The Psychology of Love and Connection with Dr. Rick Hanson

Psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson joins Dr. Richard Louis Miller to explore how compassion, community, and love can rewire the human brain — and why our survival as a species may depend on it. Together, they discuss the “two wolves within us,” how positive neuroplasticity turns fleeting moments of kindness into lasting change, and what it takes to heal both personally and collectively in a divided world.

Guest: Dr. Rick Hanson – Psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and author of Hardwiring Happiness, Resilient, and Buddha’s Brain

Key Topics:

The duality of human nature: love vs. hate

How to “feed the wolf of love” through daily practice

Positive neuroplasticity and the science of emotional rewiring

Building compassion in polarized times

Why community is essential to mental health

How wealth inequality and power distort human connection

The link between poverty and psychological suffering

Simple daily tools for calm, resilience, and empathy

The surprising role of playfulness in healing

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction: Humanity’s tribal nature and the need for connection02:15 — Meet Dr. Rick Hanson03:44 — The parable of the two wolves06:42 — Feeding the wolf of love vs. the wolf of hate08:07 — The power of brain science and compassion10:03 — Physical health as the foundation for mental well-being13:18 — The father-son dynamic and emotional intelligence17:04 — Keeping your “dad hat” on in relationships20:33 — How to stay in touch with the wolf of love under pressure21:33 — The longing for a better world22:05 — Rick’s top psychological tools for well-being24:38 — Getting on your own side25:38 — Taking in the good and letting it land29:18 — Linking positive experiences to old wounds34:35 — Why painful memories persist36:12 — How the media exploits our negativity bias38:33 — Vulnerability to manipulation and fear42:33 — Wealth concentration and its social consequences46:10 — From individual healing to collective action47:58 — Poverty as the biggest factor in mental health50:04 — Lessons from other nations’ social models53:14 — Why one in three adults in America isn’t registered to vote55:08 — The limits of traditional psychotherapy59:36 — What separates high responders from low responders01:02:21 — Repetition, practice, and rewiring behavior01:05:21 — Breathing as the foundation of change01:10:22 — Stop whining, start climbing: love as action

Links & Resources:

🌐 Website — rickhanson.net📘 Books — Hardwiring Happiness, Resilient, Buddha’s Brain🎧 Podcast — Being Well with Dr. Rick Hanson and Forrest Hanson

Building Community with MDMA: Charles Wininger's 20-Year Experiment

Psychotherapist Charles Wininger shares 20 years of experience leading group MDMA sessions in New York, detailed protocols for creating safe communal experiences, and his vision for a nationwide simultaneous experience to rebuild community connections.

Guest: Charles Wininger - Psychotherapist for 35 years, psychonaut for 50 years, author of "Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA"

Key Topics:

Why community is literally life or death

Complete protocols for group MDMA experiences

The "serious fun" middle way between therapy and raves

Ground rules: consent, boundaries, and safety

Why mixing substances changes everything

Couples using MDMA 2-3x weekly at micro-doses

Planning a nationwide simultaneous experience

The Fireside Project's 24/7 psychedelic support

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction - Tribal animals need community

01:01 Meet Charles Wininger

01:59 "Community is the medicine"

03:55 MDMA as the "chemical of connection"

06:22 Healing a 7-year rift between friends

10:12 Structuring safe group experiences

12:14 "Serious fun" - the middle way

13:55 Selecting participants carefully

15:02 Ground rules and safety protocols

18:45 Respecting boundaries and consent

20:50 What people fear most: safety

24:04 Creating "chill space" for solitude

25:10 No mixing substances policy

27:16 Saturday sessions with Sunday integration

29:04 Managing the "Tuesday blues"

31:33 Lowering doses with age

33:31 Coming out of the "chemical closet"

38:17 Why not mix ketamine or cannabis

40:29 Psilocybin combinations in therapy

43:03 Community ripple effects

48:09 Couples using MDMA 2-3x weekly

52:21 One day weekly for relationship

57:52 Fireside Project's free support line

01:00:40 Helicopter rides during earthquakes

01:03:38 Connect with Charles

Links:

Website: higherpurpose.community

Book: listeningtoecstasy.com

Contact: charles@higherpurpose.community

The Poem That Made a Room Full of Men Cry

Dr. Jed Diamond joins Dr. Miller for a conversation about isolation, authoritarianism, and why building community may be our only defense against tyranny. Includes the Father Earth poem by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

Guest: Dr. Jed Diamond - Author of 17 books, men's health advocate, in the same men's group for 46 years

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction - Tribal living and community

01:33 Meet Dr. Jed Diamond

04:10 Same-sex groups and intergenerational wisdom

08:06 Isolation and loneliness since COVID

12:12 Why Jed predicted Trump's presidency in May 2016

17:21 Military on American streets

18:02 The scapegoating pattern

23:27 Father Earth poem introduction

24:22 Father Earth by Clarissa Pinkola Estés (full reading)

31:22 Depression epidemic warning

36:07 The Zen community response to violence

42:06 Jed's daily walking practice for community

44:00 The 10,000 step community walks

47:39 MenAlive.com and Jed's work

Why Marriage Is Failing America's Poor (And Making Inequality Worse)

Economist Michael Tanner reveals the marriage gap between rich and poor, why rural poverty is worse than urban, and how the collapse of traditional economies is creating a generation of unmarriageable men.

