The Metagame
Practical philosophy for playing with life. Host Daniel Kazandjian explores philosophical ideas and frameworks to help listeners approach life as a game, making better decisions and finding deeper meaning. Each episode draws from various philosophical traditions and personal stories to offer actionable insights. The podcast encourages a playful yet thoughtful mindset toward everyday challenges and opportunities. More at themetagame.substack.com.
Episodes
#54 - Jessica Vellela | A Gentle Introduction to Ayurveda
Jessica is the first American-born woman to graduate as an Ayurvedic Physician and practice independently. She studied for 8 years in India completing Bachelor of Āyurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS). She’s also the founder of myayu.com and has been healing many of my friends.In this overview, we discuss what western medicine misses, archetypal ways of knowing, personal empiricism, the doshas and
#53 - Guy (@nosilverv) | How to Avoid Psyops
Guy is an independent researcher, author, Emergent Ventures Fellow, and hands-down the most prolific/insightful shit-poster I know on twitter. If you’ve been around long enough, you’ll know him as “Rival Voices”.Among many things, he’s an expert on Adversarial Epistemology: finding truth in an environment designed to deceive you. You can learn more from his book Alignment Gone Strange. This is a p
#52 Kathryn Devaney | The Neuroscience of Awakening
Kati Devaney is a neuroscientist and meditation teacher with over 25 years of practice. She earned her PhD in 2018 using fMRI to study attention and prediction updating in experienced Vipassana meditators and completed a postdoc at Harvard Medical School. She’s now the Chief Scientific Officer at the Consciousness Foundation, co-founded the Berkeley Alembic and the SF Dharma Collective, advises Jh
#51 - Elena Lake | Nondual Bodywork, Fascia, and Somatic Healing
Elena Lake is a bodyworker and former mathematician. After studying math, CS, and physics at MIT and two years doing ML at Meta, she left tech to study touch. When her early massage sessions started producing results she couldn't explain, she trained across Esalen, craniosacral, fascia, ScarWork, BoneWork, and visceral manipulation. In 2024 she developed her own modality: Regenerative Touch. Elena
#50 - Alex Olshonsky | You're Probably Addicted to Thinking
Alex Olshonsky is a coach, somatic therapist, and writer. After a polysubstance addiction nearly killed him during his Silicon Valley years at Twitter, Salesforce, and Slack, he found freedom in somatic psychology and contemplative practice. He now coaches founders and people in recovery, co-founded the psychedelic-assisted addiction nonprofit Natura Care, and writes the Substack Deep Fix.In this
#49 - Richard Ngo | The Case For Virtue Ethics In The Age of AGI
Richard Ngo is one of a handful of people who've worked on AGI safety at both DeepMind and OpenAI. After three years as a futurist on OpenAI's Governance team, he left to pursue independent research on coalitions, virtue ethics, and the foundations of cooperation. He’s also a science fiction author (The Gentle Romance: Stories of AI and Humanity) and writes at Mind the Future.We talk about virtue
#48 - Matt Southey | A Gentle Introduction to Nick Land
"Nothing human makes it out of the near future." - Nick LandMatt Southey is a leading expert on the philosophy of Nick Land with a PhD in Religion from Rice University. He is also the founding editor of The Latecomer, an online magazine which publishes essays on the long-term future.Matt's excellent piece on "A Brief History of Accelerationism" can be found here. This is a public episode. If you w
#47 - Michael Smith | Hostile Telepaths: Why Your Brain Deceives Itself to Survive Social Reality
Michael “Valentine” Smith is a co-founder of CFAR (the Center for Applied Rationality) and the author of influential LessWrong essays including The Hostile Telepaths Problem, Kenshō, and The Intelligent Social Web. He’s also been described as “one of the most powerful wizards in the Bay Area.”In this conversation, he explains why your brain creates fog and self-deception to survive social situatio
#46 - Jake Orthwein | Unraveling the Dream: Psychedelics, Meditation, and the Brain
Jake Orthwein is the creator of Frame Problems, a video essay channel on science, art, philosophy, politics, and culture.In this episode, Jake talks about his upcoming film for Sam Harris‘s mindfulness app Waking Up. We explore the latest neuroscience on consciousness and how it might explain the psychedelic experience, religious phenomenology, meditation and what it all means for a good life. Thi
#45 - Alex Zhu & Romeo Stevens | Debating the Perennial Philosophy
Alex Zhu is a math olympian and researcher exploring the convergence of analytical rationality and religion. He’s also the co-founder of AlphaSheets. He’s currently working on a rigorous framework for bridging AI alignment and mysticism.Romeo Stevens is one of co-founders of the Qualia Research Institute and the founder of Mealsquares. He writes extensively about buddhism, pedagogy, skill developm
