Pursuing the Excellent Life

Live Well & Flourish

If you’re ready to think beyond material and external success, if you’re ready to take control of who you are and the kind of life you live, if you’re ready to flourish, this podcast is for you. The topics I cover help you understand what it means to live a flourishing life, a life of meaning, satisfaction, and enduring happiness.

(Formerly known as the Rational Ignorance Podcast.)

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Recent Episodes

Sept. 30, 2024

All things must pass - the end of Live Well and Flourish?

After over three years and more than 100 episodes, I've decided it's time to step back from Live Well and Flourish. Producing this podcast has become more of a job than a passion, contributing to stress rather than alleviati…
Aug. 26, 2024

Stress Trifecta: Uncertainty, Isolation, and Overload (rewind)

Stress can literally kill you ... if it's not managed well. In this episode of Live Well and Flourish, Craig shares his insights on the three main causes of stress: uncertainty, isolation, and overload. He discusses how each…
Aug. 19, 2024

Managing Conflict (rewind)

(This is a re-release of episode 43 of Live Well and Flourish.) Conflict is a part of human relationships, and relationships are critical to flourishing. So, knowing how to effectively manage these inevitable conflicts is an…
Aug. 12, 2024

Controlling Your Emotions Through Emotional Regulation (rewind)

(This is a re-release of episode 31 of Live Well and Flourish.) Being able to control your emotions to minimize unnecessary suffering, and to maximize positive feelings is important to your flourishing. In this episode, Crai…
Aug. 5, 2024

Grief and Gratitude (rewind)

(This episode originally aired before our name change from Rational Ignorance to Live Well and Flourish.) Grief comes from loss. But gratitude should accompany grief. Listen as Craig reflects on the puzzling relationship bet…
July 29, 2024

Living Well Through Reflection (rewind)

Reflection is a learning, growth, and flourishing superpower. The world is often a chaotic, puzzling place. Reflection is how we can make sense of the world and our place in it. As the Jesuits at Boston College put it, “Refl…

Recent Blog Posts

Nine Country Songs that are Actually Philosophy

[This article was originally published on Medium.] My wife, Tracy, and I moved out to the country a year ago. Since moving to the country and acquiring a horse and two (very funny) goats, I’ve been listening to a lot of country music ……

Craig guests on The Toddcast Show

Recently, I had a wide-ranging, enjoyable conversation with Todd Murat, host of the Toddcast Show. We talked about how I came to be a professor (spoiler: it was a twisty path), the current state of political discourse, the power of thoughts and the …

Comfort Is The Enemy

  Today I'm bringing you the first of a new kind of article, which I'm calling 5 Minute Flourishing. These are gonna be short, focused articles. I'll release them in between the regular articles. I'm doing this because I want you to keep flour…

About the Hosts

Craig Van Slyke

Host, Live Well and Flourish ... and servant of three dogs, three cats, two horses and a goat.

Craig Van Slyke is the Mike McCallister Eminent Scholar Chair in Information Systems at Louisiana Tech University. Prior to joining Tech, he was professor and dean of the W.A. Franke College of Business at Northern Arizona University. He has also held faculty positions at Saint Louis University, University of Central Florida, and Ohio University. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University of South Florida. Dr. Van Slyke has published over 60 articles in respected academic journals including Decision Sciences, Communications of the ACM, European Journal of Information Systems and Journal of the Association for Information Systems. His fourth co-authored textbook, Information Systems in Business: An Experiential Approach, is in its fourth edition. Craig’s first trade book, On Leadership and Life: Essays on Leading and Living Well was published in June 2017. The book combines psychology and philosophy with his experiences to provide insights in to leadership and living well.

Craig also produces the AI Goes to College newsletter and podcast. If you're interested in generative AI, check it out at https://www.aigoestocollege.com.

Andrea Christelle

Former co-host, Live Well and Flourish

Andrea is an award-winning program designer, speaker, and facilitator whose innovations in philosophy create opportunities for personal development, and interpersonal understanding. For almost 10 years, Andrea has been pushing the boundaries of how and where philosophy is done. By returning philosophy to a practice of dialogue, Andrea fosters collaborative inquiry and dynamic outcomes. Andrea has customized philosophical programs for museums, movie theaters, private homes, high schools, historic hotels, artists’ studios, and small businesses. But her favorite place to do philosophy is out in the natural world, on trails and rivers. Whether it is one-on-one or in a small group, Andrea is passionate about advancing philosophy's practical value for everyday life, and helping people understand themselves, each other, and the world.

Andrea earned her PhD in philosophy from Tulane University, and serves on the boards of Benefactors of Red Rock State Park, the Public Philosophy Journal, Sedona XYZ, and the Society of Philosophers of America (SOHPIA). Her past board service includes the League of Women Voters Greater Verde Valley, Sedona International Film Festival, the Verde Valley Forum, and the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization.