Our guest today is Jamie Bristow, who is a writer and policy expert working at the intersection of inner and outer transformation and sustainability.

For eight years, he was Director of the Mindfulness Initiative and clerk to the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mindfulness. In 2023, he joined the Inner Development Goals team to lead on public narrative & policy development.

He’s here to talk to us today about a Middle Way approach to the climate crisis

Our guest today is Chris Rose. Chris is the Director of Amos Trust, a small creative human rights organisation which has three main areas of work: promoting Palestinian rights, creating opportunities for girls and young women on the streets and calling for climate justice. Chris has travelled extensively to Amos partner projects and led many trips and activities with them, such as home rebuilding, cycling and marathons trips in Palestine. He cofounded the Street Child World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and led Amos’ Just Walk from London to Jerusalem in 2017. Prior to this he was CEO of Romsey Mill a highly innovative youth project in Cambridge. He is an ordained Anglican Minister and he’s here to talk to us today about the Amos project.

In this week's podcast, the chair of the Middle Way Society, Robert M Ellis talks to us about his most recent book 'The Thought of Sangharakshita: A Critical Assessment'.

Evan Thompson, Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, is an expert in the fields of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially Buddhist philosophy in dialogue with Western philosophy and science. He co-wrote the ground-breaking The Embodied Mind with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, which was the arguably the first book to explore the relationship between Buddhist Philosophy and cognitive science. He’s also the author of Colour Vision and Mind in Life. He’s here to talk to us today about his latest book ‘Waking, Dreaming,  Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy’ and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

We are joined by the renowned developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik. As a leader in the field of children’s learning and development, she’s a proponent of the idea that children’s minds can help us get to grips with some of the most fundamental philosophical questions. She’s an authority on the theory of mind and also put forward the ‘theory theory’ which suggests that babies and young children learn about the world in a scientific way. She’ll be talking today about her book ‘The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds tell us about truth, love and the meaning of life’ and how this might relate to the Middle Way

We are joined today by Rod King, the founder and campaign director of ‘Twenty’s Plenty for us’ a movement set up to campaign for a default 20 mile speed limit in the UK. He’s going to talk about its rationale, the effect that it has had, the challenges it faces, how he sees it progressing and how this all might relate to the Middle Way.

Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and research scientist and the author of more than 80 technical papers and numerous books. He’s perhaps most well known for his book ‘The Science Delusion’ and his morphic resonance hypothesis. These will be the topics of the discussion today as well as exploring the idea of science as an integrative practice.

Philip Kitcher is the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at the University of Columbia. He’s the first recipient of the American Philosophical Association’s Prometheus Prize for his work to expand the frontiers of science and philosophy. He’s written many books including ‘Philosophy of Science: A new introduction’, ‘Preludes to Pragmatism’ and ‘The Ethical Project’. His latest book is ‘Life after Faith: The Case for Secular Humanism’ and that will be the topic of the conversation today.

Lynne Franks was the founder of one of the UK’s best-known PR consultancies in the 1970’s. She has in recent years focused her attention on women’s issues especially in regard to women’s empowerment and sustainability and this is the topic of our discussion.

The philosopher Julian Baggini talks to us about his latest book 'The Virtues of the Table‘, how our relationship with food and drink is a great way to explore what it means to be human and how to try to live conscientiously.

The difference between self and ego, why we need to avoid beliefs about the self and to work with our experiences of ego. A talk given by Robert M Ellis of the Middle Way Society on the summer retreat 2014, and also including discussion with Barry Daniel and Martin Blundell

Pete Mallard is the manager of the Barn Retreat near Totnes in Devon. He talks about the Barn, what it does, the ethos behind it, the value of going on retreat and how all this might relate to the Middle Way.

James is a social studies teacher from Ohio, in the USA. He’s recently published a book aimed at helping teachers bond with students entitled ‘You’ve Gotta Connect’. This is the main topic of our discussion and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

In this latest member profile, Anna Markey talks to us about her background in Australia, her time spent in India as a young woman and her initial engagement with Buddhism. She then goes on to talk about her interest in language and her career as a teacher, why she joined the society and what her understanding is of the Middle Way.

A detailed talk and discussion on the four main Jungian archetypes (hero, God, anima/animus and Shadow), their projection onto people, and ways of working with them. Working with archetypes fits into the wider context of Middle Way Philosophy, and this talk and discussion was recorded on a Middle Way Society retreat in 2014.

Jean has a background in theoretical physics and is a strategy consultant and also a part-time academic at both Bath and Cranfield universities. She is passionate about the implications of complexity theory for management and policy development as well as its connection to spiritual traditions. It is this relationship between complexity theory and spirituality that will be the topic of our conversation today.

Gay Watson has a PhD in Religious Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She trained as a psychotherapist with the Karuna Institute in Core Process, a Buddhist inspired psychotherapy. She is very much concerned with the dialogue between Buddhist thought, psychotherapy and the Mind Sciences and is the author of Beyond Happiness, Deepening the Dialogue Between Buddhism, Psychotherapy and the Mind Sciences and she’s here to talk to us today about her latest book A Philosophy of Emptiness.

