Iain McGilchrist has been outlining for many years that a fundamental problem in the way we are perceiving the world is likely to lead us into trouble. Now in 2022 he believes the situation is reaching a crucial turning point and we need to wake up urgently. In this conversation with Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller he talks about how our current cultur…

Are we going about self development in the wrong way? That's the question tackled by our new film and course with the long time coach Steve March. Steve's work, Aletheia Coaching, has been welcomed and embraced by the likes of John Vervaeke and others in what's been described as the Liminal Web, as it consciously addresses what's called the Meaning…

Many people have observed that the conversation we have been curating on Rebel Wisdom has featured many more men than women. Of course we have regularly been asking ourselves why that is, and whether there is a more ‘feminine’ contribution to the dialogue that is not being heard? This was the topic I explored with two fascinating women recently, Sc…

There has been a lot of focus on the damage that social media is doing to all of us, its users. This growing awareness was partly fuelled by the work of Tristan Harris, through the breakout hit documentary The Social Dilemma. But there has been less attention on how this new landscape also affects creators, through factors like audience capture and…

Where are we headed as a species? What is the landscape of risks and challenges that we need to confront over the next decades, and are there a small number of key factors that we need to solve to avoid catastrophe? These are the questions Daniel Schmachtenberger is laying out in a new two part series on Rebel Wisdom, called 'In Search of the Third…

Where are we headed as a species? What is the landscape of risks and challenges that we need to confront over the next decades, and are there a small number of key factors that we need to solve to avoid catastrophe? These are the questions Daniel Schmachtenberger is laying out in a new two part series on Rebel Wisdom, called 'In Search of the Third…

One of the most frequently referenced names among many of the thinkers we've been following on Rebel Wisdom has been that of Rene Girard. He was a French polymath, historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science, who introduced the idea of memetic desire, and an explanation of the function of the 'scapegoat' in organising societies. H…

This is part 2 of an exclusive conversation between Jonathan Pageau and John Vervaeke recorded in Toronto recently. In it John and Jonathan reflect on the recent ‘War on Reality’ piece with Paul Kingsnorth and Mary Harrington: https://youtu.be/x4kms2jkKbA They ask whether we have replaced virtue with value. They also take a turn into the question o…

In the conversation Rebel Wisdom has been tracking, what's missing? Layman Pascal believes we're not paying enough attention to the irrational, the realms of the imaginal and the occult. "Layman Pascal was incarnated on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. He used to be a meditation teacher, yoga instructor & public speaker — but he's feeling …

In this conversation with Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller, Ken Wilber reflects on the turbulent dynamics of the last few years, and particularly the trajectory of the figures in what was called the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) including Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin. This is released shortly after a recent Substack piece by David Fuller called 'What Ha…

A wide-ranging conversation on the experience of sensemaking during the pandemic, with Zubin Damania (ZDoggMD). Zubin first came to my attention with a viral video at the start of 2020 where he channelled some righteous anger at the medical establishment's response to the pandemic, and said he hoped that the crisis would be the trigger to “burn thi…

This was a special in person dialogue between the cognitive scientist John Vervaeke and the symbolism expert Jonathan Pageau. They reflect on what each finds valuable about each other's work, the nature of the conversation that they have been part of, good and bad criticism, the nature of symbolism and much more. It was recorded in Toronto during t…

For years the journalist Oliver Burkeman became obsessed with productivity and personal growth, documenting his explorations in a weekly column. Finally it struck him that this attempt was a deeply religious quest, tied into ideas of perfectibility and salvation. When he realised this, he was finally able to find more peace. "For me, the obsession …

Learning how to come to our senses and connect to our bodies is essential in an information landscape that highjacks our attention and pulls it away from what matters to us. Our new course 'Embodiment and Flow' helps you reconnect through breathwork, mindfulness, cultural embodiment, movement, rhythm and flow training. In this launch film we play c…

John Lloyd is a legendary comedy producer, who produced some of the biggest comedy hits of the 80s and 90s, including Not the Nine O Clock News, Spitting Image, and all four series of Blackadder. After a mid life crisis he realised that his success wasn't making him happy, and this led to a lengthy search for meaning and wisdom. This conversation w…

This is a wide ranging conversation about conspiracy theories, the occult, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and more with the writer Daniel Pinchbeck. Over the years Daniel has spent a lot of time investigating alternative narratives including conspiracy, and has been critical of Rebel Wisdom in the past for not taking these seriously enoug…

In one of the most important developments in the dynamic between big tech, free speech and media in many years, Elon Musk is buying Twitter for $44bn. Much of the commentary online has devolved into the predictable political shouting matches, and there has been very little engagement with the key questions that this brings up about the nature of mo…

