you can become an intentional storyteller simply by understanding these frameworks." On Story as Operating System: "Storytelling is the software that drives the hardware of the operating system - our meaning-making machine in our limbic system, hippocampus, and amygdala." Connect John Bucher: tellingabetterstory.com Joseph Campbell Foundation: jcf.org (weekly newsletter available) Park Howell: businessofstory.com Story Cycle System: businessofstory.com/story-cycle-genie Related Episodes • Episode 425: The ABT Framework Explained - Mastering And-But-Therefore for Business • Episode 380: Customer Journey Mapping with Story Frameworks • Episode 510: Brand Archetypes in Action - Finding Your Authentic Voice About Business of Story The Business of Story podcast helps business professionals, marketers, and entrepreneurs master the power of strategic storytelling. Host Park Howell, creator of the Story Cycle System, interviews world-class experts on applying narrative frameworks to business growth, customer engagement, and brand development. Subscribe: businessofstory.com/podcast

To learn about The Freedom Project - Click here In this Dead Talk session, two familiar teachers step in right away—Joseph Campbell and Ram Dass—and the atmosphere is set with an image of a “classroom after it's over,” signaling the core theme: no pressure, no performance, nothing to prove. Campbell reframes the Hero's Journey in a way that lands like a revelation: the journey was never meant to be a permanent identity or a life-long mandate. It's a map for early identity formation, but many people turn the map into a moral obligation—equating struggle with legitimacy and suffering with worth. From his current perspective, the journey doesn't end in triumph…it ends in irrelevance—not failure, but the relaxing of the need to matter. The “return” isn't to be admired; it's to be absorbed back into life, ordinary and intimate, without a narrative. Ram Dass deepens that message with warmth and humility, sharing that he spent much of his life trying to be a “spiritual hero,” until life dismantled the role through his stroke—forcing surrender in public. The gift, he says, is that when you can no longer perform wisdom, you either become it or drop the act entirely. That collapse revealed something truer: love remained even when he wasn't useful, articulate, or “teaching.” The session's central question emerges: “What are you no longer willing to carry?” The conversation then pivots into a powerful explanation of the Freedom Project as a field, not a program—something co-created by everyone touched by it. A program is information moving one direction; a field is mutual attunement, where insights land faster, resistance softens without confrontation, and people feel seen without being analyzed. The field holds ambiguity without panic, supports nervous system settling through contextual safety, and helps participants become coherent with the version of themselves they're tuning toward—without forcing linear steps. Campbell also revisits “Follow Your Bliss,” clarifying that bliss was never meant as indulgence or pleasure—it's the subtle feeling of life moving through you: curiosity, fascination, a signal of direction. The reason people resist bliss isn't laziness—it threatens identity, disrupts duty-as-virtue conditioning, and removes the “moral high ground” of sacrifice. Bliss doesn't justify itself, and that's why it's so liberating. Finally, Ram Dass speaks candidly about LSD and psychedelics: they don't create alignment, install wisdom, or heal trauma by themselves. They can offer a glimpse—showing what's possible when self-reference drops—but they don't teach the nervous system how to live there. Psychedelics are a door-opener, not a home. The session closes with the same overarching invitation: as the hero dissolves, life becomes simpler, more present, and more intimate—service without superiority, love without a role, and freedom without the need to matter.

Joseph Campbell, the visionary author behind The Heroes Journey, once wrote:"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."Today's guest, leadership coach, organizational consultant, and wellbeing expert, Vivien Tai in many ways has picked up where Joseph Campbell left off. Her pioneering research for her Master's Thesis in Positive Psychology Explored a provocative question:What if the real measure of a good life — or a great workplace — isn't how much we achieve, but how

What if Joseph Campbell got it backwards? The hero's journey appears in every culture, every medium, every age. We assume it's psychology. We assume it's shared brain architecture producing shared narratives. But what if we're not inventing these stories? What if we're remembering them? What if every myth, every movie, every bedtime story is actually a training simulation for the journey consciousness takes after death? The Tibetan Book of the Dead reads like a screenplay. Near-death experiences follow three-act structure. And we keep showing heroes walking into the light like we're trying to teach ourselves not to be afraid when the moment comes. Is any of this possible? Are we copying life when we tell stories, or are we copying the exit ramp?​​If you are having a mental health crisis and need immediate help, please go to​ ​​​https://troubledminds.org/help/ and call somebody right now. Reaching out for support is a sign of strength. ​ ​ ​ ​​​LIVE ON Digital Radio! Http://bit.ly/40KBtlW ​ ​ ​​http://www.troubledminds.net or ​ ​ ​ ​​https://www.troubledminds.org ​​​​Support The Show! ​ ​ ​ ​​https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/troubled-minds-radio--4953916/support ​ ​ ​ ​​https://ko-fi.com/troubledminds ​ ​ ​ ​​https://patreon.com/troubledminds ​ ​ ​ ​​https://www.buymeacoffee.com/troubledminds ​ ​ ​ ​​https://troubledfans.com ​ ​Friends of Troubled Minds! - ​ ​ ​ ​​https://troubledminds.org/friends ​ ​​​Show Schedule Sun--Tues--Thurs--Fri 7-10pst ​iTunes - ​ ​ ​​​​https://apple.co/2zZ4hx6 ​Spotify - ​ ​ ​​​​https://spoti.fi/2UgyzqM ​TuneIn - ​ ​ ​​​​https://bit.ly/2FZOErS ​Twitter - ​ ​ ​​​​https://bit.ly/2CYB71U ​​​​​----------------------------------------​​https://troubledminds.substack.com/p/art-imitates-the-afterlife-the-light​​https://www.andrewholecek.com/after-death-states-the-bardos-in-tibetan-buddhism/​​https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/patrul-rinpoche/bardo-introduction​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-death_experience​​https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-near-death-experiences-reveal-about-the-brain/​​https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3769617/That's another dive into the mysteries they don't want you exploring here on Troubled Minds Radio. Keep Your Mind Troubled: If today's episode challenged your perception of reality, you're exactly where you need to be.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and hit that notification bell so you never miss our investigations into the unknown.Your five-star rating and review helps other truth-seekers find us in this sea of mainstream disinformation. Join the Community: Connect with nearly 1,000 fellow researchers in our Discord server, follow @TroubledMindsR on X for breaking updates, and support independent media by upgrading to Spreaker Prime for exclusive bonus content.Share Your Truth: Got a paranormal encounter, conspiracy evidence, or inside knowledge they're covering up? Email troubledmindsradio@gmail.com - your story could be featured on an upcoming episode. This is your host reminding you that in a world of manufactured narratives, questioning everything isn't paranoia...

