Manhattan has a rhythm, and how you move through it reveals who you are. Armand DiMele sorts city dwellers into owls, peacocks, pigeons, hawks, eagles, and parrots, then opens the phones to callers sharing their first raw impressions of the city and what it means to call it home.
Gratitude is not automatic, Armand argues, and it depends on cost, intention, and empathy. He walks through the psychology of why we feel it, when we don’t, and how giving to others can unlock it. Callers share their own experiences of being alone during the holidays and finding meaning through volunteering.
Heat does more than make you uncomfortable. Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. break down how extreme heat triggers irritability and violence, why common medications like Benadryl and Coumadin become dangerous in high temperatures, and how the body loses its ability to cool itself with age.
Noise is everywhere, but what does silence actually mean? Author George Prochnik joins Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. to explore how mechanical noise damages us cognitively and physically, why people fill quiet with sound out of fear, and how the pursuit of genuine silence can expand attention and deepen connection.
Why can’t we ever have enough? Armand DiMele traces greed from Wall Street scandals to everyday wanting, arguing that insatiability is driven by competition, relative status, and the brain chemistry of the hunt rather than the reward. Callers share their own struggles with desire, money, and contentment.
What happens to the human mind when you’re trapped with strangers in Antarctica or a Mars simulation capsule for months? Emily Anthes, Science Journalist and Author, joins Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, to examine how extreme isolation, cold, and darkness disrupt mood, hormones, and group cohesion in ways that mirror everyday life under pressure.
Can a Buddhist mindset survive inside a financial newsroom? Former Bloomberg News anchor Carmen Roberts joins Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. to explore how insatiable desire drives both personal unhappiness and Wall Street excess, and how compassion and higher consciousness can redirect that drive.
What makes someone beautiful, and why does the standard keep shifting? Armand DiMele and Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW are joined by health and beauty researcher Deborah Chase, who traces beauty ideals from ancient Greece to Twiggy, explains the science behind symmetry and skin care, and challenges the commercial beauty industry’s grip on how we see ourselves.
Organized religion shields predators while condemning the vulnerable. Armand DiMele examines clergy sexual abuse across Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam, walking through research on who actually offends and why, dismantling myths about celibacy and homosexuality, and asking what draws people to religious authority in the first place.
Obama’s announced surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan prompts Armand to ask not what listeners think about the war, but what they feel. Callers including a Vietnam-era veteran and an Afghan-American woman share grief, disillusionment, and the numbing silence that replaces protest.