"This is like The Matrix written from the point of view in which Agent Smith is the good guy, isn't it?" — Paul Kingsnorth Mary Harrington and Paul Kingsnorth are two of the most intriguing thinkers we’ve featured on Rebel Wisdom. Despite substantial overlap between Paul's concept of "the machine" and Mary's idea of "luxury Gnosticism", they have n…

This is a conversation that was originally posted on Meghan Daum's 'Unspeakable' podcast as 'Talking Sense Into Sensemakers'. David and Meghan talk about their shared history exploring the 'heterodox' space over the last years, and their impressions of what needs to come next. Unspeakable podcast: https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/…

John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist - a good friend of RW - and the creator of the cult hit - awakening from the meaning crisis series. A couple of weeks ago he travelled to the UK for a series of talks - and we took the opportunity to film this excellent dialogue with the philosopher and chess grandmaster Jonathan Rowson, the co-founder of Pers…

Alex Kaschuta is the host of the Subversive podcast, where she hosts controversial thinkers exploring the 'post-liberal moment'. She used to work in media in London, where she described herself then as a classic rationalist atheist and feminist. In the last few years she's moved back to Romania, become a mother, and has been exploring more traditio…

Chris Kavanagh is a cognitive anthropologist, and the co-host of the increasingly popular and influential podcast 'Decoding the Gurus'. This is a podcast that critiques many of the new breed of public intellectuals, including some who have been featured on Rebel Wisdom. Together with co-host, psychologist Matt Browne, they analyse the methods and m…

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is now over a month old. Konstantin Kisin is a comedian and the host of the Triggernometry show, he is also a Russian immigrant with family in both Ukraine and Russia. In this conversation with Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller he talks about his emotional journey over the course of the war, and how he has struggled with…

How can we relate authentically in a world that's tearing itself apart? What skills do we need to truly understand perspectives that differ from our own, and in turn, how can we invite people to consider other ways of thinking? In this conversation with authentic relating superstar Sara Ness we go from the personal to the cultural, asking how do we…

How will Russia's invasion of Ukraine shape the world for decades to come? Samo Burja is a geopolitical expert who has developed a reputation for bucking the conventional wisdom. In this conversation he makes his predictions for the future, explaining how he believes we are misunderstanding Russia, how China is playing an economic long game, and th…

What are the deeper religious and philosophical currents informing Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Gary Lachman is the author of the recent book 'The Return of Holy Russia: Apocalyptic History, Mystical Awakening, and the Struggle for the Soul of the World'. In this conversation he argues that we have to understand the deep well…

Integral philosophy has been a big influence on many of Rebel Wisdom's guests over the years. So we brought together three key figures, meditator and mediator Diane Musho Hamilton, the host of the popular Daily Evolver podcast Jeff Salzman and the author of the book Developmental Politics, Steve McIntosh. They talked about how the integral map can …

All the arrayed forces of the sensemaking crisis, cancel culture, censorship and the ethical dilemmas of truth seeking seem now to be focused on one man, the podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan. These questions were already brought into a heightened focus by the pandemic, and the question of accurate medical information or misinformation taking on a l…

A few months ago we put out a brilliant conversation about the deep mythology of the new Dune movie with the sci fi writer and podcaster Damien Walter - looking at what the stories we tell through science fiction tell us about who we are and where we're going. This is a dialogue with the host of the Symbolic World, Jonathan Pageau, about the religi…

As Russia looks poised to invade Ukraine, we speak to a friend of ours inside Ukraine. Vytas Bucianas is a developmental coach based in Kiev. In this conversation we discuss the recent history of Ukraine, what a conflict might mean for the region and the world, and whether the developmental map from disciplines like Integral theory can help illustr…

Jerry Hyde is a shadow therapist with 25 years clinical experience, who rejects many of the conventionally held views of the mainstream psychotherapy world. He works primarily with men, and has run men's groups for decades, which have years-long waiting lists to join. He has just released a documentary based on the experience of leading men’s group…

One of the biggest problems with talking about something as vast and impactful as the pandemic is to find the right level of analysis. In this epic piece, we look at the deeper religious and theological forces playing out below the surface of our day to day conflicts over topics like vaccines, authoritarianism and safety. We pull apart the hidden r…

John McWhorter is one of America's most incisive, outspoken heterodox commentators on race. His latest book, 'Woke Racism', is a full frontal attack on what he considers to be a new hidden racism, coming from the left. In Woke Racism, McWhorter outlines the workings of what he believes is a new religion, from the original sin of “white privilege” a…

