Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 48

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley on the Magic of Chess, the Art of Trash-Talking, Must-Read Biographies, and More (#449)

“Once you get to the top of the mountain, you look around, and you get your chance to look. And now what? You’ve got a nice view. That’s great. How long can you stay on the mountain? You need another mountain.”

— Grandmaster Maurice Ashley

Maurice Ashley (@MauriceAshley) made history in 1999 when he became the first African-American chess Grandmaster. He is a three-time national championship coach, author of Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker.

Maurice is well known for providing dynamic live tournament coverage of world-class chess competitions and matches. His high-energy, unapologetic, and irreverent commentary combines Brooklyn street smarts with professional ESPN-style sports analysis. He has covered every class of elite event, including the World Chess Championships, the US Chess Championships, the Grand Chess Tour, and the legendary “man vs. machine” matches between Garry Kasparov and IBM’s Deep Blue.

Traveling the world as an ardent spokesperson for the many character-building effects of chess, Maurice consults with universities, schools, chess clubs, executives, and celebrities on how chess principles and strategies can be applied to improve business practices and assist with personal growth. Maurice also acts as a master of ceremonies and inspirational speaker at business conferences and high-class chess events.

Maurice has received multiple community service awards from city governments, universities, and community groups for his work. In recognition of his immense contribution to the game, he was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Brooklyn Technical High School Hall of Fame in 2018.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by ExpressVPN, Athletic Greens, and Helix Sleep. More on all three below. 

Listen onApple PodcastsListen onSpotifyListen onOvercast


#449: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley on the Magic of Chess, The Art of Trash Talking, Must-Read Biographies, and More
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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear an episode with our mutual friend Josh Waitzkin? Have a listen to our most recent conversation in which we discussed his own relationship with Maurice, approaches to learning, the benefits of being a beginner, why feedback loops are game-changers, unorthodox skill acquisition, and much more.

#412: Josh Waitzkin on Beginner’s Mind, Self-Actualization, and Advice from Your Future Selfhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/12d68ba3-6324-4364-95af-8113430a1adb.mp3Download







SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE



Connect with Maurice Ashley:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens by Maurice Gordon Ashley
Kingston, Jamaica | Visit Jamaica
Softball | Wikipedia
Reggae Sunsplash | Wikipedia
Exploring the Barrel Children Cycle: Parent-Child Separation Due to Migration | Childhood Explorer
Brownsville: Inside One of Brooklyn’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods | Time
Park Slope, Brooklyn | StreetEasy
Brooklyn Technical High School
History of Chess: From Early Stages to Magnus | Chess.com
The Rising of the Black Star | The United States Chess Federation
Foreign Names of Chess Pieces | ChessOps
How to Play Blitz Chess: 12 Steps (with Pictures) | wikiHow
Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Plays NYC Trash-Talker | The Tim Ferriss Experiment
Searching for Bobby Fischer | Prime Video
Manhattan Chess Club | Wikipedia
Marshall Chess Club
Tiger Woods: 1997 Masters Tournament Final Round Broadcast | The Masters
Harlem Educational Activities Fund
Elo Rating System | Wikipedia
How to Become a Chess Grandmaster | Chess.com
How I Became an International Master, and You Can Too | The Chess World
Bar Examination | Wikipedia
Top 5 Free Chess Databases | Chess for Beginners
Chess Openings: Sicilian Defense | The Chess Website
How to Play Shogi | Ancient Chess
The Mystery of Go, the Ancient Game That Computers Still Can’t Win | Wired
The Grandmaster Diet: How to Lose Weight While Barely Moving | ESPN
Tara Brach on Meditation and Overcoming FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) | The Tim Ferriss Show #94
Aikido | Wikipedia
Ashley’s Secret: Aikido Chess! | ChessBase
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere: An Illustrated Introduction by Adele Westbrook and Oscar Ratti
Meet the First African American to Become a Chess Grandmaster | Black History
FIDE Titles | Wikipedia
Maurice Ashley’s Chess For Progress: How The Grandmaster Is Using The Game To Teach Life Skills | NPR
The Harlem Gambit | Sports Illustrated Vault
The Grandmaster Who Got Twitch Hooked on Chess | Wired
International Chess Federation
Chess.com
Lichess.org
Chess24.com
Tsume Shogi | Japanese Chess
Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Strategies by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Combinations by Yasser Seirawan
Winning Chess Brilliancies by Yasser Seirawan
I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett
My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton
Transatlantic Slave Trade | Slavery and Remembrance
“You Can’t Legislate Love.” | Denzel Washington
The Reconstruction Amendments | National Constitution Center
A Brief History of Jim Crow | Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Devastation of Black Wall Street | JSTOR Daily
Racial Conflict: Race Riots Archives | Black Past
Civil Rights Act (1964) | Our Documents
Voting Rights Act (1965) | Our Documents
Woolworth’s Lunch Counter | Separate Is Not Equal
Redlining: A ‘Forgotten History’ Of How The US Government Segregated America | NPR
Alexis de Tocqueville on the Tyranny of the Majority | NEH-Edsitement
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody [Video] | The New York Times
Black Lives Matter
Summary of H.R. 5777: Police Accountability Act of 2020 | GovTrack.us
Link Between Education, Income Inequality Has Existed for a Century | ScienceDaily
Why Can’t We Focus During This Pandemic? | New Statesman
Wolmer’s High School for Boys
US Education Ranking Is Falling Behind the Rest of the World: How That Hurts the Economy and You | The Balance
Support a Classroom. Build a Future. | DonorsChoose
QuestBridge
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss
Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life by Gail Sheehy
Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard
How Tiger Woods’ Career Might Have Turned out Differently | Bleacher Report
The Matrix | Prime Video
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date by Samuel Arbesman
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet? | Library of Congress
“You Can Always Find Somewhere to Salsa!” | Maurice, Twitter
Bachata Dance 2019 | Bachatwins
Spanish Podcast Episodes | Duolingo
The 12 Best Telenovelas of All Time | Cosmopolitan
Marcelo Garcia Trains Tim Ferris on Episode of The Tim Ferriss Experiment | Jiu Jitsu Times
Majority | Mark Twain Quotes

SHOW NOTES

The Maurice Ashley origin story. [06:59]
Competition runs strong in the Ashley family. [09:55]
Why did Maurice’s family make the move to the US from Jamaica? Why did it involve a separation from their mother for 10 years, and what was it like to finally be reunited? [12:02]
What neighborhood in the US became home, and how did chess enter the picture for young Maurice? [15:29]
How a library book and a worthy opponent changed the way Maurice thought about chess. [18:17]
What was the Black Bear School? [19:58]
Blitz chess vs. classical chess. [23:25]
The Maurice Ashley guide to trash-talking. [25:46]
As the youngest member of the Black Bear School, what did Maurice see as the biggest setback keeping his older peers from truly excelling, and how did he evolve after “graduating” from their ranks? [30:18]
How did the atmosphere of a venerable chess club compare to what Maurice had, up to that point, been used to? [32:53]
Frustrated along the way on his quest to become a Grandmaster, what did Maurice learn from Tiger Woods that kept him in the game? [33:45]
At this time, how did Maurice’s frustration and depression around getting stuck in a rut transmute into the inspiration he needed to emerge from that rut? [36:04]
How does someone become a Master, Grandmaster, or any title in between? [39:29]
After teaching, commentating, and writing, how did Maurice get back into training shape to pursue his Grandmaster goal — and what technological advantage did he have in 1997 that he didn’t have in his Black Bear School days? [42:30]
How does Maurice suggest building mental and physical stamina for high-level chess (and why might you be hard-pressed to find a top-level player who could be considered overweight)? [47:00]
How does Maurice tie the disciplines of aikido and chess together? [50:38]
How did the experience of finally achieving the coveted Grandmaster title hit Maurice? What was the view like from the top of that mountain, and where could he possibly go after that? [53:31]
How does Maurice get kids hooked on chess, what does he get out of teaching, and what have been his most memorable teams? [57:02]
Why has chess remained popular for 1,500 years –and even seems to be increasing in popularity in the age of COVID-19? [58:31]
What would Maurice suggest to a relative chess beginner who doesn’t necessarily aspire to be a Grandmaster, but just wants to become competent at the game? [1:01:37]
Using puzzles to expand your repertoire and confidence. [1:03:38]
Recommended reading (for chess and general inspiration). [1:05:49]
How Maurice is processing the social unrest of 2020. [1:13:29]
How would Maurice hope to offset the tyranny of the majority in a way that makes America more just and equitable for all Americans — not just most Americans? [1:19:29]
As someone who’s spent time as an educator, where does Maurice feel our current educational models are most woefully lacking? [1:24:40]
How nonprofits DonorsChoose and QuestBridge are trying to help provide resources to teachers and students in underserved communities — now even more in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. [1:29:49]
Maurice expands on books he was kind enough to mention in Tribe of Mentors as having an impact on him. [1:33:02]
On being flexible, embracing uncertainty, and living out of a suitcase (though the timing might not be ideal). [1:39:50]
Maurice has never been afraid to say “I don’t know.” So where does salsa dancing, telenovelas, and Pluto fit into all of this? [1:42:09]
Parting thoughts and talking trash. [1:49:18]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Josh Waitzkin
Garry Kasparov
Maurice’s Mom
Maurice’s Dad
Maurice and Siblings
Devon Cormack
Alicia Ashley
Martha Graham
Nia Ashley
Mike Tyson
Paul Morphy
Clotaire Colas
Willie “Pops” Johnson
Edward Scissorhands
Ralph Malph
William Shakespeare
Vinnie Livermore
Laurence Fishburne
Bobby Fischer
William Morrison
George Golden
Ronald Simpson
Earnest Colding
Mark Meeres
Chris Welcome
Sam Singh
Tiger Woods
Dan Rose
Courtney Welsh
Arpad Elo
Bruce Lee
Napoleon Bonaparte
Magnus Carlsen
Oscar Ratti
Adele Westbrook
Ronnie Simpson
Hikaru Nakamura
LeBron James
Alexander Alekhine
Yasser Seirawa
Jackie Robinson
Frederick Douglass
David Blight
Harriet Tubman
Denzel Washington
Alexis de Tocqueville
Jayden Ashley
George Floyd
Michael McCullough
Gail Sheehy
George Leonard
Keanu Reeves
Morpheus
Neo
Samuel Arbesman
Marcelo Garcia
Mark Twain

