Episode 158: Eric Pickersgill - Together, Yet Apart

Eric Pickersgill is a photographer, visual artist, educator, and speaker best known for his Removed photography series.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) The creative cost of constant connectivity(00:35) Eric's childhood, family, and early influences(04:15) Discovering photography and finding purpose behind the camera(07:20) Moving to Chicago to pursue photography(10:10) Learning to create meaningful art(13:15) Teaching, portraiture, and questioning artistic assumptions(17:20) The coffee shop encounter that inspired Removed(20:30) Creating Removed: Photographing people without their phones(24:35) How participants respond to seeing themselves disconnected(27:15) Smartphone addiction and the emerging digital backlash(30:25) Rethinking technology in schools and childhood(33:50) Why society is finally questioning smartphone dependence(37:00) Sherry Turkle and the erosion of human connection(39:25) The mental health consequences of growing up online(41:20) Using artificial intelligence without becoming dependent(44:00) Digital Sabbaths and intentional technology use(46:35) Why boredom is essential to creativity(49:05) Adults must model healthier digital habits(50:40) The future and enduring legacy of Removed(53:15) Upcoming exhibitions and the power of visual storytelling(55:15) Reclaiming attention through small daily choices(57:20) Libraries, phone-free spaces, and rebuilding community

Bill Gifford is a science and health reporter, the co-author of Outlive with Peter Attia, and the author of a new book, Hotwired: How the Hidden Power of Heat Makes Us Stronger.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) The surprising health benefits of heat(01:18) How a cold winter inspired Hotwired(03:42) Finland's extraordinary sauna culture(06:27) Sauna, happiness, and human connection(08:36) Discovering the psychological benefits of heat(11:14) The transformative experience of hot yoga(14:08) How heat exposure may alleviate depression(17:06) Why scientists overlook unconventional therapies(18:24) How heat affects the nervous system(21:06) The surprising connection between depression and body temperature(23:47) How hot is hot enough?(26:05) Can a mild fever improve mental health?(29:11) Ancient healing practices and modern immunotherapy(31:08) Tibetan monks and the science of regulating body temperature(33:35) Bill's personal experience with depression and sauna(36:48) How frequently should we expose ourselves to heat?(39:12) Hot baths and accessible alternatives to saunas(41:04) Why sauna is more than a biohack(44:06) The evolutionary origins of our love for warmth(47:03) The ancient history of communal bathing(49:12) The world's most extraordinary sauna destinations(52:10) Reclaiming discomfort, connection, and the art of slowing down

Jonathan Dickinson is an ibogaine researcher, longtime advocate for exploring the psychedelic’s potential for addiction treatment, and the author of the new book, Ibogaine and the Bicameral Mind: The Transformational Potential of the World's Most Complex Psychedelic Medicine.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Inside the ibogaine experience(00:34) Jonathan’s journey to ibogaine(01:53) Bwiti and the origins of iboga(03:48) Iboga’s role in African culture(06:47) Jonathan’s initiation in Gabon(07:54) How ibogaine is consumed(09:06) Howard Lotsoff’s accidental discovery(12:38) Why ibogaine was prohibited(16:26) Veterans discover ibogaine(21:07) What an ibogaine journey feels like(24:47) The bicameral mind(27:33) Healing trauma and restoring agency(33:52) How ibogaine restores choice(37:19) Marcus Luttrell’s ibogaine story(41:47) The Stanford ibogaine study(44:30) Why people return to ibogaine(49:27) Ibogaine’s regenerative potential(52:00) Tempering the miracle claims(54:50) Who should consider ibogaine?(56:32) Preparing for ibogaine treatment(58:24) The future of ibogaine and healthcare(61:04) How society should approach ibogaine