The author and Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and the philosopher Robert M. Ellis, the chair of the Middle Way Society, discuss the idea of the Middle Way both within Buddhism and beyond it.

The science writer Michael Brooks holds a PhD in quantum physics  and as well as authoring several popular science books including, The Secret Anarchy of Science,  the bestselling 13 Things That Don't Make Sense and At the Edge of Uncertainty, he’s also written the novel Entanglement. In addition, he’s a journalist and broadcaster. He regularly writes for the Guardian,  he’s a former feature editor of the New Scientist magazine and writes a weekly column for the New Statesman.  Michael is here to talk to us about the state and role of science today, how one goes about doing good science, some pitfalls to avoid and what the future may hold for this fascinating field of human endeavour.

Elizabeth English is the founder Life at Work, a professional and personal development organisation. She has a  Masters and Doctorate from Oxford University in Buddhology. She’s a certified Nonviolent Communication trainer and, a teacher in Focusing with the British Focusing Teachers’ Association and the Focusing Institute. She’s going to talk to us today about Focusing, what it is, how you practice it, what are its benefits and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

Dr. Rubin Naiman is the sleep specialist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona’s centre for integrative medicine. Dr Naiman is the author of several books on sleep and dreams including Healing Night, Healthy Sleep, the Yoga of Sleep and Hush. He regular blogs on sleep and dreams for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. He talks about why so many of us are deprived of good quality sleep, in what way we might take some steps to address the balance and how this might relate to the Middle Way.

Dr. Ha Vinh Tho is the Programme Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan. He’s here to talk to us about the project, it’s underlying philosophy, how it’s applied, the challenges it faces and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

In this latest member profile, Frank Ledwith, a retired university teacher and lecturer, talks about his early life, his interest and involvement with Buddhism, the work of Stephen Batchelor and what the Middle Way means to him.

Tim Kasser is Professor of Psychology at Knox College in Illinois and author of various books on materialism, values, well being and environmental sustainability including ‘The High Price of Materialism’ and ‘Psychology and consumer culture’. He’s going to talk to us today about a book he co-authored with Tom Crompton entitled ‘Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity’ , how they see this as being often a missing link in environmental campaigning and how this all might relate to the Middle Way.

An extract from an interview with Stephen Batchelor for the Middle Way Society about his latest book 'The Art of Solitude' in which he offers some reflections and advice on how to deal with self-isolation during the corona virus emergency.

My guest today is Steven Howlett who is a senior lecturer at Roehampton University business school and previously was a senior research fellow at the Institute for Volunteering Research where he was involved in many projects looking at the profile of volunteering, the management of volunteers and polices towards volunteering. He’s the co author of ‘Volunteering and Society in the 21st Century’ and he’s here to talk to us today about volunteering in general, some of the research projects he’s been involved in and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

My guest today is Shauna Shapiro who is a professor of psychology at  Santa Clara University, a clinical psychologist and an internationally recognized expert in mindfulness. She’s the co-author of the critically acclaimed book: The art and science of mindfulness: Integrating mindfulness into psychology and the helping professions.   She’s here to talk today about the IAA model of mindfulness, the integration of mindfulness into psychotherapy, the evidence behind the effectiveness of mindfulness and how all this might relate to the Middle Way.

My guest today is Mary Searle-Chatterjee, a retired anthropologist and resident of the Lancaster Co-housing Project which won the Observer Ethical Award for 2014. She’s going to tell us something about the history, aims and values of the project and she’s also kindly agreed to give us a tour of the place. I went along with my camera too.

My guest today is Sir Harry Burns, who is the professor of global public health at the University of Strathclyde and a former  Chief Medical Officer for Scotland. He begins by talking to us about why poor people take longer to recover from illness, the causes of inequality in health and the causes of wellness. He then goes on to talk about some solutions that he has implemented alongside other potential ideas and how this all might relate to the Middle Way.

My Guest today is Steven C. Hayes, who is Nevada Foundation Professor and Director of Clinical Training at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. He’s the author of many books including the popular ‘Get out of your mind and into your life’ which for a while was the number one best-selling self-help book in the US. He’s the co- founder of Acceptance and Commitment therapy or ACT as it’s more commonly known and he’s going to talk us today about act, what’s unique about it, what are its goals, how it pans out in practice, and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

My guest today is Adam Corner of the Climate Outreach and Information Network (COIN). He’s the research director at COIN and also writes regularly for the national media including the Guardian, New Scientist and the Ecologist. He’s going to talk to us today about COIN, its approach to climate change, its aims and objectives and how it might relate to the Middle Way.

My guest today is Marek Duda of the Centre for Effective Altruism. He talks about what Effective Altruism is, it’s five main principles, counters some of the more common objections against giving to aid organisations and how this all might be related to the Middle Way.

