The Examined Life
Episodes
Dr Lucy Hone - What has loss taught you?
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us Fan MailLearning from Loss with Dr. Lucy HoneHow do you survive the unthinkable? When resilience researcher Dr. Lucy Hone lost her 12-year-old...
Season Trailer - Mortality & Meaning
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us Fan MailA short trailer for the forthcoming season where we explore mortality, immortality, loss, grief and finding meaning in the wake of the...
Flourishing in a Digital Age
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWe explore what human flourishing means beyond quick hits of happiness and how attention, character, and community shape a life with depth....
Surviving Hard Times: The Stockdale Paradox And Everyday Resilience - ft. Terry Waite and Lucy Hone
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe trace how realistic hope sustains people through captivity and crisis, from the Stockdale Paradox to Sir Terry Waite’s agency in co...
Victor Strecher - Who am I?
02 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLiving With Purpose: Insights from Victor StrecherIn this episode of The Examined Life Podcast, host Kenny Primrose explores the profoun...
Sir Anthony Seldon - What is the purpose of education?
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSir Anthony Seldon is one of the most influential voices in the UK on education. He has led three prominent independent school, and writ...
LM Sacasas on why life should not be delegated
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this brief episode we explore a short soundbite from a previous episode with philosopher of technology LM Sacasas. In it we explore t...
Leaning into Pain with Anna Lembke
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textComfort is easy; appetite is sacred. We trace a surprising path to steadier happiness by leaning, gently but deliberately, into friction...
Dr Alex Curmi - how should we prepare for a technological future?
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDr Alex Curmi is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who also hosts The Thinking Mind podcast, and is a gifted communicator on mental hea...
Tom Chatfield - What myths are we telling ourselves about technology?
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textTechnology is taking on a mythic mantle as we look to our creations to supply us with a sense of belonging and purpose, but this is a ca...
Rosie Spinks - What Do We Do Now That We're Here?
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRosie Spinks Substack - https://rojospinks.substack.com/aboutKenny Primrose Substack - https://positivelymaladjusted.substack.com/Moby G...
Ruth Taylor - How do we develop better cultural values?
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRuth Taylor explores how our cultural conditions shape our values and beliefs, revealing how we can build futures where humans and other...
William Damon - Am I serving a bigger purpose than myself?
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat does it mean to live a purposeful life? Is the way you're spending your time truly reflective of your deepest values and aspir...
Katharine Birbalsingh - Why are we ignoring our future?
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat shapes our children's future? Who are they becoming? And why aren't we talking about it more? Katharine Birbalsingh, know...
Peter Gray - What do children need to develop psychologically?
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIf you’re a parent or a teacher, you’ve probably wondered about what the best conditions are for psychological development in childr...
Michael Sacasas - what should we be doing for ourselves, even if a machine can do it for us?
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textMichael Sacasas writes about technology and human flourishing through his wildly popular newsletter The Convivial Society. I have been r...
Michaeleen Doucleff - what are the universals of childhood?
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if the Western approach to parenting is based on spurious cultural assumptions, not human nature? In this episode, science writer M...
Season II summary: it's all about attention
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this summary episode, we take the theme of attention which runs through most of conversations in the second season. In the episode yo...
Oliver Burkeman - How can I more fully embrace my finitude?
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis is a distilled version of last year's conversation with the writer Oliver Burkeman. In it, you'll hear Oliver talk about ...
Phoebe Tickell - Is the root of our problems found in the way we see the world?
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textPhoebe Tickell is a biologist, systems thinker, and 'imagination activist'. Phoebe works across multiple contexts applying a c...
Alex Evans - What do we do about the religion shaped hole?
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat do we lack when we lack religion? In this episode Alex Evans explores the role that religion has historically played in both collec...
Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor - Who are we, and what are we doing here?
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDr Jill Bolte-Taylor was a neuroanatomist at Harvard when she suffered a severe stroke on the left hemisphere of her brain. It was an ex...
Todd Kashdan - What are the best ways to be influential when lacking power and status?
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textShow links:Todd's website - https://toddkashdan.com/Todd's Substack - https://toddkashdan.substack.com/Kenny's Substack -...
Iain McGilchrist - What is my culture preventing me from seeing?
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIain McGilchrist is a rare polymath who draws on his background in literature, philosophy, medicine and the sciences to make a profound ...
Eve Poole - What is distinctive about being human?
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAs AI evolves and replaces different human functions, it raises questions about what it is that makes us distinctively human, and whethe...
Dougald Hine - How do we make good ruins?
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAre you optimistic about the future? Do you think we're heading in the right direction as a species? If not, you're in good co...
Elizabeth Oldfield - Who is it that I want to be becoming?
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text In this episode the writer and podcaster Elizabeth Oldfield explores the question ‘who is it that I want to be becoming?’ We discu...
Dacher Keltner - How can awe help us to find more meaning in life?
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHow can we find meaning in life? In this episode we are joined by the celebrated psychologist Dacher Keltner where we explore where mean...
Seasonal Reflections for the Year Ahead
30 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis is a special summary episode with reflection points from 2023 to take forward into the year ahead. The episode pulls together one k...
Madeleine Bunting - what is home?
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEver found yourself pondering what truly constitutes a sense of 'home'? Join me as I, alongside award-winning author and journ...
Sir Terry Waite - how do we rebuild trust and foster community?
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSir Terry Waite spent almost five years in solitary confinement as a hostage in Beirut. After being released he founded Emmaus UK for ...
Helena Norberg-Hodge - Why is life getting harder and faster?
10 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhy does life seem to be getting harder and faster day by day? How can we shift the paradigm towards a more sustainable and harmonious e...
Will Storr - How am I keeping score?
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHow do you keep score in the game of life? Journalist and author Will Storr explores the evolutionary roots of our need to play games fo...
Tim Ingold - How do we think differently about generations?
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textTim Ingold is a professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Soci...
Lisa Miller on spirituality and awakened awareness - when have I been both a point and a wave?
29 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDr Lisa Miller is a professor of psychology at Columbia University in New York. Her books The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain foc...
Anna Lembke - What does it look like to have a healthy relationship with pain and pleasure?
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAnna Lembke is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, and a world leading expert on addiction. Her influential book Dopamine ...
Oliver Burkeman - How do I more fully embrace my finitude?
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe writer and journalist Oliver Burkeman has spent the last few decades studying and writing about different self-help and productivity...