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From Polarization to Integration

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Ken Wilber and Corey deVos explore some of the causal factors behind so many of the regressive tendencies in our culture and politics these days, from new social pressures coming from social media technologies like Facebook, to the historic evolutionary trends that have formed and informed our major schools of political thought in the first place.

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Immigration, Postmodernism, and Feminism: An Integral Reckoning

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Ken Wilber responds to questions about immigration, the dangerous excesses of the political right, and the regressive tendencies we are seeing in the postmodern left. Ken and Corey then offer a fascinating exploration of feminism and the need for both men and women to better harmonize the public sphere of politics, career, and religion with the private sphere of family, hearth, and home.

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The War Among Progressives

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Today Jeff and Corey take a close look at an fantastic new article by Valerie Tarico, published to Alternet with the title “Here’s Why Some Progressives Are Tearing Each Other Apart”. In the article Tarico argues that today’s left is largely split into two major factions, each of whom are operating with two very different narratives around social progress and our collective wellbeing.

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The Butterfly and the Hawk: How “Dual Focus” Can Help You Overcome Pain, Anxiety, and Trauma

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A common element of many trauma treatments, most psychotherapy, and much spiritual practice is something called “dual focus” — our capacity to anchor ourselves in the feeling of being safe, capable, and worthy in the present moment, while simultaneously extending our awareness to distressing feelings, thoughts, memories, impulses, judgments, and events.

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Trump’s War Cabinet Drops a Developmental Level

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Today Jeff and Corey consider the choice of John Bolton to become Donald Trump’s national security advisor (replacing Gen. H.R. McMaster), as well as the promotion of Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State (replacing Rex Tillerson). The shakeup represents a major worldview shift from orange modernity to amber traditionalism in the war cabinet of a President who often operates from the red power stage.

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What Jordan Peterson (and His Fans and Foes) Can Learn from Integral Theory

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Through subsequent postings critical of “leftist radicals,” Jordan Peterson has become a hero for advocates of free speech, and a idol to people who are opposed to the postmodern promulgation of multiculturalism and gender fluidity. So where does Peterson fit in the integral schema? In these two episodes of the Daily Evolver Jeff examines Peterson’s message as expressed through his book and his most popular lectures and interviews.

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An Ethos for Revolutionaries: Terry Patten on Activism at the Integral Stage

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Terry is pioneering a robust and dynamic new form of activism that fuses the “inner work” of personal transformation and awakening with the “outer work” of service and commitment to social justice. In this episode Jeff and Terry explore how we can deploy it to bring about the profound transformation of self and world that our era requires.

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From F#@king Up to Waking Up: A Tale of Addiction, Volition, and Liberation

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Today our dear friend Chris Grosso talks to Jeff and Corey about his latest book, Dead Set on Living: Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from Fucking Up to Waking Up, which pivots around Chris’s provocative and profoundly moving journey out of the shadows of addiction and the endless empty parade of substitute gratifications, and into the light of spiritual awakening and healthy living.

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Why Can’t Wedding Cakes Be Gay?

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Today we look at the case, heard last week in the U.S. Supreme Court, of the Colorado baker who refuses to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding — a case that pits competing American values of freedom of speech (and freedom from compelled speech) and the principle of tolerance and equal access in the public spheres  of life.

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The Last Gasp of Late-Stage Capitalism: An Integral Look at the Republican Tax Plan

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The rise of capitalism, starting a couple hundred years ago, has been a spectacularly positive development for humanity, creating enormous material weath that raised billions of people out of poverty. In the last 40 years, however, it has been tuned so that the vast majority of economic growth flows to the elites who own and manage the systems of wealth creation.  The Republican tax plan doubles down on that trend, reducing taxes for corporations and the rich at the expense of social programs that help the poor. Jeff and Corey discuss the ramifications.

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Artificial Intelligence vs. Artificial Consciousness

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The hopes and fears surrounding the advent of artificial intelligence are fantastical, from Ray Kurzweil’s promise of spiritual machines to Elon Musk’s warnings of killer robots. And yes, some version of that future is barreling toward us at an ever-increasing speed, says philosophy of technology professor Michael Zimmerman, who is Jeff’s guest today.

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Are Women More Bound To Be Good?

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Today Jeff considers comments from “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski which imply that women have an extra responsibility to resist Donald Trump. He also quotes former first lady Michelle Obama saying that if a woman voted for Trump it is because “[you] don’t like your [own] voice. You like the thing you’re told to like.”

