Episodes
-
I am joined by Ireland's stone-lifting ambassador, David Keohan, in this Learning to Die episode. We discuss the ancient practice of stone lifting in Ireland and many other countries globally, how it was a rite of passage for the youth, a challenge within the community and something to do for fun. Stone lifting is an art that was lost through 800 years under British occupation. Like many customs, aspects of culture and language that were lost during this occupation, Ireland is in a cultural revival, and David is leading the way by lifting stones. An element of Irish culture that was nearly lost, but David is on a quest to make stone lifting great again. This conversation undoubtedly enthused me, and I can't wait to dig more into this subject. The great thing about stone lifting is that it's free. Check out the episode and the links below.
Items we discuss
GQ article on David https://www.gq.com/story/the-quest-to-pick-up-the-lost-lifting-stones-of-irelandIrish Times Article on David https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/10/29/indiana-stones-meet-the-man-bringing-back-irelands-lost-culture-of-stone-lifting/History of stones https://brigadoon.org.au/stalls-exhibitors/history-of-stones/Sean Urq https://www.instagram.com/seanurq/ from https://liftingstones.orgMap of Irish lifting stones https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1588334600/map-of-irish-lifting-stonesFollow David on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/_indiana_stones_/?hl=en>
I hope this was useful. Please enjoy this episode of the Learning to Die podcast.
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.
The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
In this episode, we are joined once again by Professor Seamus OâMahony. Seamus is a doctor and a prize-winning author. He worked for many years in the NHS, returning to his native city of Cork in 2001, where he was a gastroenterologist and clinical professor until February 2020. His first book, The Way We Die Now, won the British Medical Associationâs Council Chairâs Choice award in 2017.
Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Die-Now-Medicines/dp/1250112796
His second book, Can Medicine be Cured? was published in 2019; purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Medicine-Cured-Corruption-Profession-ebook/dp/B07DKKVBL4 and his latest book The Ministry of Bodies, was published by Head of Zeus in March 2021.
Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Bodies-Death-Modern-Hospital/dp/1838931929.
He is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review of Books and the Medical Independent. He has written also for The Observer, the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, and the Saturday Evening Post. He is a member of the Lancet Commission on âThe Value of Deathâ and is a visiting professor at the Centre for the Humanities and Health at Kingâs College London.
In this episode, we discuss his latest book "The Guru, the Bagman and the Sceptic"
https://seamusomahony.com/books/the-guru-the-bagman-and-the-sceptic-a-story-of-science-sex-and-psychoanalysis/
You can purchase it here https://www.amazon.com.au/Guru-Bagman-Sceptic-science-psychoanalysis/dp/1803285656
I hope this was useful. Please enjoy this episode of the Learning to Die podcast.
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.
The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
Missing episodes?
-
Greg Bennick is BACK!!! For another great episode. Greg Bennick is the author of the upcoming official biography of Ernest Becker. Greg has been speaking on stages worldwide for over thirty years. Greg is a performer thought provoker, punk rock singer, and world traveller who infuses ideas and action everywhere he goes. He is the Executive Director and founder of One Hundred for Haiti, a non-profit supporting development programs in rural Haiti, and he is a co-founder of the Portland Mutual Aid Network, which collectively supports the houseless and unsheltered community in Portland, Oregon. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Gregâs previous episode with us is https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/3-dolphins-to-wwii-with-greg-bennick-on-the-work-of-ernest-becker/
Contact our guest Greg: https://gregbennick.com/
Check out our research study on dreams, death anxiety and religion. Open to all >18 years https://dreamteam.study/
Links from our discussion
Podcasts
Dr Rachel Menzies on her book about denial of death âMortalsâ https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/27-dr-rachel-menzies-mortals-how-the-fear-of-death-shaped-human-society/
Freeman Dyson and Stephen Blackwood: On the Freedom of Thought and Nature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSbY8I-3338
Books
Ernest Becker books https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/ernest-becker/205137/
Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland https://www.amazon.com.au/Dominion-Making-Western-Tom-Holland/dp/1408706954
Dr Iain McGilchrist âThe Matter with Thingsâ https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/
Rene Girard, Scapegoats https://www.amazon.com.au/Scapegoat-Ren%C3%A9-Girard/dp/0801839173
Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel
People
Ernest Becker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Becker
Freeman Dyson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson
Alan Watts https://alanwatts.org/life-of-alan-watts/
Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel
Information: Religious affiliation in Australia https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia
Academic paper: Riordan, D.V. The Scapegoat Mechanism in Human Evolution: An Analysis of RenĂ© Girardâs Hypothesis on the Process of Hominization. Biol Theory 16, 242â256 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-021-00381-y
Follow us
Ciaran on Substack https://substack.com/profile/23799980-quarrelsome-lifeThe YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. -
In this episode, we are joined by Dr Neil Durrant. Neil is a former Anglican minister turned philosopher. We discuss Neil's book "Nietzsche's Renewal of Ancient Ethics, Friendship as Contest" https://www.booktopia.com.au/nietzsche-s-renewal-of-ancient-ethics-neil-durrant/book/9781350298873.html.