Damiaan Denys is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Amsterdam and the co-editor of "Deep Brain Stimulation: A New Frontier in Psychiatry."------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Early Fascination With Human Nature(02:18) Difficult Father and Survival Through Understanding People(04:07) Boredom With Protocolized Psychiatry(06:34) From Anti-Psychiatry to Evidence-Based Medicine(10:01) What Psychiatry Is Supposed To Do(12:27) Defining Mental Disorders and Cultural Relativity(15:42) Choosing Psychiatry’s Biggest Mysteries(18:04) Human Nature as Fundamentally Problematic(20:07) OCD, Addiction, and Dopamine Theory(23:41) Deep Brain Stimulation Origins(26:08) Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions(29:31) How Brain Stimulation Alters Brain Circuits(33:12) Instant Personality Changes After Stimulation(36:41) The Woman Who Cleaned Sixteen Hours Daily(40:04) Self-Confidence as the Hidden Mechanism(43:17) One Root Behind Many Psychiatric Disorders(46:09) Why Deep Brain Stimulation Remains Rare(49:22) Building a Future Around DBS Treatment(53:06) The Three-Part DBS Treatment Team(56:14) Depression Patient Rediscovers Music and Art(58:47) DBS as Stimulation of the Mind(01:01:08) Fragility, Vulnerability, and Human Connection(01:05:18) Soul, Transcendence, and Psychedelic Experiences(01:08:42) Leaving Academia and Returning to Human Beings(01:11:36) Autonomy, Modern Life, and Resisting Comfort

Steve Stewart-Williams is a professor, an evolutionary psychologist, and the author of The Ape that Understood the Universe and his newest book, A Billion Years of Sex Differences: How Evolution Shaped the Minds of Men and Women------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Falling In Love With Evolutionary Psychology(03:30) Explaining Human Behavior Through Evolution(06:57) Why Sex Differences Evolved(10:28) Writing A Book On Controversial Science(12:21) Average Differences And Statistical Overlap(15:17) Human Parenting Shrinks Sex Differences(17:44) Male Interest In Casual Sex(21:19) Evidence Across Cultures And Species(25:23) What Men And Women Want(29:18) Physical Attraction And Resource Preferences(32:32) Replication Crisis And Scientific Confidence(34:55) Ashley Madison And Sexual Marketplace Realities(36:27) Gamma Bias And Delta Bias Explained(40:18) Aggression Differences Between Men And Women(44:19) Toddler Violence And Puberty Changes(47:27) Neuroticism, Sensitivity, And Personality Differences(52:34) Politics, Academia, And Sex Difference Denial(57:21) Academic Freedom And Substack Independence(60:38) Why Truth About Sex Differences Matters(63:44) Harms Of Exaggerating Sex Differences(66:27) Harms Of Minimizing Sex Differences(69:17) Gender Equality Paradox In Scandinavia(71:34) Let People Be Themselves

Kathryn Mannix is a palliative care doctor and the author of With The End In Mind.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Regret, mistakes, and living fully(02:05) Hospice work and “encountering death”(04:40) Early medicine: oncology training and dying patients(07:20) Falling out of love with oncology research culture(10:10) The hospice “statement from fate”(13:05) Ordinary dying vs Hollywood’s scary version(16:05) Living while dying: love, family, relationships(19:05) Practical “sadmin”: sorting life before death(22:10) Why regret gets a bad rap(25:30) Doing the work: turning wounds into scars(28:55) Dying environments: people and mood matter most(32:10) Nana’s wisdom: losing familiarity with dying(35:40) Medicine “kidnapped dying” and death taboo(38:50) Values-based planning: “what matters most to me”(41:55) Death education, pets, and breaking secrecy(44:10) What dying looks like: hearing and breathing changes(47:25) Trauma from misunderstanding dying sounds(50:35) Comfort meds, guilt, and what happens after death

Jonathan Zimmeramn is a Professor of History of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, and the author of the books "Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn" and "Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools."------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) intro(00:27) Polarized, pessimistic America(02:10) From Birchers to viral clicks(05:05) Decline of religion as fuel(08:12) “Love thy enemy” vs “I hate my opponents”(10:45) Cross-tribe media: why I watch Fox(13:18) Dopamine diets and tribal brains(16:02) Roots beyond social: 90s, higher ed divides(18:40) Education sorts and isolates by degree(21:15) Overlaps and humbling lessons from Fox (Ukraine, MIC)(24:05) Charlie Kirk: free-speech ideals and contradictions(27:22) Assassination & the internet underworld(30:10) Boys, meaning, and failing institutions(33:05) Digital cults, religion, and liberal education(36:10) Learned Hand’s “spirit of liberty”(38:22) Printing-press analogy, AI, and Postman’s question(41:05) Phones out K-16 and secondhand distraction(43:38) Anxiety on campus and adult responsibility(45:30) Free-speech hypocrisy & the “American Hour” proposal

