TrueSciPhi

Podcast Profile: Lives Well Lived

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85 episodes
2024 to 2026
Median: 63 minutes
Collections: Philosophy • SciPhi-Adjacent

Description (podcaster-provided):

Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):

This podcast features long-form conversations with people whose work and life stories illuminate what it can mean to live well—ethically, thoughtfully, and with a sense of purpose—while also grappling with the psychological and social ingredients of fulfillment. Across the interviews, the hosts explore moral philosophy in practice: how individuals and institutions can reduce harm, expand concern beyond narrow in-groups, and make choices that better align daily life with broader values.

A major thread is the ethical complexity of modern systems. Guests discuss how incentives, markets, policy, and corporate power shape outcomes in areas like health, food, climate responsibility, and technology—raising questions about exploitation, “repugnant” transactions, and what counts as legitimate persuasion or manipulation. Another recurring focus is effective altruism and moral ambition: how to prioritize doing good, compare interventions, and build careers or organizations oriented toward measurable impact.

The show also emphasizes the science of well-being and the mind. It covers how happiness and life satisfaction are studied, why some populations are struggling, and how social trust and connection influence resilience. Several conversations address cognition and emotion—decision-making biases, optimism, attention and “mattering,” stereotype threat, mindfulness, and how the brain constructs emotional experience.

Technology and the future appear frequently, especially artificial intelligence, emerging biotechnologies, and governance challenges, including debates about AI consciousness and how rapid innovation could reshape moral norms. Interwoven with these topics are personal narratives of survival, trauma, creativity, activism, faith, disability, and identity—used as lenses for discussing forgiveness, empathy, courage, and meaning in a world that may offer no inherent purpose.

Episodes:

the moral marketplace with ALVIN ROTH 2026-Jun-25 66 minutes

Lessons from the World Happiness Report with JOHN HELLIWELL 2026-Jun-11 60 minutes

The future of food with BRUCE FRIEDRICH 2026-May-28 51 minutes

How converging science and AI could reshape humanity’s morality with JAMIE METZL 2026-May-14 66 minutes

forgiving the unforgivable, with Holocaust survivor EDITH EGER 2026-May-01 41 minutes

CLAUDE STEELE on stereotype threat, and overcoming churn 2026-Apr-30 50 minutes

DEREK SHILLER: How AI will change what it is to live well 2026-Apr-16 43 minutes

BEYOND HUMAN: are we creating AI consciousness? 2026-Apr-02 40 minutes

WILL MACASKILL says we are not prepared for the intelligence explosion 2026-Mar-19 42 minutes

ZOE WEIL has a solutionary idea to change the world 2026-Mar-05 52 minutes

REBECCA GOLDSTEIN thinks we are all attention seeking 2026-Feb-19 62 minutes

forget happiness, JENNIFER WALLACE thinks mattering is the key to a life well lived 2026-Feb-05 51 minutes

(RE-RELEASE) LISA FELDMAN BARRETT: everything you know about the brain is wrong! 2026-Jan-22 74 minutes

(RE-RELEASE) Why YUVAL NOAH HARARI thinks modern society is on the brink of collapse 2026-Jan-15 56 minutes

(RE-RELEASE) INGRID NEWKIRK: the dark side of animal rights 2026-Jan-08 80 minutes

(RE-RELEASE) DANIEL KAHNEMAN: understanding how we make decisions 2026-Jan-01 63 minutes

(RE-RELEASE) A.J. JACOBS exposes why living biblically means stoning adulterers! 2025-Dec-25 72 minutes

MARION NESTLE exposes the dark truth about ultra processed foods 2025-Dec-18 62 minutes

PAUL SIMON: life beyond the sound of silence 2025-Dec-11 75 minutes

TIM MINCHIN vs The Church 2025-Dec-04 72 minutes

SHERMIN KRUSE on surviving the Iranian Revolution through the power of empathy 2025-Nov-27 72 minutes

BRIAN HARE & VANESSA WOODS: kindness will prevail over aggression 2025-Nov-20 60 minutes

STEPHEN WEST found philosophy whilst working in a warehouse 2025-Nov-13 61 minutes

MERCEDES & ANASTASIA KORNGUT are teenagers on a crusade for happiness 2025-Nov-06 50 minutes

DANIEL GILBERT thinks our brains are wired for misery 2025-Oct-30 65 minutes

BISHOP MARIANN BUDDE defied Trump, and delivered a sermon that shook the world 2025-Oct-23 53 minutes

WORKING TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE with Julia van Boven & Sjir Hoeijmakers 2025-Oct-16 52 minutes

CHRISTINE WEBB: why human exceptionalism is a myth 2025-Oct-09 57 minutes

(re-release) How JANE GOODALL defied experts and changed our view on animals forever! 2025-Oct-02 56 minutes

BARRY JONES is the politician who abolished the death penalty 2025-Sep-25 49 minutes

MARTHA NUSSBAUM: why killing animals might not always be wrong 2025-Sep-18 68 minutes

STEPHEN FRY and the defining moment that almost destroyed his future 2025-Sep-11 66 minutes

ANNA MACHIN: monogamy is unnatural 2025-Sep-04 66 minutes

ELLEN LANGER says you need to question everything 2025-Jul-31 79 minutes

the controversial crusade of WAYNE HSIUNG, and the legal challenges of animal liberation 2025-Jul-24 86 minutes