The Story Science Forgot: Why Psychotherapy Needs Narrative More Than Ever by Joel Blackstock LICSW-S MSW PIP no. 4135C-S | Dec 15, 2025 | 0 comments Joseph Campbell is arguably one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. If you have watched a Marvel movie or read a modern fantasy novel or sat in a screenwriter's workshop you have encountered his fingerprints. George Lucas explicitly credited Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces as the structural backbone of Star Wars. Every major Hollywood studio has copies of his work floating around their development offices. Even filmmakers who actively deconstruct his monomyth model still have to be in conversation with Campbell to do so. You cannot escape him if you are telling stories in the Western tradition. But here is the thing about Joseph Campbell that we need to hold in our minds when we think about what psychology has become. He was a showman. He was a legitimate scholar but also someone who understood that the truth sometimes needs a little theatrical assistance. The Showman and the Bear Bones One of Campbell's favorite presentation techniques involved showing an image of ancient bear bones that were perhaps two million years old and discovered in a cave. The bones had been arranged in a particular way with pieces shoved back into the bear's mouth. Campbell would present this with his characteristic gravitas and explain that the ancients understood that nature must eat of itself. They knew that to take life is to participate in a cyclical loop of giving and receiving. The bear consuming itself was a ritual recognition that we are all food for something else. It is a beautiful interpretation. It is probably even partially true. We know through depth psychology and early anthropology that prehistoric humans were almost certainly trying to make meaning of existential realities. Ritual practices around death and consumption are well documented across cultures. Campbell was not fabricating this from nothing. But also come on Campbell. These are two million year old bones shoved in a hole. Maybe the jaw just collapsed that way. Maybe soil shifted. Maybe an animal disturbed them centuries after burial. He did not know. He could not know. And yet he presented it with the confidence of revealed truth. Here is why this matters. Campbell's influence is incalculable despite his methodological looseness. He told a story that resonated so deeply with something in the human psyche that it became the invisible architecture of our entire entertainment industry. He was not objectively right about those bear bones but he was pointing at something real about how humans make meaning. The story he told about that meaning making was more powerful than any peer reviewed paper could have been. We need to remember this when we think about psychotherapy and what it has become. The Dream I Had and the World I Found When I first entered the field of psychotherapy I had a fantasy. I thought I was going to be Joseph Campbell. I was going to find my way to someplace like Berkeley and immerse myself in the grand conversation between psychology and mythology and anthropology and philosophy. I imagined something like the Esalen Institute in the 1970s where Fritz Perls developed Gestalt therapy and where researchers and mystics and clinicians sat together in hot springs and argued about the nature of consciousness. Those places barely exist anymore. What I found instead was a competitive model built on H-indexes and impact factors. I found academic departments that had been siloed into increasingly narrow specializations. Each department defended its territorial boundaries against incursion from neighboring disciplines. The institute model where a psychologist might spend an afternoon talking to an anthropologist about ritual has been systematically dismantled. What we have instead are specialists who do not read outside their sub specialty and researchers whose entire careers depend on defending one narrow hypothesis. We have an incentive structure that actively punishes the kind of cross pollination that leads to genuine discovery. The Hollow Room: How the Biomedical Model Fails This is not just an academic inconvenience. It is a catastrophe for the human sciences and for the actual treatment of patients. There is a reason Freud stuck around. It is not because psychoanalysis was rigorously validated through randomized controlled trials. It is because as the science writer John Horgan observed old paradigms die only when better paradigms replace them. Freud lives on because science has not produced a theory of and therapy for the mind potent enough to render psychoanalysis obsolete once and for all. The biomedical model promised us a better story. It told us that humans are biological machines and that suffering is just a mechanical malfunction. It promised that if we could just find the right neurotransmitter or the right gene we could fix the machine. But look at what that looks like in practice. It looks like the 15 minute medication management appointment. A person comes in with their life falling apart. They are grieving a divorce or wrestling with the trauma of their childhood or facing a crisis of meaning. And the doctor looks at a checklist. They ask about sleep. They ask about appetite. They ask about energy levels. They treat the symptoms like check engine lights on a dashboard. They prescribe a pill to dim the lights and they send the person away. It looks like manualized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This is the gold standard of evidence based treatment. But in the vacuum of a manual it becomes absurd. A patient might be crying about the loss of a child and a therapist who is strictly adhering to the protocol has to redirect them to the agenda for Module 3 which is identifying cognitive distortions. The model has no room for the tragedy of the situation. It only has room for the erroneous thought that the patient is having about the tragedy. The result is that by most measures we are not actually helping people more effectively than we were fifty years ago. To understand the depth of this failure, we must look at the “smoking gun” of the psychiatric establishment: the STAR*D study. For nearly two decades, this massive, taxpayer-funded study was held up as the irrefutable proof that the “medication merry-go-round” worked. It cost $35 million and was cited thousands of times to justify the idea that if a patient didn't get better on one antidepressant, you simply switched them to another, and then another. The study claimed a “cumulative remission rate” of 67%. It told us that two-thirds of people would be cured if they just complied with the protocol. This was a lie built on methodological quicksand. A forensic re-analysis of the data (Pigott et al., 2023) revealed that the researchers had inflated their success rates through a series of stunning methodological sleights of hand. The original design called for the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) to be the primary outcome measure. But when that scale wasn't showing the numbers they wanted, investigators switched to a secondary, unblinded, self-report questionnaire (the QIDS-SR) which painted a rosier picture. Furthermore, the re-analysis exposed that hundreds of patients who dropped out due to side effects were excluded from the failure count, effectively scrubbing the negative data. Even worse, over 900 patients who didn't even meet the minimum severity for depression were included to boost the numbers. When the data was re-analyzed using the study's original criteria and including all participants, the cumulative remission rate plummeted from 67% to 35%. But the most damning statistic is the sustained recovery rate. Of the 4,041 patients who entered the trial, only a tiny fraction achieved remission and actually stayed well. When accounting for dropouts and relapses over the one-year follow-up period, a mere 108 patients achieved remission and stayed well without relapsing. That is a sustained recovery rate of 2.7%. If a heart surgery or cancer treatment had a failure rate of 97.3%, it would be abandoned. Yet, this study was championed by investigators with deep financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, and the results were codified into clinical guidelines that still rule the profession today. This is the indictment: we have built an entire system of care on a statistical fabrication, prioritizing the protection of the model over the healing of the human. I have big problems with Freud. I have big problems with classical psychoanalysis. I am more of a Jungian. But here is what the depth psychologists understood that the biomedical model forgot. Humans are not just biological machines. We are meaning making creatures who navigate the world through story. When you take away our stories you do not make us more rational. You make us lost. The Flock of Dodos This separation of science from narrative has hurt the researchers too. In his book The Ghost Lab journalist Matt Hongoltz-Hetling uses the flock of dodos metaphor to describe this phenomenon. He argues that specialized creatures that are perfectly adapted to narrow environments become extinct when conditions change. Academic science has become a flock of dodos. A neuroscientist studies one particular brain region. A psychologist studies one particular therapeutic intervention. An anthropologist studies one particular culture. Nobody is allowed to step back and ask what all of this means together. When you silo information into separate academic disciplines instead of organizing it into a holistic understanding you kill the narratives that are already there. You cannot see the story until you step back far enough to recognize the pattern. Heidegger and the AI Bubble One of the primary functions of a subjective narrative in an objective field like psychotherapy is that it lets us start with things we consider self evident. These are things that do not need evidence because they are the ground upon which evidence stands. Things like humanity is important. Things like we contain multiplicities and conflicting parts. Things like consciousness is a mystery. The biomedical model has no way to accommodate these self evident truths because they are not measurable. You cannot run a randomized controlled trial on human dignity. Martin Heidegger understood this trajectory. He warned that science and technology were becoming self justifying systems that asked only whether something could be done and never whether it should be done. We are watching this play out right now with Large Language Models and Artificial Intelligence. The tech industry is boiling seawater and consuming enormous amounts of our remaining resources to build ever larger systems. As Ed Zitron has documented the current AI boom is likely a bubble that will crash and burn. It may leave us with a Google monopoly on Gemini that will not actually help anybody. Should we be doing this? Should we be fundamentally restructuring our economy around technology