Podcasts by ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom
Why do we need enemies? From intimate relationships to politics, tribalism, and community, we cannot seem to stop dehumanizing each other. Are chronic conflicts in our families, societies, and nations inevitable? In this podcast, Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson analyze human hostilities from the most mundane to the most sophisticated as we apply psychology, psychoanalysis, art, spirituality, and relational theory in conversations about belonging and othering in our relationships and ideologies. Each program will reach for a fresh wisdom that shows us how to step back from creating enemies in our lives.
Further podcasts by Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and friends
Podcast on the topic Gesellschaft und Kultur
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ENEMIES: From War To Wisdom Episode 50: Why War is Not Necessary from 2023-11-09T16:54:31
In this final episode, Eleanor and Polly look back over their time together in doing the podcast and they assess where humanity seems to be standing in regard to war and wisdom. They reflect on ...
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ENEMIES: From War To Wisdom Episode 49: Remaining Curious from 2022-10-14T15:23
In this episode, we discuss the meaning of curiosity as a primary emotion and how it is expanded or restricted, throughout our development from infancy through old age, by conscious and unconsci...
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ENEMIES: From War To Wisdom Episode 48: Listening Mindfully: Getting Out of Your Own Head from 2022-09-22T04:00
Why is it so hard to hear and feel another person’s meaning when you are in difficult conversations? Even though you may love the other person, when they speak about something that “...
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ENEMIES: From War To Wisdom Episode 47: Speaking For Yourself: Foundation of Real Dialogue from 2022-09-06T19:08
In this podcast, we talk about how and why a speaker should LOWER emotional threat if that person wants to be seen, heard, and felt accurately. We don’t have to “be nice” or ev...
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ENEMIES: From War To Wisdom Episode 46: What is Power? What is Vulnerability? from 2022-06-01T12:00
How do Homo Sapiens get and control power? What do we mean by power and how does it relate to influencing others or taking control? What is “true power” that can sustain us through o...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 45: Fear of Death (Part 3) from 2022-04-04T11:45
What is death? Is it a flat-lining on the EEG in which the brain goes quiet? Is it cardiac arrest, the stopping of the heart? Is it the departing of consciousness from the body? Why does our def...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 44: Fear of Death (Part 2) from 2022-03-23T13:00
What is death? Is it a flat-lining on the EEG in which the brain goes quiet? Is it cardiac arrest, the stopping of the heart? Is it the departing of consciousness from the body? Why does our def...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 43: Fear of Death (Part 1) from 2022-03-08T14:31
What is death? Is it a flat-lining on the EEG in which the brain goes quiet? Is it cardiac arrest, the stopping of the heart? Is it the departing of consciousness from the body? Why does our def...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 43: Fear of Death from 2022-03-08T14:00
What is death? Is it a flat-lining on the EEG in which the brain goes quiet? Is it cardiac arrest, the stopping of the heart? Is it the departing of consciousness from the body? Why does our def...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 42: Free Speech and Right Speech: Following the Path of Non-Hatred Part 2 from 2022-02-15T07:20
There are many public debates about “free speech” in terms of limiting “hate speech” that includes insults, hostility, or slander against others, especially “vulner...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 41: Free Speech and Right Speech: Following the Path of Non-Hatred from 2022-02-07T02:40
There are many public debates about “free speech” in terms of limiting “hate speech” that includes insults, hostility, or slander against others, especially “vulner...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 39: What is Propaganda? How Can We Tell That We Are Being Persuaded by False Rhetoric? from 2021-06-29T02:29
In this podcast, we will explore the nature of propaganda and how easy it is to believe. How can a listener/reader/consumer discern whether there are facts and evidence backing any particul...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 38: What Is “Crowd Psychology”? How Does It Affect Individuals and Groups (Part 2) from 2021-03-03T01:29
NEW EPISODE of Enemies: From War to Wisdom is now live! Episode 38 (Part 2): What Is “Crowd Psychology”? How Does It Affect Individuals and Groups with Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 37: What Is “Crowd Psychology”? How Does It Affect Individuals and Groups (Part 1) from 2021-01-08T20:25
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, believed that crowd behavior (sometimes called “mob psychology”) leads to unlocking the unconscious mind in becoming identified with a &...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 36: What About Mothers & Daughters? Why Is It So Hard? from 2020-11-02T23:38
In the arena of entangled and often painful human relationships, the mother-daughter relationship may be paramount. If you think about it for a moment, you realize that every woman on earth has ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 35: Taking a Look at the Illusion of Reality: The Work of Donald Hoffman Part 2 from 2020-10-05T14:53
In part two of this episode, we will talk about the theory offered by contemporary cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman to explain why our natural desires and fears do not lead us to insights abou...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 34: Taking a Look at the Illusion of Reality: The Work of Donald Hoffman Part 1 from 2020-09-14T15:37
