New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Jun 10, 2026 Betty J. Kovács, PhD, taught symbolic and mythic language for twenty-five years. She has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Jung Society of Claremont, California, and sits on the Academic Advisory Board of Forever Family Foundation. Dr. Kovacs is author of Merchants of Light: The Consciousness That Is Changing the World, winner of The Scientific and Medical Network 2019 Book Prize and a Nautilus Silver Award. She has also written The Miracle of Death: There Is Nothing But Life. Her website is www.kamlak.com. Here she describes the Italian Renaissance as a time when people began to celebrate the beauty of the human body, the dignity of worldly human life, and the potential of people to reach for new cultural accomplishments – while remaining mindful of the divinity within, as expressed in the art and insights of the High Middle Ages. Hermeticism and kabbalah were part of this awakening that was largely stimulated by a growing awareness of ancient cultures. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. He is Co-Director of Parapsychology Education at the California Institute for Human Science. (Recorded on January 24, 2021)
Spiritual Awakening in the Italian Renaissance with Betty Kovács
William Blake on a celibate Jesus
Portrait of William Blake by Thomas Phillips, 1807
“The Bible must be shaken upside down before it will yield all its secrets. The priests have censored and clipped and mangled: they give us a celibate Jesus born of a virgin without the slightest ‘stain’ of sexual contact, which is blasphemes nonsense (29).”
William Blake was a British poet, painter, printmaker, and engraver. A visionary artist and nonconformist, Blake expressed his radical views on society, politics, and religion through his poetry, paintings, watercolors, and illuminated books. His work often hid criticism within complex mythology to avoid persecution from the British government. Wikipedia.org
Born November 28, 1757, Soho, London, United Kingdom
Died August 12, 1827 (age 69 years), London, United Kingdom
Book: “Understanding Evil”
Understanding Evil
Lionel Corbett
Evil is a ubiquitous, persistent problem that causes enormous human suffering. Although human beings have struggled with evil since the dawn of our species, we seem to be no nearer to ending it. In this book, Lionel Corbett describes the complexity of the problem of evil, as well as many of our current approaches to understanding it, in ways that are helpful to the practicing psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, or Jungian analyst. Psychotherapists often work with people who have been the victim of evil, and, occasionally, the therapist is faced with a perpetrator of evil. To be helpful in these situations, the practitioner must understand the problem from several points of view, since evil is so complex that no single approach is adequate. Understanding A psychotherapist’s guide describes a range of approaches to evil based on Jungian theory, psychoanalysis, social sciences, philosophy, neurobiology, mythology, and religious studies. The book clarifies the difference between actions that are merely wrong from those that are truly evil, discusses the problem of detecting evil, and describes the effects on the clinician of witnessing evil. The book also discusses what is known about the psychology of terrorism, and the question of whether a spiritual approach to evil is necessary, or whether evil can be approached from a purely secular point of view. In Understanding Evil , a combination of psychoanalytic and Jungian theory allows the practitioner a deep understanding of the problem of evil. The book will appeal to analytical psychologists and psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, and academics and students of Jungian and post-Jungian studies. It will also be of great interest to researchers approaching the question of evil from a variety of other fields, including philosophy and religious studies.
(Goodreads.com)
Book: “A Terrible Love of War”
A Terrible Love of War
James Hillman
War is a timeless force in the human imagination—and, indeed, in daily life. Engaged in the activity of destruction, its soldiers and its victims discover a paradoxical yet profound sense of existing, of being human. In A Terrible Love of War , James Hillman, one of today’s most respected psychologists, undertakes a groundbreaking examination of the essence of war, its psychological origins and inhuman behaviors. Utilizing reports from many fronts and times, letters from combatants, analyses by military authorities, classic myths, and writings from great thinkers, including Twain, Tolstoy, Kant, Arendt, Foucault, and Levinas, Hillman’s broad sweep and detailed research bring a fundamentally new understanding to humanity’s simultaneous attraction and aversion to war. This is a compelling, necessary book in a violent world.
About the author
James Hillman
James Hillman (1926-2011) was an American psychologist. He served in the US Navy Hospital Corps from 1944 to 1946, after which he attended the Sorbonne in Paris, studying English Literature, and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a degree in mental and moral science in 1950.
In 1959, he received his PhD from the University of Zurich, as well as his analyst’s diploma from the C.G. Jung Institute and founded a movement toward archetypal psychology, was then appointed as Director of Studies at the institute, a position he held until 1969.
In 1970, Hillman became editor of Spring Publications, a publishing company devoted to advancing Archetypal Psychology as well as publishing books on mythology, philosophy and art. His magnum opus, Re-visioning Psychology, was written in 1975 and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Hillman then helped co-found the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture in 1978.
Retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut on October 27, 2011 from bone cancer.