Brad Feld — The Art of Unplugging, Carving Your Own Path, and Riding the Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster (#448)

Illustration via 99designs

Brad, they can’t kill you and they can’t eat you. Suit up.

— Len Fassler

Brad Feld (@bfeld) is the author of two new books: The Startup Community Way and the second edition of Startup Communities. He has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a co-founder of Techstars. Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He’s written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and writes the blogs Feld Thoughts and Venture Deals.

Brad holds bachelor of science and master of science degrees in management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Brad is also an art collector and long-distance runner. He has completed 25 marathons as part of his mission to finish a marathon in each of the 50 states.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by Laird Superfood, Theragun, and Thrive Market. More on all three below. 

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple PodcastsListen onSpotifyListen onOvercast


#448: Brad Feld — The Art of Unplugging, Carving Your Own Path, and Riding the Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/3aac5d67-3127-4822-a298-a99e520e16f7.mp3Download

This episode is brought to you by Laird Superfood. Founded by big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton and volleyball champion Gabby Reece, Laird Superfood promises to deliver high-impact fuel to help you get through your busiest days. Laird Superfood offers a line of plant-based products designed to optimize your daily rituals from sunrise to sunset.

My favorite two products are their Turmeric Superfood Creamer and Unsweetened Superfood Creamer. I put one of them in practically everything. Both can really optimize your daily coffee or tea ritual, and a $10 bag will last you a long time. For a limited time, Laird Superfood is offering you guys 20% off your order when you use code TIM at checkout. Check out lairdsuperfood.com/tim to see my favorite products and learn more.

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear the episode I did with mutual friend Jerry Colonna (the coach with the spider tattoo)? Listen to our conversation in which we discuss being complicit in creating the conditions in life we don’t really want, nagging self-doubt, finding time for self-discovery, confronting the difficulty most of us have with saying “no,” acknowledging compassion from a distance, journaling, guilt versus remorse, and much more.

#373: Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoohttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/643ace4c-54ab-4421-bb6d-a8e2c902a144.mp3Download







SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE



Connect with Brad Feld:

Feld Thoughts | Brad at Twitter | Startup Community Way at Twitter | LinkedIn

Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City by Brad Feld
The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway
Foundry Group
Techstars
Venture Deals Blog
Internet Bubble | Investopedia
From Mobius Venture Capital Ashes Arises Foundry Group with $160M-Plus Fund | VentureBeat
Interliant Archives | Feld Thoughts
Sweet Spot | The Newport Daily News
Why You Need a “Deloading” Phase in Life | tim.blog
BFeld v54 | Feld Thoughts
BFeld v53 | Feld Thoughts
The Nature Conservancy
Wellesley College
GE Capital to Acquire AmeriData Technologies for $490 Million | The New York Times
SaaS VS ASP — Understanding the Difference | DZone Cloud
Interliant | Crunchbase
Operating Expense (OPEX) | Investopedia
Rackspace Technology
Foundry Group Invests in Fitbit | Foundry Group
Techstars Entrepreneurship & Mental Health Series | LinkedIn
Hoarding Disorder DSM-5 300.3 (F42) | Therapedia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dallas, Texas
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) | Mayo Clinic
Crisis Communication: Lessons from 9/11 | Harvard Business Review
9/11 FAQs | National September 11 Memorial & Museum
I’m Finally Recovered From My 50-Mile Run | Feld Thoughts
Aaron Swartz’s Brilliant Life and Tragic Death | Rolling Stone
Jerry Colonna — The Coach with the Spider Tattoo | The Tim Ferriss Show #373
What Fred Wilson Learned from Flatiron Partners’ Failure | MIT Sloan
Entrepreneurs Take on Depression | Fortune
Entrepreneurial Life Shouldn’t Be This Way — Should It? | Inc.com
Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna
This Man Makes Founders Cry | Wired
Reboot: Authentic CEO Coaching and Leadership Development
Naropa University
Life Coach vs. Therapist: Learn the Difference | Tony Robbins
The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy by Donald Robertson
Three Magic Numbers | Feld Thoughts
Life Dinner | Feld Thoughts
What is Agile Software Development? | Agile Alliance
WALL·E | Prime Video
The Socratic Method | University of Chicago Law School
Difference Between Eidetic Memory and Photographic Memory | BetterHelp
The Power Of A Digital Sabbath | Feld Thoughts
Colorado Governor Jared Polis
Being Bored Can Be Good for You — If You Do It Right. Here’s How | Time
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Battlestar Galactica | Prime Video
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Startup Community Community | Mighty Networks
History of the Web | World Wide Web Foundation
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
How Long ’til Black Future Month?: Stories by N. K. Jemisin
Veil by Eliot Peper
Kill Chain Series by William Hertling
Change Agent by Daniel Suarez
Dune by Frank Herbert
The End of October: A Novel by Lawrence Wright
Arrival
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
Automattic
2020 Compare Cities Overview: Boston, MA vs Boulder, CO | Best Places
Fairbanks, AK
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand’s Capitalist Paradise Is Now a Greedy Land-Grabbing Shitstorm | Gawker
Pearl Street Mall | Boulder, CO
Eldorado Canyon State Park
Longmont, CO
Longs Peak | Rocky Mountain National Park
Los Angeles Is 88 Cities, Many of Them Corrupt | The Atlantic
Homer, AK
Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values by Yi-Fu Tuan
How Seth Godin Manages His Life — Rules, Principles, and Obsessions | The Tim Ferriss Show #138
Secretary Madeleine Albright — Optimism, the Future of the US, and 450-Pound Leg Presses | The Tim Ferriss Show #437
What are Complex Systems? | Complex Systems Society
Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop
Play John Conway’s Game of Life
Ottawa: We Built It Here | Shopify
The Origin Story of Silicon Valley — and Why We Shouldn’t Try to Recreate It | Interesting Engineering
Empirical Support for the Boulder Thesis | Feld Thoughts
How Duolingo Built a $700 Million Company in Pittsburgh by Getting 300 Million People Hooked on Learning New Languages | Inc.
Carnegie Mellon University
50 Colorado Startups to Watch in 2019 | Built In Colorado
Mark Cuban Bought NBA Dallas Mavericks Because He’s a Basketball Fan | CNBC

