The Road Home with Ethan Nichtern
by Ethan Nichtern
The Road Home podcast with author and teacher is Ethan Nichtern is a contemporary exploration of Buddhist teachings and conversation with thought leaders interested in Psychology, Art, Culture, and Politics through the lens of mindfulness practice. Since 2002, Ethan has taught meditation and Buddhist psychology classes and workshops around the United States and online. He is the author of multiple books, including The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of The Buddhist Path. He is currently the head of the Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program for Dharmamoon.com. More info at EthanNichtern.com
Episodes
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Ep. 184 - You're Definitely Going To Die, But Probably Not Today
On the latest episode of The Road Home podcast, I talk about classic Buddhist teachings that remind us about the basic facts of life, and go over a recent conversation I had with my 9-year-old daughter about her interest in—and aversion to—to the truth of death. Using a classic list called the…
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Ep. 183 - Conscious Parents, Conscious Daughters, Conscious Sons with Dr. Shefali
On the latest episode of The Road Home podcast, I am joined by bestselling author, clinical psychologist and Buddhist meditator Dr. Shefali. Her work combines Western psychology with Eastern wisdom, and explores the challenges facing both parents and children (and the inner child in all of us)…
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Ep 182 - The Three Poisons
On the latest episode of The Road Home podcast, we dive into one of the deepest and most crucial teachings of Buddhist philosophy of the mind: the three poisons. These could also be called the three confused habitual responses to the present moment. In this dharma talk, we go "under the hood" of...
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Ep. 181 - You Must Be Somebody Before You Can Be Nobody with Noel Coakley
On the latest episode of The Road Home podcast, Ethan was joined by friend Noel Coakley. A brilliant and kind psychotherapist and Dharma teacher, Noel has a style as a spiritual thinker and teacher all his own. They discussed his journey into working with the mind, his interest in relational...
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Ep. 180 - What's Up With The Dudes? with Dr. Chris Willard
Recently I was talking to my friend Dr. Chris Willard, and he mentioned a desire to have a conversation about the effects of patriarchy on men, and especially younger men, from both a psychological and spiritual perspective. Like myself, Chris is a progressive Buddhist dad, and like me, he cares...
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Ep. 179 - The Power of Women Spiritual Teachers with Erica Bassani
After a brief memorial to the late Tenzin Robert Thurman, Ethan welcomes author and seeker Erica Bassani to discuss her new book, Women in Love with the Divine. Erica's book explores what it means to be a woman committed to a relationship with the sacred in today's world. On a quest to answer…
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Ep. 178 - What Acceptance Means (and What It Doesn't)
In this solo episode, Ethan takes on the practice of "acceptance." He gets into the nitty gritty of how frequently we spiritual folks misinterpret the meaning of acceptance, turning it into an unhealthy bypass of what we're actually experiencing. By doing so, we miss the transformative (and not…
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Ep. 177 - Love is Messy: The Dharma of Relationships with Devon and Nico Hase
Ethan welcomes teachers and authors devon and nico hase to discuss their new book, This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership. Devon and nico are a rare pair in the Dharma world. Each from a varied background and students of multiple traditions of wisdom, they bring two...
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Ep. 176 - Loving an Addict and Making Friends with Grief with Bryan Welch
Ethan welcomes author, meditator, entrepreneur and organic farmer Bryan Welch for a heart-opening conversation about grief, loss, and loving someone who can't be saved. In his gripping new memoir, The Gift of a Broken Heart, Bryan movingly recounts his own journey through deep grief at the loss…
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Ep. 175 - Crucial Questions: What Is The Mind, Anyway? Musings on the relationship between Consciousness and Matter.
Hey friends, in this solo episode of The Road Home, I continue my occasional foray into some of the more interesting and important questions that come up while we study and practice with Buddhist themes, questions that don't always get directly addressed. So what do we even mean when we say "The...
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Ep. 174 - Mindfulness in Hell and Making A Dharma Mix Tape with Oneika Mays
Ethan welcomes yoga/mindfulness teacher Oneika Mays— the author of the great new book Sit With Me— for a fascinating conversation on her personal path through mindfulness, yoga, and wellness practices. The conversation also focuses on Oneika's crucial and transformative work bringing these...
