Aliveness: Technology, love, money, sex, soul, governance

I share a schedule change to balance creative purpose with financial stability, driven by new job opportunities. My voice is evolving to equip listeners for the future by addressing governance, economy, and technology through the lens of soul and aliveness.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.Mentioned in this episode:Join Live Classes in November: November 10th: How To Build An Idea With Weight November 20th: How To Build A Career In A Job Market That No Longer Makes Sense November 28th: How To Design Your Information Diet So You Don't Go Insane Available individually or as a bundle.Explore November Classes

Ruth took on the entire Blue Jays coaching staff mid World-Series, transforming her small Spadina office into a primal, tobacco-scented dugout. She helped fourteen quiet men connect with the deep, earthy masculinity that makes them swing, throw, and finally stand ready to say "OK Blue Jays, Let's Play Ball."For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

Alison shares a practical proposal for how readers and creators can stay connected, share meaningful work, and protect their mental health in the age of broken platforms. From dopamine detox to building intentional “email feeds,” this episode lays out a collective blueprint for a more ethical, human, and abundant internet.Timestamp to Jump to the Solution:9:45 – How to build an intentional “email feed”Links Mentioned"No Kings, No Caesars, and the Photos I Didn't Put on Instagram". Kelly Stonelake (she actually left Meta - she worked there).Kit email platform (free up to 10K subs)Alison’s websiteFollow me on BlueskyFollow me on Base: erosforlife.base.ethReceive the Untamed Book List a dangerous, hyper-curated list of my favourite outside-the-system reads. Subscribe to my Substack and you will receive an email with the link to the list. To receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

Ruth meets Hurricane Melissa in session, writing a meditation on the storm itself. For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

This addiction group therapy session centered on the deep link between trauma and substance use, explaining how an overwhelmed nervous system causes people to "split off" from their true self, making addiction an easy way to cope with pain. The key takeaway was fostering compassionate support so group members could distinguish their true identity from the destructive actions of their addiction, helping them take responsibility while beginning to heal by connecting to their non-addicted core.For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

Ruth contemplates the nonsensical and endlessly painful nature of world affairs and the lack of comfort offered by spiritual sayings. She's wrestling.For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.Ruth is sick today.Links to a couple of today’s stories:White House Demolition (CBC)In what the Frankfort Police department described as an “appalling act of littering,” Frankfort residents woke up to find KKK flyers lying in front yards and streets.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

What it's been like to publish on Substack + podcast every day for 17 days. (With an appearance from Rose). And then (at 9:00) an essay on the serious dangers of ChatGPT for therapeutic/intimate use. Links:Last week, Altman said he was surprised at the reaction to his announcement that ChatGPT would now have erotic conversations with adults. A widely quoted MIT report reveals that 95% of AI pilots fail to produce ROI.The climate cost of AI is significant and growing.Luiza Jarovsky, PhD writes an excellent AI safety newsletter.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.Want to be a guest? Let me know here.

All of Ruth’s clients cancelled today. Her notes are in voice format only. They are a raw expression of her personal process. For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.Links to stories:FecesTony Gonzales, RepPaul IngrassioMiles Bruner quits GOPSUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

In this haunting meditation, Ruth sits with the collective pain of women represented here by the advocacy work of Virginia Giuffre, Laura Bates, and Cindy Gallop. Through breath, feeling, and presence, she does what the world does not recognize: she holds. This episode is about rage, healing, and long shadow of silence.For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.Links:Prince Andrew gives up royal titles including Duke of York after ‘discussion with king’‘Prince Andrew believed having sex with me was his birthright’: Virginia Giuffre on her abuse at the hands of Epstein, Maxwell and the king’s brotherSam Altman on XCindy Gallop of Make Love Not Porn, responds to Sam Altman‘The New Age of Sexism’ explores how misogyny is replicated in AI and emerging tech - Interview with Laura BatesSUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.In this fictional therapy session, Ruth Klassen, the world’s therapist, meets with her supervisor Atlas to talk about burnout, mindfulness, and the challenge of holding space for others. Set in a quiet basement office, their conversation traces the tension between control and surrender, showing how real healing begins with rest and honest presence.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

Links:Erika Kirk, CNN (video)Prince William, BBC (video)Francis Weller, The Wild Edge Of SorrowFor context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.Links:Sam Altman on XAdelita Grijalva on XJustin Trudeau and Katy Perry (Forbes)Mourning and Melancholia, Sigmund Freud (Internet Archive)SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

