PODCAST · education
The Unlearning Playground
by Chetan Narang
The Unlearning Playground is a self improvement podcast by Chetan Narang, a software engineer by degree, but a teacher, life coach and a philosopher at heart. The podcast is designed to dive deep into important questions centred around mental health and spiritual health in the modern world. The episodes are a mix of potent and easily applicable life lessons for your everyday life and direct, honest answers to the most significant questions you can come up with. The aim is to help people think better, to understand themselves, others & Life better, and to help them simplify their lives to make space for what really matters - to them, to their loved ones & to all of us. We discuss mental health, spiritual health, philosophy, spirituality, life lessons, quotes, books, cognitive biases and meditations to get to the root of Life, not just to scratch the surface, trying to never lose sight of what's true in favour of what's comfortable - with the ove
Episodes
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S02E07 - This Article Blew My Mind (Can You Handle It?)
The article I am reading aloud and commenting on, in this video - https://roccojarman.substack.com/p/this-is-not-a-substack-post--------------Some articles challenge your perspective—this one shatters it.Rocco Jarman’s "This is not a Substack post" isn’t just another opinion piece. It exposes…
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S02E06 - Kolkata Doctor Case - How Can We Do Better As A Society? (2 Key Points)
On Aug 9th, 2024, news about a heinous crime in Kolkata, West Bengal, India started to go viral across all social media platforms and news channels - a 31 year old doctor Moumita Debnath was found brutally raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The devastating news,...
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S02E05 - Can WE Fix Politics & Beyond? (A Summary of The Beyond Politics Series)
Today's video is the last in The Beyond Politics Video Series on The Unlearning Playground by Chetan Narang & Rocco Jarman. Well, last in the first iteration (we hope!). This is my first standalone video in this series, and what I talk about is a summary of the entire series, key takeaways…
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S02E04 - Do We Really Have Free Will? Exploring the Concept and What's Often Overlooked
The question of whether we have free will is a longstanding and complex debate in philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology. The internet is full of amazingly detailed and intriguing content talking about this concept in much detail. In today's episode, I wanted to talk about two extremely crucial...
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S02E03 - Grief, Healing and Moving On (Life after Death)
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is a profound and personal journey. In today's heartfelt episode, the third one of season 2 of The Unlearning Playground Podcast by Chetan Narang, we discuss practical and emotional tips to help you process grief and navigate the complex emotions that follow.…
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S02E02 - How to live a better life by being more childlike?
A thought that every adult encounters ever so often is centred around the idea of how life was better when they were a kid, when they were more childlike. I think there are a lot of life lessons in this train of thought, and that is the epicentre of today's episode of The Unlearning Playground....
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S02E01 - What is the purpose of Life, and how to find yours?
One of the most fundamental questions every person asks at some point in their lives is - “What is the purpose of life?”. Not surprisingly at all, this is also one question that most of us learn to suppress very early on in our lives. In this episode, the first of season two of the unlearning...
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0042 - The end of season 1, and start of something better
Endings are hard indeed. But if we keep ourselves stuck in the same old same old, we hold ourselves back to what might be. And therefore, like a snake must shed its old skin someday to allow a new layer to flourish, I end season 1 of The Unlearning Playground podcast today with this episode. I…
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0041 - How to be better in a position of power (5 book recommendations)
Here are the 5 books I recommend in this episode: Book 1 (https://amzn.to/45mPqs3) Book 2 (https://amzn.to/455eRP8) Book 3 (https://amzn.to/45lWk0E) Book 4 (https://amzn.to/47qjbtH) Book 5 (https://amzn.to/3YtGuPj) -------------- As we grow up, we take up positions of power or at least aspire to…
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0040 - Life lessons from the Jason Bourne movies
There are some movies that sometimes, out of the blue, end up teaching you life lessons that stay with you forever. I understand it to be very unlikely that an action thriller movie franchise would make the cut to such a list, but it is what it is I guess. What is Jason Bourne about? If you had...
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0039 - What is equality & where is it going wrong in 2023 (Indian context included)
Equality is a topic that is central to any relationship, family, community and society. And that makes it an extremely important subject to discuss, especially in today's world where like anything else it is subject to a host of interpretations and biases and opinions. In this video, I delve into...