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Ep. 173 - Fail Like A Legend: Confidence, Longing, and The Eight Worldly Winds, Revisited
Hey friends, this is the first episode of The Road Home in a bit. Please remember to check out and sign up for the upcoming Windhorse (Confidence) meditation workshop on Saturday May 2nd (1-5pm ET) via A Mindful World. It should be a great mini-retreat with a helpful practice that anyone can use,...
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Ep. 172 - Invoking The Muse: Dharma Art with Josh Ritter
"Intuition doesn't seem to act aggressively." -Josh Ritter Ethan welcomes his friend, contemporary folk musician and novelist Josh Ritter for a conversation about creativity, inspiration, spirituality and art-making. They discuss where great ideas come from, how the "protocols" of practice...
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Ep. 171 - How To Make Use of Your Broken Heart
Sometimes life breaks your heart. Right now, the world is breaking most of our hearts. And if it isn't breaking your heart, you're not paying attention. But what does a broken heart have to do with the awakened state of mind? In this solo episode of The Road Home podcast, Ethan examine the two…
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Ep. 170 - Worldly Enlightenment and The Path of The "Householder" with Lou Sharma
In classic Buddhism, there is often a meaningful emphasis on going very deep into the spiritual life, often through leaving the world behind for long periods of time and even becoming a lifelong yogi or monk. Is this the only way to move toward full awakening? There is often a lesser emphasis on…
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Ep. 169 - On Mindful Democracy with Jeremy David Engels
What's wrong with democracy these days? Can it be rescued? Can it be made more mindful? Can we work together to build something better? What's the role of compassion in building community? What's the role of conflict in building community? Why do yoga and mindfulness communities often seem so...
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Ep. 168 - How (and When) Do We Practice Compassion For Those Who Cause Harm?
Ethan tackles an age-old dharma question: how do we generate compassion for those who do harmful things? Should we even try, or does that make things worse? In the age of ICE lawlessness, totalitarian governments, and coming to terms with toxic relationships of all kinds, this question…
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Ep. 167 - The Fire Inside: A Conversation with Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad
Ethan talks to author, scholar and teacher Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about her insightful new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Mixing scholarship, memoir, and a deep reverence for the spiritual insights of two of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th century,...
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Ep. 166 - Kindness, Innocence, And Emotional Awareness: A Conversation with Sharon Salzberg
What is the relationship between Metta (lovingkindness practice) and developing, or rediscovering, a childlike innocence? How can Buddhist meditation help both kids and adults with emotional regulation and resilience? Is there anything about the way kids meet thoughts and emotions that we…
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Ep. 165 - Against The Stream: Karma, Mindfulness, and The Algorithms We (Don't Have To) Live By
Ethan continues recent conversations on tech, mindfulness and dharma to examine how much of our karma (ie "habit energy" according to the late master Thich Nhat Hanh) is determined by pre-chosen and manipulative algorithms. How can we use our mindfulness practice to understand the internal and...
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Ep. 164 - What is Engaged Buddhism? A Conversation with Roshi Joan Halifax
At a recent event in support of Dharma Moon's Yearlong Buddhist Studies program on January 6th, Ethan was joined by the great Roshi Joan Halifax, to discuss the practice, history and theory of Engaged Buddhism. Why is this integrated approach to the dharma so crucial now? Ethan begins with an...
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Ep. 163 - The Astrology of 2026: Revolutionary Momentum, Breakthrough and Integration with Juliana McCarthy
Ethan welcomes back bestselling author and Buddhist Astrologer Juliana McCarthy (Ethereal Culture, The Stars Within You) to dive headfirst into a discussion of the momentous year ahead. They break the discussion into four areas: spiritual practice, creative practice, technology and politics....
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Ep. 162 - One Samsara After Another: An End To Gun Violence and The First Precept
After a heavy weekend on Earth, Ethan discusses violence and gun violence via the mass shootings at his alma mater of Brown University and the Jewish community in Sydney at Bondi Beach, along side the movie One Battle After Another and the murders of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer. Ethan...
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Ep. 161 - Cover The World In Leather - Seeking Stability with Dan Harris
Ethan welcomes Dan Harris, one of the leading voices in the mindfulness movement, for a live (and lively) conversation about the quest for stability in an unstable world, and to present the 2026 Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program. When Ethan mentioned a classic quote from the Indian master...