SHOW NOTES

Brad shares details of his first off-grid vacation and the genesis of how it came to be. [06:08]
In what ways did Brad’s first time off the grid help him, and how does he use shorter increments now to similar effect? Is there a pattern to this practice? [20:05]
“They can’t kill you and they can’t eat you.” [26:31]
Brad relays his long relationship with depression and anxiety, and explains why he only began speaking publicly about it in 2013. [33:57]
How mutual friend (and former guest) Jerry Colonna helped Brad approach and cope with his depressive episodes. [44:50]
Revisiting a Jerry Colonna classic: “How are you complicit in creating the conditions you say you don’t want?” [55:35]
Brad’s observations of Jerry’s group therapy sessions. [58:59]
How did Brad choose his therapist when he got back on the horse and decided to get back in that game? [1:01:57]
How does Brad advise someone with an engineering-oriented mind to find a therapist? [1:07:11]
The role of a therapist versus that of a coach. [1:08:41]
Why does Brad have an obsession with the number three? [1:13:06]
Pattern interrupts and life dinners. [1:16:55]
As someone who’s managed to sustain a relationship for 30 years, what has Brad learned about communication — particularly when it comes to conflict resolution? [1:21:42]
While some couples swear by taking notes as a way to facilitate communication and planning, Brad explains why it doesn’t really work in the relationship he shares with his wife. [1:27:52]
How often does brad partake of a digital Sabbath — going without phones or email from Friday night to Sunday morning? [1:32:06]
Boredom can be such a glorious luxury. [1:36:15]
Favorite books, a rare TV show, and a startup community. [1:37:45]
What prompted Brad’s move to Colorado from Boston, and what’s kept him there for 25 years? Are there any downsides to living there? [1:50:40]
What is complexity theory, and how does Brad apply it to his own life? [2:04:36]
What happens when startup communities create something where nothing previously existed. [2:14:00]
Final thoughts and what Brad’s three billboards might say. [2:21:44]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Amy Batchelor
Warren Katz
Ilana Katz Katz
Marge Simpson
Len Fassler
Jerry Poch
Raj Bhargava
Graham Weston
Yoda
Brad’s Parents
Eric von Hippel
Aaron Swartz
Dave Jilk
Jerry Colonna
Fred Wilson
Warren Buffett
Dr. Louis Mogul
MacAndrew Jack

Socrates
Robert M. Pirsig
Ronald D. Moore
Neal Stephenson
William Gibson
Dan Simmons
N.K. Jemisin
Eliot Peper
William Hertling
Daniel Suarez
Frank Herbert
Lawrence Wright
Ted Chiang

Matt Mullenweg
Ayn Rand
Heidi Roizen
John Hickenlooper
Ian Hathaway
Seth Godin
Madeleine Albright
W. Brian Arthur
M. Mitchell Waldrop
John Horton Conway
Mark Cuban
Michael Dell

Books I’ve Loved — Ann Miura-Ko (#447)

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to sit down with world-class performers of all different types—from startup founders and investors to chess champions to Olympic athletes. This episode, however, is an experiment and part of a shorter series I’m doing called “Books I’ve Loved.” I’ve invited some amazing past guests, close friends, and new faces to share their favorite books—the books that have influenced them, changed them, and transformed them for the better. I hope you pick up one or two new mentors—in the form of books—from this new series and apply the lessons in your own life.

Ann Miura-Ko (@annimaniac) has been called “the most powerful woman in startups” by Forbes and is a lecturer in entrepreneurship at Stanford. The child of a rocket scientist at NASA, Ann is a Palo Alto native and has been steeped in technology startups from when she was a teenager. Prior to co-founding Floodgate, she worked at Charles River Ventures and McKinsey and Company. Some of Ann’s investments include Lyft, Ayasdi, Xamarin, Refinery29, JoyRun, TaskRabbit, and Modcloth.

Due to the success of her investments, she was on the 2017 Midas List of top 100 venture capitalists. Ann is known for her debate skills (she placed first in the National Tournament of Champions and second in the State of California in high school) and was part of a five-person team at Yale that competed in the Robocup Competition in Paris, France. She has a BSEE from Yale and a PhD from Stanford in math modeling of computer security. She lives with her husband, three kids, and one spoiled dog. Her interests are piano, robots, and gastronomy.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#447: Books I've Loved — Ann Miura-Ko
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/9dfc22de-1799-4987-8523-d288e0603378.mp3Download

“Books I’ve Loved” on The Tim Ferriss Show is brought to you by Audible! I have used Audible for many years now. I love it. Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the planet. I listen when I’m taking walks, I listen while I’m cooking… I listen whenever I can. Audible is offering The Tim Ferriss Show listeners a free audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. Just go to Audible.com/tim and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs. Then, download your free title and start listening! It’s that easy. Simply go to Audible.com/tim or text TIM to 500500 to get started today.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Ann Miura-Ko:

Floodgate | Twitter 

How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

Blake Mycoskie — TOMS, The Hoffman Process, Conscious Uncoupling, and Psychedelics (#446)

Illustration via 99designs

“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”  — L. P. Jacks 

Blake Mycoskie (@BlakeMycoskie) is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and best-selling author, most known for founding TOMS Shoes. He is also the person behind the idea of One for One®, a business model that helps a person in need with every product purchased. Since its inception, TOMS Shoes has provided almost 96 million pairs of shoes to children around the globe.

In 2014, after selling half of the company to Bain Capital, Blake stepped down as CEO of TOMS. Utilizing half of his proceeds, he started The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund to help early startups with core social missions get off the ground with much-needed funding. Since then, he has invested in more than 25 social enterprises.

In the spring of 2020, Blake co-founded his newest company, Madefor, which offers a 10-month program that applies the principles of modern neuroscience, psychology, and physiology to make your brain and body better. Created alongside scientists from Stanford, Harvard, and other top universities, Madefor helps people learn and sustain positive habits and practices that have the greatest impact on their lives. Listeners of this podcast can use code TIM to get 20% off the all-in and monthly plans.

As the New York Times best-selling author of the 2011 book Start Something That Matters, Blake offered his own story of inspiration and the power of incorporating giving in business. Blake also recently expanded his philanthropic efforts to include the funding of The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins, making it the first such research center in the US and the largest of its kind in the world.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by LMNT, Ascent Protein, and Readwise. More on all three below. 

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#446: Blake Mycoskie — TOMS, The Hoffman Process, Conscious Uncoupling, and Psychedelics
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/c3dc4cf5-d158-4513-9389-1a54269edbf9.mp3Download

This episode is brought to you by LMNT! What is LMNT? It’s a delicious, sugar-free electrolyte drink mix. I’ve stocked up on boxes and boxes of this and usually use it 1–2 times per day. LMNT is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and perfectly suited to folks following a keto, low-carb, or Paleo diet. If you are on a low-carb diet or fasting, electrolytes play a key role in relieving hunger, cramps, headaches, tiredness, and dizziness.

LMNT came up with a very special offer for you, my dear listeners. They’ve created Tim’s Club: Simply go to DrinkLMNT.com/tim, select “Subscribe and Save,” and use promo code TIMSCLUB to get the 30-count box of LMNT for only $36. This will be valid for the lifetime of the subscription, and you can pause it anytime.

This episode is also brought to you by Ascent Protein! I’ve been using Ascent as my primary protein powder for the last three years. It’s clean, efficient, and easy on my stomach. Many protein powders are filled with excess sugar, questionable artificial sweeteners, or low-grade protein. Ascent Protein is an exception—it contains zero artificial ingredients, zero artificial sweeteners, and zero added sugar. All Ascent products are Informed-Sport certified to be free of banned substances, and one small scoop contains 25g of protein and more muscle-repairing BCAAs than an equivalent serving of chicken, beef, eggs, salmon, or plant-based proteins. Visit AscentProtein.com/tim and use the code TIMASCENT for 20% off your purchase.  The discount code will also work on Amazon.com if you shop Ascent Protein.

This episode is also brought to you by Readwise! Readwise is an app that helps you remember significantly more of what you read. How often do you read a book or an article and then look back a couple of weeks later to realize you barely remember anything from it? Readwise solves this problem by integrating with Kindle, Pocket, iBooks, Instapaper, and more to send you a daily digest of all your highlights. On average, their users report remembering 84% more of what they’ve read and highlighted.

It helps you build a fun, daily habit of reviewing—and actually using—the hundreds of highlights that are just sitting in your reading devices, collecting cyber-dust, and doing nothing for you. This simple habit of reviewing your highlights daily can dramatically improve how much information you retain through the scientifically proven process of spaced repetition. Sign up at readwise.io/tim for a two-month free trial offered exclusively to Tim Ferriss Show listeners. 

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear Blake’s last time on the show? Lend your ear to our conversation in which we discuss early entrepreneurial endeavors, advice for aspiring manufacturers, the importance of journaling, growing organically versus raising venture capital, and much more.

