Voices of Esalen Podcast

Steve Paulson is the Executive Producer and one of the founders of the beloved NPR radio show, To The Best Of Our Knowledge. He is a master interviewer, having conducted many thousands of interviews over the course of a 27-year career.

Steve has been a contributing writer for Salon.com, Slate, Huffington Post and The Atlantic. His radio reports have also been broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

His book, Atoms and Eden: Conversations on Religion & Science, was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. He’s working on another book exploring the intersection between science, philosophy and spiritual experience, which will probe the edges of science and such oddities as psychedelics and near-death experiences.

Look for upcoming workshops with Steve Paulson.

Janet Stone is a beloved yoga teacher and longtime faculty at the Esalen Institute. Janet grew up on a self-described “slightly crazy hippie farm” in Northern California, where she ate tofu, baled hay, and cleaned rabbit cages.

As an adult she spent eleven inspiring years in film and TV production, then traveled the world, visiting New Zealand, Egypt, and then northern India, where she began her yoga journey. Janet lives in San Francisco and continues to travel the world, teaching and leading.

Some of her favorite things, per her website, include "Tantric Shaivism (go, Hareesh), Egyptian Licorice Mint Tea, the search for the perfect whoopie-pie (found many times), the New Yorker, great stretchy jeans (no, not jeggings), tall boots, long boards, flip-flops, warm toes, KCRW, inner exploration, curiosity, carpooling, that spot under the tree in Golden Gate Park, sunsets from Bingin, Bali, bath time, story time, snack time, picnic time, anytime with my girls."

She is an articulate and passionate speaker about yoga, life, humility, the concept of "enoughness," meditation, why Esalen works, and more.

Look for upcoming workshops with Janet Stone.

Pico Iyer is a British-born essayist and novelist, known for his outstanding travel writing. Iyer was a King's Scholar at Eton College, and was awarded a Congratulatory Double First in English Literature at Oxford University, then received his second master's in literature at Harvard.

Iyer has known the 14th Dalai Lama since he was in his late teens, when he accompanied his father to Dharamshala, India, in the early 1970s. Iyer taught literature at Harvard before joining Time magazine in 1982 as a writer on world affairs. After his home in Santa Barbara burned to the ground in 1990, Iyer was left without any possessions. In 1992 he relocated to Nara, Japan, where he has lived since, with his wife Hiroko Takeuchi.

Some of his notable books include Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home; The Open Road: the Global Journey of the 14th Dalai Lama; and most recently, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere.

Stanislav Grof is not only one of the godfathers of psychedelic psychotherapy—not only one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology—not only a renowned researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness to gain insights into the human psyche—he was also an integral part of the fabric of Esalen Institute during the 1970's and 1980's, helping to shape the culture in Big Sur via his popular workshops and month long programs.

In this interview, we talked about his relationship with Esalen co-founder Michael Murphy and how Stan came to be invited to live and teach at Esalen in the 1970's (where he created the practice of holotropic breath work, in part out of necessity to abide with the law), his abiding affection for Esalen co-founder Dick Price, and his collaborations with Fritjof Capra, Gregory Bateson, Rupert Sheldrake, as well as many more legendary teachers.

Definitely tune in to the man, the myth, the legend—Stan Grof.

Ken Dychtwald is a lifelong friend of Esalen and certified amazing guy. Besides being the best-selling author of more than ten books, he's a ground-breaking gerontologist, a psychologist, an educator, a professional lecturer (one of the best to ever pick up a microphone), a superb storyteller, a consultant to several White House administrations, an amazing father and husband—and apart from all that, he knows quite a lot about Esalen back in the day.

This interview with Ken gets into Esalen in the 1970's, and digs into the work of Will Schutz, famous for his encounter groups, and the psychodrama technique that came with it.

Ken and host Sam Stern also talk about Ken's seminal book, Bodymind, which he developed in his early twenties, and how he came to be at the forefront of the holistic health movement at its inception, as well as his lifelong work with aging populations, culminating in a bold initiative with the XPRIZE foundation that aims to defeat Alzheimer's.

Dr. Hyman is an eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of functional medicine.

He is the Director the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and a regular medical contributor on many television shows, including CBS This Morning, Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The View, and The Dr. Oz Show.

In this episode Dr. Hyman and host Sam Stern discuss many topics, including healthy fats, what NOT to eat, organ meats, dairy (nature's perfect food, if you're a calf, says Mark), fluoridated water, and more. This podcast is full of actionable knowledge. Have a listen.

Look for upcoming workshops with Mark Hyman.

Bob Walter is the executive director and board president of the Joseph Campbell foundation. Walter was Joseph Campbell’s editor for the last ten years of his life and the editorial director of "The Historical Atlas of World Mythology."

Following Campbell’s death in 1987, he served as literary executor of Campbell’s estate, and continues to oversee the publication of Joseph Campbell’s writings.

In this episode, Walter talks about the work and the life of Campbell, a central figure in Esalen’s history, as well as the human potential movement.

Bonus: this episode contains some original Joseph Campbell clips taken from a speech he gave at the Esalen institute, on October 12th, 1967, entitled, “Freud, Jung, and Kundalini Yoga.” Enjoy.

Look for upcoming workshops with Bob Walter.

Jean Houston is an interdisciplinary thinker and author, known for her ability to weave together history, culture, spirituality, and science. Dr. Houston is the author of 26 books and has worked in over 100 countries.

She recently came to Esalen to teach about quantum theory and concurrent realities, and in this episode of Voices of Esalen she talks with host Sam Stern about her relationships with Margaret Mead, Joseph Campbell, Alduous Huxley, Eleanor Roosevelt, Deepak Chopra, and Hilary Clinton, among other fascinating topics.

Look for upcoming workshops with Jean Houston.

Ben Tauber is a former member of Esalen's Board of Trustees and former Executive Director.

During this conversation that took place during Ben's tenure as Executive Director, he and Voices of Esalen host Sam Stern spoke about Ben's youth and teenage years, the nature of the company he created and made successful before joining Esalen, his creative relationship with Esalen's co-founder, Michael Murphy, how he battled cancer and emerged victorious, what it was like to come to the helm at Esalen in the midst of a natural disaster, and much more.

Steven Harper is a wilderness guide, author, artist, and longtime teacher at the Esalen Institute. He focuses on wild nature as a vehicle for awakening; his work is inspired by a deep connection to inner wild nature. Steven is a contributor to the emerging field of ecopsychology, and has written at length on the subject.

He was also a longtime student and close friend of Esalen co-founder Dick Price, and in our conversation, he speaks about his history with Dick, Esalen in the 1980’s, what it was like to raise a family in Big Sur, and how he continues to connect to wild spirit.

Look for upcoming workshops with Steven Harper.