Nietzsche's Renewal of Ancient Ethics connects different strands in Nietzsche's studies to progress a unique interpretation of friendship in his writings. Neil Durrant explores this alternative approach to Nietzsche's ethics through the influence of ancient Greek ideals on his ideas, highlighting the importance of contest for developing strong friendships. Durrant traces the history of what Nietzsche termed a 'higher friendship' to the ancient Greek ideal of the Homeric hero. In this kind of friendship, neither person attempts to tyrannize or dominate the other but aims to promote the differences between them to stimulate stronger and fiercer contests. Through this exchange, they discover new heights-new standards of excellence-both for themselves and for others.
Links discussed in this episode
3 reasons not to be a Stoic (but try Nietzsche instead https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-not-to-be-a-stoic-but-try-nietzsche-instead-198307Fredrich Nietzsche https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_NietzscheBBC documentary on Nietzsche Genius of the Modern World - Friedrich Nietzsche The 1-minute video in which "all white people" are declared racist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAMofeTJpRk Part 2/3 of Russell Walter's Nietzsche series in which he discusses "Agon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WHAEIvtXN4Russell Walter's awesome video about Mishima: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEgBI8_R9l8&t=885s Yukio Mishima Sun and Steel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_MishimaMcGilchrist: The Coincidence of Opposites Iain McGilchrist: The Coincidence of OppositesConnect with Neil
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-durrant-highered/Neil's website https://neildurrant.com/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/neildurrant/Twitter https://twitter.com/drneildurrantSubstack https://neildurrant.substack.com/p/contemptFollow us
Ciaran on Substack https://substack.com/profile/23799980-quarrelsome-lifeCheck us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. -
âI know more now than I ever knew before, itâs far worse than I ever imagined it could be, but I actually have more hope now than I ever had that we can actually do something about it.â
These are the words of our guest today, Thomas OâConnor. Thomas is a farmer and small business owner from Kerry, Ireland, and a spokesperson for the Irish farming organisation Talamh Beo https://talamhbeo.ie
Ciaran and Thomas discuss
geopolitical instability and feeding people in times of global supply chain disruptionsfood security vs food sovereigntythe importance of animal-inclusive food systemsthe role of soil healthhow to make Irish farming make resilientwhat regular people can do to improve food sovereignty, and much more.Feel free to start listening/watching straight away. However, if youâd like to know more, the writing below is a 2-3-minute read by CiarĂĄn that offers some background information.
