Thinking Ahead with Carter Phipps Carter Phipps

On this episode of Thinking Ahead, we’re discussing one of my favorite subjects, evolution. Bobby Azarian is a cognitive neuroscientist, a science journalist, and a true evolutionary. His book The Romance of Reality explores the evolution of the universe and life, purpose, complexity, and consciousness with rich vision that far transcends the all-to-common reductionistic view. I’m always interested in visions of evolution that open up new pathways for people to appreciate the magnificent jour...

The topic of race is never far from our lips when we are talking about the American experience. And yet, the complexities, confusions, minefields, and missteps that often confront those who work to overcome America’s racial legacy can make this a subject that people shy away from. That’s why my guest today is such a breath of fresh air. He’s taken the opposite approach, exploring issues of race and diversity head on, and deeply incorporating them into his own work in the consulting world. As ...

Too often, the questions that we ask about our own time-period reflect a limited understanding of history. For example, consider the question: why is there still poverty and inequality? It’s a worthy question, but an even better one might be: How did so many societies, against all odds and without historical precedent, escape poverty and become wealthy? How have we come so far in our attempt to escape the "nasty, short and brutish" existence of our ancestors? Instead of just focusing on what ...

Steve McIntosh is already a regular guest on this podcast, and that’s no accident. Steve and I have been collaborating for many years, and we even cofounded the Institute for Cultural Evolution almost a decade ago. Steve is the President of the think tank and continues to build it, even as he releases important intellectual content, including his writings, books, talks, various podcast appearances. The subject of this dialogue is a significant one—it’s on human nature. Does it evolve? Or is i...

As my regular listeners will know, I’m deeply influenced by the perspective known as Integral philosophy, and in particular, the insights it affords us into how human culture has evolved—and is still evolving today. This perspective informs the conversations I have on this podcast, to one degree or another. But every now and again, I get the opportunity to welcome a guest who is deeply versed in this philosophy, and we get to have a conversation that more explicitly and directly explores the ...

Inflation. Recession. Bubbles. Interest rates. Sovereign debt crisis. Today, everyone’s financial portfolio is falling and that makes people upset about markets and economics. But being angry or frustrated about the market is easy, understanding how and why we arrived at this point is much more challenging. I was recently helped along in my journey of understanding by a fascinating new book, The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest , by financial journalist and historian ...