#249: How to Make a Difference and Find Your Purpose — Blake Mycoskiehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/43cb61ae-7f09-4dd9-b6a5-ac9ffc8e00af.mp3Download

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Blake Mycoskie:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Madefor
How to Make a Difference and Find Your Purpose — Blake Mycoskie | The Tim Ferriss Show #249
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie

TOMS Shoes
The Social Entrepreneurship Fund
The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research
John Newcombe Tennis Ranch
Things to Do in Austin, TX | Visit Austin
What is the Hoffman Process? | Hoffman Institute Foundation
Esalen Institute | Big Sur, California
Cortisol | You and Your Hormones from the Society for Endocrinology
Phosphatidylserine | Amazon
Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello
Rediscovering Life: Awaken to Reality by Anthony de Mello
You Can Change Your Life: With the Hoffman Process by Tim Laurence
Kathleen Harrison: Comparing Ayahuasca to Psilocybin | DMT: The Spirit Molecule
COVID-19 Map | Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
5-MeO-DMT: The New Psychedelic with Promising Mental Health Benefits | Big Think
Waking Up with Sam Harris | Waking Up
Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers | Prime Video
About Holotropic Breathwork | Grof Transpersonal Training
MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy | MAPS
Conscious Uncoupling: 5 Steps to Living Happily Even After by Katherine Woodward Thomas
The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire by David Deida
Avoiding Dehydration, Proper Hydration | Cleveland Clinic
MoMA
Tools and Tips for Better Sleep | The Tim Ferriss Show #267

SHOW NOTES

What compelled Blake to begin his life as a serial entrepreneur from an early age? [06:39]
With dreams of becoming a professional tennis player, what made Blake good enough to be a contender? [09:27]
After years of running full throttle on multiple projects, why did Blake decide to take a sabbatical in 2012 — and what did that entail? Does he feel like he came away with value from the experience? [11:47]
What is The Hoffman Process, and why did Blake choose to participate in it? [15:34]
How I blunt the cortisol response at bedtime so I can actually go to sleep. [21:00]
What disruptive patterns from his own life did The Hoffman Process allow Blake to identify and process? [22:12]
Books and resources Blake recommends that might help people achieve some of what they might undergoing The Hoffman Process. [26:22]
Blake shares the difficult stage he experienced while going through The Hoffman Process. [29:28]
Aside from The Hoffman Process, what are some of the other processes Blake has tried that have had a lasting impact? [32:55]
As a substantial supporter of psychedelic-related scientific research, what does Blake feel he’d gained from his own experiences with plant medicine? [36:08]
Has Blake had any difficult or negative plant medicine experiences? [40:59]
A public service announcement for anyone considering the use of psychedelics for whatever reason. [46:52]
What is conscious uncoupling, how did Blake become familiar with it, and how has it helped him personally — especially during the age of COVID-19? [50:45]
What else has conscious uncoupling brought into focus for Blake and allowed him to see — perhaps for the first time? [56:27]
When during a relationship does Blake feel is the right time for someone to read  Conscious Uncoupling by Katherine Woodward Thomas? Is there something they can do before that relationship is clearly headed into dangerous territory? What other books might be appropriate reading at this time? [1:00:31]
What does Blake hope to accomplish with Madefor, his new business that helps people learn and sustain positive habits and practices that have the greatest impact on their lives? How did it begin? [1:03:25]
What does Madefor look like from the consumer side of things? What are the habits and practices presented? [1:07:32]
Parting thoughts. [1:19:27]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Pam Mycoskie
Mike Mycoskie
The Mycoskie Kids
Heather Mycoskie
Bob Hoffman
John Dewey
Anthony de Mello
Andrew Huberman
Bill Moyers
Joseph Campbell
Katherine Woodward Thomas
David Deida
François-René de Chateaubriand
L.P. Jacks
Pat Dossett

Janna Levin on Extra Dimensions, Time Travel, and How to Overcome Boots in the Face (#445)

“I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, ‘If only that hadn’t happened, life would be so good.’ Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path.”  — Janna Levin

Janna Levin (@jannalevin) is the Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She has contributed to an understanding of black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. Janna is also director of sciences at Pioneer Works, a cultural center dedicated to experimentation, education, and production across disciplines, as well as Pioneer Works’ virtual home, The Broadcast.

Janna’s books include How the Universe Got Its Spots and the novel A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which won the PEN/Bingham Prize. In 2012, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant awarded to those “who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship.” Her last book, Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, is the inside story on the discovery of the century: the sound of spacetime ringing from the collision of two black holes over a billion years ago. Her new book, Black Hole Survival Guide, is scheduled for publication near the end of 2020.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by Allform and LinkedIn Jobs. More on both below. 

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#445: Janna Levin on Extra Dimensions, Time Travel, and How to Overcome Boots in the Face
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6c86cddb-7d41-471c-a58a-20bafc7ef516.mp3Download

This episode is brought to you by Allform! If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They just launched a new company called Allform, and they’re making premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.

Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa, check out Allform.com/TIM. Allform is offering 20% off all orders to you, my dear listeners, at Allform.com/TIM.

This episode is also brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.

Using LinkedIn’s active community of more than 690 million professionals worldwide, LinkedIn Jobs can help you find and hire the right person faster. When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. You can pay what you want and get the first $50 off. Just visit LinkedIn.com/TIM.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear an episode with Universe in Verse’s co-conspirator? Listen to my conversation with Maria Popova in which we discuss how to live a meaningful life, how to write for an audience of one,  Maria’s note-taking system, and much, much more.

#39: Maria Popova on Writing, Work Arounds, and Building BrainPickings.orghttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/5f940ed6-b77d-4228-bbef-35601541b0cd.mp3Download

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Janna Levin:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Pioneer Works
The Broadcast
How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Janna Levin
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Janna Levin
Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin
Black Hole Survival Guide by Janna Levin
Columbia University | New York City
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Trolley Problem Explained | World Science Festival
Understand Calculus in 35 Minutes | The Organic Chemistry Tutor
The Trolley Problem and Self-Driving Cars | Foundation for Economic Education
Quantum Physics May Be Even Spookier Than You Think | Scientific American
The Large Hadron Collider | CERN
How the Higgs Boson Was Found | Smithsonian Magazine
The Higgs Boson Was Initially Called the ‘Goddamn Particle’ | ZME Science
Two Things Are Infinite: the Universe and Human Stupidity | Quote Investigator
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity: A Simplified Explanation | Space
If You Keep Going Around the Universe, Will You End Up Where You Started? | Gizmodo
PAC-MAN
Rippin’ the Rainbow a New One | Radiolab
True Facts About The Mantis Shrimp | Ze Frank
What Is a Four-Dimensional Space Like? | Einstein for Everyone
Life on a Möbius Strip: The Greatest Moth Story Ever Told, About the Unlikely Paths That Lead Us Back to Ourselves | Brain Pickings
The Moth
The Mathematical Madness of Möbius Strips and Other One-Sided Objects | Smithsonian Magazine
The Handedness of the Universe | Scientific American
The Human Genome Project | NIH
Why I Teach by Eric S. Lander | The Moth
The Long Ukranian Winters by Roald Hoffmann | The Moth
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
White Noise by Don DeLillo
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Knopf Doubleday
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
Arrival | Prime Video
Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process by John McPhee
Levels of the Game by John McPhee
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays by David Foster Wallace
John McPhee, The Art of Nonfiction No. 3 | The Paris Review
Little, Big by John Crowley
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli
5 Real Possibilities for Interstellar Travel | PBS Space Time
Interstellar | Prime Video
The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne and Christopher Nolan
Gravitational Waves Detected 100 Years After Einstein’s Prediction | LIGO Lab, Caltech
From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll
“I Think We Have to Take Peyote and Speak to the Pangolin” | Twitter
What Is the Big Bang Theory? | Space
Stars: We Are Their Children | Cosmos
Pandemic, Recession, Unrest: 2020 and the Confluence of Crises | US News
Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe by Brian Greene
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss
The Universe in Verse | Brain Pickings
A Brave and Startling Truth: Astrophysicist Janna Levin Reads Maya Angelou’s Stunning Humanist Poem That Flew to Space, Inspired by Carl Sagan | Brain Pickings
Earthrise | NASA
Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) | The Bible
The US Military Has Officially Published Three UFO Videos. Why Doesn’t Anybody Seem to Care? | The Conversation

SHOW NOTES

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Timestamps will be added shortly.