#44 - Pranab Sachi | Getting Things Done by Feeling Your Feelings
Pranab Sachi is the co-founder of Attention Copilot, a service that blends meditation and therapy techniques with real-time productivity support. He applies non-dual teachings, IFS, somatic awareness, and emotional processing to help people experience deep work on demand. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theme
#43 — Max Shen | How Trapped Emotions Create Physical Pain
Max Shen is a pain researcher with a background in computational cognitive science and degrees from MIT. After developing severe RSI in grad school, he devoted himself to understanding pain from the inside out. Remarkably, his pain was cut in half just from reading Dr. John Sarno's Healing Back Pain.Max’s work blends active inference, non-dual teaching, and Pain Reprocessing Therapy to create prac
#42 - Connirae Andreas | The Origins of Core Transformation
Connirae Andreas is a living legend in the world of personal development and NLP. She’s best known for creating Core Transformation, a parts-work modality that follows troubling feelings to discover what they ultimately want for you. This leads to “core states” like peace or wholeness and allows change to unfold naturally without effort or control.YouTube:Resources:* Core Transformation* The Whole
#41 - Michael Stroe | Solving Happiness, Oneshotting Procrastination & Speed Running Stream Entry
Michael Stroe (@Plus3Happiness) is a phenomenologist and “happiness concierge.” Through a combination of the Buddhist Fetters & somatic practices, he’s allegedly reduced his suffering by ~90%. He claims to consistently live at 9/10 life satisfaction and has skillfully guided others into similar transformations. Today we demystify his journey and discuss concrete practices for oneshotting procrasti
#40 - Alex Zhu | Rational Spirituality, AI Alignment & Chris Langan's Metaphysics
Alex Zhu is a math olympian and researcher exploring the convergence of analytical rationality and religion. He’s also the co-founder of AlphaSheets. He’s currently working on a rigorous framework for bridging AI alignment and mysticism. In this conversation we explore about how he got into spirituality without sacrificing his rigorous epistemics.Resources* Alex’s Twitter and Substack* C. Langan –
#39 - Justin Skycack | Math Academy & The Science of Learning
Justin is the Chief Quant & Director of Analytics at MathAcademy.com (the best way to learn math). He optimizes learning efficiency in students’ brains with cutting edge cognitive psychology. He’s written extensively and passionately about “serious upskilling” and how to increase agency to benefit yourself and the world.Resources:* Justin’s Twitter and Website* That Paul Graham article on Identity
#38 - Jeff Lieberman | Rites of Passage, Emotional Healing & A Map of Consciousness
Ever met someone whose presence is so clean and luminous it changes the energy of the room? That’s today’s guest.Jeff Lieberman is an artist, musician, MIT-trained scientist, and former host of Time Warp on Discovery Channel. His current work is on how human beings can find genuine freedom through emotional fluidity, consciousness, and connection. He co-founded Sleepawake, a transformational progr
#37 - Johnny Miller | Releasing Trauma with Your Breath
This is the first in person Metagame episode! Be sure to check out the video.Jonny Miller is a writer, nervous system coach and podcaster. We met at Edge Esmerelda where he facilitated a surprisingly psychoactive breathwork session. This episode is about the practicalities of feeling your feelings and unlatching patterns that have been governing your personality since childhood.Resources:* www.jon
#36 - Chris Barber | How to Regulate Emotions
Chris Barber is an entrepreneur/researcher. He co-founded an executive coaching marketplace for startups, and a place for engineers to discover good startups to join. His primary focus is AI preparation & emotional regulation. He’s the inventor of a simple but highly effective method for processing emotions called Resonance. It’s a way of speaking that helps others regulate their emotions and feel
#35 - Tucker Peck | A Pragmatic Approach to Dharma and Therapy
Dr. Tucker Peck is a meditation teacher, clinical psychologist, and bestselling author. He studied meditation with Sharon Salzberg and Upasaka Culadasa (John Yates). Tucker’s first book, Sanity and Sainthood, debuted as a #1 bestseller in 2025. A former professor, he is the founding director of the scholarship fund Open Dharma Foundation, and co-host of the podcast Teaching Meditation. He live
#34 - Daniel Thorson | Spirituality is Secure Attachment with Reality
Daniel Thorson spent 5 years in residential training at The Monastic Academy with 2 years in cumulative silent retreat. He has decades of deep engagement with contemplative practice, systems theory, and transformative work. He’s also the beloved host of The Emerge Podcast and writes at The Intimate Mirror, where he’s exploring how people can develop a secure attachment with reality.Resources:* Spi
