Shows
Third Person LimitedLiterature for Aliens, and How to Be PerfectOur hosts have ideas about what sort of books should have been included on the Voyager spacecraft, to support its heartwarming mission of spreading humanity to the stars. Would you have just sent the aliens your favorite book? Because maybe they don’t have the context to understand what a “Da Vinci Code” even is. And speaking of putting a lot of pressure on a book, TV creator Michael Schur’s How to Be Perfect put that pressure on itself. Philosophical ethics never sounded so good.
How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur
Works cit...
2026-01-191h 02
People I (Mostly) AdmireReading Dostoevsky Behind Bars (Update)Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he's a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and a poet. His nonprofit works to build libraries in prisons so that more incarcerated people can find hope. SOURCES:Reginald Dwayne Betts, founder and director of Freedom Reads, award-winning poet, and lawyer. RESOURCES:Doggerel: Poems, by Reginald Dwayne Betts (2025).“The Poet Writing on Prison Underwear,” by Adam Iscoe (The New Yorker, 2023).The Voltage Effect, by John List (2022).“If We Truly Believe in Redemption and Second Chances, Parole Should Be Celebrated,” by Reginald Dwayne Betts (The Washin...
2025-03-0849 min
Upstream[TEASER] Four Ways to Be AnticapitalistThis is a free preview of the episode "Four Ways to Be Anticapitalist." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to...
2025-01-0739 min
The Story Show"Whispers of the Heart"Innocent mistakes from our youth sometimes remain with us decades later, inspiring us to re-evaluate both our past and present actions. In this episode, Scott Pirsig returns to Story Show for Season 7 with another wilderness story, this time exploring the tension between our healthy engageent in nature and the inevitable impacts we make upon it. Jeremy, Angie, and Shane chat about the story first and remind listerners of the upcoming December 15, 2024 submission deadline for the February 8, 2025 show.
2024-12-0716 min
The Meaning CodeLove is a Reception that Transforms: The World is a Better Place Because You are In It.Sevilla and Karen consider some of the main points from the recent conversation with D C Schindler and how his work may relate to the work of Robert Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). Here's the AI summary:-) Karen and Sevilla King discussed the idea that love is the source of all being, and that beauty is the interface with reality that allows us to recognize and love God. They discussed how beauty changes us inwardly and how it is received and transforms the appetite. How the left and right hemispheres of the brain work together to...
2023-04-211h 27
Outside PodcastA Race to Save His Dying FriendWhen Scott Pirsig’s close friend Bob Sturtz suffered a stroke deep in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, Pirsig had no choice but to leave him in the wilderness and make a desperate sprint to get help. The two men had been on an early-spring canoeing adventure when Sturtz started acting strangely: it started with a headache, then he became disoriented, lost control of his hands, and stopped speaking. Pirsig’s only choice was zip him into a sleeping bag and beg him to stay put while he raced off into the fog to contact first responders. In this replay from o...
2023-03-1543 min
School for Good Living Podcasts72. Stephen G. Post Synchronicity & Spirituality Part 1Deemed one of the “stars of positive psychology,” Stephen G. Post is a public speaker, opinion leader, and the bestselling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People and God and Love on Route 80: The Hidden Mystery of Human Connectedness. Stephen is the Founder of the Center for Medical Humanities at Stony Brook University as well as a professor of Preventive Medicine and Bioethics. His work, which emphasizes giving and compassion in the medical field, has been featured on The Daily Show and in publications including “O” Magazine and US News & World Report.
Stephen joins me today to...
2020-03-1747 min
The Story Show"Building Bridges"Scott Pirsig takes us on another journey into the Canadian wilderness in his return to the Story Show, encountering challenges he'd never faced before in all his previous ventures. Scott's story is a testament to the power of writing as a form of self discovery. The episode starts with Shane, Angie, and Jeremy interviewing Scott. His performance at the August 2019 Story Show follows.
2019-11-2325 minThe Story ShowThe Great Show - Scott PirsigScott Pirsig reflects on a hardcore canoe trip into Canada's Quetico Provincial Park.
2018-04-0810 min
Outside PodcastScience of Survival: Racing a Dying BrainWhen something goes wrong in the wilderness, someone needs to evacuate and get help. When that someone is you, and every minute counts, the stress is enormous. And you just might not be fast enough. Scott Pirsig and Bob Sturtz were on a spring canoeing adventure in the Boundary Waters, a million-acre wilderness in northern Minnesota, when Bob suddenly started acting weird. He complained of a headache. Then he became disoriented, lost control of his hands, and stopped speaking. He’d suffered a stroke, which meant time was everything: the longer it took to get him to a hospital, th...
2017-06-2740 minOutside PodcastScience of Survival: Racing a Dying Brain
When something goes wrong in the wilderness, someone needs to evacuate and get help. When that someone is you, and every minute counts, the stress is enormous. And you just might not be fast enough. Scott Pirsig and Bob Sturtz were on a spring canoeing adventure in the Boundary Waters, a million-acre wilderness in northern Minnesota, when Bob suddenly started acting weird. He complained of a headache. Then he became disoriented, lost control of his hands, and stopped speaking. He’d suffered a stroke, which meant time was everything: the longer it took to get him to a hospital, th...
2017-06-2740 min