Wise Studies was founded in 2014 by Ryan Spielman and Spencer Barron. We started it because we couldn’t find the thing we were looking for, engaging, high-quality audio courses that explored the great contemplative traditions of the world with both depth and clarity. As long-time students of yoga, meditation, and philosophy, we wanted access to rigorous scholarship without having to enrol in a university. And we figured we weren’t the only ones.
So we created Wise Studies as a way to bridge the gap between the academic world and everyday spiritual seekers, offering the depth of scholarly material in a format that’s engaging, accessible, and designed for everyday listening. Our mission is to produce in-depth audio learning courses focusing on traditions such as Yoga, Vedānta, Buddhism, Tantra, Contemplative Christianity and more. We collaborate with leading scholars, practitioners and thinkers to create courses that are rich in content, rooted in research, and accessible to anyone who’s genuinely interested.
We’re not just the founders. We’re the audience too. These courses are made for people like us, spiritually curious, intellectually hungry, and on a lifelong path of learning. We take pride in the clarity, warmth, and depth our contributors bring to each topic, making complex ideas understandable and genuinely enriching.
It’s important to us that we honour the standards of academic rigour while also making these teachings digestible for non-academics. We believe this kind of learning should be available to anyone captivated by the big questions: What does it mean to be human? What does a meaningful life look like? How have people across time and culture answered these questions?
Wise Studies is about ancient voices speaking to modern hearts and minds.
Ryan Spielman
I’ve been on the contemplative path since I was a teenager. For nearly three decades, I taught Ashtanga Yoga and led workshops in personal growth and development. Wise Studies grew out of my love for the great spiritual traditions and a desire to keep learning in a way that fits into real life. These days, I work as a psychotherapist and co-run a private clinic in London. My work is grounded in relational psychoanalysis, Buddhist philosophy, and a deep respect for the mystery of being human.
Spencer Barron
I have a decades long meditation practice that began in the Advaita Vedanta tradition setting me on a path of personal growth and development. As a participant in groups dedicated to the propensity for change, I was introduced to the idea of creativity and play, a fun but serious engagement in the process of transformation designed to bring about altered states and higher states of consciousness – transformative mystical experiences. The creation of Wise Studies is a natural evolution along this path reinforcing my appreciation of the traditions that have contributed to my happiness and well being. In addition to my work with Wise Studies I spend a lot of my time in the community as a social worker and counsellor.