#33 - Richard Bartlett | Training Disagreeableness and Developing Taste
Rich Bartlett helps people grow high-trust communities & decentralized organizations. He’s the co-founder the community building network Microsolidarity, and non-hierarchical management consultancy The Hum. He also co-runs Fight Wise an online course about developing courage in your relationships, standing up for yourself, skillfully navigating conflicts, and asking for what you want.Resources:* I
#32 - Brooke Bowman | Cultivating Agency, Building Vibecamp and Overcoming Heroin Addiction
Brooke Bowman is the founder of Vibecamp. She also runs events to help foster connection and social cohesion such as Ms. Bowman's School for the Socially Inept, and The Network Society Camp. For nearly a decade before that, she was in an affair with heroin. Her mental and physical health declined slowly at first, then plummeted, leaving her sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles for two and a half
#31 - Romeo Stevens | Reducing Neuroticism, Metalearning and Core Transformation
Romeo Stevens is one of co-founders of the Qualia Research Institute and the founder of Mealsquares. He writes extensively about buddhism, pedagogy, skill development and psychotherapeutic modalities. You can find his work on his blog, Lesswrong and Twitter.Resources:* Romeo’s Twitter* Neurotic Gradient Descent (Romeo’s blog)* Math Academy * Practiceopedia (out of print music practice book)YouTube
#30 - Douglas Tataryn | How to Process Emotions and Fully Heal
Dr. Tataryn is a long-time meditator (47+ years) and founder of the Bio-Emotive Framework. He conducts seminars in integral theory, sports psychology, and the integration of psychology and spirituality. He also hosts emotional clearing workshops intensives around North America. His is presently working with advanced meditators and spiritual teachers on balancing life after enlightenment, using his
#29 - Stephen Zerfas | Jhanas, Infinite Bliss and Jhourney.io
Stephen Zerfas is the CEO and cofounder of Jhourney — a startup that targets specific meditative states known as jhanas using novel teaching methods and technology. Their first product is a week-long meditation retreat that’s won hyperbolic testimonials from tech executives and engineers (e.g. OpenAI, DeepMind). Most participants learn to enter states previously thought to require thousands of hou
#28 - Soryu Forall | Spiritual Awakening and A.I. Alignment
Soryu Forall is an ordained Zen Buddhist monk and the guiding teacher at the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth (MAPLE) in Vermont. With over two decades of intensive monastic training, Forall was ordained in 1998 by Zen Master Shodo Harada at Sogen Temple in Japan. He has since trained in monasteries across India, Tibet, and China, and draws on various spiritual traditions, in
#27 - Andrés Goméz-Emilsson | Qualia Research, Neural Annealing, Emotional Processing, DMT and Jhanas
Andrés is the Co-founder and President of the Qualia Research Institute (QRI). He has a Master’s Degree in Psychology with an emphasis in computational models from Stanford and a professional background in graph theory, statistics, and affective science. His work at QRI ranges from algorithm design, to psychedelic theory, to neurotechnology development, to mapping and studying the computational pr
#26 - Michael Johnson | Jhanas, Awakening and Vasocomputation
Michael Edward Johnson is a philosopher, neuroscientist and entrepreneur. He’s the author of Principia Qualia and the co-founder of the Qualia Research Institute. He’s done pioneering work at the intersection of mathematics and consciousness studies, seeking to systematically map and measure subjective experiences. He writes at opentheory.net.Resources:* Principles of Vasocomputation: A Unificatio
#25 - Marc Gafni | First Principles and First Values
Dr. Marc Gafni has been described as a world philosopher, integrating wisdom from across multiple disciplines into what he has called a New Story of Value. He is the president of the Center for World Philosophy and Religion and has authored twelve books including Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment. Today we talk about his latest book First Principles and First Values.Reso
#24 - Michael Johnson | Qualia Formalism & The Symmetry Theory of Valence
Michael Edward Johnson is a philosopher, neuroscientist and entrepreneur. He’s the author of Principia Qualia and the co-founder of the Qualia Research Institute. He’s done pioneering work at the intersection of mathematics and consciousness studies, seeking to systematically map and measure subjective experiences.Resources:* Principles of Vasocomputation: A Unification of Buddhist Phenomenology,
#23 - Steve Schlafman | Life Transitions, Embodied decision-making and Awareness-based Coaching
Steve Schlafman is a recovering venture capitalist and professional transition coach. In 2017 he made partner at a multi-billion dollar VC firm and then promptly walked away from it all. Now he helps high performers in midlife discover and manifest their next calling. He draws upon a range of disciplines and brings a very sensitive, compassionate approach to the question of how to live well. Stev
