# Ep. 58 – Bringing Depth to Our Lives with Emily Esfahani Smith

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-58-bringing-depth-to-our-lives-with-emily-esfahani-smith
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-58-bringing-depth-to-our-lives-with-emily-esfahani-smith.md
Podcast: [Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck with David Nichtern](https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367)
Published: 2025-08-06T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6ae72d26-b285-416f-a7ae-f4b2be2cdc85.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6ae72d26-b285-416f-a7ae-f4b2be2cdc85.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/episodes/ep-58-bringing-depth-to-our-lives-with-emily-esfahani-smith
Duration seconds: 3120

## Resource

Dissecting the process of her book, The Power of Meaning , Emily Esfahani Smith joins David to explore bringing depth to our lives via belonging, purpose, transcendence, and storytelling. Pick up Emily's book, The Power of Meaning , HERE . This time on the CSM Podcast, David and Emily discuss: Positive Psychology: shifting from a focus on what’s wrong to the science of well-being and human flourishing How connecting to something greater than ourselves can lead to self-transcendence and deeper meaning What scientific research reveals about activities that create a meaningful life Making intentional, values-aligned choices instead of following external pressures Emily’s four pillars of meaning: belonging, purpose, transcendence, and storytelling Finding true community and belonging without reinforcing exclusion or “othering” How cultural values are evolving toward greater empathy, compassion, and collective care The bodhicitta aspiration: working toward the end of suffering for all beings Start your journey from meditation practitioner to meditation guide via Dharma Moon’s course, Deepening Your Practice to Teach or step on into their 100-Hour Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training .  About Emily Esfahani Smith: Emily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning . A psychotherapist and writer, her articles have appeared in The Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Her TED Talk, 'There's more to life than being happy,' has been viewed over 15 million times." Learn more on Emily’s website . “The more I got into the research, the more that I saw that maybe it’s not happiness that we should be pursuing and glorifying, but maybe it’s this concept of leading a meaningful life.” – Emily Esfahani Smith About David Nichtern: David Nichtern, foun…

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/episodes/ep-58-bringing-depth-to-our-lives-with-emily-esfahani-smith/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/creativity-spirituality-making-a-buck-with-david-nichtern-92367/ep-58-bringing-depth-to-our-lives-with-emily-esfahani-smith.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.