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0038 - The courage to be disliked book summary [4 powerful life lessons]
The book I'm covering in this video - The courage to be disliked The courage to be disliked is a life changing book, if there ever was one. And I do not say that lightly. As someone who has spent a good few years reading, devouring & digesting multiple non fiction books, of the self help kind, of...
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0037 - The apple vision pro (3 thoughts - the good, the bad & the ugly)
Just this last week, Apple released a video introducing The Apple Vision Pro. It is a first-generation AR/VR headset, and Apple claims that with this device, the era of spatial computing is here. They claim this to be a life-changing technology. In this video of The Unlearning Playground podcast…
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0036 - How to sleep better, learn from a sleep expert | Why we sleep by Matt Walker book review (9 key tips)
Why we sleep is an internationally bestselling book by Matthew Walker, an English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is someone who's widely regarded as one of the foremost sleep experts in the world. Why we sleep, by Matthew…
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0035 - Blame game, conflict management and the fundamental attribution error
Most people wish to become better at handling and resolving conflicts, but out of the dozen or so things that get in the way, one of the main blockers is the fundamental attribution error. It sounds like a bit of a mouthful, but it is actually one of the easiest cognitive biases to understand. Of...
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0034 - 3 essential learnings the education system misses out
What is wrong with our education system? This is one topic that every adult has strong opinions on. And I think most of those opinions come from a place of genuine concern and good intention. Growing up, the issues we faced - we do not want our children to bear the same burden, or rather, to be...
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0033 - 24-year-old Bengaluru engineer earning 58 lakhs shares viral note on unhappiness (3-step guide)
A few days back, a 24-year-old software engineer from Bengaluru took to Grapevine and penned down a note on how despite earning a hefty salary of 58 lakhs per annum, he is unhappy with his life. The note has since then gone viral, having amassed a bunch of shares and comments from people talking...
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0032 - God, truth, understanding & utility - In collab with The Most Serious Podcast
Ripudaman Bhardwaj from "The most serious podcast" is one guy who knows how to hold an honest and engaging conversation. I was recently a guest on his show, and the conversation was so deep and stimulating that I asked him to share it on my network too. We talked about the truth about God,...
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0031 - Answering the most common question that comes up in therapy, counselling & life coaching
In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, I talk about the most common theme surrounding the questions that usually get asked in therapy, counselling and life coaching sessions. Now I understand that there are no one-size-fits-all remedies, but what I talk about here is a powerful...
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0030 - Self awareness & spirituality, and their relationship to self improvement in the modern world
In this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast, we sit together for a good & powerful meditation on the topic of spirituality. I talk about what I find to be the heart of spirituality, what a modern human must unlearn about spirituality, how spirituality actually enhances a person's self...
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0029 - Albus Dumbledore, Sachin Tendulkar & Free will
Do we humans have free will? Can we really choose to act? Do our choices matter eventually? Is there an easy-to-understand answer to these questions? I delve into these questions in this short and meaningful episode via a quote that, for me, defines the legacy of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry...
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0028 - The halo effect & 3 ways to overcome it
The halo effect, without a shadow of doubt, is one of the most important cognitive biases every adult in the room must be aware of. It is extremely important because it directly influences the way you think about people and in doing so, has a direct impact on the way you navigate your…
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0027 - 1 powerful tip to improve your people skills | Regression to the mean
Has it ever happened with you that people tend to quite often disappoint you right after you've just appreciated them? Either it has, or you don't appreciate the people in your life often enough. :) In this episode of The Unlearning Playground Podcast, I talk about one powerful tip on better...
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0026 - 2 types of prayers | Change the way you think about prayers
In some way, shape or form, we are surrounded by prayers. Join me in this episode as I talk about the two primary types of prayers that we humans perform in our everyday lives, and let’s discuss whether there is enough motivation for switching from one kind to the other. This can be a touchy...
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0025 - 3 ways to be less biased in your daily life | Understanding and correcting confirmation bias
In this episode, I, Chetan Narang, walk you through the confirmation bias, which I believe is one of the most tricky cognitive biases primarily because of its ability to hide in plain sight even for the most self aware person. I talk about where we can see this bias in our day-to-day lives. I…
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0024 - Hope & equanimity | A message for the new year | Keeping a positive frame of mind
The new year is upon us, and with this being the last episode of 2022, I wanted to leave this year with a positive message for everyone listening. The message this episode hopes to convey is one of hope and equanimity, and having more positive vibes. In the sensationalist times we live in (read...