In this episode, we will talk about the theory offered by contemporary cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman to explain why our natural desires and fears do not lead us to insights about “rea...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 33: How Do We Make Sense of What Others Do to Us and What We Do to Others When Our Actions Seem Harmful or Helpful? from 2020-07-14T21:19
In 1958, psychologist Fritz Heider originated “attribution theory” in psychology. This theory tried to answer the question: How do people make sense of what happens to them? How do t...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 32: The Dove is Never Free: Our Podcast Logo from 2020-06-15T12:22
In this podcast, we talk about the philosophy and meaning behind our logo of a white peace dove that is caught in a red interdiction circle – either wholly caught or partly escaping. Of co...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 31: The Help that Hurts and the Hurt that Helps: Knowing How to Help When Others Are in Need from 2020-05-29T12:12
Years ago, there was a saying that came out of family psychiatry, especially in working with families of young adults with severe psychological disorders. It went like this, “When it comes...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 30: The Snow Globe of Our Subjectivity: Why It’s So Hard to Agree from 2020-05-01T12:54
On earlier podcasts, we have talked about what it means to be a human being, an individual person who has a complex experience of seeing, hearing and feeling. On this episode we will go into the...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 29: Opposites/Contraries During the COVID 19 Crisis from 2020-04-22T06:43
At this crucial juncture when we are beginning to contemplate our return to “life outside,” when the lock-down is over, we especially need to be reflective, thoughtful, and open-mind...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 28: Self-Righteousness and Moral Superiority from 2020-04-14T11:45
More than three centuries ago in 1793, the great poet and artist William Blake said, “Without Contraries is no progression. Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 27: Humiliation-Rage Cycle in Private and Public Situations from 2020-03-21T04:00
Humiliation is the experience of being exposed in our weaknesses and losing our social status in a couple or group. Being humiliated naturally evokes rage as a protective mechanism because an in...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 26: Projection and Projective-Identification Part 2 from 2020-01-25T20:21
Polly and Jill continue their conversation with psychoanalyst Robert Caper (expert on projective identification) about the emotional kidnapping and confusion that occur in unconscious communicat...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 25: Projection and Projective-Identification: What do they mean? from 2020-01-13T15:28
(Part 1) Why are even simple topics often difficult to discuss, especially if people have different viewpoints? Underlying many confusions and animosities in human interactions in couples and gr...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 24: Why Do Marriage and Commitment Bring Up Feelings of Hostility and Fear? from 2019-11-28T14:06
When people are preparing to go through a wedding – whether it’s their first or not – they often dream they are dying or are about to attend a funeral instead of a wedding. Why...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 23: Troubled Sisterhood: Veiled Aggression and Competition from 2019-10-29T23:42
There are now many studies that demonstrate how successful white women will undermine other high-status women instead of sharing resources, praise or support. If you are a working white woman, e...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 22: The Problem of Hostile Dependency: Biting the Hand that Feeds You from 2019-10-22T11:16
You have heard the saying “No good deed goes unpunished” and you know there is a wisdom in it. But what is that wisdom? In today’s podcast, we are going to talk about a human c...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 21: Free Will and Wisdom: the Ten Commandments, the Five Precepts, and the Golden Rule from 2019-09-18T12:06
In this podcast, Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., Sarah Brodie, M.A. and Eleanor Johnson explore the meaning of “free will” and some of the arguments for and against it. They talk abou...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 20: Introducing Sarah Brodie, Co-host for Real Dialogue Live Events from 2019-08-19T15:15
Preparing to bring the podcast live, on-stage, we interview Sarah Brodie, a Dialogue Therapist from Toronto, who will co-host Real Dialogue for Opposing Sides with Polly. These are structured co...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 19: Once Again, What is the Human Self? from 2019-08-01T12:19
Most of us find it confusing to see/hear/feel “the self.” We somehow believe it’s inside our bodies or is the same thing as our bodies. But the self is no thing. It does not ex...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 18: Clearing the Fog of War from 2019-07-05T06:44
As the history of Homo Sapiens suggests, we are more likely to be at war against others in our species, than to be able to live peacefully with them. And yet, some of this agitation about facing...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 17: What is War? from 2019-06-05T13:41
In North American society, we make war on our enemies, opposing ideals, cancer, drugs, bullying, and false news. What do we mean and what does this attitude imply? In this podcast, we will talk ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 16: Speaking the Truth Kindly from 2019-05-29T21:55
In this podcast we will return again to the way we speak to ourselves and others. Once again, we will tune into the problem of speaking the truth to ourselves and to others. We will discern spea...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 15 Dressed to Kill: Appearance as Power from 2019-04-28T13:05
The Buddha repeatedly taught that we should regard ourselves and others by the consequences of our actions (including our speech) and not by our appearances. And yet, most of us evaluate and com...
