In this episode I speak with author and historian, Mitch Horowitz, about personal transformation, letting go, saying no, and a whole lot more. I hope you enjoy listening to the conversation as much as I enjoyed having it!
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About Mitch Horowitz:
Washington Post: “Treats esoteric ideas and movements with an even-handed intellectual studiousness that is too often lost in today’s raised-voice discussions.” HuffPost: “Has the rare gift of making the esoteric accessible to discerning masses.”
David Lynch: “Mitch is solid gold.”
Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult.
Mitch illuminates outsider history, explains its relevance to contemporary life, and reveals the longstanding quest to bring empowerment and agency to the human condition.
He is widely credited with returning the term “New Age” to respectable use and is among the few occult writers whose work touches the bases of academic scholarship, national journalism, and subculture cred.
Mitch is a writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library, lecturer-in- residence at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, and the PEN Award-winning author of books including Occult America; One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life; and The Miracle Club.
He has discussed alternative spirituality on CBS Sunday Morning, Dateline, NBC, Vox/Netflix’s Explained, VICE News, Kesha and the Creepies, and AMC Shudder’s Cursed Films, an official selection of SXSW.
Mitch hosts and produces a feature documentary about the occult classic The Kybalion (releases Jan 11, 2022) directed by Emmy-nominee Ronni Thomas and shot on location in Egypt.
Mitch has written on everything from the war on witches to the chequered career of professional skeptic James Randi for The New York Times, Boing Boing, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time, Politico, and a wide range of ‘zines and scholarly journals. He narrates audio books including Alcoholics Anonymous and Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People (the author of which handpicked him as the voice of Jones).
Mitch’s books have appeared in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese. Mitch worked for many years in publishing, including as a vice president at Penguin Random House where he was editor-in-chief of Tarcher/Penguin, an imprint dedicated to metaphysical topics.
His book Awakened Mind is one of the first works of New Thought translated and published in Arabic. Mitch received the Walden Award for Interfaith/Intercultural Understanding. The Chinese government has censored his work.
Visit him at MitchHorowitz.com, on Twitter @MitchHorowitz, and on Instagram @MitchHorowitz23.
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