Is love genuinely a cure for hatred, or just a way to smother fear? Armand DiMele and studio walk-in Rohini Samwaru, along with callers, wrestle with who gets to define love, whether self-love is a prerequisite, and how fear underlies anger. A caller’s impromptu Spanish love song closes the hour.
Hatred is not anger but a consuming state of being, and most people carry far more of it than they admit. Armand replays a remastered lecture to distinguish hatred from anger, trace its origins in childhood suppression, and argue that the desperate human search for love is really an attempt to escape inner hatred.
We know what makes a good life, so why don’t we do it? Armand DiMele walks through the core patterns of self-defeating behavior, from denial and counterfactual thinking to procrastination and perfectionism, drawing on research by psychologist Dan Newhart to explain how self-sabotage builds gradually, often invisibly.
Every dysfunctional behavior hides a noble intent. Armand DiMele and Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, LCSW explore this idea through vivid examples, from the alcoholic who drinks to get to work, to the teenager selling drugs so his mother can quit her second job, revealing how focusing on the wellness rather than the illness can transform how people see themselves.
Perfectionism is not a virtue but a disguised form of anger. Armand DiMele traces how indirect social aggression in childhood breeds neurotic perfectionism in adults, connects it to eating disorders and hoarding, and urges listeners to loosen their grip, especially during the holidays.
Denial is not weakness but an evolved survival tool, and Armand DiMele breaks down its many forms: denial of fact, responsibility, impact, awareness, and cycle. He connects this mechanism to addiction, overeating, abusive relationships, and even the subprime mortgage collapse, then works through caller stories to show how denial operates from the inside.
Legendary jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels joins Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist to explore what happens inside a musician at the moment of performance: the surrender of ego, the trust that technique will emerge, and the difference between doing and flowing. Weaves in reflections on anger, money, and how life in New Mexico changed Daniels.
Pain is invisible, subjective, and often disbelieved, yet it reshapes lives. Armand DiMele and studio guest Jonna Valerio examine the biology of chronic pain, the psychology of how it persists after injury heals, and how loved ones can offer genuine support without hollow advice.
Why do some people live in the past while others don’t? Armand DiMele argues that nostalgia and adult homesickness are really about longing for a lost version of yourself, not just a lost place or time. Callers explore music, family, and the cost of uprootedness.
True happiness cannot be captured in a memory, a possession, or another person. Armand DiMele explores that argument with Nicholas Vreeland of the Tibet Center, previewing the Dalai Lama’s Radio City teachings on emptiness, and choreographer Alexandra Beller, whose new dance piece stages the futile human habit of chasing happiness outside ourselves.
