David Creswell – New Season, New Voice

In this season opener, producer Phil Walker introduces the Mind & Life Podcast’s new host, health psychologist and contemplative scientist David Creswell. They talk about how David’s research has evolved since his 2023 guest appearance on the podcast, why the hardest moments in meditation may be where the real training happens, and what listeners can expect this season. Then David turns the tables and asks Phil what producing the previous 84 episodes of the podcast has taught him.

In this episode:

• thanking former host Wendy Hasenkamp for 84 episodes over five-plus years

• an experimental health psychologist working at the boundaries of disciplines

• mindfulness training for irritable bowel syndrome and the gut microbiome

• the meditation app revolution, and why so few people keep practicing

• learning from an app vs. a teacher and a group

• meditation as “a gym workout, not a massage”

• equanimity reps and leaning into discomfort

• scientists, industry, and new conflicts of interest

• what 84 episodes taught Phil, and his favorite conversation

• the Dalai Lama as listener: the podcast as dialogue

• a preview of this season, and a glimpse of 2027

Full show notes and resources (podcast.mindandlife.org/david-creswell-2)