As a self-confessed reckless kid, does Janna recall any notable instances of getting in trouble in her youth?
The car accident that, for the sake of Janna’s parents’ sanity, led her to college.
What did Janna think she wanted to be when she graduated from college, and what seemed to point in this direction rather than where she wound up? How did she become an omnivorous reader?
What are the differences between the answers that Janna got in pursuit of philosophy and the answers that she later sought from science — and what made her switch tracks?
What did Janna’s college chemistry and math teachers see in her that led them to suggest physics as a potential focus? What might have indicated an inclination toward science from an even earlier age?
Favorite philosophers Janna might recommend to a philosophy newcomer.
As the classic trolley problem has moved from undergrad philosophy thought experiment to real-world application in the development of autonomous driving, what quantifiable answers can we start to expect from the field of theoretical physics?
In order to understand how it’s possible that the universe might be finite, one only needs to ask: how is it possible that Pac-Man is a donut that doesn’t live in a higher-dimensional space?
The power of math to extend beyond the limits of human perception.
Janna talks about Life on a Möbius Strip, called “the greatest Moth story ever told” by mutual friend Maria Popova.
Why did Janna initially keep this story a secret — even from her closest friends?
How did Janna feel during and after giving the talk? Has she taken other types of internal pressure, angst, or emotion and turned them into art?
How Janna thinks of writing as sculpture, and who stands out for her (and me) as truly masterful “sculptors.”
Janna shares her physicist’s-eye-view of time and what the math tells us about how interstellar travel would work.
Janna speaks to the tension between the vast, macro-longitudinal picture of the universe we’re stretching to reach and the comparatively minuscule day-to-day political and biological realities we’re currently enduring here on Earth.
What new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved Janna’s life, and what led to this realization?
Why privilege can be more of a disadvantage than a boon when adversity eventually comes knocking.
As a girl of words who became a woman of numbers, Janna has been taking part in poetry readings lately. What’s the story behind the poem she chose to read at the 2018 Universe In Verse?
Wine, UFOs, and other parting thoughts.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Toni Morrison
Philip Roth
Ernest Hemingway
Immanuel Kant
Albert Einstein
Martin Heidegger
David Albert
Carl Sagan
Bertrand Russell
Ludwig Wittgenstein
John Locke
George Berkeley
David Hume
René Descartes
Leonard Susskind
Sean Carroll
Brian Greene
Warren Malone
Eric Lander
Roald Hoffmann
Catherine Burns
Kazuo Ishiguro
Don DeLillo
Cormac McCarthy
William Faulkner
Dan Frank
Ted Chiang
Jorge Luis Borges
John McPhee
Clark Graebner
Arthur Ashe
David Foster Wallace
Carlo Rovelli
Kip Thorne
Lynda Obst

Roger Penrose
Maria Popova
Emily Levine
Maya Angelou
Lia Halloran

Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More (#444)

Photo by Ben Watts

“Everyone takes a shower every day, and we don’t complain about it. We do it out of discipline. There will always be an excuse not to meditate.”  — Hugh Jackman 

Hugh Jackman (@TheHughJackman) is an Academy Award®-nominated, Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning performer, who has made an impression on audiences of all ages with his multi-hyphenate career persona, as successful onstage in front of live crowds as he is on film.

I’ve wanted to have Hugh on the show for nearly a decade, and—even with my sky-high hopes—he absolutely over-delivered. In our conversation, we dig into lessons learned, routines, favorite books, exercises, intuition, meditation, and much, much more. Hugh was very gracious with his time, and this is one of the longest interviews he has ever done. 

Trust me—Hugh delivers the goods, and we had a blast. Enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by ExpressVPN and Magic Spoon. More on both below. 

You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#444: Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/ec2a4e45-73c9-4c90-b537-45b4433a0687.mp3Download

This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. I’ve been using ExpressVPN since last summer to make sure that my data is secure and encrypted, without slowing my Internet speed. If you ever use public Wi-Fi at, say, a hotel or a coffee shop, where I often work and as many of my listeners do, you’re often sending data over an open network, meaning no encryption at all.

A great way to ensure that all of your data is encrypted and can’t be easily read by hackers is by using ExpressVPN. All you need to do is download the ExpressVPN app on your computer or smartphone and then use the Internet just as you normally would. You click one button in the ExpressVPN app to secure 100% of your network data. Use my link ExpressVPN.com/Tim today and get an extra three months free on a one-year package!

This episode is also brought to you by Magic Spoon Cereal! Magic Spoon is a brand-new cereal that is low carb, high protein, and zero sugar. It tastes just like your favorite sugary cereal. Each serving has 12g of protein, 3g of net carbs, 0g of sugar, and only 110 calories. It’s also gluten free, grain free, keto friendly, soy free, and GMO free. And it’s delicious! It comes in your favorite, traditional cereal flavors like Cocoa, Frosted, and Blueberry.

Magic Spoon cereal has received a lot of attention since launching last year. Time magazine included it in their list of Best Inventions of 2019, and Forbes called it “the future of cereal.” My listeners—that’s you—get free shipping and a 100% happiness guarantee when you visit MagicSpoon.com/TIM and use code TIM.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear the podcast episode that turned Hugh on to a cornucopia of new books for his daily morning reading routine? Check out “Books I’ve Loved” with Seth Godin and Esther Perel. 

#402: Books I've Loved — Seth Godin and Esther Perelhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/5a004c1f-c9ba-4124-95a1-61bd9fbfabd3.mp3Download

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Hugh Jackman:

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

PortraitPuzzles.com
X-Men Film Series In Order | IMDb
Star Trek: The Next Generation Synopsis | Star Trek
Books I’ve Loved — Seth Godin and Esther Perel | The Tim Ferriss Show #402
The 4 Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
Watch Hugh Jackman Audition for Wolverine, the Role that Would Change His Life | IGN
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks
No Kid Hungry
Share Our Strength
Here is New York by E.B. White
This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace
This is Water by David Foster Wallace (Full Transcript and Audio) | Farnam Street
The Overstory: A Novel by Richard Powers
Transcendental Meditation
How to Cage the Monkey Mind | The Tim Ferriss Show #175
Peloton
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis | Cleveland Clinic
Kim Swims | Prime Video
Chariots Of Fire | Prime Video
Hugh Jackman to Star in The Music Man on Broadway | Playbill
Mantra: Om Paramatmane Namah with Anuradha Choudry | YogaAnytime
Waking Up with Sam Harris App | Waking Up
Hugh Jackman on Marriage and Family | Good Housekeeping
What is the Origin of the Christian Fish Symbol? | Christianity Today
Adopt Change
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)
Neighbours | Prime Video
Royal Shakespeare Company | RSC
University of Technology Sydney
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Sliding Doors | Prime Video
Ken Burns — A Master Filmmaker on Creative Process, the Long Game, and the Noumenal | The Tim Ferriss Show #386
The Civil War: A Film By Ken Burns | Prime Video
The Vietnam War: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick | Prime Video
Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns | Prime Video
The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW)
Tamarama Rock Surfers | Wikipedia
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations | tim.blog
Hugh Jackman in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as Gaston | Repeat Attenders
Hugh Jackman in Sunset Boulevard | Repeat Attenders
Oklahoma! | Prime Video
Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz | Broadway JLM
Playing Shakespeare with John Barton | Prime Video
The Greatest Showman | Prime Video
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai | Prime Video
Oprah Interviews Hugh Jackman
Rowing Machine Model D | Concept2
Australia | Prime Video
The New Interval Strategy in Workout: Employ 85% Rule | Furthermore
Quality Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles | Wentworth Wooden Puzzles
Custom Photo Jigsaw Puzzles | Portrait Puzzles PortraitPuzzles.com
Hugh Jackman Puzzles His Fans Live on Instagram with Unexpected Move | The Best Social Media

