What if the way we pursue love has been shaped more by cultural scripts than by science? In this episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles sits down with Paul Eastwick to explore how attraction really works and why lasting connection grows through bonding, emotional safety, and shared experience rather than performance or ranking. Drawing […]
Many people know they are loved, yet still feel unseen, disconnected, or emotionally distant in their closest relationships. In this powerful episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles sits down with happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky and relationship scientist Harry Reis to explore why feeling loved is different from simply being loved. Drawing on their new
What if the quiet question shaping our lives isn’t “Am I successful?” or “Am I happy?” but something far more elemental: “Do I matter?” In this deeply moving episode of the Passion Struck Podcast, John R. Miles sits down with MacArthur Fellow philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein to explore her powerful new book, The Mattering Instinct
Many adults spend their lives achieving, producing, and performing, yet still carry a quiet, persistent feeling of being unseen. Healing childhood trauma often begins when we recognize that this sense of invisibility didn’t start in adulthood—it was learned early, in moments when our presence wasn’t mirrored, protected, or fully received. In this special solo episode
Healing Childhood Trauma: Why You Still Feel Invisible and Don’t Matter as an Adult Read More »
In this episode of Passion Struck, I sit down with Daniel Ellenberg to explore why so many men feel isolated, overwhelmed, or empty despite outward success, and how the traditional scripts of masculinity often leave men emotionally undernourished and unsure how to ask for more. Drawing from decades of clinical work and men’s groups, Daniel
Strength with Heart: A New Model of Masculinity for a Lonely World | Daniel Ellenberg Read More »
Choosing wisely has become one of the defining challenges of modern life. In a world filled with options, metrics, and algorithms, decision-making often feels heavy rather than freeing. In this episode of Passion Struck, renowned psychologist Barry Schwartz joins John R. Miles to explore why choice feels so exhausting today and how recovering judgment restores
Why Choosing Wisely Requires More Than Rational Choice Theory Read More »
We spend much of our lives searching for meaning through work, relationships, contribution, and purpose. But beneath that search lives a quieter, more fragile question, one we rarely say out loud: Do I matter even when nothing is being made of me? In this solo episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles explores the question
For decades, Alzheimer’s research promised breakthroughs that always seemed just one study away, one drug away, one discovery away. Families held on to hope while funding poured in, careers were built, and a single theory quietly shaped nearly every major decision in the field. In this episode of Passion Struck, investigative journalist Charles Piller joins
Alzheimer’s Research Fraud: Charles Piller Exposes the Truth Behind Doctored Read More »
We like to believe we make decisions by weighing evidence, considering outcomes, and thinking things through. But in reality, most of our choices are guided by something far more powerful and far less examined: our sacred values. In this episode of Passion Struck, I interview Steven Sloman, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists and
Many of us reach major milestones, such as the promotion, the dream house, or the moment the last child leaves home, and expect a surge of fulfillment. Instead, a strange quiet often settles in. This hollow feeling is not ingratitude or burnout. It is structural feedback. The ladder of success has reached its limit, and
Why the Architecture of Significance Matters More Than Success Read More »