#22 - Malcolm Ocean | Undomesticated Productivity, Goal Crafting and Intentionality-maxxing
Malcolm Ocean is a multitude-containing, wildman systems design expert who founded the productivity app Intend.do. It’s a tool that prioritizes intentionality over task management and provides a compelling counterpoint to David Allen’s Getting Things Done method. Malcolm also writes extensively about goal crafting, trust dynamics and group coordination. He’s great at combining big picture galaxy-b
#21 - Howard Bloom | Ecstatic Experiences and Working with Michael Jackson
Howard Bloom is an author and polymath. He was also a publicist in the 70s and 80s, running the biggest PR firm in the music industry. He helped build or sustain the careers of Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Queen, Kiss, Run DMC, ZZ Top, Joan Jett, Chaka Khan and 100 more. What’s his deal? He’s a student of ecstatic experiences. You ca
#20 - Wolf Tivy | Cultivating the New Elite and Building the New World
Today I talk to Wolf Tivy, the founder of Palladium Magazine. It’s a San Francisco-based publication that’s low-key coordinating the next generation of elites to do great things.Skip this episode if you don’t want to quit your job.Topics include:* Why you should quit your job.* Why civilization suffers from philosophical problems — not technical ones.* Why American technology basically stopped adv
#19 - Khe Hy | From Wall Street to Examined Productivity and the Fear of Death
Khe Hy is the Founder and CEO of RadReads, an online education company that helps professionals lead productive, examined and joyful lives. He used to be one of the youngest managing directors at Blackrock, outperforming other teams by teaching his analysts GTD. Now he teaches the popular cohort-based course Supercharge Your Productivity, using productivity as a trojan horse for existential inquir
#18 - Julien Smith | Serial Entrepreneurship, Executive Coaching and The Power of Courage
“The flinch is your real opponent, and information won't help you fight it. It's behind every unhappy relationship, every hesitation in your business life, every missed opportunity, and every regret you ever had." - Julien SmithJulien Smith is a serial tech entrepreneur and NYT best-selling author of the books Trust Agents and The Flinch. In 2012 he founded Breather a flexible real-estate company
#17 - Daniele Bolelli - How to Affirm Life Despite Tragedy
Daniele Bolelli is martial artist, writer, professor, and host of History On Fire and The Drunken Taoist podcasts. He’s the author of several books on philosophy and he’s disarmingly down to earth.He also has a cool name and very smooth Italian accent.Topics include:* Real Philosophers vs Academic Philosophers.* The story of Ikkyu Sojun. An enlightened monk that loved sake and women.* How to deal
#16 - Fen de Villiers | Artistic Heroism and the Soul-building Power of Beauty
This is probably the most inspiring conversation I’ve had all year.Fen de Villiers turns blocks of stone into powerful art. Just look at this. He willed it out of stone. With. His. Hands.Fen studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. He’s on a mission to reinvigorate sculpture to its most vital and energetic form. Maybe you’ll be reinvigorated too.Topics include:* How do you even become a
#15 - Daniel Görtz | 12 Better Rules for Life
Political philosopher and sociologist Daniel Görtz is a leader of "the Nordic school" of metamodernism. He co-authored The Listening Society and The Nordic Ideology under the pseudonym Hanzi Freinacht. Today we discuss his new “self-help” book with the working title “12 Better Rules for Life (and beyond).”Topics include:* The subtle art of sublime mediocrity* Why Rule #2 is “Fuck like a beast”* Wh
#14 - David Allen | Getting Things Done (GTD)
A personal hero. David Allen needs no introduction.He’s the undisputed father of modern productivity. He literally created the category with his world-renowned book Getting Things Done: The art of Stress-Free Productivity. This method has already influenced your world by shaping Silicon Valley’s design ethos and products. GTD is also used by Jeff Beszos, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Stern, Robert Downey
#13 - Rebecca Fox | Dream Integration, Rituals and Agnostic Witchcraft
Rebecca Fox is a ritualist and artist. She re-enchants modern people through embodied psycho-spiritual practices that level up their lives. She also used to be a literal witch. Then she studied Critical Thinking™️ and dabbled in Atheism. Now she’s something else entirely... Perhaps a shaman for the modern age.Topics include:* What happens when an Atheist takes Ayahuasca?* Rebecca’s journey from Wi
#12 - Sebastian Marshall | Productivity Principles for "The 5% Life"
Sebastian Marshall brings the mentality of an athlete to knowledge work.He’s a cutting edge productivity expert and the CEO of Ultraworking — a company obsessed with making the nature of work better.Topics include:* Why you probably need “weird” practices to live the life you want.* The power of tracking everything you do with your time (and how to do it).* More evidence that everyone needs a gang
