Today on MindMatters, Dr. Karen Mitchell, founder and CEO of the Kalmor Institute, shares insights from her pioneering PhD research on the "persistent predatory personality." Unlike previous studies that relied primarily on incarcerated populations or graduate students, Dr. Mitchell's work draws from the extensive experiences of practitioners who h…

Inner speaking, inner seeing, feelings, sensory awareness, unsymbolized thinking. Do we all have the same inner experiences? And how aware are we of what we actually experience from moment to moment? In this episode of Mind Matters, we interview Dr. Russell T. Hurlburt, a pioneering psychologist from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Hurlbur…

Self-talk. Visualizations. Bodily awareness. Unconscious thought processes. In our day-to-day course of existence our minds assimilate, respond and react to any number of stimuli from within – and without. But how often do we stop to consider just how we do this and what faculties of apprehension are actually put to use? And do we even have a frame…

So you’ve been ‘red pilled’. You're well versed in false flags, deep states, secret governments, and state-sponsored assassinations. You’ve watched documentaries about stolen elections, the New World Order, child trafficking, and mind control. And then when you were through with those, you read extensively on the criminal acts of intelligence agenc…

Neo-gnosticism without gnosis. Gnosis without neo-gnosticism. These are just a couple of the frameworks, dichotomies, and strains of gnosticism making their way into the religious, social, and political consciousness and conversation of today’s world through literature, film, and other media. In this follow-up discussion with author and scholar Art…

Astrophilosophy. Exotheology. Whitehead. Andrew Davis is the program director for the Center for Process Studies. A philosopher and theologian, his latest work is on the metaphysics of exo-life. Today on MindMatters we discuss his work on science, religion, and what the impact of the discovery of ET life would mean for philosophy, and a general phi…

David Abramowitz joins us once again, this time to discuss Michael Shellenberger and Peter Boghossian's Taxonomy of Woke Psychopathology. With Andrew Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology as inspiration, the taxonomy summarizes how certain Woke topics and causes express Cluster B personality disorder dynamics. While the topics themselves may not be pa…

Let's face it. Bigfoot is real. The only question is, what is it? With now thousands of credible encounters that would be difficult to ignore or dismiss, we know many individuals have also observed a host of seemingly paranormal phenomena that quite often accompany these large strange creatures. Orbs, ball lightening, strange smells, space-time ano…

The ancient idea of spiritual gnosis has evolved and branched to reflect the time and place in which we live. Nowhere is this development more evident than in the writings and scholarship of author Arthur Versluis . In his groundbreaking new book American Gnosis: Political Religion and Transcendence, Versluis takes an in-depth look at the varieties…

What do altered states tell us about the nature of consciousness? And what can philosophy tell us about altered states? John Buchanan has spent his life trying to find the answers. His book, Processing Reality: Finding Meaning in Death, Psychedelics, and Sobriety, details the story of his history of experimentation and addiction, his path to sobrie…

Are all psychopaths serial killers? Is authoritarianism only found on the political right? Are we all equally capable of evil? Does power really corrupt absolutely? And is evil really "banal"? Join us today as we discuss the biggest myths about evil with David Abramowitz, the nature of psychopaths and ponerology, and how McGilchrist’s brain-hemisph…

Do human beings have ‘higher bodies’? Is there an essence or essential part of one’s being that individuals can consciously help to grow? And what does the development of the personality have to do with these possibilities? Philosopher and teacher G.I. Gurdjieff presented the world with an esoteric framework for self-development that has been carri…

J.D. Haltigan is a developmental and evolutionary psychologist who writes the Multilevel Mailer on Substack. His research and writing focuses on psychopathology, social media-induced mental illness in the young, and the psychological phenomena underlying Woke ideology and the culture wars. Lately he has been writing about the negative effects of tr…

Clive Boddy is Associate Professor of Management at Anglia Ruskin University, a leading researcher in the field of corporate psychopathy, and author of the book ‘A Climate Of Fear: Stone Cold Psychopaths At Work’. Today on MindMatters, we interview Clive about his research, why psychopaths do not make good leaders (despite claims to the contrary), …

This week on MindMatters we take a third and final look at the prescient and resounding thoughts of Ernst Jünger's The Forest Passage and reflect on what it means - in the philosophical and practical sense - to be a forest walker, or forest rebel. How one resists and chooses to respond to totalitarianism is at least as crucial as making the choice …

What is freedom? Where may it be found and accessed? How does it become actualized from within the individual? And if we are to become free - then what are we to be free from? In this second discussion of Ernst Jünger's seminal book The Forest Passage we follow along with the author’s many thoughts on what it means to be free. Concerning political …

Psychotherapist, educator, researcher, and author of the books Women Who Live Psychopaths, How to Spot a Dangerous Man, and many others, Sandra L. Brown’s insights have helped many face - and heal from - the damage inflicted by psychopaths and the personality disordered. Expanding on her work as a therapist and author, Sandra Brown has developed th…

