Seize the Moment Podcast

On episode 133, we welcome Avram Alpert to discuss creating a good-enough world as opposed to one that solely benefits greatness, the myth of meritocracy and how it engenders biased outcomes, the talent that’s frequently overlooked in Western culture, the Buddhist belief that life is inherently unsatisfactory despite how wealthy or successful you are, the future-oriented mindset of obsessive striving and how it forms a barrier to momentary pleasures, why the good-enough world isn’t idealistic and would present problems (albeit more tractable ones), why communism failed and democratic socialism can succeed, and why everyone eventually suffers if most of us do. Avram Alpert is a writer and educator. He is a fellow at The New Institute, Hamburg and has taught at Princeton and Rutgers. He has also written for publications including Aeon, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Truthout, and the Brooklyn Rail. He is the author of Global Origins of the Modern Self, from Montaigne to Suzuki (2019), A Partial Enlightenment: What Modern Literature and Buddhism Can Teach Us About Living Well Without Perfection (2021), and his newest book is called The Good-Enough Life (2022).  | Avram Alpert | ►Website | https://www.avramalpert.com ► Twitter| https://twitter.com/avramalpert ► The Good-Enough Life Link | https://bit.ly/3xcyipc Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

On episode 132, we welcome former hip-hop journalist Loupy D to discuss his career in the music industry, his relationship with Notorious B.I.G. and being impressed with his character when they initially met, meeting and photographing 2Pac during the 2Pacalypse Now album release party, NFTs and blockchain technology, the creation of hip-hop as a tool to unite and foster empathy through storytelling, the nuance of rap music as well as the misogyny in its varied manifestations, working for Kronick magazine and interviewing the Wu-Tang Clan, and what it was like to discover that Biggie was shot the day before Loupy was to interview him for the magazine. Loupy D (Lawrence E. Dotson) is a writer, photographer, and NFT Creator and Collector. He took photos of the late great Tupac Shakur and in the time he spent as a journalist, he interviewed Biggie Smalls, the Wutang Clan, Three 6 Mafia, Cash Money and others, and he was the managing editor at Kronick Magazine, one of the most well known and successful hip hop indie magazines for 10 years.   Loupy D (Lawrence Dotson) | ► Website | https://loupyd.com/ ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/loupyd ► Twitter  | https://twitter.com/loupyd ► Linktree  | https://linktr.ee/loupyd Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

On episode 131, we welcome Daniel Bergner to discuss his new book ‘The Mind and the Moon’; the history of psychotropic medications and their limitations; the neurological underpinnings of mental illness; psychotic disorders and the hearing voices movement; the anti-psychiatry movement and R.D. Laing’s imperative to take hallucinations seriously; psychiatry’s history of subduing symptoms instead of creating pathways to live well with them, and how we can begin to think about doing so; the hype about psychedelics for mental health treatment and why therapy is often needed as an auxiliary; the emotional significance of feeling connected to others and the broader cosmos; and why we still have so much further to go in understanding the mind/brain connection. Daniel Bergner is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of five previous books of award-winning nonfiction: the New York Times bestselling Sing for Your Life, What Do Women Want?, The Other Side of Desire, In the Land of Magic Soldiers, and God of the Rodeo. His writing has also appeared in the Atlantic, Granta, Harper’s Magazine, Mother Jones, Talk, and the New York Times Book Review. His newest book, coming out on May 17, 2022, is called The Mind and the Moon: My Brother's Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches. Daniel Bergner | ► Website | https://danielbergner.com ► The Mind and the Moon | https://amzn.to/3FR4aDR Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

On episode 130, we welcome Professor Bryonn Bain to discuss his new book ‘Rebel Speak’; critical race theory and its principles; the history of racism and how it became codified into law; the critics of CRT and their desire to maintain a sense of purity about American history and our legal system; the American prison system as a form of modern slavery; whether free-market capitalism can coincide with prison reform; addiction and mental illness among the prison population and alternative ways of coping with their struggles; Bryonn’s love of hip-hip and having the opportunity to work with Chuck D of Public Enemy; speaking with Harry Belafonte and Dolores Huerta; and the how to utilize CRT to begin to break down the barriers of sex, race, gender, and class.  Bryonn Bain is a prison activist, artist, scholar, and author of four books including The Ugly Side of Beautiful: Rethinking Race and Prisons in America (Third World Press) — currently banned in Texas prisons. He is the Director of Prison Education Program at UCLA. You can earn more about his internationally acclaimed hip hop theater and spoken word multimedia production, Lyrics from Lockdown (executive produced by Harry Belafonte), and his Emmy Award–winning work on LA Stories, at www.bryonn.com. His newest book, out now, is called Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape. Bryonn Bain | ► Website | https://www.bryonn.com/ ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/bryonn_bain ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/bryonnbain ► Rebel Speak | https://amzn.to/3N303Hp  Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

On episode 129, we welcome Dr. Sara Manning Peskin to discuss her new book ‘A Molecule Away from Madness’; the fascinating stories of the scientists who discovered the molecules that cause neurological diseases and their cures, including Alois Alzheimer (who discovered the tangles and plaques of Alzheimer’s) and Joseph Goldberger (who helped discover the cause of pellagra by ingesting pills of poop with others in “filth parties”; how those scientists found the courage and resolve to fight for their discoveries when their colleagues mocked and ignored them; how diets, genes, antibodies, and proteins create neurological illnesses; Abraham Lincoln’s drastic personality change from mercury-laced prescription pills; the difference between Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and pseudo-dementia in the chronically mentally ill; how our tools have helped us distinguish the subtle differences of various disorders and their implications for treatment; the profound personal stories of individuals struggling with those ailments; and why the behavior related to neurological illnesses is often excused while we tend to lack empathy for those struggling with mental illness. Sara Manning Peskin, MD, MS is an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is part of both the Penn Memory Center and the Penn Frontotemporal Dementia Center. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe Magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her new book, out now, is called A Molecule Away from Madness. Sarah Manning Peskin | ► Website | https://saramanningpeskin.com/ ► A Molecule Away from Madness |  https://amzn.to/3kvTMaY Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment

On episode 128, we welcome philosopher William Irwin to discuss his new book ‘The Meaning of Metallica’, the band’s rise to fame and why so many identified with their music, ‘Master of Puppets’ and the insidious nature of addiction, the narrator’s resentment in ‘Unforgiven’ toward others and how authenticity can become stifled by the collective, vulnerability and discovering the need for intimacy in ‘Unforgiven II’ and ‘Unforgiven III’, the fantasy and escapism of romance and drug dependence, grandiosity in dream chasing and why we often sacrifice love for the sake of empty recognition, and the significance of pride in fostering a healthy self-conception. William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and is best known for originating the "philosophy and popular culture" book genre with Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing in 1999 and The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer in 2001. William’s latest books are Little Siddhartha (2018), God Is a Question, Not an Answer (2018), and Both/And. His newest book, out now, is called The Meaning of Metallica: Ride the Lyrics. William Irwin | ► Website | https://staff.kings.edu/sites/wtirwin ► Email | williamirwin@kings.edu ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/williamirwin38 ► The Meaning of Metallica |  https://amzn.to/3vEtVm7 Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment

On episode 127, we welcome philosopher Mark White to discuss the philosophy of Thor; how his hammer was used to distinguish and judge worthiness; the similarities and differences between the various schools of ethics - virtue ethics, deontology, and utilitarianism; the golden mean of virtue ethics and its allowance of moral imperfection; the necessity of self-doubt to moral character and the balance of maintaining it with a sense of pride; the importance of not taking your partner for granted and continuing to improve; and Thor’s epiphany and love of humanity, exploring how they differentiated him from other gods. Mark D. White is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the  College of Staten Island/CUNY, where he teaches courses in philosophy,  economics, and law. He is the author of several  books—A Philosopher Reads Marvel Comics’ Civil War: Exploring the  Moral Judgment of Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man (Ockham Publishing), The Virtues of Captain America: Modern-Day Lessons  on Character from a World War II Superhero and Batman and Ethics  (both from Wiley-Blackwell), The Manipulation of Choice: Ethics and  Libertarian Paternalism, The Illusion of Well-Being: Economic Policymaking Based on Respect and Responsiveness, and The Decline on the Individual: Reconciling Autonomy with Community (all from Palgrave  Macmillan) —as well as over 60 academic  journal articles and book chapters in the intersections between economics, philosophy, and law. Mark is the editor of Palgrave's Perspectives from Social Economics series. His newest book is called A Philosopher Reads Marvel Comics’ Thor: If They Be Worthy. | Mark D. White | ►Website | https://www.profmdwhite.com ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/profmdwhite ► Twitter| https://twitter.com/profmdwhite ► A Philosopher Reads Marvel Comics’ Thor: If They Be Worthy  Link | To Be Determined (Update Coming Soon!)  Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

Listen as Christian Madsbjerg, expert in sensemaking and data collection, discusses the limitations of data-driven decision-making, the flaws of mental health apps, and the importance of analytical empathy in understanding human phenomena. He also explores the role of literature in sensemaking and the shortcomings of the DSM in comprehending mental illness. Madsbjerg emphasizes the need to suspend judgment, integrate various perspectives, and understand others with care and kindness.

On episode 125, we welcome philosopher Jessica Gordon-Roth to discuss John Locke and ‘The Prince and the Cobbler’ thought experiment, what makes up someone’s identity and if it’s more than just a bundle of memories, if people remain the same as they age, Locke’s notion of consciousness and its distinction from the body, applying Locke’s notion of personhood to transgender people to explain why inner states may differ from outer appearances, and the difference between consciousness and a soul and why having the latter doesn’t necessarily indicate “personal persistence.” Jessica Gordon-Roth is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota. Her area of specialization is in the history of early modern philosophy, with a focus on Locke and feminist history of philosophy. Jessica is also one of contributing authors prominently featured in Helen De Cruz’s new book, “Philosophy Illustrated: Forty-two Thought Experiments To Broaden Your Mind.” | Jessica Gordon-Roth | ► Website 1 | https://jgordonroth.wixsite.com/philosophy ► Website 2 | https://philpeople.org/profiles/jessica-gordon-roth Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666

On episode 124, we welcome philosopher Andy West to discuss teaching philosophy in prisons, how the prisoners initially surprised him with their insights, Sisyphean freedom and how we can become free in rebelling against authority, the juxtaposition of the prisoners’ beliefs in free will and determinism, living in the moment vs continuing to hope for a better future, the Ring of Gyges and what the prisoners believed were the foundations of morality, and the significance of cultivating more nuanced perspectives of prisoners. Andy West has been teaching Philosophy courses at City Lit since 2018, covering topics that include happiness, guilt, love, sex and art. Andy West also teaches philosophy in prisons. He has conversations with people inside about their lives, discusses their ideas and feelings and listens as the men and women he works with explore new ways to think about their situation. Andy West’s new book, out now, is called The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy.  | Andy West | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thephilosophyfoundation/ ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/andywphilosophy ► The Life Inside Book Link | https://amzn.to/3wh6gdr Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast ► Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/user?u=32208666