SHOW NOTES

Hugh and his wife have a tradition of reading books — sometimes to each other — every morning. From whom did this idea originate? [07:25]
What books has Hugh gifted most? [11:44]
What does Hugh’s regular meditation practice look like, and what benefits does he enjoy from it? [15:22]
How does Hugh summon and maintain the emotional and physical energy necessary for performing — particularly when he has to give his all multiple times per week on stage in front of a live audience? [19:42]
As someone who’s performed across countless stage and screen productions, why was Hugh nervous about coming on this podcast? [27:34]
What lessons did Hugh’s father teach him about being an example to others by way of action, making decisions, and always keeping his word? [29:41]
To what does Hugh owe his eloquent (or, as his wife might say, “too verbose”) communication skills? [39:16]
Hugh’s relationship with journalism, journalists, and a newfound love for the work of Ken Burns. [44:13]
Hugh talks about the contract he made with himself at the end of drama school about pursuing acting — and being wary of the word “career” in relation to that pursuit. [46:28]
Some of the best decisions Hugh made in the first years of being an aspiring/working actor. [51:26]
Why does Hugh think he was extended the kindness of auditioning for Sir Trevor Nunn — one of his idols — even though he had no intention of accepting a part in the musical he was directing? [57:02]
How has Hugh learned to trust his intuition — even when it leads him in unexpected directions? [58:52]
Can Hugh recall any times when the purpose of a nudge from intuition wasn’t easily fathomed — when the dots didn’t connect in an obvious way, but paid off in a big way when it was heeded? [1:06:29]
Am I talking to Hugh Jackman, or Perfect Tommy? [1:10:57]
Hugh elaborates on one of his daily morning practices — the design of the day — pondering the efficacy of manifestation and how it played into a major career decision. [1:12:16]
Hugh puts discipline in perspective, talks about the importance of incorporating relaxation into physical activity (or possibly any activity) for best results, the types of exercises he’s found to be most effective, and a Viktor Frankl quotation that he finds especially inspiring. [1:18:33]
Hugh is a connoisseur of puzzles and games. So what does he recommend for someone who needs to unwind from taking themselves and their work too seriously? Furthermore, what is it about puzzles that keeps him occupied all night if he doesn’t remember to set an alarm for himself? [1:27:46]
Parting thoughts. [1:33:51]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Deborra-Lee Furness
Patrick Stewart
Professor X
Esther Perel
Seth Godin
Wolverine
David Brooks
Billy Shore
E.B. White
David Foster Wallace
Gary Hart
Kim Chambers
Eric Liddell
Lisle Jones
David Attenborough
Sam Harris
Christopher Jackman
Grace McNeil
Billy Graham
Brené Brown
Queen Elizabeth II
Kylie Minogue
Guy Pearce
Margot Robbie
Ian Jackman
Ralph Jackman
Michael Jordan
Ken Burns

Ryan Holiday
Gaston
Sir Trevor Nunn
John Burton
Jesus
Joseph Campbell
Lauren Zander
Dr. Mark Hyman
Michael Gracey
Beth Lewis
Baz Luhrmann
Viktor Frankl
Carl Lewis
Roger Federer
Luciano Pavarotti

David Yarrow on Art, Markets, Business, and Combining It All (#443)

“I must never again put myself in a position where my work ethic can be undone by things totally beyond my control.”  — David Yarrow

In his genre, David Yarrow (@davidyarrow) is one of the world’s best-selling fine art photographers. Most recently, he has focused on capturing the animal and human worlds in fresh and creative ways, with philanthropy and conservation central to this drive. In 2019, charitable donations from the sale of David’s images exceeded $2.5 million.

David’s photography of life on earth has earned him a large and ever-growing following among art collectors, and he is now represented by some of the top contemporary fine art galleries around the world. In the last two years, three of Yarrow’s works have sold for more than $100,000 at Sotheby’s auctions in London and New York, and UBS has appointed David as its global ambassador.

In this conversation, we’ll talk about his photography but also touch on how his double life as a hedge fund manager informed his art.

You can buy David’s #1 best-selling book with a $50 discount and a one-year free subscription to his new quarterly photographic journal at davidyarrow.photography/Tim. 

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Brought to you by Honey, Thrive Market, and LegalZoom.

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#443: David Yarrow on Art, Markets, Business, and Combining It All
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This episode is brought to you by Honey! Honey is a free browser extension that finds promo codes for you and automatically applies them to your shopping cart. Just shop at your favorite sites, click the Honey button that drops down at checkout, and wait a few seconds as Honey scans its database of all the working coupons for that site. And watch the prices drop. Honey has found its 17+ million members over 2 billion dollars in savings. If you don’t already have Honey, you could be missing out on free savings. Get Honey for free at JoinHoney.com/TIM.

This episode is also brought to you by Thrive Market, which saves me a ton of money and is perfect for these crazy times. Thrive Market is a membership-based site on a mission to make healthy living easy and affordable for everyone. You can find all types of food, supplements, nontoxic home products, clean wine, dog food—just about anything. Members earn wholesale prices every day and save an average of $30 on each order. I personally saved $39 on my most recent order. 

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear an episode with another photographer who approached art from the world of finance? — Listen to my conversation with Humans of New York’s very own Brandon Stanton in which we discuss biographies as history, a history major’s philosophical take on the stock market, obsession, striving for improvement, and much more. 

#321: Brandon Stanton – The Story of Humans of New York and 25M+ Fanshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/3fd5315a-966f-4a6c-82a8-0303a51e1b26.mp3Download

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with David Yarrow:

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook 

1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico | FIFA
The University of Edinburgh
National Football League (NFL)
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Bungs, Babes and Rocket-Propelled Grenades — Two Weeks That Rocked FIFA and Changed the Face of Football | The Telegraph
The Mexico City Earthquake, 30 Years On: Have Its Lessons Been Forgotten? | The Guardian
The Times
What Is A Follow Focus? | Shutter Muse
Estadio Azteca, Mexico City | The Stadium Guide
The Apocryphal Twain: “The Two Most Important Days of Your Life…” | Center for Mark Twain Studies
Maradona, Mexico 1986 | David Yarrow Photography
Diego Maradona | Prime Video
Senna | Prime Video
Amy | Prime Video
Tango World Championships, Buenos Aires | Tim Ferris
Boca Juniors
Diego Maradona: Napoli’s Patron Saint and Champion | Goal
Your First 10,000 Photographs May Include Some of Your Best | PetaPixel
Upcoming Events: Casterline Goodman, Aspen | David Yarrow Photography
Why Kitzbühel is Skiing’s Wildest Ride | CNN
The White Cliffs of Dover | National Trust
Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics | IOC
Eddie the Eagle | Prime Video
Stern
Getty Images
NatWest Online
Wall Street | Prime Video
How the Big Bang Changed the City of London Forever | BBC News
Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Salomon Brothers | Investopedia
Downton Abbey | Prime Video
Yarrow Shipbuilders | Wikipedia
Barbarians at the Gate (Film)
The Wolf Of Wall Street | Prime Video
Mark Haines on September 11, 2001 | CNBC
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Bear Stearns | Wikipedia
Scottish Banking History | CSCB
Bollocks | Merriam-Webster
The Real Reason Fairfield Greenwich Group Blew $7.5 Billion On Madoff | Business Insider
What is Difference Between Endogeneous and Exogeneous Variables? | ResearchGate
Paul Tudor Jones: Documentary of Trading and Life | Investors Journal
Humans of New York
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Events as They Happen | WHO
Paul Tudor Jones: Stocks Could Retest Lows as Coronavirus Peaks, Followed by a Rally | CNBC
Where Are Africa’s Billions? | Transparency.org
Why Trump Can’t Stop His Coronavirus Briefings | The Atlantic
Tom Ford
Federal Reserve Board
Greenock’s Titanic Links | Greenock Telegraph
Tiger Management | Wikipedia
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite by Sebastian Mallaby
The Tiger Cub Hedge Funds Are Killing It Once Again. 20 Yrs after Tiger Management Folded, Its Mystique Endures. | WhaleWisdom Alpha
Armageddon | Prime Video
Jaws | Prime Video
Jaws | David Yarrow, Facebook
Where Are South Africa’s Great White Sharks? | Mongabay
Simon’s Town | A Visitors Guide
Harbour Lights Restaurant | Kalk Bay
Jerry Maguire | Prime Video
Forrest Gump | Prime Video
Wimbledon
Earth Song (Official Video) | Michael Jackson
ABBA
Amboseli & Tsavo National Park Holidays | Africa Travel
FIGJAM | Wikipedia
The Crown | Netflix
Dallas Cowboys
Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
Love Actually | Prime Video
Palm Beach | FL
Aspen | CO
Arthur Roger Gallery | New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA)
2020 Masters Tournament
LIK Fine Art
Breaking Bad | Prime Video
Marfa | TX
Montana’s Official State Website
Ghost Towns and History of the American West
Big Bend National Park | US National Park Service
Game of Thrones | Prime Video
How We Must Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic | Bill Gates, TED
Wisconsin Badgers
Bridge of Spies | Prime Video

