The Learning To Die Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Learning To Die Podcast

Ian Dunican and Ciaran O'Regan

Society & Culture

History

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/22d. Total Eps: 45

How do I live when I know I must die? Learning to Die is a show about exploring that question hosted by Ian Dunican and Ciaran O'Regan. They explore areas of philosophy, psychology, martial arts, culture, existential risk, and anything else that seems of interest and relevance to navigating a well-lived life. And, since Montaigne put it beautifully when he said "every man bears the whole form of the human condition," Ian and Ciaran can only hope that some of what they learn prior to returning their borrowed carbon to the Universe might be of benefit to you too. Namaste Sapiens.

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🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
06/08/2025
#94
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
26/06/2025
#100
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
25/06/2025
#72
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
19/06/2025
#84
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
23/05/2025
#84
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
16/04/2025
#89
🇬🇧 Great Britain - philosophy
21/11/2024
#86

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http://www.learningtodie.com.au/
22 shares
http://www.learningtodie.com.au
7 shares
https://futureoflife.org/
4 shares

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Five_Rings
6 shares
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi
4 shares
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima
4 shares

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thLgkQBFTPw
2 shares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewq7r1s535c
2 shares
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azo95eWqw8k
2 shares

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Score global : 47%

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#44 with David Keohan AKA Indiana Stones on the ancient art of Irish Stone Lifting

Episode 45

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 • Duration 01:11:52

I am joined by Ireland's stone-lifting ambassador, David Keohan, in this Learning to Die episode. We discuss the ancient practice of stone lifting in Ireland and many other countries globally, how it was a rite of passage for the youth, a challenge within the community and something to do for fun. Stone lifting is an art that was lost through 800 years under British occupation. Like many customs, aspects of culture and language that were lost during this occupation, Ireland is in a cultural revival, and David is leading the way by lifting stones. An element of Irish culture that was nearly lost, but David is on a quest to make stone lifting great again. This conversation undoubtedly enthused me, and I can't wait to dig more into this subject. The great thing about stone lifting is that it's free. Check out the episode and the links below.

Items we discuss

GQ article on David https://www.gq.com/story/the-quest-to-pick-up-the-lost-lifting-stones-of-ireland
Irish Times Article on David https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/10/29/indiana-stones-meet-the-man-bringing-back-irelands-lost-culture-of-stone-lifting/
History of stones https://brigadoon.org.au/stalls-exhibitors/history-of-stones/
Sean Urq https://www.instagram.com/seanurq/ from https://liftingstones.org
Map of Irish lifting stones https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1588334600/map-of-irish-lifting-stones

Follow David on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/_indiana_stones_/?hl=en>

I hope this was useful. Please enjoy this episode of the Learning to Die podcast.

Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links to the YouTube video versions.

The YouTube version of this episode has a video and some slides.

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#43 The Guru, the Bagman & the Sceptic w Professor Seamus O’Mahony

Episode 44

Monday, October 9, 2023 • Duration 01:37:13

In this episode, we are joined once again by Professor Seamus O’Mahony. Seamus is a doctor and a prize-winning author. He worked for many years in the NHS, returning to his native city of Cork in 2001, where he was a gastroenterologist and clinical professor until February 2020. His first book, The Way We Die Now, won the British Medical Association’s Council Chair’s Choice award in 2017.

Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Die-Now-Medicines/dp/1250112796

His second book, Can Medicine be Cured? was published in 2019; purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Medicine-Cured-Corruption-Profession-ebook/dp/B07DKKVBL4 and his latest book The Ministry of Bodies, was published by Head of Zeus in March 2021.

Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Bodies-Death-Modern-Hospital/dp/1838931929.

He is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review of Books and the Medical Independent. He has written also for The Observer, the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, and the Saturday Evening Post. He is a member of the Lancet Commission on “The Value of Death” and is a visiting professor at the Centre for the Humanities and Health at King’s College London.

In this episode, we discuss his latest book "The Guru, the Bagman and the Sceptic"

https://seamusomahony.com/books/the-guru-the-bagman-and-the-sceptic-a-story-of-science-sex-and-psychoanalysis/

You can purchase it here https://www.amazon.com.au/Guru-Bagman-Sceptic-science-psychoanalysis/dp/1803285656

#35 Catholicism, science and facing the shadow in today’s world w Dr Shane Creado

Episode 35

Friday, August 12, 2022 • Duration 02:02:58

In this episode, Ciaran and I are joined by Dr Shane Creado in Chicago. Shane is a double board-certified sleep medicine doctor and psychiatrist. He practices functional sleep medicine, integrative psychiatry, and sports psychiatry, combining all those skills to uncover underlying factors that sabotage the patients, comprehensively treat them, and help them achieve their goals. He completed an undergraduate degree in physical therapy and went on to do an MD, graduating at the top of his class with Honours in every subject in medical school. He completed his psychiatric training at the University of Wisconsin, where they awarded him the graduating resident award for academic achievement. He then went on to a fellowship in Sleep Medicine at the University of Wisconsin because of the huge overlap between sleep and psychiatric issues.

