The Absurd World Podcast

Epizodai

• 
  Ep. 81 - Why Am I Alone? 20.09.2026 36min

  Are you alone?Am I?Are we all?And is loneliness a fundamental part of being alive? Something forced upon us? Something we choose? Or something far more personal?In this weeks episode, we dig into the experience of true loneliness: where it comes from, why it occurs, and what, if anything, we can do about it. With a jam packed exploration of the works of French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Japanese novelist Osamu Dazai, we examine how much control we really have over our loneliness and how much responsibility we have to understand where it comes from.We may discover that loneliness does not always originate in the world outside of us, but within ourselves, and that finding our place in a society we desperately want to belong to may require us to look inward first.
• 
  Ep. 80 - Can I Trust Philosophers? 13.09.2026 32min

  Are philosophers good people?Do they actually live the kinds of lives they tell the rest of us to aspire to?Or are they all talk and no action?In this weeks episode, we take a hard look at the lives of some of our favorite philosophers and the ways they sometimes seemed to completely contradict their own teachings. With thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and Albert Camus on the chopping block, we ask whether we can still trust their ideas after discovering the flaws, contradictions, and troubling choices in the lives they lived.With the gentle but clear guidance of American thinker and writer bell hooks, we confront a difficult question: what do we do when someone whose ideas have changed us turns out to be deeply flawed in ways that challenge everything we thought we knew about them?Perhaps the person who gives us a powerful idea does not have to be the person we want to become.
• 
  Ep. 79 - Should I Be A Vegan? 06.09.2026 29min

  Do you like eating meat?Is it delicious in every possible way?Does it remind you of good times with family, friends, or traveling?Same.So why am I vegan? And why am I asking whether you should be?In this weeks episode, I step away from the usual ethical and moral arguments surrounding veganism and animal consumption. Instead, we use the question of whether we should be vegan as a way to explore something much more personal: who we are, what we believe, and what happens when our choices force us to confront our own values.With the help of thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Peter Singer, we explore how a seemingly simple question like "Should I be vegan?" can become an opportunity for genuine self examination, regardless of where we ultimately land.
• 
  Ep. 78 - Should I Be A Patriot? 30.08.2026 19min

  Do I love my country?If I do, does that make me toxic?If I don't, does that make me a traitor?Is there even a right answer anymore?And what does it really mean to be a patriot today?In this weeks episode, I explore what it means to love your country in a genuine and authentic way, and how patriotism can be expressed through action rather than blind loyalty. With the help of thinkers like Jonathan Haidt and Timothy Snyder, we take an honest look at the difference between patriotism and nationalism, and how each can either strengthen or weaken the societies we hope to build.We may discover that we have misunderstood patriotism on a massive scale, and that this misunderstanding is shaping far more of our world than we realize.
• 
  Ep. 77 - Am I A Liberal? 23.08.2026 31min

  What does it mean to be liberal?To follow liberal ideology?To be left wing?And what does it mean for me to call myself a liberal in the modern world, in the nation where I was born?Surprisingly, that is a much more complicated question than it might seem.In this weeks episode, I turn to several thinkers to try to understand what it actually means to be a liberal and whether it is an identity I want to claim for myself. With the help of philosophers like Isaiah Berlin and John Rawls, among others, we explore what liberalism was originally intended to be, what it has become, and whether it still reflects the values we hold today.Perhaps the deeper and more frightening question is this: how do I know what my values and beliefs actually are if I don’t feel like I fit neatly anywhere?
• 
  Ep. 76 - Why Am I Bored? 16.08.2026 25min

  Why am I so bored all the time?Why is nothing entertaining enough for me anymore?Am I boring?Are other people boring?Have I simply become too accustomed to having endless entertainment at my fingertips?Or is something else going on?In this weeks episode, we take a long, hard look at boredom and what it actually means to us. With the help of German philosopher Martin Heidegger, along with a brief appearance from Korean philosopher Byung Chul Han, we explore the different ways boredom can take hold of our lives and what, if anything, we can do about it.Perhaps we will discover that boredom is not something we should be running from, but something we desperately need to pay attention to... before our world passes us by.
• 
  Ep. 75 - Am I Living A Healthy Life? 09.08.2026 31min