Guest: Michael Tanner - Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, author of research on marriage and poverty

Topics Discussed:

What poverty really means in America

Why Scandinavian equality comes with lower living standards

The two-class marriage system emerging in America

Why women face a "bigger gamble" in marriage than men

Rural poverty worse than urban poverty

The Arkansas Walmart layoffs and opioid crisis

Criminal justice removing 1.5 million Black men from marriage pool

Half of Fort Bragg, CA on food assistance

Timestamps:

00:01 Introduction - 72% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck

01:24 What is poverty in America?

02:36 Two definitions of poverty - subsistence vs self-sufficiency

05:08 Census Bureau's flawed poverty measurements

07:12 Real destitution affects 3-4% of population

08:18 Teachers living in cars in California

11:16 Social Darwinism vs humanistic approaches to poverty

14:54 The myth of lazy poor people

16:26 Bottom 20% have almost no social mobility

18:03 Living in a world of scarcity

19:02 Could billionaires' wealth solve poverty?

21:43 Marriage and poverty - the white paper

23:53 Why marriage helps men more than women

27:30 Marriage gap between rich and poor

31:01 Rise of single, uneducated men

33:38 Political vulnerability of disconnected men

33:54 Arkansas: Middle-class homes turned to garbage

38:37 Robotics and the future of work

43:15 Fort Bragg: 1,200 families at food bank

47:23 COVID's lasting damage to small towns

50:57 "Poverty is natural - prosperity must be created"

Resources:

Research: freopp.org/whitepapers/does-marriage-reduce-poverty/

Twitter: @TannerOnPolicy

They Feed 30 People for $90 (How Cohousing Actually Works)

Architect Charles Durrett reveals the economics and social dynamics of cohousing communities, plus Iceland's revolutionary approach to neurodiverse living where autism isn't a limitation but simply a different way of being.

Guest: Charles Durrett - Principal architect at The Cohousing Company, coined the term "cohousing" in 1985, designed 55+ communities, author of 16 books on community design

Topics Discussed:

How cohousing communities feed 30 people for $90

Why 34 houses share one lawnmower (and it works)

The first U.S. cohousing community 35 years later

Iceland's Sólheimar: 45 neurodiverse, 45 neurotypical residents

Why people with autism drown at 166x the normal rate

"Smiles per half hour" as a community metric

Breaking bread 4-5 times weekly builds community

From isolation to internationally selling artist

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction - Encouraging community for 20 years

00:59 Meet Charles Durrett - Pioneer of cohousing

01:40 The first U.S. cohousing community in Davis

02:36 What is cohousing? Six defining principles

05:00 No hierarchy, all consensus

07:28 Book came out 1988, coined "cohousing"

08:37 35 years later - how is that first community?

10:47 Copenhagen study: Majority of seniors want cohousing

13:45 Personal meetings and interpersonal sharing

15:28 Common dinners 4-5 times weekly

16:26 Cooking rotation - once a month for 20-30 people

17:10 How they feed 30 for $90

20:12 What is a neuro-inclusive community?

23:13 90 people total at Sólheimar

24:02 Started in 1930, Chuck wrote the book

26:04 "Smiles per half hour" metric

29:02 Artists who knew nothing become internationally known

32:13 Financial model for neurodiverse communities

35:12 Why they bought their own swimming pool

38:07 Final thoughts - self-determination is key

41:12 Learning to interview people with autism

Resources:

Website: cohousingco.com

Book: Neuro-Inclusive Community Design

The Psychedelic Renaissance: 6 Leaders on Integration, Ethics & Access

An unprecedented panel discussion featuring six pioneers of psychedelic medicine, moderated by Dr. Richard L. Miller. From underground roots to FDA trials, from ketamine clinics to ibogaine centers, these leaders reveal the challenges and breakthroughs shaping the future of psychedelic therapy.

Panelists: • Matt Xavier - Author of "The Psychedelic DJ," pioneering music curation in psilocybin therapy • Wendy Tucker - Board Chair, Shulgin Foundation, preserving the lab where 200+ psychedelics were created • Sam Mandel - CEO, Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles (35,000+ infusions since 2014) • Tom Feegel - CEO, Beond Ibogaine Center, Cancun (11 MDs on staff) • Dori Lewis - Co-founder, Elemental Psychedelics & Colorado's 2nd legal psilocybin center • Joshua White - Founder, Fireside Project (30,000+ psychedelic support calls)

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction - The tribal nature of healing

02:30 The psychedelic renaissance and 50 years of suppressed science

03:30 Matt Xavier - From DJ to psychedelic therapist

09:59 Wendy Tucker - Preserving the Shulgin legacy

15:05 Sam Mandel - Building ketamine infrastructure 20:29 Tom Feegel - Medical ibogaine treatment

