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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.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 ClassesJoin Write Together November 2025

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

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.Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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 ClassesJoin Write Together November 2025

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.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

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.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 ClassesJoin Write Together November 2025

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.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

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.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

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”):

Beauty in a Burning World: Taylor Swift and What the Showgirl Can’t EscapeA close look at Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl through the lens of archetype, fame, and feminine power. I explore why this album lands as both dissonant and revealing in a world on fire, and what it reveals about how women carry collective desire and projection.I unpack the Ophelia archetype and how Taylor’s “saved by love” narrative mirrors an ancient pattern that still shapes women’s lives. I speak about compassion and concern, not judgment, and the artist’s responsibility in a time when visibility and influence reach billions.This episode holds both love and critique. I look at how art meets history, how power is embodied, and how we can honour beauty without losing sight of reality.What you will hearThe Fate of Ophelia and the shadow of the fragile feminineFame as both mirror and cageThe emotional tone of Showgirl in a violent global momentElizabeth Taylor and the courage of reinventionWhy female rivalry wounds us allThe artist’s moral dilemma: beauty or relevanceThe call for women to stand together in strength and sanityTimestamps06:43 Reading of Article: Who can save us from the fate of Ophelia?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.Email: alison@alisoncrosthwait.comMentioned 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

A candid return at fifty, where I share addiction recovery, the cost of visibility, and a fresh public voice that braids soul, money, tech, and civic life.I came back to the mic after two years, newly fifty and fiercely alive. This episode opens with a simple claim: love can be rational, love can lead, love can think clearly without letting the mind run the show.I walk you through the realities of ketamine recovery, the stigma that trails addiction, and the relief of real healing. I name the risks of the personal growth industry, why regulated care matters, and how offline time, books, and steady presence rebuild a nervous system.I share the moment the parts of my life clicked together, and how a cross-discipline voice emerged. Finance, psychotherapy, politics, tech, and the daily work of being human, held in one body. I speak about work, dignity, and the power structures that shape our days. I open a door to blockchain as a tool for more participation and less capture, distinct from the hype.We finish with a call to daily practice. Slow thought, local life, better questions, and a commitment to speak with soul.What you will hearKetamine recovery, shame culture, and what healing took in real timeWhy I stepped away from selling transformation, and what integrity looks like for me nowThe campaign trail, respectability pressure, and the appetite for powerful feminine presenceMoney, corporations, government, and the costs we carryBlockchain, beyond hype, as a possible path to more participatory governanceBooks over feeds, offline over trance, local over spectacleA closing reading from Terence McKenna on courage and the feather bedTimestamps00:18 Coming back at fifty05:20 Addiction, stigma, and recovery09:30 Sex-positive work and public life13:40 Holding all the parts, one voice17:30 Politics, action, and living with paradox21:28 Cross-discipline lens, money and meaning26:10 Blockchain, participation, and hope31:00 Daily publishing, books, and presence34:10 McKenna reading and closing prayerLinksHow I went from psychedelic facilitator to ketamine addiction in 2 months, Part 2Subscribe to Eros for Life on SubstackTo receive daily emails, open the publication settings and subscribe to “Eros for Life — Daily”Mentioned in this episode:Join Write Together November 2025Join 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

Lorie Dechar is an Acupuncturist, Author, Alchemical Healer, Mentor and Artisan of Transformation. Lorie and I talk about "the myth, the math and... something else...." - it's one of the best descriptions of inner work I've heard and Lorie drops it in the first few minutes.Join her Inner Sensing Intensive September 30/October 1 Read her book with Benjamin Fox, The Alchemy of Inner Work Join her community - A New Possibility - and learn more about her work on her website: Follow her on Instagram Listen to Integral Chinese Medicine Conversations —JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE —APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

Lisa and I talk about collective change and what the release of Barbie may or may not represent. It's a fun and fiery conversation!!Follow Lisa on Instagram at @brnnlisaListen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube

True freedom comes from letting go of grasping and opening our hearts. But those two things can be so challenging for us to embody in our modern world. Alison and guest, Stephen Cope, best-selling author and scholar, delve into the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology and how connecting the two can support you in navigating the modern world.Stephen shares the experiences and insights that he’s gained studying these ideas that have shaped his books, including his most recent, “The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt,” and offers a guide for how to connect with your own wisdom, cultivate compassion and open-heartedness, and connect with your inner gifts to contribute to positive change in the world. “There are two forms of grasping in the Buddhist tradition. There's reaching, “oh, I want that. I've got to get that goal. I've got to get over there on the other side of the river.” And then protecting what you have. The real freedom comes in letting go of that grasping, clinging, craving, holding on, and protecting and opening our hearts instead.” CONNECT WITH STEPHEN ​​Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, The Dharma In Difficult Times, the sequel to The Great Work of Your Life shows us the way through our darkest times to our truest calling. Cope helps give readers a roadmap for the journey to their true calling.For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will...

Surrender is a daily devotion.It unlocks our energy and creates a ripple effect of a positive change in ourselves.But surrender can be one of the most challenging things we can do because it requires that we face our pain. In this episode, Alison shares her recent work with a local medicine man in a ceremony to show how we have to build our capacity to surrender, and how often times, it’s by looking directly at our pain that we’re able to transform. “We need to feel what we could not feel at the time. That is why we're in the situation we're in‌ — we're not connected to our life force energy. It’s because of our situations and our experiences that our life force gets stuck and we're not able to flow.”—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDE—APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life.  In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic work in a structured process so that you can fully step into your life in every way you desire. You will also have the opportunity to experience one full microdosing cycle combined with the inner work if you choose.  Learn More and Apply for Expand —CONNECT WITH ALISON WebsiteLinkedInInstagramYouTube