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The Gift of Gratitude

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Jeff and Corey explore one of the most powerful and universal practices available to us: the practice of gratitude. In times of peak stress, peak fear, and peak anxiety, gratitude is more important than ever. Which means that this year, perhaps more than any other year in recent memory, we could use a nice dose of gratitude to help remind ourselves of the incredible goodness, beauty, and truth that we are all surrounded by. This in turn helps us relax our cynicism, loosen our negative fixations, and make our “skin-encapsulated egos” just a little bit more porous.

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Cultivating an Integral American Identity

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Today Jeff reflects on the conversation he and Corey had on Monday with African American scholar Greg Thomas, where they explored what a more integral approach to race relations might look like. Greg is influenced by his mentor, Albert Murray, who, writing in the 60’s challenged the postmodern narrative that reduced race (and much of human relations in general) to hard constructs of victim and oppressor.

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Roy Moore Wants to Date Your Daughter

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American politics is riveted on bombshell accusations involving Judge Roy Moore, who is running for U.S. Senate from the state of Alabama. In a story reported in the Washington Post, he is accused by five women of molesting them when they were 14 – 16 years old. Watch as we explore this extra-icky story, and try to provide a more integral point of view.

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Saudi Arabia’s Wild Weekend: Corruption Crackdown or Power Grab?

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On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s 32 year old ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrested dozens of the country’s most influential political and religious figures, including 11 of his royal cousins.  It was, according the the New York Times, “the most sweeping transformation of the Kingdom’s governance for more than eight decades.” In this episode we bring an integral lens to the unfolding situation.

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Heal Thyself: How to Repair Interpersonal and Cultural Injuries

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The Buddha had it right with “life is suffering”! We all regularly feel injured by other people, our own interior struggles, cultural events, or random chance. Repairing these injuries is a big deal! Luckily, Integrally informed psychology can help us recognize and repair injuries. In this upcoming episode of Live with Dr. Keith we’ll talk about how we all become injured and the steps we often need to take for effective repair.

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Mueller, Trump & Collusion: The Rule of Law Pushes Back

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In today’s Daily Evolver Jeff, Corey and Robb look at today’s groundbreaking headlines to explain how Red and Amber-centered populism, led by President Trump, gained power in order to combat the stagnation brought on by too much cultural and economic power consolidated in too few hands. Today, with indictments being leveled at three people working for the Trump campaign (one of which confirmed collusion with the Russian government), the Orange, Constitutionally-centered rule of law fought back.

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Building Bridges: How to Talk to Trump Supporters

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In the wake of the Trump election, many progressives are realizing that one way forward is to reach out to their political opponents, at least to establish a basic human connection. Today Jeff looks at four recent attempts to do that: by comedian Sarah Silverman, philosopher George Lakoff, Vox political correspondent Liz Plank and New York Times columnist David Brooks. Corey also adds some of his own integral tips for good interpersonal hygiene.

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“The Witch” and the Evolution of Horror

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Jeff offers a review of the film The Witch: A New England Folk Tale, noting how much it resonated with his own integral sensibilities. He and Corey then turn the discussion to a broader discussion of the evolution of horror as a genre and its utility as a “release valve” for both cultural anxieties and the persistent existential dread we are all born into. SPOOOKY!!!!!

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Trump-Sick? Try This.

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Jeff shares his thoughts on how to navigate in an era led by a man who he too agrees is unfit for the office of the Presidency. He ends the episode by sharing 15 minutes of a video of spiritual teacher Byron Katie as she helps a woman metabolize her distress at Trump.

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Normal Crazy vs. Extra Crazy: Disarming Your Defensive States

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When we feel safe, we are usually comfortably social with ourselves and others. When we feel threatened, our nervous systems (our adaptive unconscious, our Shadow selves) can generate defensive states to protect us. These states amplify or numb emotions, distort perspectives, pump out destructive impulses, and diminish self-reflection and empathy. Watch as Dr. Keith Witt offers some valuable guidance to help you disarm these defensive states whenever they arise for you.

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Inside the Great Release

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Join Integral Life co-founder Robb Smith as he explains the current historical moment as a natural and predictable backlash against the twin dominance of the right-leaning Multinational Capital Holon in economics and the left-leaning Multicultural Culture Holon in culture since the 1970s.