Life Examined

Life Examined

KCRW's Life Examined is a one-hour weekly show exploring science, philosophy, faith — and finding meaning in the modern world. The show is hosted by Jonathan Bastian. Please tune in Saturdays at 9 a.m., or find it as a podcast.

Data scientist and psychologist Gloria Mark shares the latest research on our diminishing attention spans and explains why our increasingly distracted lives can impact our health and…

This week, clinical psychologist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach on suffering, the negativity bias and why it’s a good idea not to overly fixate on the negative in our lives.

Humanist Chaplain Devin Moss describes his year-long journey providing spiritual care for an atheist death row inmate, leading up to and during his execution carried out by the State…

This week, historian George Makari explores the powerful human emotion of hate, xenophobia and fear of the other and says some people “fall in hate, the way the rest of us fall in…

Authors and scientists Theresa MacPhail and Alanna Collen delve into the history and science of allergies, proposing that a potential solution for allergy sufferers may lie within the…

This week, Iza Kavedžija, a cultural anthropologist who lived in the Kansai region of Japan, while researching the older members of Japanese society, talks about how Japanese culture…

Poet and author Christian Wiman talks about his cancer diagnosis, confronting death, and how his faith has taught him to embrace the unknown.

This week, Anna Lembke, addiction specialist at Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic , and author of “ Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence ,”…