Emily Herring: Henri Bergson, The OG Evolutionary Artwork

Thinking Ahead with Carter Phipps

Your world is evolving—find out how with Carter Phipps, co-author of the Wall St. Journal bestseller Conscious Leadership. He’s an optimist, a generalist, and an integrative thinker. Now he has an excuse for his insatiable book-buying habit—a show that explores the movements, trends, people, and ideas that are shaping the future. Phipps is also author of Evolutionaries, and cofounder of the Institute for Cultural Evolution. Through in-depth interviews and occasional rants and reflections, the show explores the many subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways that the world is changing and developing across a vast array of domains—from business and politics to science and technology to consciousness and spirituality.

All Episodes

Thinking Ahead with Carter Phipps

Emily Herring: Henri Bergson, The OG Evolutionary

April 09, 2025

Once upon a time, French philosopher Henri Bergson was the most celebrated public intellectual in the world. People stood in long lines just to get a glimpse of his lectures. He took the culture by storm, and had enormous influence on early 20th century thought across multiple fields. Then, Europe descended into war, the zeitgeist changed, and little by little he faded away. And in a post-war modernist, materialistic age, there just wasn't been much room for this unique philosopher of consciousness, creativity, and time who brought meaning and mystery to the lecture halls of Europe and the salons of Paris.

Henri Bergson was thinking deeply about the philosophical implications of evolution all the way back in the 19th century. The originality of his thought has inspired an effort in a few corners of the academic world to revive and revisit his work and influence. Most recently, Dr. Emily Herring's new biography of Bergson, Herald of a Restless World, is garnering attention on both sides of the Atlantic. I’m thrilled to welcome Dr. Herring to the Thinking Ahead.