Why is a philosophy podcast like ours doing an episode on farming? On one level, it is very simple: âNo Farms, No Foodâ. This is a slogan of the Dutch farmers who are being scapegoated as villains, and who have even been associated with the âfar rightâ by the influential journalist George Monbiot. Monbiot, an anti-livestock and pro-technology vegan activist who want us to eat hyper-processed fake meats made using âprecision fermentationâ, did an interview recently on Politics Joe in which he used the phrase âfar rightâ at least a dozen times when discussing the Dutch farming protests. Moreover, he explicitly linked support for the farmers with Nazi âblood and soilâ ideology. This is madness. The Dutch farmers feed millions and millions of people at a time of increasing geopolitical instability and worsening global food shortages. Thomas Fazi, in a recent piece for Unherd, brilliantly outlines key points around the attacks on farmers worldwide. He also explains the global consequences of âthe Dutch governmentâs proposal to cut nitrogen emissions by 50% in the countryâs farming sector by 2030â, at a time when âalmost a billion people around the world are still affected by hungerâ. And Vandana Shiva, the Indian environmentalist, social activist, and author, has also offered support for the Dutch farmers. Shiva recently described what is going on in Holland as a âfarmers-citizen movementâ, and said that citizens of the Netherlands âdonât want their economy, their land, their country hijackedâ by massive financial interests who want to centralize control over food and land because this âis where the future profits are seen by the billionaires.â And as can be seen in Ireland too, with continued attacks here on the agricultural industry that seem to have no regard for where our actual food will come from, the Dutch are the canaries in the coal mine.
Then on another level, farming isnât just about the production of Calories. âWhose food you eat,â says Thomas in our chat, âtheir slave you are.â Thomas unpacked this statement throughout our discussion when he described how Talamh Beo, which means âLiving landâ, focuses on food sovereignty rather than just food security. While food security is about ensuring you have a minimum caloric value to stay alive, food sovereignty is about much more than that. Food sovereignty is about local production, nutrient-dense food, and culture, which all relate to wider ecological stewardship. This focus on food sovereignty is inspired by La Via Campesina.
La Via Campesina (LVC) is affiliated with farming organizations worldwide and has hundreds of millions of members. LVC represents the small-scale farmers who produce the majority of the world's food, and who have come together to resist corporate capture by big business. In a position paper from 2021 on the UN Food Systems Summit, LVC shines a light on the corporate capture they are pushing back against: âWe believe it is essential to oppose the corporate capture of food systems because global agribusiness supports the imposition of financial and market paradigms to food production and distribution. This logic created the 2008 food crisis and has continued to negatively affect small-scale food producers and people, in general, all over the world.â LVC goes on to describe how âmore and more UN policiesâ have been putting the âprivate interests and speculationâ of transnational corporate entities above the interest of the public.
These powerful transnational corporate interests, what we might call Big Food Oligarchs (BFOs), donât want localized, independent, resilient, community-based food production and distribution networks. BFOs want globalised, dependent, fragile and atomized consumers that they can assimilate into their market share and feed off of like vampires. In our conversation, Thomas describes what can be done to resist this machine: âMy Dad used to say that âyou came into the world the way it is, the best you can do is to change it a little bit.â So weâre not responsible for the reality we came into, but weâre definitely responsible for how we interact with that realityâŠWe used to be custodians and part of the living landscape; we can be again.â
I hope that was useful. Please enjoy this episode of the Learning to Die podcast.
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.
The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
-
In this episode, Ciaran and Ian sit down to have a chat on numerous topics to kick off 2023.
Links to people and things we discuss in this episode
âą Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a PhD in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another PhD in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence) https://philpeople.org/profiles/bernardo-kastrup
âą Anna I. Krylov, The Peril of Politicizing Science, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2021 12 (22), 5371-5376 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01475. Read the paper here for free https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01475
âą Bertrand Russell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell
âą Jordan Ernest Burroughs (born July 8, 1988) is an American freestyle wrestler and former Folkstyle wrestler who currently competes at 79 kilograms and previously competed at 74 kilos. In freestyle, he was the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, is the reigning and a six-time world champion (nine-time medallist), three-time Pan American Games Gold medallist, four-time Pan American champion, and four-time US Open national champion, and has made the US World or Olympic Team on 11 occasions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Burroughs
âą Oil protesters appear in court after throwing soup at Van Gogh painting https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/15/oil-protesters-appear-in-court-threw-soup-van-gogh-painting.html
âą Martin Shaw https://drmartinshaw.com/interview/
âą John Moriarty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Moriarty_(writer)
âą Decoding Jung's Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics of an Experiential Universe https://www.amazon.com.au/Decoding-Jungs-Metaphysics-Archetypal-Experiential/dp/1789045657
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.