  What does it mean to be healthy?Really.Not what the latest fad tells us. Not what we are constantly told we should be doing. And not even what the government says. What does it actually mean to live a healthy life?In this episode, we stop and seriously ask how we know what is healthy for us in the first place. Is health really as straightforward and scientific as we tend to assume, or is there something deeper going on? With the help of voices from across history, including American journalist and author Michael Pollan, we take a closer look at what it means to pursue health and how we might actually achieve it.And we might be surprised by just how far into the past we have to look for some of the answers.
• 
  Ep. 74 - Am I A Good Parent? 02.08.2026 20min

  Am I a bad parent?Did I have bad parents?Is there even such a thing as a good parent?As a therapist, I am not sure there is a question I have heard more often or spent more time exploring. Throughout my career, clients have asked what it really means to be a bad parent, and whether anyone can truly be called a good one.In this weeks episode, I dive into these questions with the help of British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott and his groundbreaking idea of the "good enough" parent. Together, we explore what it actually means to parent well, why we so often hold ourselves to impossible standards, and why the qualities that matter most may not be the ones we expect.Perhaps being a good enough parent really is... good enough.
• 
  Ep. 73 - Should I Have Kids? 26.07.2026 30min

  Should I have kids? Should you? Should anyone, for that matter?Is anyone ever truly ready to become a parent? Do we really know why we want children? And if we do, how can we tell when we are actually ready?In this weeks episode, I explore what it really means to have a child and the questions we should be asking before making one of the biggest decisions of our lives. With the help of thinkers like German psychoanalyst Erik Erikson and Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, we move beyond the practical concerns of parenting to ask what it truly means to welcome another human being into the world.Perhaps being ready has less to do with having all the answers and more to do with understanding the responsibility of the question itself.
• 
  Ep. 72 - Could I Ever Understand Aliens? 19.07.2026 22min

  Do you ever wish aliens would just abduct you and take you on an adventure? A chance to leave behind the endless stress, conflict, and uncertainty of life on Earth? It sounds nice... but there is one small problem.Would we even be able to communicate with them? Could they understand us, or we them? Is it possible that two intelligent beings could encounter one another and never truly know it? And what does any of this have to do with bats?In this weeks episode, I explore the strange challenge of understanding minds that are fundamentally different from our own. With the help of philosopher Thomas Nagel and several other thinkers, we ask whether it is ever truly possible to know the inner world of another conscious being.The answer may leave us feeling more isolated than we ever expected.
• 
  Ep. 71 - What Am I? 12.07.2026 26min

  What are we, really?We are told we are human. But what does that actually mean? It seems like such a simple question, yet philosophers have wrestled with it for centuries.This week, we dive into the existential question of what it truly means to be human and whether our understanding of ourselves has missed something important. Guided by thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, and Ernest Becker we turn especially to ecologist and philosopher David Abram and his expansion of the work of French existential philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty.Together, we ask not only what it means to be human, but whether we have forgotten how to be one.
• 
  Ep. 70 - Do I Exist? 05.07.2026 35min

  I exist. I am a human being who exists. I know this. I feel this. But how do I actually describe it? Do I list my traits? My personality? My qualities? Do these things really explain my existence, or am I something more than all of them?In this weeks episode, I explore what it truly means to exist and how we might begin to understand ourselves beyond the labels we so often identify with. With the help of English existential psychotherapist Mick Cooper, alongside insights from Sartre, Jaspers, May, and others, we dive into the nature of human existence and discover that what we usually mean by "existence" is only the beginning.Perhaps misunderstanding what it means to exist is also why we so often struggle to understand how to live.
• 
  Ep. 69 - Do I Actually Experience Time? 28.06.2026 28min

  There are many things we question on this podcast. We challenge assumptions, call out ideas we take for granted, and examine the concepts we think we understand. But surely there are some things so fundamental to our existence that they are beyond questioning...Time, for example.In this weeks episode, we turn to Italian theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, who argues that time is far less straightforward than it appears. As we explore the many ways humans experience, understand, and attempt to measure time, we begin to see that even our most basic assumptions about reality may not be as certain as we once believed.Perhaps the hardest things to define are the very things we think we already know.
• 
  Ep. 68 - How Do I Live With OCD? 21.06.2026 39min

