50 Episodes

  1. Episode 49 - Tara Isabella Burton- Self-Made

    Published: 7/20/2023

  2. Episode 48 - Derek Beres - Conspirituality

    Published: 7/14/2023

  3. Episode 47 - Peter Hershock: Buddhism & AI

    Published: 5/28/2023

  4. Episode 46 - Martin Parker: Shut Down the Business School

    Published: 4/14/2023

  5. Episode 45 - Alissa Quart: Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream

    Published: 3/13/2023

  6. Curtis White - Transcendent: Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse

    Published: 3/2/2023

  7. Episode 43 - Steve Hagen: The Grand Delusion

    Published: 2/22/2023

  8. Episode 42- Graham Parkes: How to Think About the Climate Crisis

    Published: 2/11/2023

  9. Episode 41 - Rina Raphael: The Gospel of Wellness

    Published: 11/26/2022

  10. Episode 40 - Gail Stearns: Liberating Mindfulness

    Published: 10/8/2022

  11. Episode 39 - Pierce Salguero: Buddhish

    Published: 7/20/2022

  12. Episode 38 - Johann Hari - Stolen Focus

    Published: 5/15/2022

  13. Episode 1: The Mindful Cranks Trailer

    Published: 11/12/2021

  14. Episode 37 - Kathleen Gregory: Mindfulness as Psychological Redemption

    Published: 10/6/2021

  15. Episode 36 - Richard Payne: Secularizing Buddhism

    Published: 8/30/2021

  16. Episode 35 - Sarah Shaw: The Varieties of Mindfulness

    Published: 7/7/2021

  17. Episode 34 - Gregory Kramer: A Whole-Life Path

    Published: 4/3/2021

  18. Episode 33 - Daniel Simpson: The Truth of Yoga

    Published: 2/3/2021

  19. Episode 32 - Andrea Jain: Yoga and the Politics of Global Spirituality

    Published: 1/23/2021

  20. Episode 31 - Michal Pagis: The Sociology of Vipassana and Mindfulness

    Published: 12/30/2020

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Shortly after my Huffington Post essay “Beyond McMindfulness” went viral, a popular mindfulness promoter accused me of being a “crank”. So why not own it? Alas, The Mindful Cranks was born. The Mindful Cranks was the first podcast to critique the mindfulness movement. Conversations with guests soon expanded in scope to include critical perspectives on the wellness, happiness, resilience and positive psychology industries - sharing a common concern that such highly individualistic and market-friendly techniques ignore the larger structural and systemic problems plaguing society. Whether these be trendy Asian spiritualities such as mindfulness or yoga, or other interventions from therapeutic cultures, The Mindful Cranks will call them out without mercy. I am very fortunate to engage with my favorite journalists, authors and public intellectuals whose works that I admire, as well as educators and spiritual teachers who I have learned from — fellow cranks who don’t simply accept the way things are. They’re modern muckrakers who dare to question the unquestionable. But being cranky can be critically wise and compassionate. Casting a wide net around the impending meta-crisis, The Mindful Cranks also explores with leading thinkers how the problems of our times are deeply entangled with our ways of knowing and being. Rather than just retreating from such problems by sitting on cushion, doing yoga or listening to a meditation app, I believe using our minds is not necessarily a bad thing if it challenges the limits of human knowledge.