“Are we truly free, or have we only changed the chains that hold us?” Architect, writer, and leader of the band Antis, Algirdas Kaušpėdas continues the conversation about the meaning of human existence and the search for the divine on the podcast Beyond Economics and Back with LFMI president Elena Leontjeva. Kaušpėdas asks a challenging question: do we dare to be ourselves, or do we just repeat what is safe and fashionable?

Only by discovering their authentic selves can people become true creators — “divine humans” with purpose and responsibility in the world. Yet today, a society that has emerged from scarcity struggles in the illusion of abundance — having everything, but still feeling an inner emptiness.

The discussion also touches on the personal tragedy of losing his daughter, which became a form of literary healing. “The Chapel is an auto-therapeutic novel,” says Kaušpėdas. “Through writing, I learned to accept pain and then let it go.” He adds that his discoveries are so precious that he now burns with the desire to share them, wishing everyone the hardest but most important thing — to love a close person. Not an idealized “star,” but a loved one — with all their flaws and imperfections.

In the podcast Beyond Economics and Back, Kaušpėdas and Elena Leontjeva offer a bright and deep conversation about the human journey toward inner freedom.