  You hear about it all the time. People claim to have it, joke about it, and reduce it to a collection of quirky habits. But for those who actually live with OCD, there is nothing funny about it.So let us explore what it really is.In this weeks episode, I introduce obsessive compulsive disorder and the deeply existential nature of this widely misunderstood condition. Together, we explore the neuroscience, daily experience, philosophy, and treatment of OCD, examining what it is actually like to live with a mind caught in cycles of doubt, fear, and uncertainty.With the help of existential psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, we may discover that relief from suffering is not found through certainty, but through a fundamentally existential shift in how we relate to uncertainty itself.
• 
  Ep. 67 - Should I Take Psychedelics? 14.06.2026 34min

  Are you tired of being a square? Tired of always doing what you are told? Tired of following the rules and seeing reality the same way everyone else seems to? Well... have you ever considered psychedelics?In this weeks episode, we swan dive into the world of reality altering substances as we explore whether there is really only one way to experience reality. Guided by journalist Michael Pollan and his book How to Change Your Mind, with a guest appearance from philosopher and psychologist William James, we investigate some of the most misunderstood substances in human history.Together, we ask whether psychedelics reveal an entirely different way of being, perceiving, and understanding the world... or whether they simply convince us that they do.
• 
  Ep. 66 - Am I The Hero Of My Own Journey? - Jung Part 3 07.06.2026 36min

  We hear so much about change. About finding ourselves, becoming authentic, and creating meaning in our lives. But would it not be nice if someone handed us a map?In this weeks episode, and the final installment in our three part series on Jungian psychology, we explore the possibility that such a map may already exist. With the help of American thinker and writer Joseph Campbell, and with an extra Jungian flair, we dive into the concept of the Hero’s Journey to ask what it truly means to become whole.Using stories like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings, and Kingdom of Heaven, we explore both the metaphorical and very real journey that may lie ahead of us.
• 
  Ep. 65 - Do I Live In A Paradox? - Jung Part 2 31.05.2026 27min

  We know the absurd. By now, we are familiar with it. Heck, this podcast is named after it. But what if there is more to absurdity than randomness, contradiction, and chaos? What if there is something hidden within the paradox itself?In this weeks episode, and the second in our series exploring the work of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, we ask whether even the most absurd moments in life might hold meaning. Whether the contradictions we experience are not obstacles to understanding, but invitations toward it.What if the paradox is trying to tell us something? All we have to do is dig deeper, search honestly, and be willing to embrace whatever we find along the way.
• 
  Ep. 64 - What If I Could Have Been Different? - Jung Part 1 24.05.2026 22min

  We have all made countless choices in our lives. Some big, some small, some easily forgotten, and others that stay with us. Many of these decisions have shaped the course of our lives in ways we may never fully understand. But what if we are also shaped by the choices we did not make, the lives we did not choose to live.Our unlived lives.In this episode, we begin a series exploring the work and ideas of Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung and how his thinking can guide and influence our existential exploration. Get ready for a midlife crisis yall!
• 
  Ep. 63 - Should I Set Boundaries? 17.05.2026 26min

  Life is ambiguous. There are no clear, cosmic rules handed down to guide us. The rules we follow are human made, shaped by culture, history, and belief. Without something claiming absolute certainty, it can be difficult to know what you should be doing at all. That uncertainty can feel terrifying. But what if it also opens a different possibility? What if you can create your own sense of direction while still remaining subjective and ethical, and what if that guidance is already within you, waiting to be heardIn this episode, I explore what it means to have boundaries. What they are, how they function, and why they matter. With the help of American psychotherapist Robert Jackman, we look at how boundaries can be both deeply uncomfortable and incredibly necessary, and why they might be one of the most important tools we have for living authentically
• 
  Ep. 62 - Am I Burnt Out? 10.05.2026 30min

  I am tired. You are tired. We are all, collectively, tired. Some of us might call it burnout. Maybe all of us have felt it at some point. But what does that really mean, and how do we keep it from spreading any further?In this weeks episode, we explore burnout as something far more complex than simple exhaustion, depression, or weakness. With the help of South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, and the thinkers he draws from like Hannah Arendt and Friedrich Nietzsche , we ask how deeply burnout is woven into the fabric of our society and whether it has been ingrained in us to the point that we pursue it without even realizing it...