Keep Talking

Pico Iyer is a novelist, a travel writer, and the author of many books, including his most recent, "Aflame: Learning From Silence," which is the subject of this conversation.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:00) Intro(00:58) Santa Barbara, June 1990(04:25) The New Camaldoli Hermitage(07:30) Pico's life when he first went to New Camaldoli(11:08) Silence elicits gratitude, what's shared and what's essential(16:10) Intentionally turning off technology(22:39) Creating a wise amount of "cathedral time"(25:53) Embracing silence as a non-religious person(32:03) Leonard Cohen exploring his inner landscape in silence(36:05) How Pico has developed from his 100+ hermitage visits(41:35) Saying no in order to prioritize space for silence(47:07) How to begin a life with more silence and contemplation(50:41) Silence as an antidote to despair(54:36) What Pico has learned from the Dalai Lama

Orville Schell is an author, a journalist, a China scholar, and the director of the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(01:00) Orville's entering China in the 1970s(07:10) Was was China like in the 1970s?(10:09) The palpable fear in China in the 1970s(14:55) The details of Mao Zedong the Cultural Revolution(20:40) What preceded Communism in China?(25:32) Why was Communism appealing to Chinese revolutionaries? (30:11) China in the 1970s and how it reopened to the world(37:10) Why did China not become free after the 1980s?(41:39) 1989 and Tiananmen Square(45:28) China in the next few years(52:19) How might China become free?(55:26) Why China matters

Joseph Goldstein is an author, the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and is one of the most influential and important figures to bring vipassana meditation practices into the American mainstream.A rebroadcast from 2022.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:45) How Joseph ended up in Asia a young man(04:39) Reason for interest in Buddhism and meditation(08:59) Immersing in the study of the mind(12:41) The Buddha’s teachings(18:52) Joseph's psychological state when first exposed to Buddhism and meditation(21:01) The daily habits, discipline, and rituals to try to achieve Enlightenment(27:14) Deciding to devote his life to meditation(30:11) Communicating to his mother his desire to devote his life to Buddhism(32:59) Metaphysical views pre and post meditation(37:46) Buddhism is non-theistic(40:14) What is the Dharma?(44:48) Integrating Buddhist teachings with practice and The Noble Eightfold Path(53:37) The first step to use mindfulness to ease psychological suffering(01:01:24) Awareness versus the weather pattern of one's mind(01:04:30) Using mindfulness to respond, rather than to react(01:15:37) Dealing with grief(01:24:50) How can we improve our lives by being mindful?

James Hollis is a psychoanalyst, one of the world's most prolific Jungian thinkers, and the author of many books, including "Living An Examined Life."A rebroadcast from 2021.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(01:02) Jim's transition from academia to psychoanalysis(06:24) The decision to pursue psychoanalysis as a full-time profession(10:59) Gathering the courage to pursue psychoanalysis(18:19) What about Jung’s work resonated with Jim?(30:16) Jim's process of helping people navigate the transitionary phases of their lives(41:31) The most pressing issues Jim sees facing Americans(48:24) The primary blockers to growth and self-healing(51:54) Discerning the difference fears you should avoid and fears you should face(57:01) Exhausted relationships vs. relationships that need endurance(01:09:02) The ratio of men vs. women seeking counsel and therapy and how it’s changed over the years(01:13:21) Why most men tend to suppress their innermost emotions(01:19:49) Jim's explanation of Joseph Campbell’s ‘hero’s journey’(01:25:31) How to live an examined, authentic life

Elizabeth Economy is a political scientist, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a China expert, and the author of multiple books, including "The World According to China" and "The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State."------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(01:00) Xi Jinping's father's story(07:16) The Cultural Revolution(12:02) "China's Holocaust" between 1950's-1970's(13:10) Why Marxism resonated in China(21:43) Darker aspects of the Cultural Revolution(33:48) The rise of Xi Jinping and the rise of China's economy(38:33) The meme of Xi Jinping as Winnie the Pooh(41:43) Xi Jinping's personality and vision for China(46:27) The near-term future of U.S-China relations(53:00) What America can do to win Cold War 2.0

James Holland is a historian and the author of many books, including Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:46) The state of the world in June 1944(14:48) What was D-Day like for an average Allied soldier(21:13) Is D-Day the most important military conflict in history?(27:01) "Steel not flesh"(32:43) The Atlantic Wall(41:08) Cooperation and morale among the Allied troops(45:31) Dick Winters and men like him(51:15) Why James has committed so much of his life to WWII history(54:45) How can we best honor and remember veterans?