DASHO DECHEN WANGMO: How Bhutan's unconventional approach to health beat COVID-19 2025-Jul-17 49 minutes

DEAN SPEARS thinks the depopulation of humanity will change the world forever 2025-Jul-10 64 minutes

MEG SMAKER has been kidnapped and cancelled 2025-Jul-03 75 minutes

TALI SHAROT exposes the optimism bias 2025-Jun-26 63 minutes

JOSHUA GREENE has a solution to our divided world 2025-Jun-19 62 minutes

CYAN BANISTER: from homelessness to angel investor 2025-Jun-05 73 minutes

SLAVOJ ZIZEK: why happiness is overrated 2025-May-29 84 minutes

CASS SUNSTEIN: the government has ways to mind control you 2025-May-22 63 minutes

LAWRENCE KRAUSS thinks you are cosmically insignificant 2025-May-15 66 minutes

RUTGER BREGMAN is fighting a battle against moral apathy 2025-May-08 69 minutes

ELIZABETH BARNES: is disability a burden or a blessing? 2025-May-01 57 minutes

THOMAS NAGEL thinks you are wrong about the understanding of the universe 2025-Apr-24 63 minutes

ARTHUR C. BROOKS: why chasing money and escaping pain won't make you happy 2025-Apr-17 75 minutes

ANTONIO DAMASIO: why everything you think you know about consciousness is dead wrong 2025-Apr-10 68 minutes

SIGAL SAMUEL: why saving strangers might make you a villain 2025-Apr-03 61 minutes

DAVID DUCHOVNY: the dark secrets behind fame and conspiracy theories 2025-Mar-27 58 minutes

MICHAEL PLANT shares the 2025 World Happiness Report 2025-Mar-20 51 minutes

ANNA LEMBKE on breaking free of addiction 2025-Mar-13 61 minutes

ROBERT SAPOLSKY tells us why free will is an illusion 2025-Mar-06 64 minutes

SAFEENA HUSAIN wants to educate girls and end intergenerational cycles of poverty 2025-Feb-27 50 minutes

PROFIT FOR GOOD: building businesses that donate 100% of their profits to charity 2025-Feb-20 72 minutes

MOBY on fame, punk rock activism, and animal liberation 2025-Feb-13 64 minutes

RICHARD LAYARD: are governments keeping you unhappy? 2025-Feb-06 65 minutes

KAKENYA NTAIYA will not stop fighting the war against female genial mutilation 2025-Jan-30 50 minutes

why ADAM GRANT thinks you are wrong about your life choices 2025-Jan-23 67 minutes

forgiving the unforgivable, how Holocaust survivor EDITH EGER turns trauma into triumph 2025-Jan-16 44 minutes

STEVEN PINKER: society's biggest lies exposed! 2025-Jan-09 75 minutes

CHARLIE BRESLER: from millionaire to philanthropist 2024-Dec-19 65 minutes

JOYCE CAROL OATES is not interested in a life well lived 2024-Oct-03 54 minutes

LISA FELDMAN BARRETT: everything you know about the brain is wrong! 2024-Sep-26 78 minutes

MURALI DORAISWAMY: understanding the complexity of mental illness 2024-Sep-19 60 minutes

SAM HARRIS: breaking through the illusion of consciousness and free will 2024-Sep-12 93 minutes

PAUL BLOOM: the hidden truth about empathy and why your good intentions are flawed 2024-Sep-05 73 minutes

XIMENA ABOGABIR: living to 100, a miracle or a misery? 2024-Aug-29 54 minutes

JONATHAN HAIDT: why social media might be more dangerous than we think 2024-Aug-22 78 minutes

A.J. JACOBS exposes why living biblically means stoning adulterers! 2024-Aug-15 72 minutes

Debunking Happiness with MATTHIEU RICARD "the world's happiest man" 2024-Aug-08 72 minutes

FRANCES KISSLING: the nun who challenged The Vatican 2024-Aug-01 64 minutes

TYLER COWEN thinks we should worry about wolves more than climate change 2024-Jul-25 79 minutes

DUI TOLEDO: why ditching your phone could be the ultimate freedom 2024-Jul-18 71 minutes

KATE GRANT: forgotten women and the untold tragedy of obstetric fistula 2024-Jul-11 43 minutes

ROBERT WRIGHT: the art of self-delusion, why your mind betrays your morals 2024-Jul-04 63 minutes

How JANE GOODALL defied experts and changed our view on animals forever! 2024-Jun-27 57 minutes

The Future of Humanity... Will we survive NEIL DE GRASSE TYSON'S vision? 2024-Jun-20 89 minutes

JUDY COLLINS: from addiction and heartbreak to timeless music 2024-Jun-13 70 minutes

Why YUVAL NOAH HARARI thinks modern society is on the brink of collapse 2024-Jun-06 59 minutes

INGRID NEWKIRK: the dark side of animal rights 2024-May-30 86 minutes

DANIEL KAHNEMAN: understanding how we make decisions 2024-May-23 66 minutes

PETER & KASIA: welcome to the podcast 2024-May-16 38 minutes

Lives Well Lived Trailer 2024-Apr-29 less than a minute