whose benefits are speculative at best? The Heideggerian answer is that we are not even capable of asking these questions properly because we have lost the narrative framework within which “should” makes sense. When everything is reduced to capability and efficiency the concept of values disappears. The Perennial and the Possible Can we just recognize that having a livable planet is probably a self evidencing goal? Can we recognize that having a psychotherapy willing to engage with perennial philosophy might be more valuable than another meta analysis demonstrating small effect sizes for manualized interventions? This is what I mean by reintroducing narrative. I do not mean replacing evidence with myth. I mean recognizing that the facts do not speak for themselves. Data requires interpretation. Interpretation requires a framework. And frameworks are stories about what matters. The story science forgot is the story of science itself. It is the story of how inquiry emerged from human communities trying to understand their world. We can recover this story. We can rebuild the connections that the academic silos have severed. The path is there. It always has been. We just need to be brave enough to walk it. The Exodus of the Sick If academic science has become a flock of dodos clinical practice has become something arguably worse. It has become a reenactment of the Milgram experiment where the system plays the role of the authority figure and the patient plays the victim. We often remember Stanley Milgram's famous 1961 study as a lesson about the capacity for evil but its deeper lesson was about the capacity for distance. When the subject had to physically touch the victim compliance with the order to harm them dropped to 30 percent. The White Coat only retained its authority when it created a buffer between the human actions and their consequences.   Modern psychotherapy has built a massive administrative White Coat that separates the healer from the healed. This is not just a metaphor. It is a structural reality that is actively driving patients out of the profession and into the arms of pseudoscience. The Bureaucracy as Trauma For a patient in crisis the Evidence Based system often functions as a machine of exclusion. A study on healthcare administrative burdens reveals that the psychological cost of navigating billing and insurance denials and intake forms acts as a friction that hits the most vulnerable the hardest. We ask trauma survivors to retell their stories to three different intake coordinators before they ever see a therapist. This process is itself retraumatizing. When they finally reach a provider they are often met with the biomedical gaze which is a checklist driven assessment that reduces their complex narrative of suffering to a code for billing. As the Australian Psychological Society has noted the chemical imbalance theory and the medicalization of distress have failed to reduce stigma and have instead left patients feeling defective and unheard. The result is a profound Low Trust environment. Theodore Porter in his book Trust in Numbers argues that we only rely on strict mechanical numbers when we do not trust people. We use the DSM and manualized protocols because insurers do not trust clinicians to judge and clinicians do not trust themselves to deviate. The Great Split: Why Research and Practice Are Divorcing This creates a fundamental schism that explains why the profession feels like it is cracking in half. On one side you have the academic researchers who are incentivized by grant funding and publication metrics. To get these rewards they must isolate variables and create reproducible manualized protocols. This means they must strip away the very thing that makes therapy work which is the messy and unrepeatable human relationship. On the other side you have the clinicians who are incentivized by patient outcomes. They are in the room with the messiness. They see that the manualized protocol fails the complex trauma patient so they improvise. They integrate. They use intuition. The academic looks at the clinician and sees a cowboy who ignores the data. The clinician looks at the academic and sees a bureaucrat who has never treated a suicidal patient. This is why the research is no longer informing the practice. We have created two different languages. The researcher speaks in p-values and population averages while the clinician speaks in case studies and individual breakthroughs. Why Pseudoscience Wins the Trust War This low trust environment creates a vacuum that wellness influencers are all too happy to fill. We often mock the public for turning to unverified supplements and TikTok diagnosticians and quantum mysticism. But we have to ask what these influencers are providing that we are not. They are providing narrative. They are providing connection. They are providing a. parasocial yes but still, High Trust experience. A recent analysis suggests that wellness fads thrive not because people are stupid but because the influencers offer a feeling of personal validation that the medical system denies. Even AI chatbots are now being described by users as more humane than doctors because the AI listens to the whole story without looking at a watch or a checklist. When a patient is told by a doctor that their pain is idiopathic or psychosomatic because it does not show up on a lab test and then an influencer tells them I see you and I believe you and here is a story about why this is happening the patient will choose the influencer every time. The trust gap drives them away from care that might actually help and toward solutions that feel good but do nothing. The Clinician's Moral Injury This leaves the ethical psychotherapist in a state of moral injury. We are forced to participate in a system that we know is alienating the very people we are trying to help. We are trained to value the therapeutic alliance or the bond of trust above all else yet we work in a system designed to sever it with paperwork and time limits and standardized protocols. We have to put down the White Coat of administrative distance. We have to stop hiding behind the Evidence Based label when that label is being used to deny the reality of the person in front of us. Proposals for a Unified Future If we want to stop this exodus and heal the split we need specific structural changes. We cannot just hope for better insurance reimbursement. We need to change what we consider valid science. First we must re-legitimize the systematic case study. For a century the detailed narrative of a single patient was the gold standard of learning. We replaced it with the aggregate data of the randomized controlled trial. We need to bring it back. We need journals that publish rigorous detailed accounts of what actually happens in the room when a patient gets better. Second we need to build open source repositories for clinical observation. Currently the wisdom of the field is locked behind for profit paywalls or lost in the private notes of isolated therapists. We need a Wikipedia of Clinical Practice where thousands of clinicians can document what they are seeing in real time. If ten thousand therapists report that somatic processing helps complex trauma that is a data set that rivals any RCT. Third we need to teach philosophy and narrative in graduate school again. We are training technicians when we should be training healers. A therapist who knows how to read a spreadsheet but does not know how to understand a story is useless to a human being in crisis. If we do not offer a therapy that is human and narrative and deeply relational we will continue to lose our patients to those who do even if what they are offering is a lie. The Mirror and the Map: Why Math is a Story We often treat mathematics as if it were the bedrock of reality itself. We act as though a p-value is a piece of the universe, like a rock or a proton. But we must remember that math is not the thing itself. It is a representation of the thing. It is a map, not the territory. It is a mirror, not the face. Theodore Porter's work in Trust in Numbers reminds us that we reach for these mirrors when we do not trust our own eyes. But the mirror is useless without someone to look into it and interpret the reflection. Data by itself is pointless. It is a pile of bricks without an architect. It requires interpretation to become meaning, and interpretation is fundamentally a narrative act. When we try our best to make a purely objective study, we are still telling a story. We are saying, “These numbers represent this phenomenon.” Then another researcher comes along, looks at the same numbers, and tells a different story: “No, they represent that.” This conflict isn't a failure of science; it is science. The Storytellers of Science The greatest breakthroughs in history did not come from people who just crunched numbers. They came from people who could see the story the numbers were trying to tell. These stories are really damn interesting, often stranger and more beautiful than fiction. Consider August Kekulé. He didn't discover the structure of the benzene molecule by staring at a spreadsheet. He discovered it by dreaming of a snake eating its own tail—the Ouroboros. His subjective, narrative brain provided the image that unlocked the objective chemical reality. The data was there, but it needed a myth to make it intelligible. Look at Quantum Physics. The raw math of quantum mechanics is cold and abstract. But when physicists like Erwin Schrödinger or Werner Heisenberg looked at that data, they saw a story about uncertainty, about cats that are both alive and dead, about a universe that only decides what it is when it is observed. They didn't just calculate; they interpreted. They told a story about reality that was so radical it changed how we understand existence. Even in psychology, the data of the “talking cure” was messy and anecdotal until Freud and Jung gave us the language of the Unconscious and the Archetype. Were they objectively “right” in every detail? No. But they gave us a framework—a story—that allowed us to navigate the chaos of the human mind. They provided the map that allowed us to enter the territory. The Final Integration We have spent the last fifty years trying to strip this storytelling capacity out of our profession in a misguided attempt to be taken seriously by the “hard” sciences. In doing so, we have thrown away our most powerful tool. The brain is a story-processing machine. To treat it with checklists and spreadsheets is to deny its fundamental nature. We need to be brave enough to pick up the mirror again. We need to be brave enough to look at the data—whether it's the 2.7% recovery rate of STAR*D or the trembling pupil of a trauma patient—and ask, “What is the story here?” The path forward isn't about choosing between science and narrative. It is about realizing that science is a narrative. It is the grandest, most complex, most rigorous story we have ever tried to tell. And it is time we started telling it properly again.   More @ https://gettherapybirmingham.com/