SHOW NOTES

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Why is it smart to only publish heavy books in Scotland, and what happened to David in Mexico in 1986?
How did David’s lucky experience of shooting what turned out to be an iconic photo of Argentine football demigod Diego Maradona set him on a path of self-improvement, and where did he go from there?
What David took away from shooting the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Keeping an uncertain eye to the future with nary an artistic role model in his field of vision, what made David decide to accept a job that delighted his parents?
David talks about his relationship with his father and a conversation they had that he’ll never forget.
What did David learn in banking that informed his later exploration of photography?
Where was David on 9/11, and how did its aftermath affect his life over the months that followed?
How did the downfall of Bernie Madoff lead to David’s own exit from the glamorous world of finance?
The difference between selling hedge funds and pictures of elephants.
As someone who once made a living speculating, what did David foresee for the world in the months to come when we recorded this back in March of 2020 — just as COVID-19 was beginning to be taken seriously in the US?
Thoughts on Paul Tudor Jones’ observations and predictions about the market at this point in time, and why David is relieved he’s not handling other people’s investments right now.
On the connection between Steven Spielberg, a breaching South African great white shark that almost made David give up photography as a career, and a Texan attorney who made it worth his while.
David used to sell photos in the London Underground for £20, and his claim to fame was the time he got spat on by John McEnroe at Wimbledon.
How professional photography is more collegiate and cooperative than a zero-sum game that others need to fail in order for you to succeed (and vice versa).
What does David mean when he says he’s using “the wholesale market” to sell his art? What are the terms, benefits, and costs that can be expected?
How did Dallas come to be David’s “number two” market? What challenges exist in some markets that make others more viable to an artist like David?
How did David come to be represented by a gatekeeper who had rejected him five times before, and what can you learn in a resort town?
Is Palm Beach an important market for revenue to David, or is it important symbolically? What about the rest of the US?
FIGJAM versus third-party affirmation.
Why David believes Breaking Bad should be studied by visual artists as well as economics/business students.
On the value of being tougher on yourself.
What is David’s fascination with the Netflix business model, Montana, and ghost towns?
David is known for collaborating with others — often celebrities. How did he land his first celebrity collaboration, and what has his experience been like working with celebrities since?
Parting thoughts.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Alex Ferguson
Mark Twain
Diego Maradona
Asif Kapadia
Ayrton Senna
Amy Winehouse
Jesus Christ
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Rob Boyd
Steve Podborski
Ken Read
Bill Johnson
Katarina Witt
Eddie the Eagle
Eric Yarrow
Gordon Gekko
Bud Fox
Oliver Stone
Michael Lewis
Jordan Belfort
Icarus
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Bernie Madoff
Paul Tudor Jones
Brandon Stanton
Chase Jarvis
Julian Robertson
Tom Ford
Errol Flynn
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Vince Vaughn
Tom Hanks
Cameron Crowe
Tom Cruise
John McEnroe
Coco Gauff
Jimmy Connors
Vitas Gerulaitis
Nick Brandt
Michael Jackson
Peter Beard
Andy Warhol
Pablo Picasso
Jean-Michel Basquiat
George W. Bush
Theodore Roosevelt
Troy Aikman
J.K. Rowling
Arthur Roger
Peter Lik
John F. Kennedy
John Ford
Cindy Crawford
Charles Manson
Bill Gates
Edward Norton
Jamie Foxx
Jennifer Garner
Mark Rylance

Tribe of Mentors — Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari (#442)

Photo by Todd White

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show! It will feature some of my favorite advice and profiles from Tribe of Mentors. Thousands of you have asked for years for the audiobook versions of Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors, and they are now both finally available at audible.com/ferriss.

Today’s episode will focus on my first chapter in Tribe of Mentors, as well as the profiles of Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari.

Just a few notes on the format before we dive in: I recorded the introduction and selected three fantastic, top-ranked narrators to handle the rest. 

The short bios, which you will hear at the beginning of each profile, are read by Kaleo Griffith. Ray Porter reads my words as well as those of the male guests. The words of the female guests are performed by Thérèse Plummer.

Tribe of Mentors is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book—a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from more than 100 of the world’s top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life’s most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life.

I am really happy with how the book turned out, and the universe helped me pull off some miracles for Tribe of Mentors (e.g. Ben Stiller, Temple Grandin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Yuval Noah Harari, who you will hear in this episode, Arianna Huffington, Marc Benioff, Terry Crews, Dan Gable, and many more). It includes many of the people I grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. So thanks, universe! 

And if you only get one thing out of this book, let it be this: In a world where nobody really knows anything, you have the incredible freedom to continually reinvent yourself and forge new paths, no matter how strange. Embrace your weird self. There is no one right answer… only better questions.

I wish you luck as you forge your own path.

Please enjoy this episode, and if you’d like to listen to the other 100-plus profiles from Tribe of Mentors, please check out audible.com/ferriss.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

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Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#441: Tribe of Mentors — Naval Ravikant, Susan Cain, and Yuval Noah Harari
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/ab81fc58-f060-44d7-9cd8-314a3570217f.mp3Download

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

John Paul DeJoria — From Homelessness to Building Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila (#441)

“Don’t limit yourself in life by your age, or what you think you’re capable of doing. You’re always as old as your mind leads you to believe.” — John Paul DeJoria

John Paul DeJoria is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who has launched multiple global enterprises and is renowned as one of the “” by Forbes.

John Paul DeJoria’s rags-to-riches biography is incredible and truly exemplifies the American dream. Once homeless, he has struggled against the odds to craft a unique life and many unique businesses.

In 1980, John Paul and hair stylist Paul Mitchell converted a partially borrowed $700 into 

John Paul Mitchell Systems, which is today the largest privately held salon hair care line. In 1989, he co-founded Patrón, the first ultra-premium tequila, and now the world’s number-one ultra-premium tequila, which he sold to Bacardi in 2018. John Paul went on to co-found John Paul Pet, ROKiT, and many other enterprises. 

He has signed The Giving Pledge, along with others like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, as a formal promise to continue giving back, and he has also established JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation as a hub for his charitable investments, which span the core values of his companies: sustainability, social responsibility, and animal-friendliness.

This episode was recorded in March of 2020. Due to technical issues, we moved from Skype to phone partway through the interview.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

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Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast

#441: John Paul DeJoria — From Homelessness to Building Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila
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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear an episode featuring mutual friend Robert Rodriguez? Check out this conversation in which we discuss journaling, keeping morale high, embracing the creative process, filmmaker tips, and much more.

John Paul DeJoria — From Homelessness to Building Paul Mitchell and Patrón Tequila (#441)https://rss.art19.com/episodes/a1a49bef-971a-4c1c-b9af-216fd217e7c7.mp3Download

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with John Paul DeJoria:

Twitter

John Paul Mitchell Systems
Welcome to Patrón Tequila | Patrón Tequila
ROK Stars
Navy SEAL BUD/s Training Push-Ups | USNavySEALSWCC
Vegetarian Diet: How to Get the Best Nutrition | The Mayo Clinic
Oats | The Nutrition Source, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Apples | The Nutrition Source, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Daily Body Restore
Caymus Vineyards
Château Lafite Rothschild
Château Margaux
John Paul DeJoria, From Homeless To Billionaire | Forbes
1951 Cadillac for Sale | ClassicCars.com
The Iranian Hostage Crisis | Office of the Historian
The 1980s American Economy | ThoughtCo
Good Fortune | Prime Video
Time Inc. | Wikipedia
Is Redken Cruelty-Free in 2020? | Cruelty-Free Collections
Syntex | Wikipedia
Los Angeles Examiner | Wikipedia
Collier’s Encyclopedia | Wikipedia
Institute of Trichology
John Paul DeJoria: How to Get Your Foot in the Door and Nail the Sale | Big Think Edge
Chutzpah | My Jewish Learning
Baja Cantina | Marina Del Rey
Spago Hollywood | Seeing Stars
Jim Beam
Seagram | Wikipedia
Helping New Orleans | SBP USA
Bacardi Buys Patrón Tequila in $5.1 Billion Deal | The Drinks Business
The Patron Way: From Fantasy to Fortune – Lessons on Taking Any Business From Idea to Iconic Brand: From Fantasy to Fortune — Lessons on Taking Any Business From Idea to Iconic Brand by Ilana Edelstein
How Starbucks CEO Transformed a Small Coffee Bean Store Into a Massively Successful Worldwide Brand | Entrepreneur
The Way I Work: John Paul DeJoria, John Paul Mitchell Systems | Inc.com
Peace*Love*Happiness Ride
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | CDC
How to Say “No” Gracefully and Uncommit | The Tim Ferriss Show #328
The Golden Rule | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
ROKiT Telecommunications
NASA
Sea Shepherd
Whale Wars | Animal Planet
Sea Shepherd Launches Anti-Poaching Vessel M/V John Paul DeJoria | Sea Shepherd
Grow Appalachia
Community First! Village | Mobile Loaves & Fishes
Waterkeeper Alliance

SHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added very soon. 

