In this season finale of Mind of State, hosts Jonathan Kopp and Betty Teng, along with their co-founder, Tom Singer, look back at season 2 as a time of extraordinary intensity, when the country wrestled with its demons and angels. The months leading up to and after the 2020 election were so filled with emotion, rancor, and conflict that digesting this season’s themes, through-lines, and takeaways might be the work of generations. This wrap-up episode begins that process by providing some much ne...
Mar 10, 2021•46 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast We typically think of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as afflicting an individual who has experienced a terrifying event, such as combat, sexual assault or the death of a child. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Judith Herman, whose three-stage trauma recovery model has guided therapists for over twenty years. Tune in, as we explore with Dr. Herman the concepts of collective PTSD and intergenerational trauma — be it from a pandemic or the legacy of slavery — and how we can take steps t...
Feb 17, 2021•39 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast [Replay of Episode 1 (09/02/2020), with new introduction] What underlying preoccupations – or “cultural complexes” – shape our country’s politics and collective psyche? On this premiere episode of season 2, we welcome Mind of State co-founder, Dr. Thomas Singer, who is also the editor of Cultural Complexes and the Soul of America and one of the authors of the NY Times bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. Tune in, as we learn about cultural complexes and explore some of the key c...
Feb 10, 2021•41 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast What’s the lesson plan for first day back in class after a school shooting? Our guest, Megan Doney, is an English professor at New River Community College in Virginia, where she lived through the nightmare scenario students and teachers across America try to prepare for with active shooter drills. In honor of National Gun Violence Survivors Week, Megan shares her personal story from that day and how she has processed the trauma since then. Doing so, she reflects on the personal and political imp...
Feb 03, 2021•45 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast [Replay of Episode 9 (11/25/2020), with new introduction] Long after the news outlets called the election for Biden, Trump still refuses to concede his loss. This reminds us that our democracy relies on not only the rule of law, but also a shared set of beliefs about how we choose to govern ourselves. Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University, joins Mind of State to discuss his prescription for bolstering our collective faith in the ongoing experiment of the American democracy. Hosted...
Jan 27, 2021•35 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Is the freedom not to wear a mask what America’s Founders had in mind with the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?" Is Donald Trump a modern day mad King George III? Join us in a discussion with British psychoanalyst and mythologist Jules Cashford, who discusses the dangers of conflating myth with history and what happens when leaders begin to believe they are bigger than the mere mortals that they actually are. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 20, 2021•41 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast [Replay of Episode 5 (10/14/2020), with new introduction] Across America, some people are marching for progress, while others are text- and phone-banking to get others to register and vote. The former seek change from outside the system; the latter work the inside game. Dr. Deva Woodly, New School professor of Politics and author of The Politics of Common Sense: How Social Movements Use Public Discourse to Change Politics and Win Acceptance , tells us that both are core to democracy. ...
Jan 13, 2021•49 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast For too long, the adverse impacts of climate change have disproportionately burdened poor and underserved communities of color in the US. When COVID-19 hit, we were beset with not only a pandemic, but also an economic downturn, an historic uprising against racial injustice, and a series of massive wildfires and hurricanes. Dr. Adrienne Hollis, the Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, contends these events are interconnected. She joins Mind of State to...
Jan 06, 2021•44 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast [Replay of Episode 4 (10/07/2020), with new introduction] A debate rages in the US over protecting our health versus preserving our wealth. Can our faith in the almighty dollar withstand a deadly pandemic and climate change? Join us, as we explore the roots of America’s economic myth, the natural forces challenging our long-held assumptions, and the possibilities for what’s next, with Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, an expert in societal myths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...
Dec 30, 2020•38 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Alien life? JFK’s murder? The Moon landing? These are classic topics for conspiracy theorists, who gather data, connect dots, and see where the evidence leads. But with more recent controversies, such as Birtherism, Pizzagate, QAnon, evidence is optional. For Trumpists, mere assertion is all that’s needed to draw outrageous conclusions and spread untruths. Dr. Nancy Rosenblum, author of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy , joins Mind of State to discuss...
Dec 23, 2020•46 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast [Replay of Episode 2 (9/16/2020), with new introduction] How can we make sense of the tumult and tragedy of this moment – the loss of lives and jobs from the COVID-19 pandemic, the societal tensions borne of systemic racial injustice, the worsening climate crisis, and the final stretch of a volatile presidential campaign? Join us, as Dr. Pauline Boss applies her groundbreaking concept of “ambiguous loss” to help us process the traumas of America in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...
Dec 16, 2020•41 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Post election, we are exhausted. Joe Biden won, yet Trump and his Trumpists refuse to concede, and authoritarianism remains a significant threat to democracy. How do we combat the rising tide of fascism and defuse the racism and anti-Semitism that fuels it? Civil Rights leader Eric Ward, of the Western States Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center, shares his vision for how we process the trauma and move forward, constructively and inclusively, in the post-Trump era. Hosted on Acast. See aca...
Dec 09, 2020•46 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Long after the news outlets called the election for Biden, Trump still refuses to concede his loss. This reminds us that our democracy relies on not only the rule of law, but also a shared set of beliefs about how we choose to govern ourselves. Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University, joins Mind of State to discuss his prescription for bolstering our collective faith in the ongoing experiment of the American democracy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 25, 2020•34 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast As the dust settles and the votes get sorted in the 2020 presidential election, Mind of State welcomes Boston Globe columnist, Michael A. Cohen, to help us process the results. With Michael, we discuss the politics, the polls, Trump, Trumpism, what it all says about the electorate, and what we might expect in the coming Biden era. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 11, 2020•46 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast What if we listened more intently, instead of merely waiting for the chance to state our case? What if we engaged in dialogue, instead of debate, and allowed ourselves to be moved by another person’s expression and context? Dr. Anton Hart joins us to discuss his concept of "radical openness” and how it could help enhance interpersonal understanding between therapists and patients, politicians and constituents, and employers and employees, among others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for ...
