Very excited to bring this conversation with my brother to the podcast. Micah is currently working at The Happiness Research Institute developing an alternative to GDP that focuses on happiness, well-being and quality of life instead of profit. We discuss what happiness means, how it’s measured and how it might be implemented. We also discuss the current state of the world and how our upbringing has informed our worldview. From living in different countries for most of our adult lives, to what it was like to be siblings, to being raised in an unconventional household, we both share our insights on how we’re each trying to live authentic, individuated lives in a culture and a world that pressures us to conform.

Find out more about Micah’s work at The Happiness Research Institute here and find his music on Spotify under Meeka Kates.

Micah’s Book Recommendations: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Songs featured: “I Saved The World Today” by Eurythmics and “Closure” by Meeka Kates

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!

Find me on Instagram

Mark Epstein, M.D. is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City and the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy. Mark discusses the ways in which trauma weaves its way through the story and life of the Buddha, the difference between discipline and control and how narratives and feelings intersect and why both are useful. We also chat about the importance of integrating pain and grief into our lives and the fallacy of thinking that things ever “return to normal”.

Find out more about Mark at markepsteinmd.com and on Facebook.

Mark’s Book Recommendations: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala and the 6 volumes of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard.

Songs featured: “Eyes Closed and Traveling” by Peter Broderick and “Tiny Apocalypse” by David Byrne

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!

Find me on Instagram

Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker and author of several books including Climate: A New Story, Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible. Charles and I set out to have a discussion embracing as many paradoxes, taboos and uncertainties as possible, and I think we did just that. We discuss the addictive nature of control, the similarities between skeptics and believers, the role we play in writing personal and collective narratives, the inevitable crisis that precedes any lasting change and the importance of seeing our lives within the context of much greater and more meaningful cycles.

Find out more about Charles at charleseisenstein.org and on Instagram and Twitter.

Charles’ Book Recommendations: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and and The Invisible Rainbow by Arthur Firstenberg

Songs featured: “The Times They Are A Changin”” by Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood and “The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs” by Wye Oak.

How to support the show:

Rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!

Support my work on Patreon and get access to perks like an exclusive WhatsApp group chat just for patrons!

Find me on Instagram