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0023 - An honest take on Diwali, crackers & pollution | 4 important points
Diwali is the festival of light and prosperity. We have all heard and read this line in our childhood textbooks, but what is its real significance? What is the real meaning of the festival of Diwali? And then of course – the central question that occupies our social media around this festival –...
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0022 - 5 examples where patterns = delusions | The gambler's fallacy
The gambler's fallacy is one of those logical fallacies of the human psyche that is equal parts hilarious and equal parts serious. As you'll see in this episode, the examples I provide for this fallacy are almost laughable and ridiculous at times. But the impact it has on our everyday lives is...
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0021 - Unlearn, unself and let go | 1 very important message for our time
Ours is the time of the ego - rampant, self-indulgent ego. Selfies, personalised feeds, personalised ads, personalised everything - almost all good products, but almost all terrible if left unchecked or unsupervised. And isn’t that true for our times? We have let the idea of our “selves” go too…
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0020 - 3 suggestions on how to cope with Depression
Everyone goes through the highs and lows of life - no matter what social situation they're in, no matter how much privilege others perceive in their life situation, life has its highs and lows for everyone. By their very definition, the low phases of life are more difficult to navigate for us.…
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0019 - 3 examples of stereotypes in everyday life | Understand & overcome outgroup homogeneity bias
The human mind has a tendency to over-homogenize its outgroups. Statements and narratives that generalise and stereotype our outgroups seem to be more easily acceptable to us than we would expect from our rational selves. Join me in this episode as I talk about the outgroup homogeneity bias. I…
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0018 - Three issues with religions today, and how we can solve them.
In the modern world, there are three broad kinds of issues we face when it comes to perceiving and talking about religion, god and spirituality. Join me as I walk you through these three problems and how we can go about solving them. After all, the greatest merit in pointing out problems lies in…
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0017 - Unlearning the attachment to victimhood
An old quote of mine reads, “More than being identified with the victim in your story, be identified with the observer of it. The latter is closer to the truth.” In this episode of The Unlearning Playground, I expand on what I mean when I say this. Like most of my everyday-life advice episodes,...
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0016 - 2 modern-day examples of the framing effect | being pro-life or pro-choice & the wage gap
The framing effect is one of the easiest cognitive biases to understand and make sense of. Join me, Chetan Narang, in this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast as I walk through an easy explanation for the same. In addition to just talking about the framing effect, I talk about how it is...
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0015 - 1 powerful way to understand reincarnation, rebirth & karma - A simple nondual explanation
For almost all of us, the way in which we perceive the idea of reincarnation, rebirth and karma - both believers as well as skeptics - is limited. Join me, Chetan Narang, in this episode of The Unlearning Playground podcast to go into the depth of understanding these heavy terms. We unpack what...
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0014 - 1 practical advice about words, quotes & misinterpretations
So much of our waking lives revolve around words that we barely get time to think about what is the right relationship to have with our own words. We interpret everything – all the quotes we read, all the videos we watch, all the podcasts we listen, all the conversations we have, all the social...
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0013 - How important is money?
Money is not everything but it is something. While most of us agree on this basic statement, we still do not quite understand what is the right relationship to have with money. How much money is too much money? How much money is enough? What is the right way to think about money? These are some...
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Trailer: Unlearn with Chetan Narang, at The Unlearning Playground
Want to thank yourself later for having spent some quality time on the internet finally? You are at the right place. Unlearn with me at The Unlearning Playground Podcast. Let's get to the root of philosophy, spirituality, self, god and all of that jazz while never letting go of the truth in…
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0012 - 4 utilities of understanding true spirituality | Engineering a utopia | The dream of Life
A meditative discourse on spirituality, philosophy and its utility in our everyday lives. I walk through an understanding of the root of eastern philosophy - The Advaita Vedanta or Nonduality - via the metaphor of dreams. And then I talk about how the realisations that follow this understanding,...