Oct 28, 2020•48 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast At a time when democratic institutions and norms are under siege, authoritarianism and white nationalism are on the rise, the COVID-19 pandemic is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and climate change is ravaging our planet, Dr. Robert Jay Lifton sounds the alarm about the dire stakes of the 2020 election. Dr. Lifton is a National Book Award–winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual whose latest book is, Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and ...
Oct 21, 2020•37 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Across America, some people are marching for progress, while others are text- and phone-banking to get others to register and vote. The former seek change from outside the system; the latter work the inside game. Dr. Deva Woodly, New School professor of Politics and author of The Politics of Common Sense: How Social Movements Use Public Discourse to Change Politics and Win Acceptance, tells us that both are core to democracy. She unpacks how social movements, even rebellion, are essential to pro...
Oct 14, 2020•47 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast A debate rages in the US over protecting our health versus preserving our wealth. Can our faith in the almighty dollar withstand a deadly pandemic and climate change? Join us, as we explore the roots of America’s economic myth, the natural forces challenging our long-held assumptions, and the possibilities for what’s next, with Dr. Betty Sue Flowers, an expert in societal myths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 07, 2020•37 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast How do we maintain balance during a volatile election season? Does social media foster debate or threaten democracy? Election law expert Nate Persily joins us to discuss the Internet’s impact on democracy, healthy elections during a pandemic, and what keeps him up at night about the 2020 presidential election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 30, 2020•40 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast How can we make sense of the tumult and tragedy of this moment – the loss of lives and jobs from the COVID-19 pandemic, the societal tensions borne of systemic racial injustice, the worsening climate crisis, and the final stretch of a volatile presidential campaign? Join us, as Dr. Pauline Boss applies her groundbreaking concept of “ambiguous loss” to help us process the traumas of America in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 16, 2020•40 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast What underlying preoccupations – or “cultural complexes” – shape our country’s politics and collective psyche? On this premiere episode of season 2, we welcome Mind of State co-founder, Dr. Thomas Singer, who is the editor of Cultural Complexes and the Soul of America and one of the authors of the NY Times bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump . Tune in, as we learn about cultural complexes and explore some of the key concepts influencing this second season...
Sep 02, 2020•40 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Get ready for season two of Mind of State, a podcast where politics and psychology meet. Tune in, as co-hosts Betty Teng and Jonathan Kopp welcome an exciting lineup of fascinating guests to discuss how mind impacts state and vice versa in the midst of a global pandemic, economic meltdown and racial tensions, and in the run up to the 2020 presidential election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 04, 2020•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast New York Times bestseller Dr. Lisa Damour lends her expertise in child and adolescent psychology to discuss how current events impact the teenage mind. Join us as Lisa shares her wisdom about how to engage our teens on politics, immigration, race, #metoo — and yes, pornography. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 16, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Veteran war correspondent Anne Barnard — Murrow Fellow at the Council on Foreign Affairs and NY Times Beirut Bureau Chief from 2012-2018 — discusses the complex trauma of Syria's ongoing civil war, its impact on politics in Europe and the US, and the inability of the UN and other international institutions to deal with such a profound magnitude of human suffering. Anne gives us a unique eye into the traumatic impact on journalists covering "forever wars." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast University of Maryland professor Antoine Banks joins us to talk about how anger — specifically white anger — impacts everything from opinions on Obamacare to how black candidates are perceived and talked about. We also discuss how race and anger — on both side of the aisle — will impact the 2020 election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 02, 2019•39 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast What is truth in the post-modern world, where facts are in the eye of the beholder and ppartisans turn to their own tribes for reporting that reaffirms their polarized world views? Scotty McLennan, an ordained minister, lawyer, professor, and former Dean of Religious Life at Stanford University, joins us for a conversation about the quest for objective truth and journalistic ethics amidst a sea of media fragmentation and moral relativism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Mar 26, 2019•56 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast What does our Statue of Liberty stand for when we reject so many asylum seekers fleeing torture, war and persecution? We explore this vital topic with human rights psychologist Dr. Hawthorne “Hawk" Smith, Director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture ( survivorsoftorture.org / @_PSOT ). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 19, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Is Donald Trump mentally and emotionally unfit to execute the duties of President? Join us for a conversation about narcissism, misogyny, deception, racism, and more with Dr. Justin (“Justy”) Frank, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at GWU Medical Center with more than 40 years of experience in psychoanalysis. Justy is the best-selling author of Trump on the Couch, Inside the Mind of the President , among other works. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 12, 2019•55 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Do facts matter when experts are dismissed as partisan propagandists or out-of-touch elitists? Political economist William Davies, author of Nervous States , joins us to discuss Trump, Brexit and the triumph of emotion over reason in modern politics. © Copyright Original Music "Royal Flush Gang" by Composer Joel Goodman; Published by Oovra Music Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 05, 2019•56 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Amidst ongoing tension over America’s growing diversity, white identity is on the rise as a force in US politics. Are Americans who embrace their whiteness racists? How do we distinguish between white identity, white supremacy, white racism & prejudice? Duke political scientist Ashley Jardina, author of White Identity Politics, joins us for a riveting conversation. © Copyright Original Music "Royal Flush Gang" by Composer Joel Goodman; Published by Oovra Music Host...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast 
