The Observing I

Carlos Castaneda: Wisdom, Fiction, and the Desire to Believe

An exploration of Psychedelic spirituality, and the uncomfortable line between wisdom and fiction

May 12 • David Johnson

1

49:08

The Tyranny of Pleasure: Aldous Huxley and his Brave New World

Why we might be learning to love our own containment.

May 5 • David Johnson

8

45:10

April 2026

Be Here Now: The Great Unmaking of Richard Alpert

The Guru, the Ego, and the Long Return Home

Apr 28 • David Johnson

5

2

41:43

Terence McKenna and the Problem of Enchantment

On psychedelics, prophecy, and the modern hunger for meaning

Apr 21 • David Johnson

1

49:44

Turn on, tune in, drop out: The life and ideas of Timothy Leary

A journey through liberation, ego, spectacle, and the cost of trying to leave yourself behind.

Apr 14 • David Johnson

2

50:54

March 2026

Emil Cioran and the Insomnia of Being

A complete philosophical guide to despair, from a man who refused to act on it

Mar 24 • David Johnson

5

37:56

Not Yet: The Philosophy of Ernst Bloch

Hope isn’t optimism. It’s a philosophical position.

Mar 17 • David Johnson

3

2

38:31

Leszek Kolakowski, the man who autopsied his god

What do you do when the thing you used to explain everything stops explaining anything?

Mar 10 • David Johnson

1

37:09

Vladimir Solovyov and the Philosophy of the World Soul

Some people spend their lives chasing something real that cannot be held. The chasing is not the failure. The chasing is the whole point.

Mar 3 • David Johnson

1

40:58

February 2026

Nikolai Federov: The Librarian who declared war on Death

What if your maturity is just surrender with better posture?

Feb 24 • David Johnson

5

4

1

47:49

Jan Patočka and the Philosophy of Living in Truth

What it means to live without the comfortable lie

Feb 17 • David Johnson

2

1

52:51

Mikhail Bakhtin and the Unfinished Self

The monologue you call your identity is about to break

Feb 10 • David Johnson

44:13