Using meditation to open up the doors of perception
Meditation is sometimes thought to be a relaxation or an anti-stress technique - a get-out-of-jail-free card to play when you're not feeling your best. But that's just one small part of what meditation can do.
Last month, we saw how following the Buddhist path can lead us to Nirvana: a state
This episode has nothing to do with Kurt Cobain
Relative to our ancestors, we live in a very strange world. Food, sex, a holiday for 2 to Timbuktu - our every desire is available at the click of a button. But are we any happier than we were before?
Right at the other end of the spectrum, Buddhism offers us a path away from desire and
Better never to have been born at all?
Searching For It explores philosophies, ideas, and ways of life that can provide our lives with an overarching sense of purpose. But if anti-natalists had their way, we'd euthanize the human race as soon as possible because life is simply not worth living. In this episode, we'll investigate this provocative philosophy and try to understand why anti
Radical freedom, authenticity, and edgy Frenchmen in turtleneck sweaters
Communist, womanizer, and intellectual rebel: Jean-Paul Sartre wasn't just another grey, ageing philosopher, trudging his way through the academic establishment. Sartre was an existentialist, a fierce political campaigner, and he lived the philosophy he preached. In this episode, we'll be getting to grips with Sartre's brand of existentialism and
Discussing Camus, suicide, and the absurd with Liam Ward
In today's bonus October episode, Liam Ward joins Searching For It to discuss the philosophy of Albert Camus. Today's episode will see us revisiting the first episode of Searching For It and exploring Camus' notion of the absurd in more depth. Liam has a long-standing interest in Camus and all things existentialist, and brings to the table his thoughts on
Doing the most good we can with Effective Altruists
This episode brings the second instalment of the 2-part series on altruism. After having looked into why we should be so concerned about doing good in the last episode, today we'll be trying to figure out how we can do good the most effectively.
We'll be looking at a group of people called Effective Altruists who have spent a lot of
What reasons to we have to be a good person?
This episode brings the first instalment of a 2-part series on altruism. Today we’ll be asking: what reasons do I have to be a good person? From a moral point of view, do I face any obligations to spend my time helping those in need? And from a self-interested point of view, can I find a sense of meaning and fulfilment in doing so?
To be (free) or not to be (free)?
Aldous Huxley wrote a novel Brave New World, set in a futuristic society in which the citizens have everything they could ever want handed to them on a silver platter by the government. Although, the people don't have a choice but to accept this one-size-fits-all perfect life - they might be happy but they're not free to choose otherwise.
What is this, a cross-over episode?
In today's episode, we'll finish off the two-part mini-series on the psychedelic experience. This 'cross-over episode' will see many of the characters from the last 4 episodes of this podcast come together on a legendary bus trip, wild parties, and sharing mind-bending properties of LSD-laced Kool Aid.
What happens when you cross a bunch of hippie musicians with an unlimited supply of LSD?
Join us in the first of our 2-part mini-series on the psychedelic experience. We'll begin today by exploring one of the most influential and unique bands in rock history: the Grateful Dead, and how they could induce a 'psychedelic effect' in the listener. But what is a psychedelic experience, and how can listening to music have such a strange effect on us