EPISODE

Navigating the Noise: A Conversation with Pico Iyer on Finding Stillness in a Tech-Saturated World

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Episode 306
January 14, 2025
00:59:20
The Future of Bitcoin

Hosted by Dave Levine

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

In a time when technology dominates our lives, it’s easy to feel adrift on an endless stream of screens and information. Yet, as the late Steve Jobs noted, “Technology alone is not enough.” In this unique episode, we sit down with bestselling author and global thinker Pico Iyer, whose transformative new book Aflame: Learning from Silence delves into the profound lessons found in stillness.

Drawing on decades of personal retreats to a remote Big Sur Benedictine hermitage and insights from his travels and life’s adversities, Pico shares how silence can be a source of clarity and strength in an overbusy world. Together, we explore:

  • The power of stepping away from digital noise to reconnect with what truly matters
  • How moments of loss and hardship can ignite a deeper sense of purpose
  • Lessons from monks and communities that embrace simplicity as a path to joy
  • How to achieve some of these benefits without access to a Benedictine hermitage

This conversation offers a provocative reminder of why, in an era of technological excess, rediscovering silence isn’t just a retreat—it’s a revolution, and a return to our real selves.

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” – Albert Einstein

“Technology gives us everything, except how to make a wise and discerning use of technology.” — Pico Iyer

Headshot by Derek Sharpton

Post image by Howard Greenfield

Hearsay Culture Network
Hearsay Culture Network
Navigating the Noise: A Conversation with Pico Iyer on Finding Stillness in a Tech-Saturated World
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ABOUT THE GUEST

Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer is a bestselling author who has published 15 books, translated into 23 languages, on subjects ranging from the Dalai Lama to globalism, from the Cuban Revolution to Islamic mysticism. They include such long-running sellers as Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, The Open Road and The Art of Stillness. He has also written the introductions to more than 70 other books, as well as liner and program notes, a screenplay for Miramax and a libretto. At the same time he has been writing up to 100 articles a year for Time, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, the Financial Times and more than 250 other periodicals worldwide.
Dave Golumbia - Guest
Dave Levine

HOST BIO

DAVID LEVINE

Dave Levine is the founder and host of Hearsay Culture. He is a Professor at Elon University School of Law and an Affiliate Scholar at the Center for Internet and Society (Stanford Law School). From 2014-2017, he was a Visiting Research Collaborator at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy. He is also the co-author of Information Law, Governance, and Cybersecurity (West 2019). A regular contributor to Slate, Dave has been published in leading newspapers, websites, and academic journals in the US and EU.

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