Topics we discuss in this epic episode with Shane.

The value of storytelling and narrative for convey historical truths
The neolithic burial chamber in Ireland called Newgrange
Carl Jung archetypes
Learning about yourself from facing your shadow, integrate the shadow
The guesthouse by Rumi https://gratefulness.org/resource/guest-house-rumi/
The role of suffering to better our life
The story of Job https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_(biblical_figure)
Ying and Yang, Unification and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang
“Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love, and hate, are necessary to human existence.” William Blake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake
In Heraclitus’s Fragments, he notes that tension is the very thing that makes life sing. Take a guitar string, for example. If you wind it too tight, it will snap. Too slack, and it will buzz and make no note at all. Heraclitus

#34 w Professor Seamus O’ Mahony: Lancet Commission report on the Value of Death

Episode 34

Monday, July 11, 2022 • Duration 02:00:29

In this episode, we are joined once again by Professor Seamus O’Mahony. Seamus is a doctor and a prize-winning author. He worked for many years in the NHS, returning to his native city of Cork in 2001, where he was a gastroenterologist and clinical professor until February 2020. His first book The Way We Die Now won the British Medical Association’s council chair’s choice award in 2017.

Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Way-We-Die-Now-Medicines/dp/1250112796

His second book Can Medicine be Cured? was published in 2019, purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Medicine-Cured-Corruption-Profession-ebook/dp/B07DKKVBL4 and his latest book The Ministry of Bodies was published by Head of Zeus in March 2021.

Purchase the book here https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Bodies-Death-Modern-Hospital/dp/1838931929

He is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review of Books and the Medical Independent. He has written also for The Observer, the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, and the Saturday Evening Post. He is a member of the Lancet commission on “The Value of Death” and is visiting professor at the Centre for the Humanities and Health at King’s College London.

In this episode, we discuss his involvement in this Lancet report. The Lancet is the top medical journal in the world with an impact factor of 79. The published Report of Lancet Commission on the Value of Death: bringing death back into life. You can read the entire report here (50 pages) for free https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02314-X/fulltext

Here is a short summary video from the Lancet (

#33 with Ian and Ciaran on Christianity and Society

Episode 33

Wednesday, July 6, 2022 • Duration 02:00:09

In the episode of the Learning to Die Podcast, Ian and Ciaran sit down to discuss the relationship between Christianity and Society. We had a theme for this conversation of a scoping review. We discuss this broad interesting and tumultuous relationship between Christianity and society.

Items of discussion

What is Marxism? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism
Frans de Waal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_de_Waal

Books we mention

A confession by Leo Tolstoy, full free audiobook here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k9Qo4w3JVY
Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by Tom Holland
The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name by Brian C. Muraresku
A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart by Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au

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#32 w Dr Caitlin Duffy on horror literature in our society

Episode 32

Monday, May 30, 2022 • Duration 01:29:45

In this episode of the learning to die podcast I am joined by Dr Caitlin Duffy

Caitlin graduated with a PhD in English Literature from Stony Brook University. Her dissertation focused on exploring the ways that 19th-century American gothic literature works to define liberalism and contemporary American horror films react to/define/challenge conceptions of neoliberalism. She has been published in The Journal of Dracula Studies, Poe Studies, and a collection of essays on Trump in fiction. As a graduate student, she used her blog as a space for my comprehensive exam notes. You can read it here https://caitlinduffy.hcommons.org/blog/

Caitlin's work at Sublime Horror https://www.sublimehorror.com/author/caitlinduffy/

You can follow Caitlin on Twitter @caitduffy49

Here are a bunch of items we discussed in this episode, in no particular order. I hope you enjoyed the episode

Blúiríní Béaloidis 21 - Samhain / Halloween (With Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn)

https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/blu-iri-ni-be-aloidis-21-samhain-halloween-with-dr/id1227741013?i=1000455434902

Head full of ghosts by Paul Tremblay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Head_Full_of_Ghosts

About Charles chestnut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W._Chesnutt