(Goodreads.com)
Platonic Mysticism and Plotinus with Arthur Versluis
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove Jun 14, 2026 Arthur Versluis is Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. Among his many books are American Gnosis: Political Religion and Transcendence, American Gurus, Magic and Mysticism: An Introduction to Western Esotericism, The New Inquisitions: Heretic-Hunting and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Totalitarianism, Wisdom’s Children: A Christian Esoteric Tradition, American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions, and Alchemical Lightwork: A Guide to Creating Cultures of Light and Spiritual Awakening. He is the editor of JSR: Journal for the Study of Radicalism. He is also the founding president of Hieros, a nonprofit focused on spirituality and cultural renewal. This conversation is based on his book Platonic Mysticism. Arthur discusses the Platonic mystical tradition from Plato through Plotinus, Dionysius the Areopagite, Christian mysticism, and the American Transcendentalists. He explores the contemplative path of realizing truth, the concepts of transcendence, emanation, and the One, while examining how mystical traditions have been marginalized within modern academic culture. Versluis also considers the future of contemplative science and the possibility of integrating ancient wisdom with contemporary approaches to consciousness research. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:06 Platonic mysticism and the eclipse of Plato 00:10:43 Mystery traditions and the roots of neoplatonism 00:16:05 Contemplative practice and the via negativa 00:26:13 Emanation, archetypes and consciousness 00:35:32 Dionysius the Areopagite and Christian mysticism 00:46:07 The eclipse of mysticism in modern academia 00:51:10 Literature, art and the flowering of transcendence 00:58:44 Contemplative science and consciousness studies 01:05:34 Conclusion (Recorded on May 26, 2026)
Book: “Obsolete: The AI Industry’s Trillion Dollar Race to Replace You―and How to Stop It”
Obsolete: The AI Industry’s Trillion Dollar Race to Replace You―and How to Stop It
by Garrison Lovely (Author) Format: Paperback
Is AI a bubble or humanity’s last invention? An existing harm or an existential threat? Obsolete cuts through the hype and false binaries to answer all the AI questions you have, while raising some you probably aren’t prepared for.
The richest companies in history are racing to build a machine that replaces human labor—all of it. And, as this provocative new book insists, the only surefire way they won’t succeed is if we stop them.
Many today don’t get further than seeing AI as a boondoggle—a new shiny object for techno-capitalists to sink their cash into as we barrel toward climate disaster. Obsolete takes those concerns seriously, but implores us to keep our eye on the ball: the attempt to render you obsolete.
The scale of their project has no real precedent. What we think of as big—the Gilded Age monopolies, the Manhattan Project, the Apollo program—doesn’t even come close to capturing its size. Almost none of us wants this vast transformation to succeed. Yet we’re letting it proceed virtually unabated. Why? Because we don’t know it’s happening, we don’t believe it will work, or we don’t think we can stop it. Obsolete takes on all three.
AI expert and journalist Garrison Lovely’s debut is a refreshing reset on an AI debate in which basically everyone is getting some big things wrong. With deep access to top researchers, advocates, and industry insiders, Obsolete offers a new way to think about the technology and a plan for deciding its future democratically.
(Amazon.com)
Society Is About To Change. And No One Is Ready | Richard Hames meets Garrison Lovely
Novara Media Premiered May 30, 2026 Do Your Own Research with Richard Hames Support our work: http://novara.media/support Boosters are wrong about AI. So are the critics. AI progress isn’t slowing down. The bubble doesn’t seem to be popping. And who in power actually cares about the environmental impacts anyway? All that is to say: AI is here to stay. And what will be its fruits? Greater control of workers or even their brutal repression, some say. So, is there a positive future for AI at all? Garrison Lovely is the author of Obsolete: The AI Industry’s Trillion-Dollar Race to Replace You—and How to Stop It. And surprisingly, his answer is “yes”. He tells Richard Hames how to get off the path to dystopia. Do Your Own Research is a new show from Novara Media about the systems that make the modern world possible. Music by Iglooghost. Buy Novara Media merch: https://shop.novaramedia.com/AI-generated video summary
Quality and accuracy may vary.
Richard Hames interviews author Garrison Lovely to explore the complex landscape of AI development. They discuss the concept of jagged intelligence, the economic implications of labor automation, and why public engagement with these evolving technologies is essential for understanding the future trajectory of the industry.
Kahlil Gibran on getting beyond the pain
Gibran in 1913
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
“Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you can not bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain.”
~Kahlil Gibran
Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān, usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. He was also considered a philosopher, although he himself rejected the title. Wikipedia
Born January 6, 1883, Bsharri, Lebanon
Died April 10, 1931 (age 48 years), St. Vincent’s Hospital
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(Contributed by John Atwater, H.W.)