The Gospel in Tombstone Sign up for the Father Matters Zoom Group: https://www.zoweh.org/events#circles  In this episode of the Exploring More podcast, Michael Thompson and SJ Jennings kick off their new "Faves" series by diving into one of their all-time favorite films: Tombstone. Through the lens of the friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, they unpack themes of sacrifice, loyalty, and brotherhood—exploring how one man laid down his life so another could live his. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey," they reflect on the arcs of transformation, the call to adventure, and the role of mentors, weaving these archetypes into real-life spiritual parallels. As they recount powerful moments from Tombstone, the conversation touches on the universal longing for a normal life, the inevitable confrontation with evil, and the beauty of redemptive friendship. Whether it's Wyatt's search for peace or Doc's act of selfless love, the hosts invite listeners to consider the ways story helps us see our own battles, questions, and courage more clearly. It's not just a movie episode—it's a deep reflection on the power of story to mirror truth, stir the soul, and invite us into the greater story God is telling. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite you to connect with us! Sign Up for the Heart of a Warrior Encounter: www.zoweh.org/events

On this episode of Next Level: Good Vibes Only, Jessica and Darren Salquist sit down with special guest Lori Mage to explore what it means to truly become the hero of your own story.Drawing inspiration from Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, Lori shares the real-life moments that shaped her—moments of courage, heartbreak, resilience, and revelation. From answering the call to become a life coach to navigating deep personal loss and uncertainty, Lori's story is one of transformation through adversity. Together, they dive into how challenges become turning points, how mentors show up in unexpected ways, and how the hardest moments often hold the greatest wisdom.This episode isn't just about Lori's journey—it's about yours. Whether you're in a season of transition, self-doubt, or reinvention, you'll find relatable reflections and actionable insights to help you embrace your own path with more compassion, intention, and strength.It's time to tune into the call, move through the unknown, and return stronger—with gifts to share.Follow Darren Salquist, Life Changer, Self-Mastery + Heroic Performance Coach, PTA, and Personal TrainerIG: @salquid ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/salquid/⁠⁠Linkedin ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-salquist-3836b770/⁠⁠FB: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/darren.salquist?mibextid=LQQJ4d⁠⁠Follow Jessica Salquist, Life Changer, Nationally Board Certified Reflexologist, Heroic Performance Coach, and Executive LeaderIG: @reflexologyjedi ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/reflexologyjedi/⁠⁠Linkedin: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-salquist-46b07772/⁠⁠FB: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/salquistjessica?mibextid=LQQJ4d⁠⁠Find us both on IG @nextlevelreflexologycoaching ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelreflexologycoaching⁠⁠Wellness + Coaching — Next Level Coaching and ReflexologyWebsite: ⁠⁠www.nextleveltransformationalcoaching.com⁠⁠ Check out Heroic.us to enroll in a coaching program and be part of an amazing community.Buy the book Arete here: ⁠⁠https://a.co/d/ctXhK7A⁠⁠ (on Amazon)

A couple of weeks ago, I had Nathan Sills return to The Journey to talk about his film Afterglow. The night of the final public showing a fellow guest speaker was SaVana the older sister of Devon and his two brothers who were in the film. During the episode, SaVana shares about her experiences growing up in extreme poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction. She shares about her mental awakening at an early age the introduction to Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and how that have served as templates to navigate in life today as woman, wife, mom and sister. Enjoy! Afterglow is free on YouTube at this time.

Star Trek episodes, the title credits of Alien, the architecture of Star Wars and Blade Runner, the work of Joseph Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker and Alejandro Jodorowsky. You'd be surprised how many iconic artworks have been influenced by transformative themes traced back to Mesoamerican mythology and Ancient Maya theology. On this episode, host Martin Kessler is joined by Mesoamerican occultist Solomon Pakal to discuss the Mesoamerican influence on science fiction/fantasy and horror. If you enjoy this chat make sure to hop back to Episode 69, in which Martin goes deep into Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's Mesoamerican action movie. The Pink Smoke on Twitter: x.com/ThePinkSmoke Martin Kessler on Twitter: x.com/MovieKessler Solomon Pakal on Substack: solomonpakal.com

Molly Graham has worked for some of tech's most effective leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Bret Taylor. Today she leads Glue Club, a community for leaders navigating rapid scale, growth, and change. She's best known for her “Give away your Legos” framework and her collection of practical mental models for leading through hypergrowth.We discuss:1. “Give away your Legos”: a framework for scaling yourself as a leader2. “J-curves vs. stairs”: the two paths of career growth, and why you should pick the scarier path3. “The waterline model” for diagnosing team problems (and why you should “snorkel before you scuba”)4. Six rules for creating effective goals (and aligning everyone around them)5. Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale and change6. Her biggest leadership lessons from Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Sheryl Sandberg, and Bret Taylor—Brought to you by:DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchersBrex—The banking solution for startupsGoFundMe Giving Funds—Make helping a habit—Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-high-growth-handbook-molly-graham—My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/182877855/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation—Where to find Molly Graham:• X: https://x.com/molly_g• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mograham• Substack: https://mollyg.substack.com• Website: https://glueclub.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Molly Graham(04:28) Molly's background at Google, Facebook, Quip, and CZI(11:29) The “Give away your Legos” framework(16:44) Managing your inner monster(19:49) When not to give away your Legos(21:28) Embracing a long career(23:25) The J-curve vs. stairs approach to career growth(32:00) The gift of knowing yourself(34:28) Learning to be a professional idiot(38:30) The waterline model: snorkel before you scuba(47:16) Six rules for creating strong alignment around goals(57:15) Rules of thumb for leading through rapid scale(01:07:49) Investing in high performers vs. low performers(01:10:54) Lessons from Zuckerberg, Sandberg, and Bret Taylor(1:21:15) Pivoting from ambition to purpose(1:26:32) Finding stability in instability(01:29:44) Final thoughts—Referenced:• Making an impact through authenticity and curiosity | Ami Vora (CPO at Faire, ex-WhatsApp, FB, IG): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/authenticity-and-curiosity-ami-vora• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652• Elliot Schrage on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotschrage• Quip: https://quip.com• He saved OpenAI, invented the “Like” button, and built Google Maps: Bret Taylor on the future of careers, coding, agents, and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/he-saved-openai-bret-taylor• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: https://chanzuckerberg.com• 10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-contrarian-leadership-truths• ‘Give Away Your Legos' and Other Commandments for Scaling Startups: https://review.firstround.com/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups• The Muppets: https://muppets.disney.com• Sara Caldwell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramcaldwell• J-Curves vs. Stairs: Two Approaches to Career Growth: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/j-curve• Forget the corporate ladder—winners take risks: https://www.ted.com/talks/molly_graham_forget_the_corporate_ladder_winners_take_risks• Chamath Palihapitiya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chamath• Lori Goler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-goler-6b96921• Joseph Campbell's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/192665-the-cave-you-fear-to-enter-holds-the-treasure-you• Zevi Arnovitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz• Peopling 101: The Waterline Model: https://christinehaskell.com/blog/peopling-101-the-waterline-model• Introduction to NVC: https://www.cnvc.org/learn/what-is-nvc• I hate OKRs... and other thoughts about goal setting: https://mollyg.substack.com/p/i-hate-okrs-and-other-thoughts-about• Lessons from scaling Stripe | Claire Hughes Johnson (former COO of Stripe): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-scaling-stripe-tactics• James Clear's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9614600-problem-1-winners-and-losers-have-the-same-goals• Founder mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html• Stripe: https://stripe.com• Patrick Collison on X: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickcollison• John Collison on X: https://x.com/collision• Seth Godin's best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products• Eric Antonow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonow—Recommended books:• The Artist's Way: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-25th-Anniversary/dp/0143129252• Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building: https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-People-Tactics-Management-Building/dp/1953953212• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

People don't need a reinvention, they need a reason. Peter shows how identifying your personal “call” can create lasting motivation and transform the way you approach life's challenges.Peter, President of The Prouty Project, TEDx speaker, global strategist, and author of The Epic of You, helps people apply the Heroic Journey Mindset to everyday life, a modern, practical take on Joseph Campbell's classic monomyth. After decades of working around the world and surviving malaria, a tropical ulcer, and a near fall into a Saharan well, Peter learned that challenges aren't detours, they're training grounds. His approach helps people see their past not as a list of failures but as a chapter in a larger heroic story, and equips them to step into their next chapter with clarity, courage, and purpose. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

In this solo episode, I offer an in-depth exploration of Psychotherapy and the Daimonic, a remarkable essay by Rollo May, originally published in Myths, Dreams, and Religion, edited by Joseph Campbell.Rollo May introduces the daimonic as any natural force within the human being that has the power to take over the whole person. Far from equating the daimonic with evil or pathology, May argues that it names a fundamental dimension of human power—one that can be creative or destructive depending on whether it is consciously confronted or denied.In this episode, I situate May historically within the development of existential psychotherapy, explore his critiques of behaviorism and humanistic therapy, and reflect on his striking use of myth, language, and religious symbolism. Along the way, I examine themes such as aggression, loneliness, anxiety, repression, panic, and the role of naming in therapeutic change.Drawing on May's discussion of figures like Rainer Maria Rilke and William James, I reflect on why naming alone is never enough—why words can disclose the daimonic but also conceal it through intellectualization—and how genuine healing requires a change in the myths by which we live.This episode is a philosophical and clinical meditation on psychotherapy not as symptom management or adjustment, but as a process of initiation: helping individuals come into conscious relationship with power, reclaim what once possessed them, and move from blind force toward meaning.

