Black Beryl

Today I sit down with Richard Saville-Smith, an independent scholar of madness, religion, and psychiatry. We discuss Richard’s book Acute Religious Experiences (2023), which argues that frameworks fr…

Today I sit down with Willoughby Britton and Jared Lindahl, the interdisciplinary team from Brown University that is responsible for the “Varieties of Contemplative Experience” study on the challenge…

Today I sit down with Dr. Daniel M. Ingram, a retired ER physician, co-founder of the Emergent Phenomena Research Consortium, CEO of Emergence Benefactors, and a noted adept in Buddhist meditation. T…

Today I sit down with Josh Schrei, storyteller, sound artist, and host of The Emerald Podcast. Josh helps us to embrace and center the spirit world in our understanding of contemporary Buddhism. Alon…

Today I sit down with Mary Shutan, a spiritual teacher specializing in awakening and shadow work. Our conversation focuses on the weirdness, emotional volatility, darkness, and other challenges that …

Today I sit down with Miguel Farias, an experimental psychologist and researcher of religion, spirituality, and cognition. Together we try to get to the bottom of whether meditation is actually good …

Today I sit down with David Gordon White, a distinguished indologist and scholar of Tantra. Our conversation focuses on David’s most recent project tracing the transregional histories of spirits, god…

💀💀 Warning: This episode contains potentially disturbing content! 💀💀

Today I sit down with Justin McDaniel, a scholar of Theravada Buddhist literature and art. Together we explore the darker side of T…

Today I sit down with Jack Schaefer and Josh Paynter, co-abbots of the Parting Clouds Temple, to discuss their practice of Daoist exorcism. We talk about the differences between spirits, ghosts, demo…

You are not mistaken: this is in fact the podcast formerly known as The Blue Beryl. We have changed our name for season 3, as we are embracing the darkness! You'll notice a new logo and a new URL, bu…

PLEASE NOTE: Shortly, we will be changing our name to Black Beryl. Your subscription will automatically update and no action is necessary on your part. Thanks for your continued support! 

Today I sit …

In this episode I sit down with Frances Garrett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, history, and language. We talk about Frances’s interests in embodiment and movement, and how her experiences as ballet d…

Today I sit down with Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and …

In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of  yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approach…

Today, I sit down with Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusi…

Today I sit down with Willa Blythe Baker, a writer, translator, and teacher of meditation based on Himalayan Buddhist tradition. We talk about Willa’s early discovery of Buddhism with her mother, her…

Today I sit down with Dr. Brandt Stickley, associate professor of classical Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine. We talk about Brandt’s approach, which he calls “nondual p…

In this episode, I sit down with Naomi Worth, a scholar and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism’s postural yoga tradition. We dive into Naomi's experiences in yogic retreats, highlight the vigorous move…

Today I sit down with Justin B. Stein, a specialist in modern Japanese religion and the preeminent historian of Reiki. We discuss Justin’s new book, Alternate Currents, about the transnational origin…

I sit down with Dominic Steavu, a historian of Chinese religion and healing from UC Santa Barbara. We discuss the central role of the body in medieval Daoist practices, and talk about the Daoist use …