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Ep. 160 - The Cosmic Joke: Developing A Sense of Humor Along The Path
The path of awakening is often treated as serious business for serious people. This approach can make us rigid about our experience of reality, when what we want to develop is greater flexibility, appreciation, and openness to ouselves and others. For that, we need the path to include a great…
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Ep 159. - Radical Change with Adriana DiFazio
Ethan is joined by old friend and teacher Adriana DiFazio for a wide ranging discussion of the limitations of a Western Buddhism that focuses on individualism, individual liberation, and "secular" practice. They discuss how to create a Dharma that is more focused on intersectionality and systems,...
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Ep. 158 - Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Buddhist Socialism, and Standing (or Sitting) For Something
How did NYC become the epicenter of all the tensions and promise of American society and politics, and do the Buddhist teachings have anything to offer to understanding this political moment? Using the rise of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in his home city—a city of perpetual immigrants—Ethan…
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Ep. 157 - How Am I (Really?) Doing: The Power of Accurate Self-Assessment
Drawing on concepts from his latest book, Confidence, Ethan explores how it is that our self-assessment can be so off the mark so frequently, especially when it comes to seeing our progress along a long-term path like meditation, or the deeper journey of spiritual and psychological . Why is it so...
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Ep. 156 - The Myth of (Conditional) Freedom
Ethan is back with a solo episode to discuss the Buddhist experience of liberation and (moksha) and how we can glimpse an experience it in our awareness and meditation practice. He also discusses the related question of the collapsing American mythology of "freedom." In the discussion, he...
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Ep. 155 - What Should a Teacher Say? with Francesca Cervero
Ethan is joined by friend and yoga teacher Francesca Cervero to talk about becoming a teacher as a livelihood, the duty of the teacher when it comes to building community in a post-pandemic world, and how to be clear and open with students about the ethical teachings of Buddhism and yoga in a…
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Ep. 154 - How Do I Know If I'm Enlightened?
In this episode, Ethan discusses the crucial question of "enlightenment," better translated as "awakening." What does this word mean? What doesn't it mean? How would we know if we were really there? Is awakening a big deal? And most importantly, how can we glimpse it, or notice the glimpses we…
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Ep. 153 - You Won't Heal Until You Love It : Inside The Neurological Storm with Reggie Hubbard
16 months ago, yoga/meditation/sound teacher Reggie Hubbard had a near-death experience, a major stroke. He visits the podcast to describe the experience of his "neurological storm" and the path of collapse and healing that he's been on ever since, and how it has profoundly affected his views as…
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Ep. 152 - Crucial Questions: What Is The Bodhisattva Vow?
Ethan discusses three reasons we take vows and make commitments from a Buddhist perspective, and gives special emphasis to The Bodhisattva Vow, where we commit to not only pursue our own path of liberation and awakening, but also vow to work for the benefit of all beings, to the limits of space,...
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Ep. 151 - Buddhist Geeks, 21st Century Practice, and The Duhkha of Palestine
Ethan welcomes Buddhist Geeks Co-Founder, teacher, and Palestinian-American Dharma teacher Vince Fakhoury Horn. They discuss the rise of "podcast dharma" in the early 21st century, Vince's path to teaching meditation, Vince's experience of his Palestinian heritage, why it's hard to get Dharma...
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Ep. 150 - The Virtues of Boredom (The Most Boring Podcast Ever!)
This is the 150th episode of The Road Home Podcast! Yay, Big Deal! But, it's—as always—also a conversation about the Dharma, and the mind, and how to work with your own experience. And your mind, especially during meditation, can be boring. Very boring. So why is boredom such a difficult, yet...
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Ep. 149 - The Whole World Is Gold To Me: Tantra and Generosity
(This episode of The Road Home is dedicated to the memory of Joanna Macy—founder of the Eco-Dharma and Deep Ecology Movements—who passed this weekend at the age of 96) On this episode, a follow-up to episode 148, Ethan explores wealth and generosity from a tantric perspective. If you could take…
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Ep. 148 - No More Billionaires - Wealth, Livelihood and Generosity in the Hinayana and Mahayana
What is generosity ("dana" in the Buddhist languages), and how does it relate to our experience of wealth, our consumption, our labor, and our shared values as a society? How can we work with our craving for always have more like one of those a metal claw machines in a video game arcade, leaving…
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Ep. 147 - Don't Stop Believing - Faith and Awareness in The Six Bardos of Collapse and Rebirth
How we work with our minds in the spaces between collapse and rebirth (those uncomfortable gaps in life as well as the huge "gap" after death) hold the key to creating futures that do not replicate the stuckness and suffering of our past. This is true both personally and collectively. As always,...
