Buddhism and Modern Psychology

And other reasons to set up the grand unified NZN feed on your podcast app

Hi! This is a housekeeping issue of NZN, in which I will: (1) unveil some new audio content and (2) explain the new, streamlined way paid subscribers can access bonus audio content (such as the weekly Parrot Room podcast and audio essays and any podcasts that are available early to paid subscribers).

But before I get to (1) and (2), let me quickly take care of (3): I just tore down the paywall that previously appeared partway through last week’s “Post-election reflections” piece. I did this after several commenters suggested, flatteringly, that the piece deserved wider circulation. If you agree with them, feel free to share the piece on the social media platform of your choice (yes, even if you don’t like the person who owns the social media platform). And/or, you can retweet my tweet about the piece. 

Now back to (1): If you’ve been thinking, “Man, I wish I could binge-listen to Bob’s online Buddhism lectures… if only there were an audio podcast version of them somewhere”—well, your ship has come in. Actually, if you’re not a paid newsletter subscriber, only one third of your ship has come in; the first two of the six hours of lectures are available to all subscribers,  and all six hours are available to paid subscribers.

As you may know, the entire video version of the lecture series—which is called Buddhism and Modern Psychology, and is based on a course I taught at Princeton—is available to all subscribers, paid and unpaid. But some people (including me, actually) like to imbibe content while exercising or tidying up the office or wandering around aimlessly. Hence this new podcast version of the lecture series. 

Which leads to (2): The grand unified Nonzero podcast feed! Until recently, paid subscribers who wanted to get both our publicly available podcasts and our paywalled podcasts had to set up two feeds in their podcast app. Now they can have a single feed that includes both the publicly available stuff and the bonus stuff.

In fact, some paid subscribers may have noticed, in recent days, that their podcast feed for paywalled podcasts has magically evolved into this single feed, which lets them apprehend, at a single glance, the entire Nonzero podcast universe, ranging from high-gravitas publicly available chats with policy experts to the low-gravitas banter that takes place, after hours, behind the doors of Friday’s Parrot Room.

If you’re a paid subscriber who isn’t yet sharing in that joy, that probably means you never set up a podcast feed for the paywalled podcasts in the first place. To do that, you can go to any audio post (like this one, a sneak preview of a conversation with psychologist Paul Bloom that won’t go public for another week) and then, instead of clicking the play button in the upper left corner, click the “listen on” button in the upper right corner. You’ll get access to an RSS link that you can plug into any podcast app to create the NZN edition of the Nonzero feed, which now includes all audio content, public and paywalled.

Now back to Buddhism: One way or another—by video or audio—I hope you’ll check out my lecture series. Though I sometimes go long periods without mentioning Buddhism in the newsletter, parts of Buddhist philosophy are very relevant to NZN’s recurring concerns, certainly including both the “psychology of tribalism” and one of its main antidotes, cognitive empathy. And I think parts of Buddhist practice can serve as a path (though of course not the only path) to addressing the psychology of tribalism and cultivating cognitive empathy.  

The video lectures are here. To get the audio versions you can click on any of the links below or, instead, just fire up your podcast app: The first two lectures are now available in the Nonzero feed, and all six are available in the NZN edition of the Nonzero feed.

1. The Buddhist Diagnosis
2. The Buddhist Prescription
3. Does Your Self Exist?
4. A New Model of the Mind
5. Mental Modules and Meditation
6. What is Enlightenment?

If you absorb all of these and still have questions about Buddhism or meditation, maybe my book on those subjects, which I was in the process of writing when I delivered these lectures, will be of interest.

OK, that’s all the housekeeping for now. I’ll leave you to, as the Buddha is said to have advised shortly before his death, “strive on with diligence.” Or, if you prefer, just kick back and relax.

—Bob