Noam Dworman is a businessman, the co-host of the podcast "Live From The Table," and the owner of the world-famous Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, NYC.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:59) How The Comedy Cellar came to be(02:38) Noam's dad, Manny(07:05) Why did Manny start The Comedy Cellar?(10:42) Notable comics early at The Comedy Cellar(12:00) The way to fame for comics pre-internet(14:32) Identifying comedic talent(18:36) Patrice O'Neal(24:12) How Noam took over The Comedy Cellar(27:37) The scene at The Comedy Cellar in early 2000's(29:52) Why The Comedy Cellar is so popular(32:19) The design of The Comedy Cellar venue(36:58) Quotes from Noam about free speech(38:11) Louis CK, free speech, and woke culture(43:58) How the left has changed regarding free speech(47:22) Comedy as a refuge(50:23) Defining wokeness and a story about Noam's daughter(56:30) The state of wokeness and cancel culture(59:02) Comedians and intellectuals with courage(01:02:58) What's next for Noam and The Comedy Cellar

Sir Richard Evans is a historian, and the author of many books, including The Third Reich Trilogy, The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815–1914, and Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich, which is the primary focus of this conversation.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(01:00) The young Hitler(04:11) The Nazis were conservative, middle class Germans(10:20) How Hitler rose, his talents as a speaker(19:52) The Reichstag Fire and The Enabling Act(27:57) The romantic and personal life of Hitler(31:39) Hitler's romantic interest in Joseph Goebbels's wife(35:52) Demythologizing the Nazis: a story of Himmler in the sauna(39:27) "Ordinary Men" by Christopher R. Browning(44:50) The story of Dr. Karl Brandt(49:34) Why history and studying the Nazis matters(52:19) Threats to freedom and democracy in the modern world(54:22) Donald Trump is not a fascist

Glenn Loury‬ is an economist, a professor at Brown University, a podcaster, an essayist, and is the author of "Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative" and the essay "The Case for Black Patriotism."A rebroadcast from 2022.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(01:01) Get to know Glenn Loury(03:56) South Side of Chicago culture when Glenn was a boy(06:11) Fatherhood at 18, working at RR Donnelley & Sons, and Mr. Andres(15:01) Opportunity launches Glenn to Northwestern and MIT(19:34) The culture and opportunity of MIT(28:48) The first African-American tenured economics professor in Harvard, at 33(37:30) Glenn's interest in politics and his heterodox political philosophy(47:44) A memorable incident with Glenn's uncle Alfred(55:35) How Glenn's conservatism informs his views on the campus(01:01:57) Glenn's defense of Western culture(01:06:43) "The Case for Black Patriotism"(01:23:17) An American Living "The American Dream"

Greg Lukianoff is a journalist, an attorney, the co-author of "The Coddling of the American Mind," and the President of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Greg puts it well when he calls freedom of speech "the eternally radical idea."A rebroadcast from 2022.------------Book Dan to do an interview or a meeting------------Keep Talking SubstackSpotifyApple PodcastsSocial media and all episodes------------Support via VenmoSupport on SubstackSupport on Patreon------------(00:00) Intro(00:58) Greg's interest in free speech(06:35) Free speech: "the eternally radical idea"(10:55) What happens in societies without free speech(17:14) How free speech creates a more peaceful society(24:17) Key observations from "The Coddling of the American Mind"(34:32) Social media's effect on free speech(43:35) Examples of cancel culture(50:22) Respect for free speech must begin early in one's life(57:42) What is the point of education?(01:03:37) Antifragility and the importance of growth through struggle(01:08:48) How overcoming mental health struggles informs Greg's beliefs