People don't need a reinvention, they need a reason. Peter shows how identifying your personal “call” can create lasting motivation and transform the way you approach life's challenges.Peter, President of The Prouty Project, TEDx speaker, global strategist, and author of The Epic of You, helps people apply the Heroic Journey Mindset to everyday life, a modern, practical take on Joseph Campbell's classic monomyth. After decades of working around the world and surviving malaria, a tropical ulcer, and a near fall into a Saharan well, Peter learned that challenges aren't detours, they're training grounds. His approach helps people see their past not as a list of failures but as a chapter in a larger heroic story, and equips them to step into their next chapter with clarity, courage, and purpose. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

Solomon Bergquist is an entertainer and busker based in Chicago, Illinois!

This special edition of KyberCast is basically a love letter to creativity—with Star Wars as the spark that lit the fuse. Joe Becker is joined by longtime friend and creative co-conspirator Chris Eichenseer for a deep, free-flowing conversation about how a galaxy far, far away shaped who they became as artists, designers, and storytellers. From drawing TIE fighters in school notebooks and obsessing over movie posters and typography, to discovering how George Lucas didn't just make a movie—he invented entirely new tools to tell a story—this episode digs into that formative moment when imagination takes over and never really lets go. It's about friendship, fandom, and that magical stretch of time when Star Wars didn't just entertain you… it rewired how you saw the world. But this isn't nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. Joe and Chris connect those early creative awakenings to big, timely questions about human creativity today—AI, analog vs. digital, imperfection, energy, learning, and the courage to keep “walking into the woods” even after decades of experience. They talk Joseph Campbell, the hero's journey, theater-going as a communal experience, and why “good enough” might be the real villain of modern creativity. If you've ever felt Star Wars nudged you toward drawing, music, filmmaking, design, or simply thinking bigger—or if you're wondering how to stay creatively alive in a hyper-digital world—this episode is for you. Plug in, geek out, and rediscover why making things as a human still matters. ✨ https://someoddpilot.com/ https://someoddpilotrecords.com/ https://someoddpilotstudios.com/ https://publicworksgallery.com/

The work of the St. Mary Sister's in Bismarck, ND

Healing from profound exhaustion of the spirit requires more than just thinking of a good plan. Author and Jungian Bea Gonzalez believes in storytelling and myth as powerful tools for healing. In this reissued classic episode, Andrew and Bea discuss: Why fairy tales have so much to teach us. Rediscovering feminine wisdom (which both men and women need) How to analyse a fairy tale to find the message it contains for YOU. The tale of the Skeleton Woman - Andrew and Bea tell this story section by section,  discussing its rich metaphors along the way. Bea Gonzalez is the creator of Sophia Cycles, a project to bring feminine wisdom back to the world. She is the author of several novels (including Invocation, The Bitter Taste of Time and The Mapmaker's Opera). Bea is also a lecturer and educator, and has taught classes on the work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell all over the world.  If You're Looking for More…. You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests  and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50 This week supporters will hear: Code Breaking: Unlocking the symbolic life Three Things Bea Gonzalez knows to be true.  AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees. Follow Up Attend Andrew's men's retreat near Berlin in April 2026: details here  Get Andrew's free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things  Read Bea Gonzalez's novel, Invocation Visit Bea Gonzalez's website https://www.sophiacycles.com/  Follow Bea Gonzalez on Instagram, Twitter/X and YouTube @sophiacycles You might enjoy Andrew's other episode on fairy tales, How Fairy Tales Can Refresh & Move You Forward, with Libby Nugent, or his interview with Jungian analyst and author James Hollis on How to be Resilient. Take a look at Andrew's new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools  Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50 https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Before the Scientific Revolution, Western medicine was thought in terms of humors: cheerful people were sanguine and had a lot of blood, fiery cholerics had an excess of yellow bile, gloomy Melancholics had black bile, and mellow phlegmatics had phlegm of course. And the balancing of humors—hot and cold, wet and dry—was the key to a healthy life. It sounds medieval, it is, rooted in ancient Greeks, but we Catholics like medieval things, and some of us—especially Juan Domínguez, author: Knight, Monk, King, Prophet: A Christian Man's Guide to the Four Temperaments—has found wisdom in this way of thinking. And it's a way of thinking that we hear in some more conservative, or traditional, Catholic circles, so it's something I've been wondering about for some time. I've also been interesting in archetypes for since I first read Joseph Campbell and The Hero of a Thousand Faces many years ago. We also talk a bit about how one's role changes over time and also whether these models are applicable to women as well as men. I really enjoyed the conversation; I think you will too. Juan Domínguez's book, Knight, Monk, King, Prophet, on Amazon. Juan Domínguez: ‘Simple Men' on Substack. Juan's description of the book on Substack. Juan Domínguez with Steven Caswell on Missio Dei. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Before the Scientific Revolution, Western medicine was thought in terms of humors: cheerful people were sanguine and had a lot of blood, fiery cholerics had an excess of yellow bile, gloomy Melancholics had black bile, and mellow phlegmatics had phlegm of course. And the balancing of humors—hot and cold, wet and dry—was the key to a healthy life. It sounds medieval, it is, rooted in ancient Greeks, but we Catholics like medieval things, and some of us—especially Juan Domínguez, author: Knight, Monk, King, Prophet: A Christian Man's Guide to the Four Temperaments—has found wisdom in this way of thinking. And it's a way of thinking that we hear in some more conservative, or traditional, Catholic circles, so it's something I've been wondering about for some time. I've also been interesting in archetypes for since I first read Joseph Campbell and The Hero of a Thousand Faces many years ago. We also talk a bit about how one's role changes over time and also whether these models are applicable to women as well as men. I really enjoyed the conversation; I think you will too. Juan Domínguez's book, Knight, Monk, King, Prophet, on Amazon. Juan Domínguez: ‘Simple Men' on Substack. Juan's description of the book on Substack. Juan Domínguez with Steven Caswell on Missio Dei. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the Scientific Revolution, Western medicine was thought in terms of humors: cheerful people were sanguine and had a lot of blood, fiery cholerics had an excess of yellow bile, gloomy Melancholics had black bile, and mellow phlegmatics had phlegm of course. And the balancing of humors—hot and cold, wet and dry—was the key to a healthy life. It sounds medieval, it is, rooted in ancient Greeks, but we Catholics like medieval things, and some of us—especially Juan Domínguez, author: Knight, Monk, King, Prophet: A Christian Man's Guide to the Four Temperaments—has found wisdom in this way of thinking. And it's a way of thinking that we hear in some more conservative, or traditional, Catholic circles, so it's something I've been wondering about for some time. I've also been interesting in archetypes for since I first read Joseph Campbell and The Hero of a Thousand Faces many years ago. We also talk a bit about how one's role changes over time and also whether these models are applicable to women as well as men. I really enjoyed the conversation; I think you will too. Juan Domínguez's book, Knight, Monk, King, Prophet, on Amazon. Juan Domínguez: ‘Simple Men' on Substack. Juan's description of the book on Substack. Juan Domínguez with Steven Caswell on Missio Dei. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