For context on this fictional series read the Introduction to Session Notes From the World's Therapist.Today's Links:I don't think there's anything going to get me in Heaven, OK? (Forbes - Youtube)Venezuelan embassy closed in Oslo. (BBC)W$sh L$st - Taylor Swift (Spotify)Typhoon Halong and Alaskan Flooding (CBS)SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Eros For Life and activate the Eros For Life (Daily Version) section. There is a photo guide to doing this one the bottom of today's substack post.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

I am excited to share with you a new fictionalized series: Session Notes From the World's Therapist. For more on Ruth Klasen, visit today's Substack.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

I thought it would be fun to share my current reading stack (visit Substack for a photo!):The Suffering Stranger — Donna OrangeMythology — Edith HamiltonThe Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy — Arthur Manuel and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson (Preface by Naomi Klein)Empire of AI — Karen HaoThe Pregnant Virgin: Psychological Transformation — Marion WoodmanBreathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps — Richard RohrIf Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies — Eliezer Yudkowsky & Nate SoaresOrganizing the 1%: How Corporate Power Works — William K. Carroll & J. P. SapinskiThis Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate — Naomi KleinThe Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia — James C. ScottFarewell to Westphalia — Jarrod Hope & Peter LudlowDemocracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America — Nancy MacLeanBroken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better — Lyn AldenFree to Choose: A Personal Statement — Milton and Rose FriedmanSeeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed — James C. ScottThe Language of Psycho-Analysis — Jean Laplanche & Jean-Bertrand PontalisSUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.Got an idea for the podcast? Comments? Submit them here.

Desire can feel dangerous. In this short episode, I speak about the sacredness of sex as one of the strongest forces that can call us into aliveness and connection. I reflect on longing, dignity, and the importance of staying open when the world is burning.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.Got an idea for the podcast? Submit it here.

Looking beneath the screens and circuits to the element that holds them all: silicon. I trace the history of our relationship to it and connect its ubiquitous power - both geological and technological - to the potential for hope. We are being held and each of us has a deeply intimate relationship with silicon.I hope this episode makes you smile and also inspires you.Links:Captured: The Secrets Behind AI's Silicon Valley TakeoverIf Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against SuperIntelligent AI (Yudowsky & Soares)SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.

We project our anger onto those in power as if they were our parents constraining our freedom and failing us at every turn. In this short episode, I explore the emotional work of democracy: learning to see our leaders as human, to move from complaint to contribution, from projection to participation.SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACKTo receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Life - Daily" Section.

This episode asks: how do we stay human inside each of the social media platforms?I trace the ways some of the platforms undermine my values: from Meta and its documented harms, to TikTok’s dopamine machine, to Substack’s conflicted role in the attention economy. I bring in Shoshana Zuboff’s theory of surveillance capitalism, the story of Cambridge Analytica, teen suicides linked to Instagram, and a chilling case of a man’s fatal entanglement with a Meta AI.This is an episode about radical ethics. It’s about what we consent to, what we refuse, and how we choose to connect in ways that don’t hollow us out. Mostly it's about responsibility. I walk through my decisions platform by platform, and why podcasting has become my chosen container.What you will hearWhat “surveillance capitalism” means, and why it threatens democracyThe blurred line between influence, manipulation, and consent onlineMeta’s record: Cambridge Analytica, teen mental health, and AI experiments gone wrongWhy TikTok and reels destroy our dopamine balanceWhy Substack works for me—and where it fails on anti-censorshipThe lure and limits of LinkedIn, BlueSky, and YouTubeWhy podcasting is my chosen space: no ads, no algo, no intrusionWeb3: I forgot to mention this in the podcast! Web3 social is an area of active research for me and while I’m not sharing my work on Forecaster or Base it’s in the works. This is where we own our work.Timestamps02:00 Why the container matters as much as the content04:30 Surveillance capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff)06:00 Not all data use is surveillance, but the line blurs09:20 The escalation: clicks → biometrics → behaviour shaping11:00 Substack as a model, but also its flaws13:40 Meta’s record: misinformation, Cambridge Analytica, teen suicides15:17 Meta AI harms: the New Jersey stroke patient case19:00 X as cesspool, TikTok as dopamine hijack25:00 Why feeds are different from algorithms28:00 LinkedIn, Blue Sky, YouTube—different shadows35:00 Substack’s anti-censorship stance and my conflict42:00 Why podcasting: intimacy without intrusion46:00 Closing: real life is localLinks mentionedShoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: Book linkCambridge Analytica scandal (Facebook fined $5B, 2019): WikipediaResearch on Instagram and teen mental health / suicide risk: Wall Street Journal coverageMeta AI and the New Jersey man’s death (stroke patient case): ReutersGenAI Content Risk Standards leak (Meta, 2025): ReutersOn TikTok’s dopamine effects and algorithm design: Brown UniversityRobert Reich’s Substack (“Coffee Klatch”):