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Ep. 146 - The Dissonance of 2025
Ethan visits a recurrent conversation he's been having with his students, his friends, and within his own mind: the dissonance between feeling like your personal life and close community are in basically good places, while simultaneously raising your gaze to see the immense suffering and chaos of...
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Ep. 145 - Always Meditate on Whatever Provokes Resentment
What is resentment? Why is it so corrosive? How can we work with our resentments? How can we overcome a victim mentality while still protecting ourselves, protecting others, and protecting truth? In this solo episode, Ethan uses a classic Tantric Buddhist contemplative slogan from the Lojong mind...
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Ep. 144 - Microdosing Grief and The Practice of Saying Goodbye
In a spontaneous episode, Ethan discusses grief and loss while processing multiple events. At a recent compassion meditation retreat, colleague and friend René Fay gave a presentation where she discussed the need to "Microdose Grief," to take it in little by little so that we can honor the small...
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Ep. 143 - Meditations for Mortals with Oliver Burkeman
How can we embrace the limitations of time and the certainty of death and create real fulfillment that thrives on an honest assessment of our human predicament? These are the questions at the heart of this episode. Ethan welcomes back bestselling author and journalist Oliver Burkeman for a...
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Ep. 142 - The White Lotus, The God Realm and Pop-Culture Dharma
In this episode, Ethan does what at least 40 people have asked him to do (special shout-out to Michele S. in Iowa who convinced him to devote a whole podcast episode to it!) - share his thoughts, as a Buddhist, on Season 3 of the Max streaming series The White Lotus. To do so, he explains three...
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Ep. 141 - Strong Back, Soft Front: The Posture of Meditation is The Posture of Courage
In this episode, Ethan links a crucial set of instructions from mindfulness meditation teachers of the past regarding how we carry our posture to what it means to show up in this world at a time of chaos. He discusses the instructions on mindfulness meditation from the "warrior" tradition of...
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Ep. 140 - Equanimity Feels Different on a Roller Coaster
After tariffs were broadly imposed by the current American regime (including, apparently on uninhabited islands populated mostly by penguins) causing a nearly unprecedented crash of the stock market, and after attending the lovely and unexpectedly massive protest marches that took place on April…
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Ep. 139 - A Buddhist View of A.I. (It Ain't Great...)
In light of revelations about the theft of countless authors' work by one A.I. company (guess which one), Ethan finally talks about a topic he's been requested to cover for a while: Buddhist views on artificial intelligence. He begins by positioning the conversation within the frame of View and...
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Ep. 138 - Torched Teslas, Fart Noises, And Right Action Against The Oligarchy
Ethan delves further into right action during a time of protest and chaos, using the recent examples of Tesla cars and cybertrucks being set on fire as a launching point. In The Power of Choice episode, he looked into the five precepts as guidelines for empowered and skillful action. In this...
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Ep. 137 - People-Pleasing: A Buddhist View
Ethan delves into the Bodhisattva teachings on happiness, benefitting beings, and "idiot compassion," or what happens when compassion becomes an ego construction. How do we tell the difference between helping others in a nourishing way, on the one hand, and doing things for others that we really...
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Ep. 136 - The Heart Sutra, Groundlessness, Joy, and Crumbling Patriarchy with Susan Piver
Ethan welcomes bestselling author and Dharma teacher Susan Piver for a discussion of the groundlessness of our current world framed through her new book Inexplicable Joy: On The Heart Sutra. If you'd like to read a translation of this classic Buddhist text, you can find that on Ethan's Substack....
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Ep. 135 - The Three Lords of Materialism
Ethan discusses the classic origins of the worldview of "Materialism," as well a framework developed by the Tibetan teacher Chogyam Trungpa called "The Three Lords of Materialism" for looking at how we can notice our tendency to chase peak experiences in the arenas of the physical world,...
About this show
The Road Home podcast with author and teacher is Ethan Nichtern is a contemporary exploration of Buddhist teachings and conversation with thought leaders interested in Psychology, Art, Culture, and Politics through the lens of mindfulness practice. Since 2002, Ethan has taught meditation and Buddhist psychology classes and workshops around the United States and online. He is the author of multiple books, including The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of The Buddhist Path. He is currently the head of the Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program for Dharmamoon.com. More info at EthanNichtern.com
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