'1984', 'Brave New World', 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Gulag Archipelago' - there are many great books on 20th-century totalitarianism. But few of them have the power and poetry of Ernst Jünger's 1951 'The Forest Passage'. Both a man of his time - and ahead of his time - the German-born Jünger was not only a staunch but careful critic of tyranny; he cou…

Grant Smith is a US Army Physical Therapist and author of the "H2F Man" and "Radical American Mind" blogs. He also co-hosts the 5th Gen Leadership and Tonic Seven podcasts. Today we discuss his experiences during plague times - the hypocrisy and delusion he saw in the armed services' policies and actions, and how he successfully resisted the pressu…

After some brief comments on classical worldviews, natural law, populism, the genesis of leftist and postmodern thought, and the history of ideas, we settle on today's topic of topics: the paranormal. What societal structures exist (in academia, the media, the marketplace, etc.) that make the paranormal both in demand as a subject worth learning ab…

In just a short time, programs like ChatGPT and other chat bots have burst on the societal scene to the delight, fascination and enthrallment of millions. Individuals can now interact with a language program that is seemingly conversant on numerous subjects and provides “answers” via virtual brains. But this new powerful technology begs many more q…

ESG’s, diversity, equity, and inclusion, stakeholder capitalism, sustainability, CBDC’s, transhumanism, Agenda 2030—no doubt you’ve heard or read about these and any number of other terms that are meant to get the public with the new progressive and “forward thinking” policies and philosophies of the future. Of course you have; they are all part of…

Helen Dale, lawyer and award-winning author of 3 novels, including The Hand that Signed the Paper, writes at Law & Liberty and Not On Your Team, But Always Fair. Her two-novel series Kingdom of the Wicked is an alternative history of Roman-occupied Judea in the first century and the arrest and trial of Yeshua ben Joseph, an enigmatic man with a lar…

Today on MindMatters, we dive into Chris Langan's essay collection, "The Art of Knowing." In the process we discuss free will, Libet's experiments and their interpretations, reality theory, morality (relative? absolute? both?), why we need bad situations in order to grow, and Batman (the greatest superhero).…

What is the purpose of esotericism? How might we view humanity’s trajectory in light of the many seemingly negative developments we see on a more or less daily basis? What are the personal challenges in raising consciousness and awareness in oneself - and how may those be seen against the backdrop of a world gone backwards? And what does it even me…

According to the vast "afterlife" literature, those who have passed on sometimes send signs, or even communicate through dreams or visions. But what if the support that many living claim to experience from their loved ones isn't unidirectional? Can one, in fact, help those who have passed to come to greater peace and understanding at their soul’s n…

One of western Christianity's best-kept secrets is its esoteric, mystical tradition. Starting with Jacob Boehme in the early 1600s, the theosophic branch is one of the most fascinating yet least well-known among the world's mystical traditions. Today on MindMatters we take inspiration from Arthur Versluis's two books, Theosophia and Wisdom's Childr…

The cancel culture phenomenon has reared its rancorous and destructive head to such a degree that many holding non-mainstream points of view are made to think twice about sharing them in public. For cancel culture doesn’t merely seek to respond to the differing perspectives with counterarguments in honest debate. It seeks to stifle the message comp…

Materiality. Spirituality. Pathology. Normal healthy behavior. All came to the fore recently in the story about the Canadian trans teacher who came to his class wearing gigantic prosthetic breasts complete with shirt-popping plastic nipples. What does this behavior say about him that he would chose to express himself in such a way? And what does hi…

Arthur Versluis is back to discuss his recent book 'Conversations in Apocalyptic Times' (a dialogue with Robert Faas), and his forthcoming 'American Gnosis.' Tune in for a wide-ranging discussion on our current spiritual malaise, the hidden theosophic tradition within Western Christianity, continuity of consciousness, the mystery of mysteries - the…

Today on MindMatters we delve into the mystery of mysteries, the unanswerable and inscrutable, the question of the ages: what is a woman? Many have tried, all have failed - until now. With reference to Matt Walsh's documentary of the same name, an obscure work by Hervey Cleckley, and two of Luc's recent Substack articles, we provide a take you prob…

Joshua Slocum is back! Not only is his Disaffected show bigger and better than ever, Josh has recently launched a new consulting service for all those poor, unfortunate souls dealing with high-conflict people in their lives. And he's back to tell us all about it. Today on MindMatters we ask the big questions: What do you do if someone close to you …

Culture wars, political convulsions, social upheavals - you name it. If you're like us, we're always on the lookout for new voices giving their take on these strange times and just what the heck it is we're watching unfold in the West. There are a good many bloggers, pundits and observers out there, but...there can be only one. Enter John Carter (n…