#11 - Zak Stein | The Metaphysics of Love
Zak Stein. Is a writer, educator and futurist. He’s working to bring a greater sense of sanity and justice to education.He has a background in philosophy, educational neuroscience, human development, and the philosophy of education. While a student at Harvard, he co-founded what would become Lectica, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the research-based, justice-oriented reform of large-scale standar
#10 - Uberboyo | Warrior Philosophers, Biohacker Artists and True Vitality
Listen on Spotify or Apple.A blistering white-pill of a conversation.Uberboyo is an Irish storyteller and YouTuber who’s “finishing what Nietzsche started.” He’s also a highly practical Jungian who’s operationalized the most actionable insights from Carl’s works on individuation. Topics include:* “The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and
#9 - Cadell Last | Übermensching The Abyss with Embodied Integrity
Listen on Spotify or Apple.Cadell Last is a mensch. An extra-academic PhD philosopher with the mentality of an athlete. He takes embodied integrity seriously and teaches in a disarmingly practical, personal manner. He’ll rarely share a philosophical idea without describing how it personally changed his life.He also has a formal background in anthropology, history and psychoanalysis. He’s on a deep
#8 - Bonnitta Roy | Embodiment, Nature and Nietzsche
Pure magic. This conversation completely re-enchanted my life.Bonnitta Roy is an organizational futurist, meta-modern philosopher and horse whisperer. She teaches insight practices for individuals who are developing meta-cognitive skills. She also served as the President of the National Qigong Association and has lived with horses for the last 30 years.Her teachings highlight the embodied, affecti
#7 - Daniel Thorson | Throwing Yourself In Completely, Without Reservation
The tendency to hedge is a modern disease. This rich discussion re-inspired me to go all-in with my life.Daniel Thorson is dedicated to monastic practices and lives at The Monastic Academy in Vermont — a wisdom institution that trains trustworthy people. At the start of the 2020 pandemic, he became an overnight focus of media attention after he emerged from a silent retreat and tweeted, “I’m back
#6 - Layman Pascal | Metamodern Spirituality, Synchronicities and Subconscious Wisdom
Layman Pascal used to be a meditation and yoga teacher — but he’s feeling better now. He’s a post-metaphysical spiritual philosopher. That means he has the ability to re-enchant your experience of the world without triggering your inner skeptic. He also philosophizes about metamodernism, Integral Theory, nonduality, theology, shamanism, existential risk and politics.Topics include:* Layman’s exten
#5 - Alex Ebert | Death Rituals, Status Anxiety and Being Cool
Alex Ebert is a Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the bands Ima Robot and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. He is also a philosopher, exploring ideas around death, self-hood, creativity, media, status anxiety and coolness.Topics include:* Alex’s creative process (i.e. meeting the daemon)* Why memes have made every
#4 - Guy Sengstock | Circling
Guy Sengstock is the founder and creator of the Circling™ Method. He has been facilitating transformation for individuals, groups and corporations internationally for more than 20 years. You can learn more about him at the Circling Institute and on his YouTube channel.Topics include:* What Circling is and how it came to be* How psychedelics down-regulate culture* How Circling engenders psychedelic
#3 - Andrew Taggart | Practical Awakening
This conversation broke me open.Andrew is a Practical Philosopher and Zen Buddhist who teaches people how to inquire into the things that matter most. This is a luminous, heartfelt journey about the deepest questions.Topics include:* why Andrew meditates for 6-10hrs a day* the hard limits of philosophy * what even is The Tao* Andrew’s taxonomy for the different flavours of meditation* misconceptio
#2 - John Vervaeke | Love and Wisdom
John Vervaeke is an award-winning lecturer at the University of Toronto in Psychology, Cognitive Science and Buddhist Psychology. His academic interests include wisdom, mindfulness, the meaning crisis, relevance realization, general intelligence and rationality.Topics include:* why going meta can be bad for intimacy* why Love is more important than Reason* what even is Wisdom? * the 4 types of kno
#1 - Alexander Bard | The New Elite
Bard is a philosopher-rockstar. Truly one of the most original thinkers I've ever met. He's also a musician, artist, songwriter, music producer, famous TV personality, religious and political activist, and one of the founders of the Syntheist religious movement.Topics include:* fuck you money* the importance of pursuing 2 careers* discovering your primary and secondary archetypes* the similarities
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