The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
-
A brief 10-minute meditation for our sleep4performance listeners led by Alexis Santos, a meditation teacher. https://www.alexissantos.io/
Please do not listen while operating machinery, driving or undertaking any safety-critical role. This mediation is designed to support having a nap or initiating sleep in a safe, comfortable environment.
Sleep Well!!!!
Ian
-
Today I am joined by Alexis Santos. Alexis has been in the field of mindfulness and meditation since 2001. After graduating from Harvard University in 1995, he spent several years in medical school before leaving his chosen doctor career to seek a different path. It was while travelling in India that he was introduced to insight meditation.
Since that time, Alexis has practised in many meditative styles and traditions, including Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the Thai Forest tradition with Ajahn Sumedho, the Tibetan tradition with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and within the lay Western insight community where he continues to learn from the growing diversity of voices.
Alexis's primary teacher has been Sayadaw U Tejaniya, from the Burmese Theravada tradition, with whom he was ordained as a Buddhist monk from 2003 - 2005. Sayadaw encouraged Alexis to teach in 2012. Alexis also completed the Spirit Rock/IMS four-year teacher training program with Jack Kornfield and others, including mentors Joseph Goldstein and Carol Wilson.
Alexis teaches meditation at retreat centers around the world. He is featured on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app and is co-founder of Open Door Meditation Community in Portland, Maine, where he is a guest teacher. Alexis's teaching style is natural and uncrafted. He brings a practical, intuitive and compassionate approach to the development of wisdom.
https://www.alexissantos.io/
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
Today we are joined by Dr Myriam Francois. Myriam is a former Research Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) at SOAS University. She completed her PhD (DPhil) at Oxford University, focusing on Islamic movements in Morocco in 2017. She holds an MA from Georgetown University (USA) and a BA from Cambridge University (UK).
Her resume speaks for itself. She has worked with the BBC, Channel 4, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post and many more. Some notable works include
2019 documentary âCity of Refugeâ examined the plight of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and aired on BBC Radio4 (April 2019) and BBC World Service (May 2019).Myriam is the presenter of BBC World Service documentaries on Brexit in Leave-voting town in Wales (Llanelli) (2019), and on #MeToo in the Muslim world (2018).Her Channel 4 documentary âThe Truth about Muslim marriageâ (11/2017) was nominated for the best investigative documentary in 2018 (AMA), as well as two BBC One documentaries, âThe Muslim Poundâ (aired 07/ 2016) and âA Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisitedâ, (aired 07/2015) which was nominated for the Sandford St Martin religious programming award 2016.Website https://www.myriamfrancois.com/
Twitter @MyriamFrancoisC
Instagram myzfrancois
Links and topics of discussion in this episode
Institute of art and ideas https://iai.tv/What is Islam?One God and the Quran https://quran.com/en as the most recent revelation from God.Praying multiple times a day helps to connect you to God and take a break from this world.Ramadan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RamadanCharity and pilgrimage to Mecca https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/introduction-cultures-religions-apah/islam-apah/a/the-kaabaLebanon and IsraelThe Sykes-Picot agreement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes%E2%80%93Picot_AgreementSunni and Shia Muslim https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-shia-sunni-divide-78216Who was Rumi? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RumiRumi Poems https://www.rumi.org.uk/poetry/Hyper Normalisation Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thLgkQBFTPwWhat is self-flagellation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-flagellation#:~:text=Self%2Dflagellation%20is%20the%20disciplinary,seen%20as%20a%20spiritual%20discipline and are ultra-endurance events a form of this, a means to go beyond?Sayadmansour A. Neurotheology: The relationship between brain and religion. Iran J Neurol. 2014;13(1):52-5. PMID: 24800050; PMCID: PMC3968360 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3968360/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CNeurotheology%E2%80%9D%20refers%20to%20the%20multidisciplinary,and%20brain%20sciences%20in%20general.How religions and practices are all streams going into the same oceanThe Best Catholics in the World, The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship by Derek Scally https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-best-catholics-in-the-world-9781844885282Joseph Massad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_MassadThe meaning of Jihad and the struggle within https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/what-does-jihad-really-mean-to-muslimsWhat is Sharia? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShariaCheck us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
