# May The Schwartz Be With You - Chasing the Inexplicable Something with Calvin Schwartz

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-story-of-us-from-cosmic-dawn-to-the-depths-of-being-7374324/may-the-schwartz-be-with-you-chasing-the-inexplicable-something-with-calvin-schwartz
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-story-of-us-from-cosmic-dawn-to-the-depths-of-being-7374324/may-the-schwartz-be-with-you-chasing-the-inexplicable-something-with-calvin-schwartz.md
Podcast: [The Story of Us: From Cosmic Dawn to the Depths of Being](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-story-of-us-from-cosmic-dawn-to-the-depths-of-being-7374324)
Published: 2026-04-26T13:03:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/the-story-of-us/2757579
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/334131/2757579/the-story-of-us/2026_04_22_12_54_41_5f31bbb3-9b2b-4dcf-b088-56cf5d53e632.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3813

## Resource

Some lives don't follow a script. They follow a feeling — an inexplicable something that whispers just loud enough to be heard over the noise of the ordinary. Calvin Schwartz has been listening to that whisper his whole life, and what it's led him to is nothing short of extraordinary. Calvin joins us today as the host of We the Species , a podcast over 700 conversations deep that explores the big, beautiful, unanswerable questions about humanity, connection, and what it means to be alive. If you haven't found it yet, consider this your sign. In this episode, Calvin takes us on a journey that winds through pharmacy school he never wanted, a 25-year career selling eyeglasses for one of the world's wealthiest men, a novel that arrived fully formed during a rainy morning rewatch of Casablanca, and a spiritual awakening that changed the entire trajectory of his life. Along the way we touch on bullying, reinvention, the paranormal, a mysterious healing in Nazareth, a five-roll car crash he walked away from without a scratch, and — not once, but twice — turning down Steven Spielberg. Almost, he'll tell you. Almost. Calvin is also the award-winning author of There's a Tortoise in My Hair: A Journey to Spirit, a novel that has drawn comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut, Philip Roth, and John Irving, and has collected over ten national awards. It is a book about meaning, mortality, and the unseen forces that seem to guide us — whether we believe in them or not. At 80-something and showing no signs of slowing down, Calvin is a living, breathing argument for staying curious, staying open, and never letting age write the final word on who you're still becoming. In this episode we explore: Leaving behind a career — and a whole identity — to follow something you can't quite name The spiritua…

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