Steve Paulson

And on top of that, a fabulous colleague and a cherished friend!

@bymarkriechers.com That’s an incredibly lovely thing for you to say! But that’s only half the story. You always brought so much to everything we did on TTBOOK. You were endlessly creative, constantly expanding our reach and finding (and even inventing) new platforms for us to use.

Welcome to the Island of Knowledge In a 16th century chapel on an Italian hillside, a new scientific worldview is taking shape. It’s a new way of thinking about planetary intelligence and the interconnectedness of all life on Earth.

What can a small group of scientists, philosophers and writers tell us about the future of our planet? I went to this gathering in Italy to find out and brought back hours of recorded interviews to describe an emerging scientific paradigm.

Luminous: Spring Washam, the Buddhist Shaman Many Buddhists say psychedelics violate the prohibition against intoxicants. Spring Washam straddles this divide as both a Buddhist teacher and founder of an ayahuasca church.

How do you reconcile Buddhist meditation with psychedelic practice, given the Buddhist prohibition against intoxicants? Spring Washam has worked as both a Buddhist teacher and psychedelic healer. In my Luminous podcast, she describes her own fascinating journey. www.ttbook.org/show/luminou...

Argue Your Way to a Fuller Life Refute your friends and family, never be satisfied. Philosopher Agnes Callard on life lessons from Socrates.

In her new book, philosopher Agnes Callard asks, what it would take to live like Socrates? So much of what she says is provocative and fascinating, especially when she talks about "rational love" and the virtues of "philosophical dissatisfaction" in a marriage. Here's my interview in @nautil.us.

YouTube video by NourFoundation From Biology to Culture: The Evolution of Goodness

David Sloan Wilson helped formulate a theory of altruism. He also wrote the novel "Atlas Hugged," a takeoff on Ayn Rand's book. I had a great time talking with David at the Morgan Library. For this series, @ttbook.bsky.social is partnering with the Nour Foundation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeQN...

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024 From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year

Presenting @smithsonianmag.bsky.social's top science books of 2024. By @ferrisjabr.bsky.social @zoeschlanger.bsky.social @adamhigginbotham.bsky.social @rboyle31.bsky.social @charan-neuro.bsky.social @ayanaeliza.bsky.social and more... www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...

@zoeschlanger.bsky.social

Plant Intelligence Have you ever wondered how plants find enough light and water? How they ward off attacks from predators? It turns out they’re a lot smarter than you realize. Plants can send out distress signals. They...

I knew plants were smart but I had no idea just how intelligent they are until I talked with Zoe Schlanger, author of the amazing book “The Light Eaters.”

www.ttbook.org/show/plant-i...

I’m reading the new Murakami novel - not his best - but there are lines I really like. Like this one: “I’d say it was a concept existing on the periphery of reality.”

Luminous: Do psychedelics reveal a deeper dimension of reality? Are the really big psychedelic experiences just hallucinations, or do they crack open some transpersonal dimension of consciousness? Philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes believes we need a metaphysics of...

What can philosophy tell us about psychedelic experiences? Are they just hallucinations, or do they reveal some deeper dimension of reality? Philosopher @petersjostedth.bsky.social
says we need a metaphysics of psychedelics to help sort out the truth claims. Here’s my new Luminous episode.