All Episodes

January 24, 2018 13 mins
What's in a legacy?

We should all hope to raise children who can see expansive meaning in the contributions we have made in our lives. Often the best way to interpret our life's work is through the insights that one has into our personal journeys. Just another reason to keep on writing.

Letters can tell us so much.
Today, we will be getting deep inside the inner-workings of Alan Watts, widely known as the philosopher who first popularized Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies for the counterculture of the 1960s. The brand new, never before published book The Collected Letters of Alan Watts is a treasure trove of letters that was discovered and lovingly curated by his first born children, Joan and Anne Watts.

The book begins with letters Watts wrote home from boarding school as a teenager, highlighting his flowering interest in Zen Buddhism. As Watts comes into his own, foregoing traditional education to create his own "self imposed university" and eventually leaving the priesthood, he corresponds with such luminaries as Joseph Campbell, Henry Miller, Gary Snyder and Aldous Huxley.
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.