Russell Gmirkin is back to talk about his blockbuster latest book: Plato’s Timaeus and the Biblical Creation Accounts: Cosmic Monotheism and Terrestrial Polytheism in the Primordial History. Join us as we discuss the book's mind-bending conclusions: Plato's Timaeus and Critias were sources for much of the biblical primordial history, from the creat…

Today on MindMatters we discuss complexity scientist Peter Turchin's 2015 book, Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth. Turchin walks us through 10 millennia of human cultural evolution: from tribes and chiefdoms to the first states and empires, to our modern "ultrasocial" states. Contrary to pet theorie…

Critical Race Theory did not come ready-made out of a box. What we see and know today as CRT has, as its basis, several schools of pseudo-philosophical thought and areas of academic study - one built and twisted on another. But these influences and the progression of these ideas can, for all their wrongheadedness, be traced and seen for what they a…

Today on MindMatters we delve into the first chapters of James Lindsay's new book Race Marxism: The Truth about Critical Race Theory and Praxis. Contrary to what you hear on the news or Twitter, CRT is not simply a legal theory taught in law school. It is a full-blown activist movement. Even some who consider themselves proponents might be shocked …

Today on MindMatters we discuss three chapters from Iain McGilchrist's magnum opus, The Matter with Things. What is truth? What is science's role in discovering it? And what does a proper science of life look like? Join us as we plumb the depths of McGilchrist's bold vision on some of life's biggest questions.…

Not since Nuremberg have political leaders and functionaries accused or guilty of crimes against humanity been accessible to psychologists for close study, specifically with regard to the presence of personality disorders like psychopathy. A new paper by Robert Hare and colleagues is the first of its kind to examine men convicted of crimes against …

Today on MindMatters we are joined by Gordon M. Hahn, Russia analyst and author of essential books on Russia's revolution from above in the 90s, Russian jihadism, the history of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and his latest: The Russian Dilemma: Security, Vigilance, and Relations with the West from Ivan III to Putin. While many have observed the ebb …

Many see through the destructive thoughts, emotions and policies of Leftist political dogma - thanks in large part to the actions and behaviors of their acolytes in academia, the media and other institutions. But few have as direct experience of it - and the wit and guts to call it out for what it is and share that understanding of it with stark cl…

Our understanding of each other, ourselves, the world, science and philosophy is in a sorry state. Ratiocentric, transactional, materialistic, and narcissistic assumptions dominate over a more coherent and understanding. We're living in the left hemisphere. But what is the alternative? And if the left-hemisphere view of the world is so often destru…

Was Machiavelli an evil mastermind? A Svengali manipulator and corrupter of princes, worthy of the contemporary descriptor "Machiavellian"? Was he, rather, the first political scientist - an empiricist and pragmatist simply describing what he saw as the way things were? Or was he, simply, a politician? Today on MindMatters we discuss Machiavelli's …

Are the vaccine hesitant really deserving of being called irresponsible conspiracy-minded nationalists who are ignorant of science - or other denigrating and pejorative mainstream media characterizations? Is it possible that many who are wary of, or outright resistant to, getting the jab - actually have some very legitimate reasons for thinking and…

Many of our most basic assumptions about life, values and reality itself come to us from the thinking and writing of some of our best known philosophers. But what if some of those leading figures were only ever capable of understanding reality with what Ian McGilchirst might consider half a brain, and what Andrew M. Lobaczewski called a schizoidall…

Primarily known for his philosophy of history, British philosopher R.G. Collingwood's life was cut short in 1943 at the age of 53. As Ray Monk puts it, his replacement by Gilbert Ryle "changed the course of philosophy forever," and it in a good way. Collingwood's clear, expansive, and incisive style was replaced by the ratiocentric style of the ana…

How many scientists engage in unethical behavior? Does peer review even work? What is the reproducibility crisis? The "white hat" bias? Science has acquired a reputation of mythical proportions, but there are enough skeletons in the closet to warrant some skepticism about its many claims. At its best, science in an indispensable means of approachin…

Peter Jackson’s excellent new documentary Get Back provides an inside view of one of legendary rock band The Beatles' last recording sessions and their final public performance. Inspired by our viewing of the three-part documentary, today on MindMatters we discuss our thoughts about not only the Beatles and the nature of creativity, but also musica…

History is rarely cut and dried, but important historical events are quite often portrayed in a very limited context, providing a very narrow understanding of how the world actually works. Or how the omission of a certain set of facts can almost completely upend our ‘map of reality’; the commonly understood factors which brought about the Russian R…

Today on MindMatters we give a preview of what's to come in 2022, including some of the books we've been reading: Richard Spence's "Wall Street and the Russian Revolution" and Iain McGilchrist's "The Matter with Things." We also respond to a reader comment. Are we ignoring the dangers of rightwing authoritarianism and overplaying the dangers on the…