My guest today is Elliot Aronson, one of the most distinguished social psychologists in the world, his books include the Social Animal and Cooperation in the Classroom: The Jigsaw Method, he co-authored the book on cognitive dissonance ‘Mistakes were made but not by me’ with Carol Tavris and has also fairly recently written his autobiography ‘Not by chance alone’ – the latter two I’ve read and would highly recommend. He was chosen by his peers as one of the hundred most influential psychologists of the 20th century and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the only psychologist to have won all three of the American Psychological Associations top awards for writing, for teaching and for research. He’s here to talk to us today a little bit about his life and the theory of cognitive dissonance.

Talk by Robert M Ellis of the Middle Way Society on the various limitations on our attention and awareness, including cognitive biases that affect our attention, and practical responses to these limitations. Followed by questions and discussion. Recorded on retreat in August 2014.

Robert M Ellis introduces four key concepts in Middle Way Philosophy: The Middle Way, Integration, Brain lateralisation and cognitive biases. The first talk given on the Middle Way Society summer retreat 2014, and followed by discussion.

Our guest today is Stephen Batchelor, a patron of the MW Society, author and Buddhist scholar who's here to talk about his latest book 'The Art of Solitude'.

This week’s guest is Professor Susan Wright who is chair of arts education at the University of Melbourne and author of ‘Understanding creativity in early Childhood’. She is going to talk to us today about her research regarding young children’s meaning-making and communication using symbol systems and multi-modal forms of expression and why she feels the arts deserve a pre-eminent place in education and culture.

This week’s guest is the journalist and author of the award-winning book ‘Fishing in Utopia’. He also writes a regular column in the Guardian on themes concerned with religion and this is the topic of the conversation today.

In the first of a series of regular dialogues with thinkers on various subjects, the chair of the society Robert M. Ellis discusses dogma and the brain with psychiatrist , author and patron of the Middle Way Society Iain McGilchrist.

In this latest member profile, Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney Animation talks about his new book Creativity Inc., the finding of the ‘Middle’ and how one sets up the conditions in a work environment so that creativity might flourish. He goes on to explain how he tries to maintain a work/life balance and why he decided to join the Middle Way Society.

In this latest interview Robert M. Ellis, the chair of the society, talks about cognitive biases, what they have in common, how you go about recognizing them and how you can work with them.

I posed this question in various forms to Paul Gilbert, Mark Vernon, Jim O’Driscoll, Claire Kelly, Vishvapani Blomfield, Rich Flanagan, Viryanaya, Peter Worley, Don Cupitt and Kristin Neff. To hear the full interviews, go to www.middlewaysociety.org/audio/podcasts

I posed this question in various forms to Vidyamala Burch, Julian Adkins, Iain Mcgilchrist, Stephen Batchelor, Peter Goble, Emilie Åberg, John Bolwell and Norma Smith. To hear the full interviews, go to www.middlewaysociety.org/audio/podcasts.

In this latest member profile Nina Davies tells us about growing up in Singapore, doing VSO in Malawi, Buddhism and her work in social care. She then goes on to talk about the importance of feminism in her life, her interest in Lacanian Psychoanalyis, and the work of Judith Butler and Donna Harraway. Finally, she explains what were the reasons that made her join the society.

In this episode Andy West, a transformative mediator talks to us about the transformative framework, the nature of conflict, what we should do about conflict and what we should do about conflict that can’t be resolved. We then explore the difference between transformative mediation and Non-Violent Communication and to what extent this relates to the Middle Way.

In this episode Martine Batchelor, a Buddhist teacher and author talks about ethics from a Buddhist perspective and to what extent it differs from more rule based ethical positions. We also explore topics such as absolutism versus relativism, karma, ‘engaged’ Buddhism, the precept of non-harming, laying people off, prisons and her understanding of the Middle Way.

My guest today is Mark Austin who is an accredited teacher of 5Rhythms dance classes, which he runs regularly in the north of England. In the interview we explore the origins of the practice, what it is, how a typical session pans out and how it relates to the Middle Way.

In this episode, Jonathan Rowson, a Scottish chess Grandmaster and director of the social brain centre at the Royal Society of Arts, talks to us about the Social Brain project, it’s aims and objectives, some working assumptions that underpin its approach, its ongoing initiative on spirituality and how all this relates to his understanding of the Middle Way.

In this latest member profile, Paul Teed a professor of history at Saginaw Valley State University tells us why he joined the society, what history means to him and why it matters. We also discuss objectivity, how to critically assess history, what he thinks of the film ‘12 years a slave’, the importance of ‘telling a story’ and how all this relates to his understanding of the Middle Way.

In this episode Kristin Neff, Associate Professor in Human Development and Culture at the University of Texas talks to us today about self-compassion, how she feels it differs from self-esteem, its contingent nature, and why it’s such a useful thing to cultivate in life. She goes on to talk about remorse, responsibility, shame and guilt and what her understanding is of the Middle Way.