Why does our response to Covid seem perfectly calibrated to create maximum division and disagreement? How has it made the problems of sensemaking so much worse and dragged us all into it? BJ Campbell is the creator of the Handwaving Freakoutery blog, focused on the crisis of finding truth, or Sensemaking. In this conversation with David Fuller he e…

Breathwork and Embodiment has always been hugely important to many of the practices we talk about on Rebel Wisdom. This is a conversation with breathworker Prema McKeever about the history of embodiment and breath practices, and how they are becoming ever more popular. We are running a course with Prema beginning in January 2022, it will be five de…

What are we getting wrong with Covid, and what does it mean to adapt to it becoming an endemic disease? William Eden is a biotech and healthcare expert who has been paying close attention to the progress of the pandemic from many different angles. He recently posted a viral Twitter thread on the topic: https://twitter.com/WilliamAEden/status/147027…

Happy Christmas! The Sensemaking Companion introduction film is listed on our new home on Substack: https://rebelwisdom.substack.com/p/our-christmas-gift-to-you-the-sensemaking Register your email address to be sent the full version when it's live. We're now hosting all our exclusive member content there, and there's a library of around 100 films -…

Meghan Daum is a writer and journalist, and host of the Unspeakable podcast. After a long time in the heart of the legacy media, she was becoming increasingly unhappy with the groupthink and narrow perspectives. After discovering what later became known as the Intellectual Dark Web, she wrote an article that went viral called Nuance, a Love Story: …

Can psychedelics change culture? In this new documentary, Alexander Beiner speaks with leaders in the field including Robin Carhart-Harris, Dennis McKenna, Bia Labate, Rick Doblin, Jamie Wheal and Kat Conour to find out if the original vision of the psychedelic counterculture - that they can radically transform society - is still alive. In the age …

Web3 is the collective name for the latest wave of innovation online. Touted as much more decentralised, democratic and creative than the current web ecosystem, for its evangelists it's our best hope to innovate our way out of many our most pressing societal problems. Jordan Hall is a tech entrepreneur and Deep Code analyst, who has been deeply inv…

Jamie Bartlett is a writer and journalist who's been investigating our complex relationship with technology for years, through books like People vs Tech, and recently through the hit podcast the Missing Crypto Queen. In this conversation with Rebel Wisdom's David Fuller he talked about how technology was starting to play an almost religious role in…

Paul Kingsnorth is one of the most interesting voices wrestling with the deepest questions of modernity, religion and the spiritual void in western culture. A former pagan - and long time environmentalist - a couple of years ago he had a completely unexpected conversion to Christianity, which he outlined in his fascinating piece The Cross and the M…

Why are we still obsessed with The Beatles, and is it healthy? Fifty years after they broke up, it seems that the mark they made on our culture has not faded. Does this demonstrate the timeless genius of the band, or is it a sign of a culture that is stuck? A few days ago saw the release of an eight hour fly-on-the-wall documentary 'Get Back', made…

Are the UK and US about to legalise magic mushrooms? A number of cities and states in the US have decriminalised psychedelics, and recent headlines in the UK have reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is thinking of rescheduling psilocybin. But 50 years into the war on drugs, is widespread legalisation a real possibility? In this film Alexande…

Is reality created in our minds, or are the things you can touch and feel all that's real? Philosopher Bernardo Kastrup holds doctorates in both philosophy and computer science, and has made a name for himself by arguing for metaphysical idealism, the idea that reality is essentially a mental phenomenon. In this Showcase he explains why he's come t…

In ‘The Matter with Things’, Iain McGilchrist tackles the big questions: Who are we? What is the world? How can we understand consciousness, matter, space and time? What happens if we neglect the sacred and divine? He argues that we have become enslaved to an account of things dominated by a partial view dominated by the brain’s left hemisphere, on…

This is a short podcast to announce an upcoming film project with John Vervaeke, and an opportunity to contribute ideas and skills to help make it happen. The aim of the film is primarily to answer the question 'Where do you start?' when encountering John's work, what do you send to someone as an introduction? We are particularly interested to hear…

The question of where Covid-19 came from has become one of the most contentious and heated topics. Even the US intelligence community is split between those who believe it most likely emerged naturally from the wild and those who believe it came from a lab, the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This is a conversation about where the evidence points betw…

What can Socrates teach us about identity politics? Can Mary Wollstonecraft give us a fresh take on free speech in the age of big tech? What would Carl Jung make of the strange union of the new age and far right known as ‘Conspirituality’? This video introduces our latest course, led by award-winning public philosopher Jules Evans, looks at the big…