Emptiness is not a problem to solve but a journey to undertake. Dr. Robert Gunn, author of “Journeys into Emptiness,” joins Armand DiMele to trace three stages of emptiness, from painful longing through letting go to a Buddhist sense of wholeness, drawing on the lives of Dogen, Thomas Merton, and Carl Jung.
Growing old is feared more than death itself, and that fear may be largely a cultural illusion. Armand DiMele and Dr. Bernard Starr examine how longevity has reshaped society, why research shows older people are often more satisfied than expected, and how a shift in ego and time-consciousness can make aging a genuine liberation.
What do you discover about yourself when crisis strips everything away? Author Mark Matusik discusses his book drawing on interviews with Joan Didion, Ram Dass, and others who survived profound loss, illness, and trauma. The recurring insight: real strength only emerges when the fictional version collapses.
Psychiatrist and author Dr. Irvin Yalom joins Armand DiMele to argue that confronting death directly, rather than avoiding it, is essential to living fully. They discuss erotic transference, the therapist’s need for ongoing personal therapy, and Yalom’s existential view that therapist and patient are fellow travelers facing the same mortality.
Legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins talks with Armand and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, about growing up on Sugar Hill, marching alongside his activist grandmother, the role of artists in social change, and the deep grief of losing his wife of 40 years, Lucille. Music and loss intertwine throughout.
Panic attacks feel like heart attacks, and hypochondria can be a disguised craving for care or an unconscious flirtation with death. Armand and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, argue that fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain are often psychosomatic, and that most doctors overtreating vague symptoms do more harm than good.