Judith Thurman is a staff writer at "The New Yorker," and the author of many books, including "Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller" and "Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette."------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------(00:00) “How’d you get to be that thing you are?”—origin story(02:18) Precocious reader, teacher mom, “foreordained” to write(04:52) Yes-and-no confidence; from drivel to good(07:10) Poet in Europe: barmaid, tutor, no money(09:48) 1970s NYC—dangerous, electric, cheap rent, first bylines(12:22) Nation → Ms. magazine → journalism takes off(14:05) Knocking on The New Yorker’s door; Gottlieb says yes(16:40) How a New Yorker piece gets made—editors, rewrites, heat(19:12) Subjects and boundaries: strong & “lost” women(21:58) Emily Wilson to Vanessa Beecroft; fasting spa detour(24:41) Writing (against) Gertrude Stein; Handmaid’s Tale hindsight(27:20) Why Stein’s “cult” endures—salon as tourist attraction(29:58) Anne Frank’s freedom to feel; the monumental annotation(32:36) Amelia Earhart—image-making, legend, and dying young(34:28) Biographies as marriages; choosing a life to live with(35:57) Isak Dinesen begins: Ms. piece, Denneny, the $10k “bride price”(38:43) Rethinking colonialism—Kenyan correspondent, mea culpa(41:52) Writing life: night vs. morning, momentum, humility; truth famine & journalism’s role

Liesbeth van der Horst is the director of the Verzetsmuseum - the Museum of WWII Resistance in Amsterdam.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Origins of the Resistance Museum(02:05) Moving Locations and Growth(04:12) Becoming Director in 2003(06:45) Lessons from Resistance Figures(09:30) The 1940 German Invasion(13:10) Early Occupation and Dutch Nazis(16:42) The February Strike of 1941(21:20) Gradual Anti-Jewish Measures(25:18) Deportations and Camp Westerbork(29:35) Dutch Traditions of Tolerance(33:10) Hiding, Families, and Anne Frank(38:28) Who Resisted and Why(42:15) Gerrit van der Veen’s Story(44:50) Fake IDs and Underground Efforts(47:08) Remembering Resistance Fighters(49:05) Why the Museum Still Matters

Lisa Marchiano is a Jungian analyst and is the co-host of This Jungian Life podcast.------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Finding Jung Feels Like a Native Tongue(02:10) Early Memories: Mother and Jung’s Mysterious Books(04:35) The Story of Jung’s Bell and the Paranormal(06:20) From History and Humanitarian Work to Inner Crisis(08:15) A Breakup Sparks a Deep Depression(10:50) The Columbus Avenue Bookstore Ritual(13:10) Stumbling Upon “On the Way to the Wedding”(15:35) Reading the Book That Changed Everything(18:10) Writing Down Dreams and the Rabbit Hole Begins(20:25) Realizing Suffering Has Meaning(22:50) Deferring Law School for Work in Bosnia(25:05) Growing Doubt About Her Career Path(28:15) The Phone Call to the Jung Institute(31:10) Refusing the Call but Unable to Let It Go(34:20) Wrestling With Persona and Prestige(38:15) Choosing Social Work Over Law(41:40) The Calling Becomes Stronger in Bosnia(45:05) Returning to New York and Social Work School(48:20) Balancing Training With Motherhood(50:40) Why Jung’s Ideas Are So Beautiful and Expansive(55:20) The Rise of Jung’s Popularity and the Podcast(60:15) Depth Versus Ideology: Why Jung Resonates Today(64:10) Jungian Work as a Container for Meaning(67:50) Defining Synchronicity and Its Significance(70:00) Her Mother’s Legacy and Final Reflections