On today's Geek Out Sesh, we sit down with Wyl the Wizard, a handcrafted candle maker inspired by Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey. Each candle is designed to guide you through the stages of a hero's story—transforming myth, storytelling, and tabletop fantasy into an immersive sensory experience. We talk about CandleQwest's origin story, worldbuilding through scent, and how these story-driven candles can enhance Dungeons & Dragons, creative writing, and immersive role-play experiences.If you're a fan of The Hero's Journey, storytelling, D&D, TTRPG immersion, or artisan candles, this episode is for you.Arcane Circle: https://candleqwest.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopQB0irgDzxkl80hiBGzc9Tib24Ge_FbTbzH6TVlCWpe9P-D-O9FGBG SOCIALShttps://linktr.ee/forgeeksbygeeksMinstrel Dice Accessories (Affiliate)https://minstrel.store/?sca_ref=4275399.Xn3ymejPlhMERCHhttps://forgeeksbygeeks-shop.fourthwall.com/password

It's a talker this week in "...But to Connect"! The Federation hosts a big DMA to-do and everyone's invited! Including, unfortunately, Tarka. There's all kinds of speeches, including one that's just a thinly-veiled couple's spat being played out in front of a bunch of strangers! Awkward! Meanwhile, on "Discovery", Kovich and crew need to try and figure out how to deal with the fact that they're all hanging out inside a self-aware ship. Again: awkward! Also this week: Space C-Span, Lorca 2.0, and Sci-Fi Heroes! [Connect: 01:30; Heroes: 47:18] [A Blog Ghostwritten by Joseph Campbell: https://sshbpodcast.tumblr.com/post/803205120071467008/we-could-be-heroes-just-for-one-lightday ]

I am SO excited about this episode. I got to sit down with Rian Johnson to talk about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and honestly? This might be my favorite conversation I've had all year. Not just because it's a blast of a film (which it absolutely is), but because Rian brought so much theological depth and personal wrestling to this project. I'm always looking for that sweet spot where great storytelling meets profound questions about faith, power, community, and what it means to be human. This film? It's the jackpot. I literally told Rian I now have an excuse to show a movie I genuinely enjoy in class and call it “movie day.” You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube The Film: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix. Watch it. It's spectacular. Rian Johnson is an acclaimed writer-director best known for creating the Knives Out mystery franchise, including Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022), and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025). His work is characterized by genre-bending storytelling that weaves together intricate plots with deep thematic exploration. Johnson's other notable films include Brick (2005), a neo-noir set in a high school; Looper (2012), a science fiction thriller; and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). He also directed several critically acclaimed episodes of Breaking Bad, including the Emmy-winning “Ozymandias.” Raised in the evangelical church, Johnson draws on his formative religious experiences to explore themes of grace, moral complexity, and the tension between reason and faith in his work. He cites influences ranging from G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries to Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell's work on storytelling and myth. Known for his meticulous approach to storytelling—he still writes his screenplays longhand in notebooks—Johnson creates films that function as both wildly entertaining genre exercises and thoughtful examinations of contemporary moral and social questions. ⁠Join us at Theology Beer Camp, October 8-10, in Kansas City!⁠⁠ ⁠UPCOMING ONLINE CLASS: The Rise of the Nones⁠ One-third of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. That's 100 million people.  But here's what most church leaders get wrong: they're not all the same. Some still believe in God. Some are actively searching. Some are quietly indifferent. Some think religion is harmful.  Ryan Burge & Tony Jones have conducted the first large-scale survey of American "Nones", which reveals 4 distinct categories—each requiring a different approach. Understanding the difference could transform everything from your ministry to your own spiritual quest. ⁠Get info & join the donation-based class (including 0) here.⁠ This podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Homebrewed Christianity ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠production. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 75,000 other people by joining our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack - Process This!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get instant access to over 50 classes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, send ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠feedback/questions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or become a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠member of the HBC Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One on One Video Call W/George https://tidycal.com/georgepmonty/60-minute-meetingSupport the show:https://www.paypal.me/Truelifepodcast?locale.x=en_USThe Lila Code: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4612-3942

Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Pen Densham on Writing, Cinematography, Photography, Creativity and the Freedom of Breaking the Rules There's a particular kind of magic that happens when a storyteller stops trying to please the market and starts listening to their soul. Pen Densham knows this better than most—he's lived it across three different mediums, each time learning to let go a little more. Densham's creative journey spans decades and disciplines: from screenwriting to cinematography to, now, impressionist photography. When I sat down with him for Audio Signals Podcast, we didn't dwell on credits or awards. We talked about the vulnerability of creativity, the courage it takes to break the rules, and the freedom that comes when you stop asking for permission. "Those scripts that I wrote out of passion, even though they didn't seem necessary to fit the market, got made more frequently than the ones I wrote when I was architecting to hit goals for a studio," Densham told me. It's a paradox he's discovered over and over: the work born from genuine emotional need resonates in ways that calculated formulas never can. His thinking has been shaped by extraordinary influences. He studied with Marshall McLuhan, who opened his eyes to the biology of storytelling—how audiences enter a trance state, mirroring the characters on screen, processing strategies through their neurons. He found resonance in Joseph Campbell's work on myth. "We're the shamans of our age," Densham reflects. "We're trying to interpret society in ways that people can learn and change." But what struck me most was how Densham, after mastering the craft of writing and the machinery of cinematography, has circled back to the simplest tool: a camera. Not to capture perfect images, but to create what he calls "visual music." He moves his camera deliberately during long exposures. He shoots koi through blinding sunlight. He photographs waves at dusk until they fragment into impressionistic dances of light and motion. "The biggest effort was letting go of self-criticism," he admitted. "Thinking 'this is stupid, these aren't real photographs.' But I'm making images that blow my mind." This is the thread that runs through Densham's entire creative life: the willingness to unlearn. In writing, he learned to trust his instincts over studio formulas. In cinematography, he learned that visual storytelling could carry emotional weight beyond dialogue. And now, in photography, he's learned that breaking every rule he ever absorbed—holding the camera still, getting the exposure right, capturing a "correct" image—has unlocked something entirely new. There's a lesson here for anyone who creates. We absorb rules unconsciously—what a proper screenplay looks like, how a film should be shot, what makes a "real" photograph. And sometimes those rules serve us. But sometimes they become cages. Densham's journey is proof that the most profound creative freedom comes not from mastering the rules, but from having the courage to abandon them. "I'm not smarter than anybody else," he said. "But like Einstein said, I stay at things longer." We left the door open for more—AI, the creator economy, the future of storytelling. But for now, there's something powerful in Densham's path across writing, cinematography, and photography: a reminder that creativity is not a destination but a continuous act of letting go.Stay tuned. Subscribe. And remember—we are all made of stories. Learn more about Pen Densham: https://pendenshamphotography.comLearn more about my work and podcasts at marcociappelli.com and audiosignalspodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Pen Densham on Writing, Cinematography, Photography, Creativity and the Freedom of Breaking the Rules There's a particular kind of magic that happens when a storyteller stops trying to please the market and starts listening to their soul. Pen Densham knows this better than most—he's lived it across three different mediums, each time learning to let go a little more. Densham's creative journey spans decades and disciplines: from screenwriting to cinematography to, now, impressionist photography. When I sat down with him for Audio Signals Podcast, we didn't dwell on credits or awards. We talked about the vulnerability of creativity, the courage it takes to break the rules, and the freedom that comes when you stop asking for permission. "Those scripts that I wrote out of passion, even though they didn't seem necessary to fit the market, got made more frequently than the ones I wrote when I was architecting to hit goals for a studio," Densham told me. It's a paradox he's discovered over and over: the work born from genuine emotional need resonates in ways that calculated formulas never can. His thinking has been shaped by extraordinary influences. He studied with Marshall McLuhan, who opened his eyes to the biology of storytelling—how audiences enter a trance state, mirroring the characters on screen, processing strategies through their neurons. He found resonance in Joseph Campbell's work on myth. "We're the shamans of our age," Densham reflects. "We're trying to interpret society in ways that people can learn and change." But what struck me most was how Densham, after mastering the craft of writing and the machinery of cinematography, has circled back to the simplest tool: a camera. Not to capture perfect images, but to create what he calls "visual music." He moves his camera deliberately during long exposures. He shoots koi through blinding sunlight. He photographs waves at dusk until they fragment into impressionistic dances of light and motion. "The biggest effort was letting go of self-criticism," he admitted. "Thinking 'this is stupid, these aren't real photographs.' But I'm making images that blow my mind." This is the thread that runs through Densham's entire creative life: the willingness to unlearn. In writing, he learned to trust his instincts over studio formulas. In cinematography, he learned that visual storytelling could carry emotional weight beyond dialogue. And now, in photography, he's learned that breaking every rule he ever absorbed—holding the camera still, getting the exposure right, capturing a "correct" image—has unlocked something entirely new. There's a lesson here for anyone who creates. We absorb rules unconsciously—what a proper screenplay looks like, how a film should be shot, what makes a "real" photograph. And sometimes those rules serve us. But sometimes they become cages. Densham's journey is proof that the most profound creative freedom comes not from mastering the rules, but from having the courage to abandon them. "I'm not smarter than anybody else," he said. "But like Einstein said, I stay at things longer." We left the door open for more—AI, the creator economy, the future of storytelling. But for now, there's something powerful in Densham's path across writing, cinematography, and photography: a reminder that creativity is not a destination but a continuous act of letting go.Stay tuned. Subscribe. And remember—we are all made of stories. Learn more about Pen Densham: https://pendenshamphotography.comLearn more about my work and podcasts at marcociappelli.com and audiosignalspodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rebecca Armstrong is a mythologist, minister, and educator whose life has been guided by the transformative power of story. For twelve years, she served as the International Outreach Director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, helping to create and nurture the worldwide Mythological RoundTable™ groups that carried Campbell's work into communities around the globe.With an earned doctorate and two master's degrees, Rebecca has spent over three decades teaching myth, religion, ethics, and film studies at major universities, and she currently leads a course called Movies & the American Myth at Indiana University. In her private practice as a Jungian Coach and Spiritual Guidance counselor at workingwithsoul.com, she helps others reconnect with the deeper stories moving through their lives.In this episode, Rebecca joins JCF's John Bucher for a rich conversation about her life, her relationship with Joseph Campbell, and how myth continues to inform her work in the world today.On March 26th, 2026, Joseph Campbell's birthday, Rebecca will be teaching “The Heroic Attitude: Embodying the Myth of Courage in Everyday Life” for The Jung Platform. In this session, she explores what it means to live heroically in ordinary life, drawing on Jungian psychology and Campbell's mythic vision to show how the Hero archetype can both inspire us and, at times, take us over. For more information on the MythMaker Podcast Network and Joseph Campbell, visit JCF.org. To subscribe to our weekly MythBlasts go to jcf.org/subscribeThe Podcast With A Thousand Faces is hosted by Tyler Lapkin and is a production of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. It is produced by Tyler Lapkin. Executive producer, John Bucher. Audio mixing and editing by Tristan Batt.All music exclusively provided by APM Music (apmmusic.com)

Most entrepreneurs think storytelling is about simply entertaining. But the stories that move markets, build movements, and create generational brands all follow a deeper pattern that is wired into every human across every culture in history.  In this episode of The Russell Brunson Show we talk about the Hero's Journey! I open up Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces and show you why this framework has shaped your favorite movies, your personal development, your beliefs, and even the way ClickFunnels grew to a billion dollars in sales. If you want your message to resonate at a primal level and persuade people without feeling pushy, this is the story structure your business has been missing. Key Highlights: ◼️How Joseph Campbell discovered that every enduring story across time and culture follows the same pattern. ◼️Why George Lucas built the first Star Wars movie using this exact framework and how thousands of Hollywood films now follow it. ◼️The core steps of the Hero's Journey and why audiences subconsciously connect to it in movies, books, and real life. ◼️How applying this structure transformed my webinars, funnels, events, and ultimately the growth of the ClickFunnels movement. ◼️The three versions of the Hero's Journey you can study and use: Campbell's original, Christopher Vogler's Hollywood version, and my Expert Secrets version. The Hero's Journey isn't just some ‘fun' thing to talk about... It is the blueprint behind every story that has ever moved a crowd, converted an audience, or transformed a customer. Once you understand it, you start seeing it everywhere and you will know exactly how to weave it into your own marketing, sales presentations, and content. If you want my notes with all three frameworks side by side, you can find them here: ◼️⁠⁠https://russellbrunson.com/notes⁠⁠ ◼️If you've got a product, offer, service… or idea… I'll show you how to sell it (the RIGHT way) Register for my next event →⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://sellingonline.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ ◼️Still don't have a funnel? ClickFunnels gives you the exact tools (and templates) to launch TODAY → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clickfunnels.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spy's Mate: A Conversation with Bradley W. Buchanan About Chess, Cold War Intrigue, and the Stories That Save UsAfter a few months away, I couldn't stay silent. Audio Signals is back, and I'm thrilled that this conversation marks the official return.The truth is, I tried to let it go. I thought maybe I'd hang up the mic and focus solely on my work exploring technology and society. But my passion for storytellers and storytelling—it cannot be tamed. We are made of stories, after all, and some of us choose to write them, sing them, photograph them, or bring them to life on screen. Brad Buchanan writes them, and his story brought me back.I'll admit something upfront: I'm not particularly good at chess. I love the game—the strategy, the mythology, the beautiful complexity of it all—but I'm no grandmaster. That's what made this conversation so fascinating. Brad has created an entire fictional world where chess isn't just a game; it's a matter of life and death, set against the backdrop of Cold War espionage and Soviet propaganda.His debut novel, Spy's Mate, weaves together two worlds I find endlessly intriguing: the intellectual battlefield of competitive chess and the shadow games of international espionage. But what makes this book truly compelling isn't just the plot—it's the man behind it.Brad is a retired English professor from Sacramento State, a two-time blood cancer survivor, and what he calls a "chimera"—someone whose DNA was literally altered by a stem cell transplant from his brother. He was blind for a year and a half. He nearly died multiple times. And through it all, he held onto this story, this passion for chess that manifested in literal dreams where the pieces hunted him across the board.When we spoke, what struck me most was how deeply personal this novel is beneath its spy thriller exterior. The protagonist, Yasha, is an Armenian chess prodigy whose mother teaches him the game before falling gravely ill. In a moment that breaks your heart, young Yasha asks his mother to promise she'll live long enough to see him become world chess champion—an impossible promise that drives the entire narrative.Brad wrote Spy's Mate after his own mother's death from blood cancer in 2021. When he told me he was crying while writing the final pages, I understood something essential about storytelling: we write to process what life won't let us finish. He gave Yasha the closure he wished he'd had with his own mother.But this isn't just a meditation on loss. Brad brings genuine chess expertise and meticulous historical research to create a world where the KGB manipulates tournaments, computers calculate moves at the glacial pace of one per hour, and Soviet chess dominance serves as proof of communist superiority. He recreates famous chess games with diagrams so readers can follow the battlefield. He fictionalizes Soviet leaders (his Gorbachev character is named "Ogar," his Putin figure has "the nose of a proboscis monkey") but keeps the oppressive atmosphere authentic.What I love about Brad's approach is that he wrote this novel almost like a screenplay—action and dialogue, visual and kinematic, built for the screen. Having taught Virginia Woolf while secretly wanting to write page-turning thrillers tells you everything about the tension between academic life and creative passion. Now, finally free to write full-time after early retirement due to his medical challenges, he's doing what he always wanted.We talked about the hero's journey, about Joseph Campbell's mythical structure that still works because it mirrors how our minds work. We reminisced about the 1982 World Cup and Marco Tardelli's iconic scream (we're the same generation, watching from different continents). We discussed whether characters should plot their own paths or whether writers should map everything from the beginning.As someone who writes short, magical stories with my mother, I understand the pull toward something bigger, something that requires more than 1,200 words can contain. Brad waited 55 years to publish his first novel. I'm 56 and still working up to it. There's hope for all of us yet.Spy's Mate is available now, with an audiobook coming after Thanksgiving. And yes, I can absolutely see this as a Netflix series—chess looks incredibly sexy on screen when the stakes are high and the lighting is good.Welcome back to Audio Signals. Let's keep telling stories.Learn more about Bradley and get his book: https://www.bradthechimera.comLearn more about my work and podcasts at marcociappelli.com and audiosignalspodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Lockett is a sought-after executive coach and former HR leader at Stripe and Pinterest who now works with CEOs, founders, and tech leaders on emotional intelligence, resilience, and leadership skills. In this episode, Rachel shares powerful frameworks for coaching reports, having difficult conversations, avoiding burnout, and strengthening co-founder relationships. She also demonstrates these techniques through a live coaching session with me.We discuss:* When to coach and when to just tell people what to do [09:00]* The GROW technique for helping people figure out a solution for themselves [18:37]* Techniques for making difficult conversations less difficult [01:20:28]* Avoiding burnout and designing a more energizing career [41:55]* Building and sustaining a healthy co-founder relationship [01:06:50]* Creating a one-page plan that aligns your entire company [01:31:47]* Practical ways AI is transforming executive coaching and leadership development [01:36:50]* Why you should ask, “Would I enthusiastically rehire this person?” to clarify talent decisions [23:55]Also on Spotify and Apple PodcastsBrought to you by:Stripe—Helping companies of all sizes grow revenueVanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.Persona—A global leader in digital identity verificationWhere to find Rachel Lockett:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhlockett/• Website: https://www.lockettcoaching.comReferenced:• One-page plan template: https://www.lockettcoaching.com/#resources• Lockett Coaching Leadership Toolkit: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s74a9cn1ka1ebz6pglypf/Leadership-Toolkit_-Coaching-Rachel-Lockett.pdf?rlkey=yg2m9df2ziwy0fa6p0dt4gcfu&st=dgzvnf76&dl=0• Renew Your Co-Founder Vows—and Other Tactics for Strengthening the Most Important Relationship in Your Startup: https://review.firstround.com/five-practices-to-strengthen-your-co-founder-relationship/• First Round Guide to Co-Founder Check-Ins: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yUosmfMuE-8-sAwPrEPDcGqkJLVLWg5dC2_8lcXm7U4/edit?tab=t.0• Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com• Management Time: Who's Got the Monkey?: https://hbr.org/1999/11/management-time-whos-got-the-monkey• Chuck Palahniuk's quote from Fight Club: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1338270-people-don-t-listen-they-just-wait-for-their-turn-to• Patrick Collison on X: https://x.com/patrickc• Stripe: https://stripe.com• Remind: https://www.remind.com• Zach Abrams on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyabrams• Brex: https://www.brex.com• Bridge: https://www.bridge.xyz• Superhuman's secret to success: Ignoring most customer feedback, manually onboarding every new user, obsessing over every detail, and positioning around a single attribute: speed | Rahul Vohra (CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/superhumans-secret-to-success-rahul-vohra• Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company | Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-30-years-of-building• The Enneagram Institute: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com• How to build deeper, more robust relationships | Carole Robin (Stanford GSB professor, “Touchy Feely”): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/build-robust-relationships-carole-robin• How have I been complicit in creating the conditions I say I don't want? | Jerry Colonna (CEO of Reboot, executive coach, former VC): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/jerry-colonna• How Netflix builds a culture of excellence | Elizabeth Stone (CTO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-netflix-builds-a-culture-of-excellence• What Is PeopleFirst?: https://alpineinvestors.com/story/what-is-peoplefirst• How to break out of autopilot and create the life you want | Graham Weaver (Stanford GSB professor, founder of Alpine Investors): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-break-out-of-autopilot-graham-weaver• Granola: https://www.granola.ai• KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81498621• Loom: https://www.loom.com• Joseph Campbell's quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/21396-if-you-can-see-your-path-laid-out-in-front• Wes Anderson's short films (Roald Dahl) on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/wes-anderson-netflix-short-filmsRecommended books:• Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships: https://www.amazon.com/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Changing-Relationships/dp/189200528X• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success: https://www.amazon.com/15-Commitments-Conscious-Leadership-Sustainable/dp/0990976904• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321• Roald Dahl books: https://www.amazon.com/Roald-Dahl-Collection-Books-Box/dp/0241377293Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.My biggest takeaways from this conversation: To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

