Podcast Episodes

May 15, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with social neuroscientist and contemplative researcher Tania Singer. Tania is a world leader in studying empathy and compassion, and her pioneering work explores the interpersonal aspects of the brain and contemplative practice. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• her lifelong fascination with social interactions;
• foundational studies on empathy in the brain;
• distinguishing the physical vs. emotional aspects of pain;
• a chance meeting with Mind & Life and critical insights from a Buddhism-science collaboration;
• the difference between emotion contagion, empathy, and compassion;
• exploring the trainability of empathy and compassion;
• schadenfreude in the brain;
• empathy burnout and compassion as an antidote;
• the importance of correlating subjective reports with brain scans;
• a landmark longitudinal study of training different aspects of meditation;
• why what you practice really matters;
• contemplative dyads and the power of practicing with another person;
• the benefits of dyads for the negative effects of COVID lockdown;
• moving dyad work into schools and hospitals;
• shifting from studying individual change to systems change;
• and the role of contemplative science amidst current societal challenges.

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April 17, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with contemplative scientist Melissa Rosenkranz. Melissa’s work examines the mind-body connection with a focus on how inflammation interacts with our brains and emotions, and how meditation might help. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• her interest in the mind-body connection;
• pros and cons of inflammation in the body;
• bidirectional links between inflammation in the body and our emotions;
• how inflammation can lead to hypersensitivity in the brain;
• inflammation and dementia;
• misperceptions around stress causing asthma;
• meditation’s effect on inflammation and our immune response;
• meditation in asthma management (emotional and physical);
• studying whether mindfulness can protect against inflammatory damage to the brain;
• integrating meditation with medication;
• polarization in society and the power of building weak ties;
• increasing the safety signal to our bodies;
• seeing the fuller humanity of the people in our world;
• lovingkindness practice in action;
• links between inflammation in society and in our bodies;
• and a reminder that there’s always a place to start when making change.

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March 13, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with action researcher, changemaker, and thought leader Otto Scharmer. Otto is a world leader in systems change, and his work across disciplines highlights how awareness and the quality of our relationships are critical for the change we need today. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• regenerative farming, social change movements, and the “social soil”;
• inspiration from Francisco Varela;
• presencing and the role of awareness in systems change;
• three divides that contribute to our current crises;
• the untold story of regeneration and renewal;
• action learning and action research;
• trends towards goodwill and lack of agency;
• institutions vs. individuals;
• the blind spot of the mindfulness movement;
• speaking and listening across ideologies;
• non-doing, action vs. reaction;
• the need for holding spaces and building trust;
• leading by letting go and letting come;
• releasing old ways of thinking (ego) and shifting to more integrated mindsets (eco);
• sensing and engaging with future possibilities;
• fourth-person awareness;
• the influence of Mind & Life on his career trajectory;
• and resources for learning consciousness-based transformation.

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February 20, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with pathologist, scientist, author, and Zen Buddhist, Neil Theise. Neil’s pioneering work in human anatomy has revolutionized our understanding of interconnectedness at the level of the body and beyond. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• his interest in medicine & Buddhism;
• pathology as contemplative practice;
• how a mystery from the wall of the bile duct led to a new understanding of our bodies;
• overview of the interstitium;
• how the interstitium may relate to fascia, energy systems, chakras, meridians, and other traditional systems of healing;
• connecting healing traditions through a cultural interstitium;
• a meditation to visualize the interstitium;
• studying living vs. dead tissue;
• cell doctrine and reductionism;
• complexity theory and interconnectedness at all scales;
• Buddhist ideas of emptiness, interdependence, impermanence;
• randomness in a complex system and adaptability;
• and the power of an interconnected view.

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January 16, 2025

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In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychologist and cognitive scientist Molly Crockett. Molly is a leader in studying moral cognition, with an emphasis on ethics, knowledge, and power in the digital age. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• the limits of quantitative (scientific) ways of knowing;
• the importance of narrative in shaping ideas and behavior;
• moral outrage on social media;
• who benefits from a culture of outrage;
• the role of scientists in our narratives about human nature;
• how artificial intelligence influences what we consider as human;
• using artificial intelligence for compassion;
• a Dalai Lama chatbot vs. the real Dalai Lama;
• the importance of embodiment in human communication;
• studying transformative experiences at Burning Man;
• technology and “Paleolithic” emotions;
• epistemic injustice;
• and the critical importance of valuing multiple ways of knowing.

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