The Tao of Lloyd

EXPLORE

Society & Culture

© 2024 PodJoint

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts221/v4/70/de/aa/70deaabd-ce96-1a6d-6068-e277d296e8f2/mza_15344423528448112195.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

The Tao of Lloyd

Lloyd Dobler

30 episodes

4 hours ago

Why do powerful men keep fantasizing about public punishment? Lloyd Dobler riffs on “The Guillotine” by The Coup, written by Boots Riley, using the song’s provocation to examine how structural violence gets normalized under capitalism. In Chapter 18 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu suggests that when a society forgets the Great Tao, fear hardens into spectacle—and power starts mistaking cruelty for strength. This episode was sparked by comments from Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, who recen...

Show more...

Personal Journals,

Society & Culture

All content for The Tao of Lloyd is the property of Lloyd Dobler and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Why do powerful men keep fantasizing about public punishment? Lloyd Dobler riffs on “The Guillotine” by The Coup, written by Boots Riley, using the song’s provocation to examine how structural violence gets normalized under capitalism. In Chapter 18 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu suggests that when a society forgets the Great Tao, fear hardens into spectacle—and power starts mistaking cruelty for strength. This episode was sparked by comments from Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, who recen...

Show more...

Personal Journals,

Society & Culture

Episodes (20/30)

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 18: We Got the Guillotine, You Better Run

Why do powerful men keep fantasizing about public punishment? Lloyd Dobler riffs on “The Guillotine” by The Coup, written by Boots Riley, using the song’s provocation to examine how structural violence gets normalized under capitalism. In Chapter 18 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-tzu suggests that when a society forgets the Great Tao, fear hardens into spectacle—and power starts mistaking cruelty for strength. This episode was sparked by comments from Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, who recen...

3 days ago

12 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 17: On Refusing Orders

What does it actually mean to refuse an unlawful order—when no one’s watching, and no one’s officially in charge? In Chapter 17 of The Tao of Lloyd, Lloyd Dobler moves from a humiliating road-rage incident in a Whole Foods parking lot to a chilling national moment: U.S. lawmakers reminding the military of a long-settled legal truth—that service members are required to refuse unlawful orders, only to be accused of sedition punishable by death. Drawing on Chapter 17 of the Tao Te Ching, Lloyd e...

5 days ago

16 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 16: About My Road Rage

What happens when road rage turns into a near-death experience? In Chapter 16 of The Tao of Lloyd, Lloyd Dobler sets out to explore stillness, emptiness, and non-reactivity, and then promptly fails in spectacular fashion at a red light. A reckless moment of political rage escalates into a real-world confrontation that nearly ends very badly, forcing Lloyd to reckon with the gap between spiritual ideals and how the nervous system actually behaves under threat. Grounded in Chapter 16 of the Tao...

1 week ago

16 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 15: Let the Mud Settle

Chapter 15: Let the Mud Settle Subscribe free: https://www.patreon.com/TaoOfLloyd Monthly supporters get the bonus universe: https://www.patreon.com/taooflloyd/membership Lloyd aims the Tao Te Ching at Trumplandia like a spiritual weather report for a country vibrating itself into madness. Using Chapter 15, he explores three versions of where he comes from: Seattle, the Big Bang, and a VHS copy of Say Anything that slipped into the multiverse. This is a guided meditation for people who m...

1 week ago

13 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 14: The Future Keeps Ghosting Us

Subscribe free: https://www.patreon.com/TaoOfLloyd | Monthly supporters get the bonus universe: https://www.patreon.com/taooflloyd/membership Chapter 14 of The Tao of Lloyd dives into the fog: prediction culture, political chaos, AI riddling like a digital monk, and the Tao’s reminder that “you can’t know it — but you can be it.” Lloyd unpacks hope, fear, empire-time weirdness, and the quiet rebellion of refusing to let algorithms script your life. Send a text. Ask a questi...

2 weeks ago

14 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 13: The Slow-Drip of Fascism

Lloyd Dobler uses the Tao Te Ching to make sense of a tragedy in Washington DC: a National Guard member killed, another critically wounded, and a political system that turned grief into ammunition before the scene was even cleared. Lloyd traces the scapegoating of Afghan refugees, Trump’s threat to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries,” and the creeping authoritarianism that arrives not with a bang but a slow-drip leak no one bothers to patch. What follows is a ...

2 weeks ago

11 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 12: A Trojan Horse Walks Into Open AI

AI acceleration meets sensory overload meets the eerie quiet that appears when you finally silence your notifications. Lloyd uses the Tao Te Ching to navigate machine-learning hype, Gen X dread, and the possibility that enlightenment may just be your brain in airplane mode. A Taoist meditation on clarity in late-stage everything. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blendin...

3 weeks ago

10 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 11: Pluribus. We Is Us

Lloyd reads the Tao Te Ching while Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus accidentally explains America with a hive mind. Featuring alien RNA, RFK Jr–level confusion, sci-fi absurdity, and a guided meditation on becoming the empty center; a Taoist field guide to individuality and cosmic teamwork. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blending Tao Te Ching meditations, Gen-X philosophy, a...

3 weeks ago

11 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 10: Can I Write My Way Home?

A rediscovered 2011 letter from Diane Court kicks off a guided-meditation crisis. Lloyd turns to Chapter 10 to sift through memory, softening, relationships, Gen X nostalgia, and the parts of himself that once believed in things like tenderness and courage. A Taoist deep dive into self-reflection, heartbreak, and emotional archaeology. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—b...