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Enemies: From War to Wisdom Episode 14: Love & Hate for Self from 2019-04-17T17:53
In our podcasts, we have defined “self” as an “interactional process” with others. Self becomes a habitual set of dynamics with others, connected to narratives about iden...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 13: Hatred & Non-Hatred: What the Buddha Taught from 2019-04-14T13:10
What is the nature of hatred and how is it related to love? What about non-hatred, is it the same as love? Love and hate abide together in the ambivalence of close relationships. Why do we hold ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 12: Real Dialogue: Rules and Realities from 2019-03-31T13:15
We all recognize Real Dialogue when we encounter it: people speak only for themselves and listen, really listen, to others. In times of conflict, opposition and emotional warfare, Real Dialogue ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 11: Speaking to Yourself & Speaking to Others from 2019-03-24T13:16
Most of the time, we are walking around talking to ourselves in a manner that strongly affects how we feel about ourselves and others. Most of the time, we are not conscious of what we are sayin...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 10: The Difference Between Aggression & Anger from 2019-03-17T13:19
How are passive and active essentially biological and hard-wired through our mammalian brains? What does the limbic system have to do with our sense of outrage and disgust and what do these have...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 9: Rejecting Humiliation, Hostility & Hate from 2019-02-21T13:20
If we embrace an uncompromising rejection of racism, sexism or other means of demeaning or dismissing other humans as inferior, how can we proceed in relating to others with whom we have conflic...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 8: Love & Hate Part 2 from 2019-02-10T13:23
Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson continue the discussion on human relating Why is love not an emotion or feeling? Why is hate not at all like love and yet often contained within...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 7: Love & Hate Part 1 from 2019-01-03T16:57
Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson. What are these two great categories of human relating? What are they about and are they biological? Why is love not an emotion or feeling? Why ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 6: Ourselves & Others from 2018-12-28T12:55
What allows us to feel comfortable in ourselves with others? What does it mean to feel like we "belong"? Can we do this without creating an "other" and without setting up an enemy, even though w...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 5: Emotions & Feelings Part 2 from 2018-10-25T21:17
In Part 2, Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson talk especially about the two great categories of human emotions — primary emotions (that we are born with) and secondary emoti...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 4: Emotions & Feelings Part 1 from 2018-10-11T19:45
Human emotions are complex and widely called “feelings” when much of what we call our “feelings” are actually our opinions, our preferences, our ideals, and the stories t...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 3: Conflict from 2018-09-21T13:04
What is the meaning of conflict? Why do the exact same conflicts often recur repeatedly and not lead to any solutions? In this episode, we will deconstruct the roots of conflict and see why conf...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 2: Why Enemies? from 2018-09-13T15:42
Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson explore their reasons for starting a podcast: the major reason is to be able to hold hope a forum and a space in which we can explore from each ...
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ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom Episode 1: Why do we need enemies? from 2018-09-07T20:24
Join Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson in their new podcast about ENEMIES. EPISODE 1: Why do we need enemies? From intimate relationships to politics, tribalism, and community, w...
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