Today I am joined by Mary Dennett or should I say, Sister Mary Dennett MA, BSc (Ed) Grad Dip (Ed Admin). Mary is a Sister of Mercy with many years of experience in secondary education. She has attended the Earth Literacy Course in Genesis Farm, New Jersey, USA and Teilhard de Chardinâs Prayer of the Universe and completed a MA in Culture and Spirituality at Holy Names University in California. In addition, she is my wifeâs auntie and is currently in palliative care in Melbourne, Australia. This was a privilege for me; talking to Mary at the end of her life at a young spritely 83 years old was beautiful and emotional. It has made me question many things in my life, and Mary has inspired me to value each day. It's hard to believe that Mary is in care; other than her lack of physicality, Mary is sharp, quick-witted and insightful about life. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Sisters of Mercy https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sisters-of-Mercy
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
-
In this episode, Ciaran and I are joined by Dr Shane Creado in Chicago. Shane is a double board-certified sleep medicine doctor and psychiatrist. He practices functional sleep medicine, integrative psychiatry, and sports psychiatry, combining all those skills to uncover underlying factors that sabotage the patients, comprehensively treat them, and help them achieve their goals. He completed an undergraduate degree in physical therapy and went on to do an MD, graduating at the top of his class with Honours in every subject in medical school. He completed his psychiatric training at the University of Wisconsin, where they awarded him the graduating resident award for academic achievement. He then went on to a fellowship in Sleep Medicine at the University of Wisconsin because of the huge overlap between sleep and psychiatric issues.
Topics we discuss in this epic episode with Shane.
The value of storytelling and narrative for convey historical truthsThe neolithic burial chamber in Ireland called NewgrangeCarl Jung archetypesLearning about yourself from facing your shadow, integrate the shadowThe guesthouse by Rumi https://gratefulness.org/resource/guest-house-rumi/The role of suffering to better our lifeThe story of Job https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_(biblical_figure)Ying and Yang, Unification and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yangâWithout contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love, and hate, are necessary to human existence.â William Blake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_BlakeIn Heraclitusâs Fragments, he notes that tension is the very thing that makes life sing. Take a guitar string, for example. If you wind it too tight, it will snap. Too slack, and it will buzz and make no note at all. Heraclitus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeraclitusJordan Peterson on Evil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqoyQNUrGlsThe story of two wolves https://www.urbanbalance.com/the-story-of-two-wolves/The use of biblical stories in todayâs worldCarl Jung anima and animus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_and_animusBoethius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoethiusThomas Jefferson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_JeffersonCatholic church historical, social, cultural, religious, and personal contextStoicism in Catholicism and Christianity https://dailystoic.com/stoicism-and-christianity/The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship by Derek Scally https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-best-catholics-in-the-world-9781844885282On the Genealogy of Morality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morality#SummaryCarl Jung and the shadow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhzBo0dZNpYCatholic church raided during servicehttps://www.perthnow.com.au/news/coronavirus/outrage-after-police-stop-mt-hawthorn-st-bernadettes-church-service-to-check-masks-c-5565472Derrin Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_BrownRoland Fryer on Police violence in the USA https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/empirical_analysis_tables_figures.pdfColeman Hughes https://colemanhughes.org/Manâs Search for Meaning by Viktor FranklCovid in Sydney: Military deployed to help enforce lockdown https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58021718Who was Rumi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RumiJungian Dream Interpretation - Marcus West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x73dOSrn4fwLeo Tolstoy, A Confession, a short book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_ConfessionA Tough Mind and a Tender Heart by Martin Luther KingPurchase Shaneâs book here Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes: The Cutting-edge Sleep Science That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage
Contact Shane at shanecreado.com
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
-
In this episode, we are joined once again by Professor Seamus OâMahony. Seamus is a doctor and a prize-winning author. He worked for many years in the NHS, returning to his native city of Cork in 2001, where he was a gastroenterologist and clinical professor until February 2020. His first book The Way We Die Now won the British Medical Associationâs council chairâs choice award in 2017.
Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Die-Now-Medicines/dp/1250112796
His second book Can Medicine be Cured? was published in 2019, purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Medicine-Cured-Corruption-Profession-ebook/dp/B07DKKVBL4 and his latest book The Ministry of Bodies was published by Head of Zeus in March 2021.
Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Bodies-Death-Modern-Hospital/dp/1838931929
He is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review of Books and the Medical Independent. He has written also for The Observer, the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, and the Saturday Evening Post. He is a member of the Lancet commission on âThe Value of Deathâ and is visiting professor at the Centre for the Humanities and Health at Kingâs College London.
In this episode, we discuss his involvement in this Lancet report. The Lancet is the top medical journal in the world with an impact factor of 79. The published Report of Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: bringing death back into life. You can read the entire report here (50 pages) for free https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02314-X/fulltext
Here is a short summary video from the Lancet (
-
In the episode of the Learning to Die Podcast, Ian and Ciaran sit down to discuss the relationship between Christianity and Society. We had a theme for this conversation of a scoping review. We discuss this broad interesting and tumultuous relationship between Christianity and society.
Items of discussion
What is Marxism? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MarxismFrans de Waal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_de_WaalBooks we mention
A confession by Leo Tolstoy, full free audiobook here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k9Qo4w3JVYDominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom HollandThe Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name by Brian C. MurareskuA Tough Mind and a Tender Heart by Dr Martin Luther King JrCheck us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
In this episode of the learning to die podcast I am joined by Dr Caitlin Duffy
Caitlin graduated with a PhD in English Literature from Stony Brook University. Her dissertation focused on exploring the ways that 19th-century American gothic literature works to define liberalism and contemporary American horror films react to/define/challenge conceptions of neoliberalism. She has been published in The Journal of Dracula Studies, Poe Studies, and a collection of essays on Trump in fiction. As a graduate student, she used her blog as a space for my comprehensive exam notes. You can read it here https://caitlinduffy.hcommons.org/blog/
Caitlin's work at Sublime Horror https://www.sublimehorror.com/author/caitlinduffy/
You can follow Caitlin on Twitter @caitduffy49
Here are a bunch of items we discussed in this episode, in no particular order. I hope you enjoyed the episode
BluÌiriÌniÌ BeÌaloidis 21 - Samhain / Halloween (With Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn)
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/blu-iri-ni-be-aloidis-21-samhain-halloween-with-dr/id1227741013?i=1000455434902
Head full of ghosts by Paul Tremblay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Head_Full_of_Ghosts
About Charles chestnut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W._Chesnutt
Po Sandy by chestnut https://chesnuttarchive.org/item/ccda.works00014
Silas Weir Mitchell 1829-1914 a biographical memoir
http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/mitchell-silas.pdf
Physician Silas Weir Mitchell is perhaps best remembered for his âRest Cureâ for nervous women, depicted by his onetime patient Charlotte Perkins Gilman in âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ (1892) https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/go-rest
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce1842â 1914 was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce
His works we discuss
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of short stories by an American Civil War soldier,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Soldiers_and_Civilians"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge>"The Eyes of the Panther https://literature.fandom.com/wiki/The_Eyes_of_the_PantherOne of the first American Gothic novels, Edgar Huntly (1787) mirrors the social and political temperaments of the postrevolutionary United States.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Edgar-Huntly-Sleep-Walker-Charles-Brown/dp/0140390626
Why Horror Seduces by Mathias Clasen https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/mobile/view/10.1093/oso/9780190666507.001.0001/oso-9780190666507
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 â 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula
https://www.amazon.com.au/Something-Blood-Untold-Stoker-Dracula/dp/1631493868
