Mona Sobhani, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and author. In 2022 she published her first book, Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe, which documents her “transformation from diehard materialist to open-minded spiritual seeker.” Mona joins the show to discuss blowing open…
"[T]hink of someone you love [...] if you had just this one chance to express your love to that person and to leave that person with something to remember you by, what would come out? What would you write down?" ~ Ellen Fishbein shares her advice for aspiring authors… Full…
"Amazon is optimizing for buying the book, not reading the book." ~ Ellen Fishbein Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTTlBXCTVU
"[The] skill set around building online distribution is not the same skill set as writing a really, really, really, really, really awesome book. Sometimes people who can do both of those things overlap, but most of the time, they don't." ~ Ellen Fishbein Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTTlBXCTVU
"You can see [Shakespeare] going through the reps of learning how to handle this constraint and getting better and better at saying something worth saying within this quite challenging constraint of the sonnet form." ~ Ellen Fishbein on sonnets, tweets & writing under constraints… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzTTlBXCTVU
Described by David Perell as “like Rick Rubin for writing,” Ellen Fishbein is an author, writing coach and founder of Altamira Studio, an independent publisher specializing in short-form books. She joins the show to discuss how traditional publishing disrespects intelligent readers, her advice for aspiring authors, what she’s learned from…
Context is needed to make sense of math. “And that’s not taught a lot. Instead, the formal procedures are emphasized... almost to the exclusion of anything else” — John Allen Paulos on metamathematics & figuring out the independence of events… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExWBy3FlGE&t=279s
“[With stories] you can get a mathematical idea across without raising people's unnatural fear of mathematics” — John Allen Paulos on teaching math through storytelling… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExWBy3FlGE&t=279s
“Uncertainty is the only certainty, and the only security is learning how to live with insecurity.” — John Allen Paulos on the varying degrees of certainty, and our fear of the unknown… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExWBy3FlGE&t=279s
“If you never play a song, you're not going to be real fond of your piano lessons….” — John Allen Paulos on why rote problem solving doesn’t unlock the playful nature of mathematics… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fExWBy3FlGE&t=279s
Professor, Mathematician and Writer J.A. Paulos joins the show to discuss math education, the power of puzzles, cognitive biases, and MUCH more! Important Links: - John’s Website - https://math.temple.edu/~paulos/ - John’s Twitter - https://x.com/JohnAllenPaulos Show Notes: 0:00:00 Intro 0:00:51 Main podcast 0:02:02 Why do People Hate Math? 0:09:15 The Power…
"Two sequences would all of a sudden... the meaning of them would magnify just by putting them up against each other or a theme would start to build that you didn't even necessarily foresee..." ~ Chris Wilcha on bringing Flipside to life in the editing room… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OUIr2KvpjA
"I feel like also audiences are so sophisticated that they can watch these things and they understand that this is not trying to be literal journalism, that the more visual invention can make the movie even more true.” ~ Chris Wilcha on the evolving form of documentary film... Full episode:…
"I want to run toward the things that are interesting - the topics, the subjects, the events that are happening that are worth documenting - not really necessarily worry about if anyone's going to pay for it right away." ~ Chris Wilcha Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OUIr2KvpjA
"There was this unexpected self-help kind of throughline [...] It really seems to awaken in people that feeling of 'there's a thing I always wanted to do or make or a business I wanted to start…'" Here's Chris Wilcha on the reaction to Flipside at the Toronto International Film Festival……
Chris Wilcha is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and commercial director. His latest film, Flipside, which is co-executive produced by Jim and presented in association with Infinite Films (among others), opens in select US theaters tomorrow (May 31st, 2024). An ode to creative failure, abandoned projects, and rekindled passion, Flipside premiered…
"I think that this is your role as someone who's doing comedy. It's not to punch up or punch down or speak truth to power. That's all part of it, but really it's...🐠" --Bridget Phetasy Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuPmDepZ8iQ
"...can jokes go too far? Yes. Should you be allowed to make whatever joke you want? Yes. You can't really find the edge of humor. Carlin used to say, 'Your job is to kind of find the edge and go past it.' So you can't do that if you can't…
"The shared experience of America is that we're drowning. We have kids, we're trying not to look at screen so much, and we all want to lose weight. That is the fucking shared American experience right now..." --Bridget Phetasy letting the truth bombs fly😅 Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuPmDepZ8iQ
"Life is somewhat absurd, and you have to be able to laugh at it and yourself..." -- Bridget Phetasy on the inter-generational capacity for self-deprecation Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuPmDepZ8iQ
“PHETASY IS a movement disguised as a company. We just want to make you laugh while the world burns.” Bridget Phetasy is an entrepreneur, writer, podcast host, political commentator, burgeoning media mogul, and standup comedian. Over the past few years, her media company - Phetasy - has become an outlet…
"[I]f you want to remain in this network, you have to be an active & engaged individual [...] So if you're in the clubhouse & you see another member, our expectation is that you go up & you introduce yourself." Here’s Porter Braswell on how 2045 establishes trust within its…
"You understand communication, you understand what it means to be a team player. You understand execution, you're competitive, you can multitask, you stick it through..." Porter Braswell shares the advice Magic Johnson gave him on approaching business with an athlete's mindset… Full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd16c_hKB7s
“[F]or the time that you're in the clubhouse, you escape reality to some degree because you are not the only. And so all of the commentary and feedback that we get is that people feel safe. They feel like they can be their authentic self.” Here’s 2045 Studio founder Porter…