Po Sandy by chestnut https://chesnuttarchive.org/item/ccda.works00014

Silas Weir Mitchell 1829-1914 a biographical memoir

#31 w Prof Gordon Marino on Ukraine and the Red Line Gamble

Episode 31

Friday, April 29, 2022 • Duration 01:38:45

In this episode, we welcome back Gordon Marino. Gordon earned his PhD from the University of Chicago, M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and B.A. from Columbia University. His areas of specialisation include History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Kierkegaard. He teaches philosophy and related courses as a professor at St. Olaf College and holds a position as the curator of the Kierkegaard Library. In 2018, Marino published his most recent book, The Existentialist’s Survival Guide. He has authored and co-authored numerous works, including Kierkegaard in the Present Age. His articles have appeared in internationally acclaimed news sources and periodicals such as The Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, and the American Poetry Review. Follow Gordon here https://www.existentialistscorner.com/

In this episode, we discuss

The Cuban Missile crisis
What is Existentialism? https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/
Values and cultural differences
Nuclear near misses and a previous episode we did https://learningtodie.com.au/podcasts/13-nuclear-near-misses-and-vice-admiral-vasili-arkhipov/
Gordon's essay, "We must imitate Zelensky, not just admire him https://iai.tv/articles/we-must-imitate-zelensky-not-just-admire-him-auid-2085
Ciaran's essay Existential Roulette "Ukraine and the Quagmire of Defending Freedom in the Nuclear Age" https://quarrelsomelife.substack.com/p/existential-roulette?r=dknyr&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Operation Paperclip and how NASA had Nazi scientists
Development of values and different values in our society
Alexander Dugin and his impact on Russia

#30 with Tommy $: From California to Ukraine a pre departure story of a soldier

Episode 30

Thursday, April 14, 2022 • Duration 01:26:19

In this episode, we catch up with @tommysantospn, AKA Tommy $, to discuss his previous role as a combat medic in the 82nd Airborne Artillery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/82nd_Airborne_Division_Artillery.

His journey of self-development from his time in the military to attaining two master's degrees since then. However, this episode is primarily focused on Tommy's new quest. Tommy is going to Ukraine on a mission.

Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links. Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au

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#29 w Robb Wolf: Saving Ourselves from Safetyism

Episode 29

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 • Duration 01:36:56

What an episode; we were thrilled to have Robb Wolf on the podcast. This was a great discussion led by Ciaran. Robb was scheduled to come on for 60 minutes but kindly stayed for 90 minutes. In this episode, we discussed many things today: the pandemic, diets, wokeism, environment, climate change, war, politics, and much more.

If you recognise Robb's name, you're not mistaken. He has been on the JRE podcast at least three times. He is a former research biochemist and a two time New York Times/WSJ Best Selling author of the Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat. He is a brown belt in BJJ (Robb, on his love of BJJ https://youtu.be/l_HcfDWuozA)has fought as an amateur kickboxer. Find out more about Robb here and his podcast at https://robbwolf.com/.

His recent work with Diane Rodgers can be accessed here https://www.sacredcow.info/about-sacred-cow. They recently appeared on the JRE podcast episode #1784 to discuss this work https://open.spotify.com/episode/0r7MbKFhtLf9RLOahCT1gU

Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links. Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au.

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#28 The Ukraine Crisis and the Question of Freedom

Episode 28

Tuesday, March 8, 2022 • Duration 01:38:03

In this episode, Ciaran and I reflect on what is happening in Ukraine and the potential outcomes. If you have listened to our previous episodes you will know we have discussed Nuclear near misses. Will this be Nuclear war? Are we about to embark on World War III or a Cold War II? Is it East versus West all over again. More importantly, how the f$ck did we get to this.

Links to items we discuss

Jordan B Peterson on D-I-E must DIE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq2rBE5zwAs

The Return of Holy Russia: Apocalyptic History, Mystical Awakening, and the Struggle for the Soul of the World https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-return-of-holy-russia-apocalyptic-history-mystical-awakening-and-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-the-world_gary-lachman/22995467/#edition=24585393

ON UKRAINE, THERE’S NO WAR THAT EMOTIONAL HASTINESS CAN’T MAKE WORSE https://gript.ie/on-ukraine-theres-no-war-that-emotional-hastiness-cant-make-worse/

The second coming by WB Yeats https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming Check out Ciaran's writing work at Areo on this subject and more https://areomagazine.com/author/ciaranatsigmanutrition/ Check us out at www.learningtodie.com.au for all episodes and links Contact us at ian@learningtodie.com.au or ciaran@learningtodie.com.au

The Learning To Die Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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The Learning To Die Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Wikipedia56

Youtube39

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Wikipedia56

Youtube39