KCRW's Life Examined is a one-hour weekly show exploring science, philosophy, faith — and finding meaning in the modern world. The show is hosted by Jonathan Bastian. Please tune in Saturdays at 9 a.m., or find it as a podcast.
Addicted to distraction: How our world is robbing our ability to pay attention
Data scientist and psychologist Gloria Mark shares the latest research on our diminishing attention spans and explains why our increasingly distracted lives can impact our health and…
This week, clinical psychologist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach on suffering, the negativity bias and why it’s a good idea not to overly fixate on the negative in our lives.
Facing death without God: Spiritual care in the final hours of a death row inmate
Humanist Chaplain Devin Moss describes his year-long journey providing spiritual care for an atheist death row inmate, leading up to and during his execution carried out by the State…
This week, historian George Makari explores the powerful human emotion of hate, xenophobia and fear of the other and says some people “fall in hate, the way the rest of us fall in…
Authors and scientists Theresa MacPhail and Alanna Collen delve into the history and science of allergies, proposing that a potential solution for allergy sufferers may lie within the…
This week, Iza Kavedžija, a cultural anthropologist who lived in the Kansai region of Japan, while researching the older members of Japanese society, talks about how Japanese culture…
This week, Anna Lembke, addiction specialist at Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic , and author of “ Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence ,”…
This week, Oliver Burkeman, journalist and author of Four Thousand Weeks; Time Management for Mortals explores our relationship with time and asks how our common belief that our…
Authors Katherine May and Bonnie Tsui share their love of water and swimming, from freezing mid-winter plunges to the history and draw of the water’s edge.
This week, Cassie Holmes, Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making and author of “Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most,”…
This week, Harvard divinity scholar Casper ter Kuile talks about the power of ancient ritual and how incorporating a tech sabbath and switching off our phones, can help us refocus and…
Authors Carl Safina and Jennifer Ackerman talk owls: from their extraordinary vision, hearing, and flight to the mystery and folklore that has surrounded them for centuries.
Antarctic expedition: A treatise on climate change and motherhood
Writer Elizabeth Rush recounts her two-month journey to Antarctica and shares the impact seeing its fast-melting Thwaites Glacier up close had on her life.
Distilling life on the page: The beauty of storytelling with Yiyun Li
Novelist Yiyun Li shares her journey as a writer and how the subtleties and joys she’s found in writing, storytelling, books, and gardening have helped navigate the profoundest of…
This week, cognitive scientist and professor of psychology at Yale University Lori Santos explains that negative emotions are very much part of the human experience and essential to…
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