Dracula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a Walt Disney movie from the 1950s. It was one of Sean Connery's first movies.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darby_O%27Gill_and_the_Little_People
Barbian L, Sledzik PS, Reznick JS. Remains of War: Walt Whitman, Civil War Soldiers, and the Legacy of Medical Collections. Mus Hist J. 2012;5(1):7-28. doi:10.1179/mhj.2012.5.1.7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3381362/>
Walt Whitman and the Civil War https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/walt-whitman-and-civil-war/
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions. The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
In this episode, we welcome back Gordon Marino. Gordon earned his PhD from the University of Chicago, M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and B.A. from Columbia University. His areas of specialisation include History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Kierkegaard. He teaches philosophy and related courses as a professor at St. Olaf College and holds a position as the curator of the Kierkegaard Library. In 2018, Marino published his most recent book, The Existentialistâs Survival Guide. He has authored and co-authored numerous works, including Kierkegaard in the Present Age. His articles have appeared in internationally acclaimed news sources and periodicals such as The Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and the American Poetry Review. Follow Gordon here https://www.existentialistscorner.com/
In this episode, we discuss
The Cuban Missile crisisWhat is Existentialism? https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/ Values and cultural differencesNuclear near misses and a previous episode we did https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/13-nuclear-near-misses-and-vice-admiral-vasili-arkhipov/ Gordon's essay, "We must imitate Zelensky, not just admire him https://iai.tv/articles/we-must-imitate-zelensky-not-just-admire-him-auid-2085Ciaran's essay Existential Roulette "Ukraine and the Quagmire of Defending Freedom in the Nuclear Age" https://quarrelsomelife.substack.com/p/existential-roulette?r=dknyr&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webOperation Paperclip and how NASA had Nazi scientistsDevelopment of values and different values in our societyAlexander Dugin and his impact on Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Dugin Unit 731 in the Japanese ArmyAppeasement in pre WW2 And an outlook on Tyson versus WhyteOrder Gordon's book here âThe Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Ageâhttps://www.amazon.com.au/Existentialists-Survival-Guide-Authentically-Inauthentic/dp/0062435981
Follow Gordon on Twitter @GordonMarino
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions. The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.
Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
In this episode, we catch up with @tommysantospn, AKA Tommy $, to discuss his previous role as a combat medic in the 82nd Airborne Artillery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/82nd_Airborne_Division_Artillery.
His journey of self-development from his time in the military to attaining two master's degrees since then. However, this episode is primarily focused on Tommy's new quest. Tommy is going to Ukraine on a mission.
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links. Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
What an episode; we were thrilled to have Robb Wolf on the podcast. This was a great discussion led by Ciaran. Robb was scheduled to come on for 60 minutes but kindly stayed for 90 minutes. In this episode, we discussed many things today: the pandemic, diets, wokeism, environment, climate change, war, politics, and much more.
If you recognise Robb's name, you're not mistaken. He has been on the JRE podcast at least three times. He is a former research biochemist and a two time New York Times/WSJ Best Selling author of the Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat. He is a brown belt in BJJ (Robb, on his love of BJJ https://youtu.be/l_HcfDWuozA)has fought as an amateur kickboxer. Find out more about Robb here and his podcast at https://robbwolf.com/.
His recent work with Diane Rodgers can be accessed here https://www.sacredcow.info/about-sacred-cow. They recently appeared on the JRE podcast episode #1784 to discuss this work https://open.spotify.com/episode/0r7MbKFhtLf9RLOahCT1gU
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links. Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
-
In this episode, Ciaran and I reflect on what is happening in Ukraine and the potential outcomes. If you have listened to our previous episodes you will know we have discussed Nuclear near misses. Will this be Nuclear war? Are we about to embark on World War III or a Cold War II? Is it East versus West all over again. More importantly, how the f$ck did we get to this.