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0011 - 1 simple solution for anxiety | A short, fresh perspective on perfect and good
A short and fresh perspective about a quote that I find to be amongst the most potent ones ever - "Perfect is the enemy of good." I think this episode is far from perfect, but it is good. Practice what you preach, eh? Tune right in. I’ll see you in the playground. -------------- Check out all of…
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0010 - Experiencing vs Remembering Self | Cognitive biases
Another standalone episode in our series about human cognitive biases and logical fallacies. And I dare say, this is amongst the most “useful” episodes I would do in this series. If you let it, the concept covered in these ten minutes has the power to change the way you’ve been thinking about…
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0009 - Cognitive load | Ego depletion | Cognitive biases
Another episode in our series of episodes about human cognitive biases. In this one, I talk about Cognitive load, which is an overarching phenomenon that affects our moment-to-moment state of being and thus, affects our ability to make decisions, to understand and process information - in short…
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0008 - We see the world as we are | Cognitive biases | Logical fallacies
Join me as I build on one of the most influential quotes I've had the good fortune of coming across - "We see the world as we are, not as the world is." Cognitive biases and logical fallacies govern so much of our day-to-day thinking that it's almost mind-boggling when we encounter them for the...
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0007 - Being better at relationships | What does love look like? | Kindness | Rocco Jarman
Most of human life is relationships - personal, professional, casual. Join me as I walk you through an extremely potent and a really effective method that has the power to improve all your relationships manifold. It is based on a meditation that my friend Rocco Jarman shared with me quite…
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0006 - Simplify your life | Work-life balance
In the name of development and progress, we modern humans have complicated our lives way more than needed. And in the name of paying our bills or advancing our careers or earning a livelihood or being independent, we complicate them even more. Isn't this true? It is. It most definitely is. This...
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0005 - The truth about God | Understanding over believing | Who am I?
An episode dedicated to God - what the word actually means. Absorbing the content here should give you a whole lot of clarity about these burning questions we all have about God: Is there a creator? What are the atheists missing? What does the word God really mean? Where do most religions…
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0004 - Going within | Ego, self & illusions | Know thyself
One of the most potent advice you can give someone is to ask them to go within, or to know themselves. We have all heard the old sayings from eastern philosophy. "Go within." "Know thyself." I try in this episode to throw some light on these beautiful sayings. Join me as I walk you through a…
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0003 - Is there a creator? | God - The creator fallacy
Ironically, one of the most important words that mankind ever came up with is also one of the most misinterpreted words of all time. That word is "God". And that word also forms the bedrock of some of the most potent questions a human being can ask: Is there a God? Is there a Creator? Are the...
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0002 - Being one with everything | 1 very easy way to understand this | The separation fallacy
If anyone asks me what is the one thing everyone should realise but doesn't, I would send them this episode of mine. There is of course a lot of unlearning that needs to happen to really enable absorbing all of it and let it change the way you perceive the world, and that is exactly what The...
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0001 - Introduction to The Unlearning Playground
There is an old Buddhist quote that says, "Learning to unlearn is the highest form of learning." I, Chetan Narang, firmly stand by that quote as I introduce you to my podcast, The Unlearning Playground. More often than not, the biggest blocker standing between us and the truth is our idea that we...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Unlearning Playground is a self improvement podcast by Chetan Narang, a software engineer by degree, but a teacher, life coach and a philosopher at heart.
The podcast is designed to dive deep into important questions centred around mental health and spiritual health in the modern world. The episodes are a mix of potent and easily applicable life lessons for your everyday life and direct, honest answers to the most significant questions you can come up with. The aim is to help people think better, to understand themselves, others & Life better, and to help them simplify their lives to make space for what really matters - to them, to their loved ones & to all of us.
We discuss mental health, spiritual health, philosophy, spirituality, life lessons, quotes, books, cognitive biases and meditations to get to the root of Life, not just to scratch the surface, trying to never lose sight of what's true in favour of what's comfortable - with the ove
HOSTED BY
Chetan Narang
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Unlearning Playground have?
The Unlearning Playground currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Unlearning Playground about?
The Unlearning Playground is a self improvement podcast by Chetan Narang, a software engineer by degree, but a teacher, life coach and a philosopher at heart. The podcast is designed to dive deep into important questions centred around mental health and spiritual health in the modern world. The...
How often does The Unlearning Playground release new episodes?
The Unlearning Playground has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Unlearning Playground?
You can listen to The Unlearning Playground on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Unlearning Playground?
The Unlearning Playground is created and hosted by Chetan Narang.
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