This Question Can Change Your Life

In this episode of The Ezra Klein Show, Ezra interviews Stephen Batchelor, a Buddhist author, about the practice of doubt and uncertainty in meditation, personal life, and politics. Batchelor shares his experiences with Zen meditation, particularly the practice of asking "What is this?" and explores the difference between inhibiting doubt and existential doubt. They discuss the four tasks of Buddhism: embracing suffering, letting reactivity be, dwelling in non-reactive space, and cultivating a path. The conversation touches on the tension between certainty and uncertainty, justice and care, and how maintaining a sense of doubt can foster curiosity and better communication in a polarized political climate. Batchelor also recommends three books that have influenced his thinking on governance, work, and interconnectedness.