Links to items we discuss
Jordan B Peterson on D-I-E must DIE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq2rBE5zwAsThe Return of Holy Russia: Apocalyptic History, Mystical Awakening, and the Struggle for the Soul of the World https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-return-of-holy-russia-apocalyptic-history-mystical-awakening-and-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-the-world_gary-lachman/22995467/#edition=24585393
ON UKRAINE, THEREâS NO WAR THAT EMOTIONAL HASTINESS CANâT MAKE WORSE https://gript.ie/on-ukraine-theres-no-war-that-emotional-hastiness-cant-make-worse/
The second coming by WB Yeatshttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming Check out Ciaran's writing work at Areo on this subject and morehttps://areomagazine.com/author/ciaranatsigmanutrition/ Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] -
In this episode, we speak to Dr Rachel Menzies. Rachel is a clinical psychologist and member of the Australian Psychological Society. She is currently practising in Sydneyâs eastern suburbs. Rachel completed her Honours degree in psychology at the University of Sydney, winning the Dick Thompson Thesis Prize for her work on death anxiety and its relationship with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Rachel completed her Masters of Clinical Psychology and her PhD at the University of Sydney. Rachel has published extensively on the causes of various disorders, including depression, OCD, panic disorder, illness anxiety, social anxiety, agoraphobia, generalised anxiety disorder and specific phobias, as well as on gender differences in anxiety.
Rachel was featured in The Conversation Yearbook 2016, a collection of the top 1% of âstandout articles from Australiaâs top thinkers. Rachel is the lead editor of the book Curing the Dread of Death: Theory, Research and Practice, published by Australian Academic Press in 2018. In 2019, she released her second book: Tales from the Valley of Death: Reflections from Psychotherapy on the Fear of Death. In 2021, Rachel released Mortals: How the Fear of Death Shaped Human Society.
Rachel has delivered workshops on death anxiety and its relation to anxiety and mood disorders across 7 Australian cities. This 2019 national tour was hosted by the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (AACBT). In addition to her clinical work, Rachel currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow and guest lecturer at the University of Sydney.
In this interview, we discuss Rachelâs new book Mortals: How the Fear of Death Shaped Human Society. We thoroughly enjoyed this book, and, in this interview, we explored many topics from religion, funeral practices, health, vitamins, and much more. If you are interested in Ernest Beckerâs work around the Denial of Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death or Terror Management Theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory , then you will love this book. Highly recommended and easy to read.
Order your copy today
https://www.amazon.com.au/Mortals-death-shaped-human-society-ebook/dp/B0967TDPZR
https://www.booktopia.com.au/mortals-ross-menzies/book/9781760879167.html#:~:text=The%20ground%2Dbreaking%20book%20that,other%20species%20throughout%20our%20evolution.
All of Rachels publications can be found here https://rachelmenzies.com/publications/
Contact Rachel at [email protected] and see her website at https://rachelmenzies.com/
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
-
Ven Dr Buddharakkhita is an Irish native, BSc & PhD from University College Dublin with a Diploma in Buddhism from ITBMU Myanmar. He has enjoyed a successful engineering career in semiconductor chip fabrication. He has practised meditation extensively in lay life since childhood. He was first ordained in 2006 in the Theravada Forest Tradition with two decades of training with renowned meditation masters across a range of practices. He has more than 30 years of experience living, working and practising meditation in Europe, US, Asia and Australia. His teaching has been well received.
Emai Buddharakkhita on : [email protected]
Knowing the heart talk on YouTube https://youtu.be/09SCzptegoE
Gratitude talk on YouTube https://youtu.be/oIohofxuIZc
In this episode we discuss
Buddharakkhita's background, education and his path to Buddhism
Specialisation versus Generalised approaches
Philosophize this Podcast https://www.philosophizethis.org/
Ricky Gervais show "Afterlife" https://youtu.be/JDtJhIQSdao and https://youtu.be/jpiM2z9ARm4 John Stuart Mills https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
Ian's coming to God and Ciaran's experience with meditation
Marks of Existence in Buddhism
The Perils of Politicizing Science, Anna I. Krylov, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2021 12 (22), 5371-5376, DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01475 Read here https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01475?ref=pdf&
Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]
- Show more
