23 October 2026
subscribe
Archived Programs
Popular Tags
unprogrammed
Subscribe to unprogrammed via podcast or email
Jan 17, 2018 —
Nikita Petrov & Tanya Luhrmann
- How psychosis and prayer can make invisible entities ‘real’
- Why the voices heard by American schizophrenics are especially mean
- Turning madness into vocation: the shamans of West Africa
- Why talking to one’s hallucinations is a good idea
- How evangelicals shape their God
- ‘Remembering’ past lives in Scientology and ‘satanic ritual abuse’ in therapy
Jan 13, 2018 —
Josh Summers & Thomas Joiner
- Thomas describes a modern narcissism epidemic
- Does a lack of self-esteem fuel narcissism?
- Why is a focus on the “self” ubiquitous in mindfulness?
- Challenging the health claims of mindfulness meditation
- Why “self-compassion meditation” makes both Josh and Thomas uncomfortable
- The common ground between mindfulness and stoicism
Jan 10, 2018 —
Stephen Asma & Rami Gabriel
- Stephen and Rami present: “The Evolution of Emotion” puppet show
- How ancient societies managed their earthly impulses
- The human anger displayed in Greek mythology
- Marcus Aurelius’s concept of the “wise man”
- Hafez, the drunk Sufi poet
- How does culture influence our core emotions?
- Are animals capable of feeling anger?
- Stephen on how horror plays on our most primal fears
Jan 8, 2018 —
Philip Menchaca & Jonathan Young
- Who was Joseph Campbell?
- Applying the idea of the monomyth to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- Can we disentangle myths from culture?
- Cinderella and mental health
- How Jonathan uses mythology in psychotherapy
- Is it healthy to think of yourself as a hero on a quest?
- Religion and the experience of meaning vs. the idea of meaning
Dec 5, 2017 —
Noah Rasheta & Ellen Leanse
- Ellen’s new book The Happiness Hack as an owner’s guide to the human brain
- Distraction as a “dopamine hijack”
- Conditioning the mind for happiness
- The neurology behind self-inflicted emotional wounds
- How to change happiness from “destination” to “journey”
- Ellen’s tips for “hacking into” contentment and purpose
Sep 24, 2017 —
Nikita Petrov & Tony Ortega
- Former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun’s private conflict with the Church
- New breakthroughs in media coverage of Scientology
- How the Church swiftly conquered US law and the IRS
- What makes Scientology different from other religions?
- How L. Ron Hubbard invented a reality for his followers
- Why Scientology isn’t concerned with the apocalypse
- The Church’s beef with professional psychology
Mar 13, 2017 —
Nikita Petrov & Tony Ortega
- How the Church of Scientology managed to run a “prison”
- L. Ron Hubbard’s theory of the mind
- “Auditing” and the “superpowers” it leads to
- Did Hubbard believe his own mythology?
- The cruel humor of LRH’s space opera
- The SeaOrg: A billion years of snitching and interrogations
- Scientology after Hubbard and outside the U.S.
Dec 18, 2016 —
Nikita Petrov & George Young
- Does Russian thought have anything to contribute to the world?
- Nikolay Fedorov, an eccentric thinker who influenced Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky
- Fedorov’s plan: Immortality for everyone
- “Kinship” as a fundamental property of all matter
- A mass movement for the spiritual unity of humankind
- Vladimir Solovyov’s The Meaning of Love: Sexuality as a path to a Christian utopia
- Christ as the ultimate role model
Dec 16, 2016 —
Philip Menchaca & Erik Vance
- Erik’s new book Suggestible You
- When snake oil actually works
- How your beliefs can change your body
- Why do people respond differently to the same placebo?
- How the discovery of “placebo genes” could transform medicine
- The fuzzy line between placebos and real medicine
- Erik’s visit to a Mexican witch doctor
Nov 22, 2016 —
Oliver Burkeman & Jonathan Shedler
- Debunking the debunking of psychoanalytic theory
- Can thoughts change emotions?
- The patient-therapist relationship as a window into the self
- Therapy’s modest goal
- Psychotherapy’s struggle to escape Freud’s shadow
- Psychoanalyzing the urge to engage in psychoanalysis
- Looking at politics through a psychoanalytic lens
Oct 5, 2016 —
Vlad Chituc & Frank Bures
- The Geography of Madness, Frank’s book about “penis theft” and other “culture-bound” syndromes
- How believing that you’re going to die can kill you
- How to cure “penis theft?”
- The challenge of ethically responding to seemingly crazy beliefs
- Frank: The body isn’t like a machine
- Belief-boosted runners, windmill syndrome, and the weird case of Coca-Cola poisoning
Sep 26, 2016 —
Josh Summers & JP Sears
- Meet JP Sears, the New Age Stephen Colbert
- Josh receives ultraspiritual guidance from JP
- Shining a light of satire on the “shadow side” of spiritual practices
- Where JP’s comedy comes from
- Stepping out of the comfort zone, and other spiritual disciplines
- Watch Josh transform into an ultra-ultra-post-spiritual guru
Archives
- August 2021(3)
- July 2021(1)
- June 2021(2)
- May 2021(4)
- April 2021(3)
- March 2021(4)
- January 2021(4)
- October 2020(3)
- August 2020(5)
- July 2020(8)
- June 2020(6)
- May 2020(5)
- April 2020(5)
- March 2020(7)
- January 2020(3)
- October 2019(6)
- August 2019(3)
- July 2019(9)
- June 2019(13)
- May 2019(5)
- April 2019(9)
- March 2019(3)
- January 2019(9)
- December 2018(11)
- November 2018(12)
- October 2018(9)
- August 2018(9)
- July 2018(7)
- June 2018(12)
- May 2018(10)
- April 2018(6)
- March 2018(9)
- January 2018(11)
- October 2017(7)
- August 2017(8)
- July 2017(5)
- June 2017(8)
- May 2017(3)
- April 2017(6)
- March 2017(5)
- January 2017(27)
- December 2016(33)
- November 2016(12)
- October 2016(18)
- September 2016(13)
- August 2016(12)
- July 2016(8)
- June 2016(14)
- May 2016(15)
- April 2016(8)
- March 2016(10)
- February 2016(16)
- January 2016(8)
- December 2015(11)
- November 2015(11)
- October 2015(14)
- September 2015(11)
- August 2015(11)
- July 2015(10)
- August 2014(2)
- July 2014(1)
- May 2014(1)
- January 2014(3)
- October 2013(2)
- July 2013(1)
- May 2013(1)
- January 2013(1)
- June 2010(1)
- August 2003(12)
- July 2003(8)