1 month ago

15 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 9: Do Your Job and Go the F* Home

Burnout meets spiritual wisdom as Lloyd tries to follow the Tao’s advice to “step back” while TikTok insists you “go the f home.” From Black Friday chaos to yoga calamity to a Diane Court breadcrumb, he tackles unclenching, trauma alphabetizing, and resisting a culture that treats exhaustion as a patriotic duty. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blending Tao Te Ching m...

1 month ago

11 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 8: Be Water, My Friend

Lloyd channels the Tao Te Ching, Bruce Lee, and Standing Rock to figure out how to stay fluid in a country addicted to certainty, shouting, and weaponized confidence. A Taoist survival guide to softness, resilience, and not cracking like a ceramic mug dropped on concrete. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blending Tao Te Ching meditations, Gen-X philosophy, and anti-fa...

1 month ago

12 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 7: Zohran Mamdani v. Donald Trump

Lloyd holds Chapter 7 up to New York and accidentally walks into a borough-wide spiritual awakening involving Zohran Mamdani, a bureaucratic bull, and a matador with excellent timing. A Taoist meditation on revolution, clarity, compassion, activism, and the rare moment when capitalism finally blinks. Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TaoOfLloyd Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixta...

1 month ago

12 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 6: The Algorithm in a Long Swinging Red Tie

A cryptic Taoist passage meets an AI-fueled attention storm, and Lloyd tries to loosen his grip without dropping the entire plot. Between tech hype, political theater, spiritual commentary, and soft rebellion, he explores whether small human softness can survive a system designed to monetize your nervous system before breakfast. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-punk mixtape for late-stage everything—blending...

1 month ago

10 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 5: Does the Center Hold?

Lloyd attempts to meditate inside late-stage America, also known as a 24-hour anxiety carnival sponsored by lobbyists. With Lao Tzu whispering calm on one shoulder and W. B. Yeats muttering doom on the other, he searches for one breath that isn’t manufactured by crisis. A Taoist riff on clarity, culture, mindfulness, and why everything seems to be screaming all the time. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Lloyd is a Zen-pu...

1 month ago

9 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 4: What If the Hippies Won?

Lloyd peers into the Tao’s “bottomless well” and finds a Gen X protest romantic and a confused boombox philosopher staring back. From The Sound of Music’s antifascist nuns to Reagan-era greed, he follows the Tao Te Ching through nostalgia, social justice, and democracy’s questionable taste in role models. A meditation on softness, memory, and what might’ve happened if America ever let gentleness win a single round. Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support th...

1 month ago

14 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 3: The Art of Letting Go When ICE Comes Calling

Lloyd Dobler tackles “effortless action” by immediately trying way too hard at it. Using the Tao Te Ching as a loose compass, he wanders through activism, Audre Lorde, Greta Thunberg, and a polka-dot–dress middle finger with more moral clarity than Congress. This episode blends philosophy, guided meditation, spiritual commentary, and political commentary into a Taoist survival guide for resisting spectacle without losing your courage or your sanity. From the edge of empire and the center of s...

1 month ago

11 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 2: Stop Naming the Fight

Lloyd opens Chapter 2 determined to practice wu wei, only to discover that letting go is hard when the algorithm keeps sending push alerts about ICE hiring sprees. This Taoist meditation–philosophy–political commentary mashup follows Lloyd as he tries to stay human inside a system that delights in monetizing his cortisol. Taoism, tech culture, Gen X panic … now in one convenient episode Send a text. Ask a question & I will answer, maybe in a episode Support the show ABOUT / The Tao of Llo...

2 months ago

12 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

S2. Chapter 1: The Tao That Can’t Be Podcasted

Lloyd Dobler kicks off Season 2 by opening the Tao Te Ching and immediately committing a cosmic foul: trying to podcast the un-podcastable. What follows is a guided meditation held together with duct tape, a philosophy podcast trapped inside a political commentary podcast, and a Gen X attempt at staying human while democracy performs its mid-autopsy. If you want Taoism, mindfulness, satire, and spiritual commentary delivered through a 1990s fever dream, press play. Send a text. Ask a question...

2 months ago

14 minutes

The Tao of Lloyd

Season 2 Trailer: Lloyd Dobler’s Field Guide to Wu Wei Under Fascism

Lloyd Dobler is back. Older, grayer, and still trying to meditate through a coup. In Season 2 of The Tao of Lloyd, the Gen-X dissident and accidental anti-guru starts over—using the Tao Te Ching as both the lens and the light to find stillness in Trumplandia. Eighty-one chapters. Two episodes a week. Tuesdays and Fridays. One middle-aged dissident trying to remember how to breathe in a collapsing empire. You can’t binge the Tao Te Ching like it’s Squid Game. Join Lloyd for Season 2 of ...

2 months ago

1 minute

The Tao of Lloyd

S1. Episode 10: A Sort-of Guided Meditation for Life in the Department of War Era

The Department of “Defense” just dropped the act and rebranded as the Department of War. Not a glitch, not Orwellian doublespeak—just truth in advertising. In this episode, Lloyd Dobler guides you through a sort-of meditation that uses breath like a crowbar, prying open myths about defense, empire, and silence. Seven affirmations. One loud monkey mind. And a reminder that kindness, refusal, and joy are stronger than any budget line item. Sit down, breathe, and join Lloyd as he finds stillness...

3 months ago

14 minutes