Willoughby Britton is a clinical psychologist, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University Medical School, and the director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory there. Her lab researches the psychophysiological and neurocognitive effects of meditation and mindfulness-based interventions for mood and anxiety disorders, with a particular focus on potential risks of meditation practice. She is also the founder of Cheetah House, a nonprofit organization that provides evidence-based information and support for meditators in distress, as well as meditation safety trainings to providers and organizations. Today we discuss the potential adverse effects of mediation and how to meditate safely.

Chris Guimond is an awakening and nondual realization guide who works with the Trauma Release Exercises that I’ve previously spoken about on the podcast. You can listen to my interview with the creator of the TRE approach, David Bercelli (episode 64), if you want more detail on the practices. Chris and I connected over the fact that we’ve found the combination of TRE and nondual integration to be incredibly powerful, yet no one else in this space appears to be talking about it. On her own journey, Chris worked with previous podcast guest Angelo Dillulo (episode 110), and he has now started recommending these practices too, thanks to Chris. I think we’ll see this combination spread in years to come so I'm very grateful to Chris for her work promoting TRE in the awakening and nonduality space. I hope you enjoy the conversation. https://christinaguimond.com/

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Michael Levin is a developmental and synthetic biologist and a professor at Tufts University. He is known for co-discovering Xenobots which are living robots made from frog skin cells but his research is wide ranging, contributing to fields such as regenerative medicine and the treatment of cancer, as well as to our fundamental understanding of biological systems. As you’ll hear from our conversation, Michaels’ innovative science is based in a very thorough and rigorous philosophy of the intersection between biology and cognitive processes such as intelligence and memory.

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Alicia Juarrero is President and co-founder of VectorAnalytica, Inc., a data collection and analysis platform. She is also a research associate at the University of Miami and is the author for influential complexity theory text Dynamics in Action. Her new book is called Context Changes Everything and it explores how we can think about causality in emergent systems, such as living things, in terms of constraint.

Jim Newman holds meetings about nonduality, in a style that has come to be known as uncompromising or radical nonduality. This style began with the book The Open Secret by Tony Parsons, and along with Tony, Jim is the arguably most prominent person speaking of nonduality in this way. Whereas some approaches to nonduality advocate the following of a path in order to eventually realise that we are not separate from the rest of existence, the uncompromising perspective sees this as mistaken, the fundamental idea being that because reality is already non-dual, whole, and undivided, there is nothing anyone could ever do to move closer to or further away from the wholeness of what is. Today, we explore the intricacies that somehow seem to arise out of this very simple message.

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Indy Johar is an architect and a co-founder of Dark Matter Labs, an organisation focused on building the novel institutional infrastructures necessary to make societies centred on interdependence, equality, and justice a reality.  He has lectured at various institutions including University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, and has held various positions, such as Advisor to Mayor of London on Good Growth. He also cofounded 00 (project00.cc) a collaborative studio that innovates in the design space, for example by creating an open source solution to housing, their wikihouse. Through 00 he has also co-founded multiple social ventures such as Impact Hub Westminster and Impact Hub Birmingham.  Today we focus on his work on civic infrastructure that could underpin a future of flourishing for humanity.

I'm excited to announce that I just signed a book deal with Prometheus Books. The title is The Dawn of Mind: How Matter Became Conscious and Alive. In it I lay out a synthesis of physicalism, panpsychism, and idealism, culminating in a scientific account of the biophysics of consciousness, rather than the neuroscience of consciousness. It's less dry than I've made it sound here though, I promise. Slated for release in late 2024. Please pre-order when the time comes, as that helps with the book's visibility.

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Andy Mitchell is a neuropsychologist and therapist. He has specialized in treating patients with rare brain conditions, head injuries and epilepsy, and in the application of mindfulness for neurological patients. As a therapist he has worked with people with a range of mental health disorders. Before entering medicine, his first degree was in English Literature at Oxford University.  https://www.andymitchell.org/

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Rachel Nuwer is a journalist who has reported on science, travel, food, and adventure for the New York Times, National Geographic, Scientific American and many other publications. She is the author of Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking and her new book is I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World. Today we discuss all things MDMA. rachelnuwer.com

Topics addressed (in order): Consciousness, causal power, & evolution Is consciousness binary? Technology & consciousness Music & psychedelics Homestead landscaping

Neil Theise is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through his scientific research, he has been a pioneer of adult stem cell plasticity which led him to an interest in complexity theory.  This interest has resulted in interdisciplinary collaborations in fields such as consciousness studies and the connection between science and spirituality, topics he explores in his new book Notes on Complexity. neiltheiseofficial.com

​Jared Seide is the Executive Director of the Center for Council, a talking circle practice that we discuss today.  He has designed, piloted and coordinated council-based programs in prisons, assisted living facilities, youth groups, schools, non-profits, faith-based organisations, and social service and law enforcement agencies.  He has also led trainings and retreats focusing on reconciliation and community-building around the world, from Colombia to Rwanda.  He is a member of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, a graduate of the Upaya Institute Chaplaincy Program and has been a Spirit Holder for the Bearing Witness Retreats of the Zen Peacemakers, a contemplative social action community.  Today we discuss the practice of Council. https://www.centerforcouncil.org/ https://www.beyondusandthem.org/

Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes is a philosopher of mind who specializes in the thought of Whitehead, Nietzsche, and Spinoza, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of mind. Following his degree in Continental Philosophy at the University of Warwick, he became a Philosophy lecturer in London for six years, after which he pursued his PhD on Pansentient Monism at The University of Exeter – where he is now a research fellow and associate lecturer.  Peter is the author of the books Noumenautics and Modes of Sentience.  Today we discuss his recent paper on incorporating the exploration of metaphysics into psychedelic therapy. psychedelics@exeter.co.uk

Timmy Davis and Tara Austin run the Psilocybin Access Rights campaign in the United Kingdom where they are seeking to get psilocybin rescheduled. Today we discuss the campaign and the rescheduling of psychedelics more broadly.