The universal human experience of falling off track and the courageous journey of finding our way back comes under McKay's scrutiny this week. Analyzing why we wander from our goals, he provides a practical guide for course correction, whether in our careers, health, or personal lives. Using the inspirational stories of Lindsey Vonn and Bethany Hamilton, McKay shows how our "why" helps us overcome monumental setbacks, and he also draws on the biblical story of Jonah to highlight the importance of acting even when we don't feel like it. Our host then cites such thinkers as Oliver Burkeman and Joseph Campbell in dismantling the myth that we must feel motivated to act, arguing we should instead "follow our blisters, not our bliss" by finding purpose in the work and sacrifice. This episode is a toolkit for anyone who has drifted, offering actionable strategies - like starting small and building rituals - to reclaim their path, emphasizing that progress is about persistence and reminding us that discipline and routine are the true engines of change.Main Themes:Discipline, not motivation, is the engine of progress.Wandering is inevitable; the real work is in choosing to return.To find your way back, first remember your "why."Purpose is found in the effort, not just the enjoyment.Momentum is built one small, consistent step at a time.Character is built in the small choices you make every day.Top 10 Quotes:“Motivation is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.”“Who says you need to wait until you feel like doing something in order to start doing it?”“Progress doesn't mean perfection. It means returning to the path quicker each time you wander.”“Don't give in to the immediate feeling. Give in to your true motive.”“Getting back on track almost always begins by rekindling the reason you cared in the first place.”“We don't have to get swallowed up by life or things if we face the things we don't want to do and do them anyway.”“Wandering just doesn't steal our habits; it steals pieces of who we want to be.”“Small acts of integrity strengthen your integrity muscles.”“Getting on track requires simple clarity.”Show Links:Open Your Eyes with McKay Christensen

Worksheet: “Hero's Journey Addiction Recovery Worksheet”In this episode of "The Addicted Mind," Duane and Eric Osterlind explore the concept of the hero's journey and how it applies to addiction recovery. Drawing from Joseph Campbell's work on mythology, they discuss the three phases of the hero's journey—departure, initiation, and return—and how these stages can provide a roadmap for personal transformation. By seeing recovery through the lens of a hero's journey, individuals can gain a new perspective and find hope in their path to sobriety. Join us as we delve into the powerful parallels between classic stories like "Lord of the Rings" and the journey to overcoming addiction.Key Topics- The hero's journey framework by Joseph Campbell.- Applying the hero's journey to addiction recovery.- The three phases: Departure, Initiation, and Return.- The significance of storytelling in personal transformation.- Creating a new narrative to support recovery.Timestamps1. [00:01:04] - Introduction to the hero's journey and its relevance to recovery.2. [00:02:00] - History and significance of Joseph Campbell's work.3. [00:04:26] - The departure phase: Recognizing the need for change.4. [00:06:31] - The initiation phase: Facing challenges and finding support.5. [00:08:50] - The return phase: Embracing a new identity and sharing gifts.6. [00:10:09] - Applying the hero's journey repeatedly in life.7. [00:11:22] - Community support.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.