Love & Understanding

In this episode, John speaks with Dr. Jeremy Shearmur about Karl Popper's popular paradox of toleration. They highlight the importance of distinguishing criticisms of a person from criticisms of an idea, and how this can be difficult since our identities can contain so many ideas. They emphasized the importance of bringing humility and the recognition of our own fallibility to any critical discussion. They discussed the importance of respecting "background knowledge"--the existing knowledge of experts in any field--while simultaneously acknowledging its fallibility. And finally, they discussed pluralism--not only the plurality of ideas, customs, and beliefs, but also the plurality of paradigms that hold those ideas, customs, and beliefs, including how the heuristics and epistemic approaches they each take--and how pluralism fits into the greater frame of critical rationalism.Dr. Jeremy Shearmur is a Reader in Political Theory in the Faculty of Arts at The Australian National University. Professor Shearmur was educated at the London School of Economics (University of London), where he also worked for eight years as assistant to Professor Sir Karl Popper. Professor Shearmur's Ph.D. thesis on F. A. Hayek was a joint winner of the British Political Studies Association's Sir Ernest Barker prize in political theory. Prior to taking his position in Australia, Professor Shearmur taught philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and political theory at the University of Manchester. He also served as Director of Studies of the Center for Policy Studies and worked as a research associate professor for the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. Professor Shearmur has published The Political Thought of Karl Popper (1966) and Hayek and After (1996) and was joint editor of H. B. Acton's The Morals of Markets and Related Essays (1993). He has also published numerous papers in philosophy and political thought.

In this episode of Love & Understanding, I sit down with philosopher Jeremy Shearmur, who worked closely with Karl Popper for nearly a decade, to explore what it means to live in an “open society.”We begin with Popper’s central insight: that knowledge is always provisional, and that progress depends on our willingness to be wrong, to receive criticism, and to revise our beliefs. From there, we examine how these ideas extend beyond philosophy into politics, institutions, and everyday life.Together, we explore:-The tension between certainty and fallibility-The moral and epistemological foundations of an open society-The rise of polarization, populism, and distrust in institutions-How social media shapes (and distorts) our search for truth-The role of criticism, pluralism, and intellectual humility in a functioning democracyShearmur also offers a rare, personal look into Popper as a human being—brilliant, driven, and deeply imperfect—and reflects on the challenges of embodying philosophical ideals in real life.This is a conversation about truth, error, and the fragile conditions required for a society to remain open, self-correcting, and free.

In this episode, John speaks with Britt Hartley. Britt is the author of a #1 bestseller in secular spirituality. Her book is titled No Nonsense Spirituality. Britt has a masters degree in theology. She considers herself a secular spiritual director, sufi mystic, nihilism survivor, religious deconstruction coach, and a Program Director for Spiritual Direction Training.Britt was a blast to speak with. She has one of the most brilliant minds I’ve come across. She expresses herself with both a humility and a confidence. I am grateful to have her as a leader in this space, especially to keep her male counterparts in check. I learned a lot from our conversation, and I hope you do too.https://nononsensespirituality.comhttps://a.co/d/0flKNN9whttps://www.instagram.com/nononsensespirituality/

In this episode, John speaks with the writer and philosopher Shiv Sengupta, who is quickly rising the ranks in Substack's top 100 Philosophers.Shiv is an incredibly clear and introspective thinker, who carries a remarkable intellectual prowess while still remaining humble and ultimately grounded in wisdom - his empty, interconnected, ever-changing nature.You can learn more about him at his website Advaitaholics Anonymous, as well as his Substack blog Dark Night of the Soul.

In this episode, John speaks with Linnea Butler. Linnea Butler is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Master of Science in Molecular Biology. She founded Bay Area Mental Health, where she helps people with trauma, PTSD, depression, and anxiety using a number of modalities, including DBT, sensorimotor therapy, ketamine assisted psychotherapy, among others.In our conversation, we discuss the difference between shock trauma and developmental trauma, common struggles in relationships, shadow work, attachment styles, parts work, somatic work, and much more.In any case, I really enjoyed our conversation, and I hope you do too.