27:24 Dori Lewis - Colorado's legal psilocybin program

31:37 Joshua White - Free psychedelic support for all

40:15 Integration: "Polishing the nuggets" from the journey

42:49 Tom's comprehensive integration approach

47:24 Joshua's personal ibogaine integration story

50:19 Sam on insurance-covered integration

57:49 The ethics crisis in psychedelic therapy

01:00:40 Why facilitators must experience their own medicine

01:06:47 "Good people cause harm" - Dori's crucial insight

01:14:45 Access crisis: How to scale beyond the wealthy 01:19:45 Final thoughts and invitations

Key Takeaways: • Psychedelics are tools, not magic bullets - integration is essential • Well-intentioned practitioners can cause harm without proper training • Touch consent and boundaries must be established before sessions • The field needs peer support models to increase access • Community and accountability prevent isolation and abuse

Resources:

Fireside Project Support Line: firesideproject.org

Shulgin Foundation: shulginfoundation.org

Ketamine Clinics LA: ketamineclinics.com

Beond: beond.us

Elemental Psychedelics: elementalpsychedelics.com

Subscribe to Mind Body Health Politics for weekly conversations challenging conventional wisdom about health, consciousness, and human potential. Visit mindbodyhealthpolitics.org for 20+ years of archived episodes.

At age 9, Michael Ostrolenk looked at his overweight, chain-smoking psychiatrist and asked his mother: "He can't help himself. How's he gonna help me?" Then he walked out and never looked back.

Now 54, Michael completes 50-mile rucks with weighted vests and trains Navy SEALs through SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind Academy. After 43 years in martial arts and decades as a performance coach, he's identified why 72% of Americans are failing at health—and it's not about willpower.

In this conversation, Michael reveals:

Why willpower is a terrible strategy for change

The "via negativa" approach that makes failure impossible

His 4-pillar system (physiological, psychological, social, environmental)

Why he gets blood work every 3-6 months (and what markers matter)

The pull-up bar trick that transformed his client's military fitness test

How removing M&Ms matters more than resisting them

The connection between circadian biology and mental health

Why "normalizing pathological behaviors" is destroying our health

Plus: The surprising parting wisdom from someone who trains special operators—and why kindness might be the most powerful intervention of all.

Guest Bio: Michael Ostrolenk is a licensed therapist and Master Coach in Resilience, Leadership, and Elite Performance, with over three decades of experience guiding high performers, special operators, and visionary leaders. He specializes in integrating psychological, physiological, and relational frameworks to optimize human potential. Co-creator of elite training programs with SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind Academy, and affiliated with Apeiron Zoh precision medical clinic in Austin, Texas.

Connect with Michael: Website: https://www.michaeldostrolenk.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelostrolenkresiliencemastery/ Instagram: @mostrolenk Podcast: Resilience Reimagined on Spotify

Dr. Heather Lee: When Traditional Therapy Fails, Sacred Medicine Succeeds

Mind Body Health Politics Episode - Dr. Richard Lewis Miller

Episode Description

A mother lost her 2-year-old to cancer and spent two years bedbound with grief. Traditional therapy, medication, and family support all failed her. Then she discovered Dr. Heather Lee's psilocybin therapy in Colorado—and everything changed. What happened next will challenge everything you think you know about healing trauma and grief.

Dr. Heather Lee is Colorado's 22nd licensed psychedelic facilitator and author of the upcoming book The Psilocybin Sessions: 10 True Tales of Women's Wisdom Awakening. Her legal, clinical work with sacred medicine is producing results that conventional medicine struggles to explain.

Timestamped Chapters

00:00 - The Epidemic of Isolation and Why We Need Community03:00 - Dr. Heather Lee's Revolutionary Approach to Healing05:00 - The Grieving Mother's Two-Year Journey Through Hell08:00 - When Her Deceased Child Appeared During the Session11:00 - The Goosebumps Moment: When Spirit Confirmed the Healing14:00 - Why People Fly from South Africa for This Treatment17:00 - The Art of Psilocybin Dosing: Why 4 Grams Is the Sweet Spot20:00 - How Colorado Became the Gold Standard for Legal Psychedelics23:00 - The Documentary "Last Journey": Cancer Patients Find Peace28:00 - The Forgiveness That Decades of Therapy Couldn't Unlock32:00 - When Clouds Spelled "FORGIVE" in the Sky35:00 - Building the Conscious Conversation Collective40:00 - Working in Service of the Mushrooms

Key Insights

Traditional therapy's blind spot: Some wounds require soul healing, not just cognitive processing

The safety profile: Psilocybin is safer than anything in your medicine cabinet

Colorado's licensing system: Rigorous year-long training with Johns Hopkins and NYU researchers

The demographic shift: Most clients are women 50+ seeking wisdom and healing

Integration is crucial: Follow-up sessions ensure lasting transformation