In excellent shape at 76, what does fitness look like for John Paul? Does he have a consistent exercise regimen, or does he just pull off Spider-Man moves at parties with Smokey Robinson?
What kind of diet does John Paul observe, and what does he consider to be the breakfast of champions?
Wine recommendations.
On growing up “rich” and happy with only 27 cents to split with his loving mother and brother, and what this taught him about the true meaning of success.
John Paul talks about the circumstances that led to him being homeless not once, but twice, and how he managed to break the cycle.
After a colorful assortment of odd jobs — from janitor to door-to-door salesman — what led to John Paul’s teaming up with Paul Mitchell to formulate the John Paul Mitchell Systems?
Where did John Paul develop his salesmanship superpowers, and what’s the big secret he’s willing to share with us?
What did the pitch look like when John Paul and Paul Mitchell had to keep their business idea going even after an initial promised investment of big money fell through and they pooled together a grand total of $700 between them? How did they convince the links in their supply chain and their first distributor that they were worth trusting with favorable terms as an unknown, unproven line?
Did John Paul inherit his chutzpah genetically, or was it handed down by a wise elder? How might he pass it along to his own offspring?
Aside from sheer persistence in the face of rejection, what insights or techniques does John Paul credit with making him a better salesman than his competition?
John Paul shares the origin story of the Patrón tequila brand and how his salesmanship savvy helped jump-start its adoption in the US — even when heavy hitters in the industry kept telling him and his partners that it would never really catch on. (They were wrong, and Bacardi bought the brand in 2018 for just over $5 billion.)
How was the work of launching and maintaining Patrón divided among the partners, and what does John Paul consider to be some of the best lessons a Harvard Business School class might learn from decisions that were made?
What was John Paul and his partners’ secret to establishing a higher-end, more expensive tequila brand in a market saturated with a much cheaper competition?
As recently as 2013, John Paul’s workflow was devoid of computers and email. What exactly did that look like, and does it still hold true today?
In the course of a regular day, how does John Paul determine what’s important and deserving of attention versus what can safely be ignored — and how does doing things the old-fashioned way (e.g., talking on the phone) beat new-fangled, email-focused conversations?
Why John Paul finds it especially important to recognize first responders — especially during these difficult times.
On the importance of taking personal annual (or even more frequent) retreats, and how John Paul puts them to good use on his quest to live to 125.
What approach does John Paul take to — as kindly as possible — cut ties with people he no longer wants in his life?
During his retreats, has John Paul noticed any patterns that have helped him make better decisions moving forward?
How has John Paul gotten better at saying no?
Are there any new beliefs or behaviors that have had a positive impact on John Paul’s life?
Are there any quotations or maxims by which John Paul lives his life?
Books most gifted and recommended.
Memorable failures that set John Paul up for later success.
How does John Paul choose the for-profit and philanthropic projects to which he dedicates his energy? What does the 80 percent of his time spent on non-business projects look like?
What implements from his own toolkit have helped John Paul through times of doubt or difficulty?
What John Paul would put on his billboard, and parting thoughts.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Robert Rodriguez
Eloise DeJoria
Smokey Robinson
John Lee Hooker
Alexis DeJoria
Matthew McConaughey
Frances Glandney
Spider-Man
Jerzy Gregorek
John Paul with His Mother and Brother
Lee Meyers
Paul Mitchell
John Capra
Martin Crowley
Francisco Alcaraz
Wolfgang Puck
Ed Brown
Ilana Edelstein
Gary Spellman
Paul Watson
Alan Graham
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Here’s a Very Unusual $10MM Bet…

(Image credit: LadyDragonflyCC – >;<, Some rights reserved)

“I felt like I went through 15 years of psychological therapy in one night.” 
— Actual patient featured in Trip of Compassion

“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”
— William Gibson

This post is about my largest bet of 2020.

It relates to pain and promise. I’ll start with the pain, but please read through to get to the promise, as the payoff is worth it.

Every year, ~8,000,000 people in the U.S., and tens of millions worldwide, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Every day, an average of ~22 U.S. veterans commit suicide. Millions more suffer from emotional and physical abuse but never get diagnosed. I would put myself in the latter category.

Based on the events of 2020 thus far, many in public health are projecting sharp increases in both PTSD and PTSD-related suicides.

So, what to do? Historically, PTSD has been notoriously difficult to treat and cure. Conventional treatments fail all the time, despite the fact that treating trauma has never been more relevant or more important.

Now, the good news: it appears that one odd candidate—MDMA-assisted psychotherapy—holds incredible promise. As a patient succinctly put it in Trip of Compassion, a documentary about this treatment: “I felt like I went through 15 years of psychological therapy in one night.”

But that’s an anecdote. Let’s look at some hard data instead: In MAPS’ completed Phase 2 trials with 107 participants, 56% no longer qualified for PTSD after treatment with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, measured two months following treatment. At the 12-month follow-up, 68% no longer had PTSD. Most subjects received just 2–3 sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. All participants had chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD and had suffered from PTSD for an average of 17.8 years. On August 16, 2017, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to MDMA for the treatment of PTSD.

2–3 sessions and 68% are asymptomatic 12 months later… after an average of 17.8 years of suffering. This is addressing the root causes of PTSD and not simply masking symptoms, as many maintenance drugs do. It’s actual processing instead of numbing.

Below is a pie chart of results from another cohort of 25 subjects. “CAPS-5” is an assessment of PTSD severity:

It’s truly amazing.

Furthermore, in follow-ups to these studies across hundreds of people, there is no evidence that anyone has abused or become addicted to MDMA following their sessions. Of course, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy isn’t a panacea, and there are risks, but the risks are easily managed and mitigated. The data are incredibly compelling and reflect this.

For all of these reasons and more, I’ve helped organize a $10 million challenge grant for the MAPS Capstone Challenge. I’m contributing $1 million.

Why? Because there is a clear path for making MDMA a legal medicine for millions of people who are suffering.

The MAPS Capstone Challenge will help provide the funds—$30 million total—needed to complete the studies required for FDA approval of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. 

And just as important: If we succeed on this path, MDMA sets precedent and open the door for dozens of other therapeutic compounds, including psilocybin. This is why I’m putting my muscle behind this lead domino. It matters for much more than MDMA.

MAPS has already raised $10 million. If another $10 million is raised by September 10th, this will unlock a $10 million challenge grant that I’ve helped put together, alongside the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC), getting us to the finish line. Half of the grant comes from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation (@cohengive), and the rest is split equally between me; James Bailey from Bail Capital; Peter Rahal, the founder of RxBar (@peterrahal); Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS (@blakemycoskie); and one anonymous donor I hope to say more about soon. 

This challenge grant is all or nothing. If MAPS fails to raise $10 million by September 10th, they do not receive the $10 million challenge grant. There is no partial credit, and there is real urgency. This $10 million challenge grant was just announced in my interview with Rick Doblin, the founder of MAPS. Please give it a listen, as we cover many other topics and stories. 

Every dollar matters, so if the spirit moves you, please consider giving what you can by clicking here. You can also donate cryptocurrencies.

If you can contribute $100,000 or more over two years, please get in touch with Rick and his team by emailing capstone@maps.org. 

MAPS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible.

***

Thank you so much for reading this far.

And remember: this healing is possible now. The tools have been developed. To quote William Gibson, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”

Let’s help make this treatment more evenly distributed.

Much love to you and yours,

Tim

P.S. I encourage you to watch the short but powerful video below from The Economist. It shows one before-and-after transformation, including actual session footage.

Recommended resources:
Rick Doblin — The Psychedelic Domino That Tips All Others (#440) (The Tim Ferriss Show)
The World’s Largest Psychedelic Research Center (#385) (The Tim Ferriss Show)
Michael Pollan — Exploring the Frontiers of Psychedelics (#365) (The Tim Ferriss Show)
How MDMA is being used to treat PTSD (The Economist)
Business gets ready to trip: How psychedelic drugs may revolutionize mental health care (Fortune)
Johns Hopkins Opens New Center for Psychedelic Research (New York Times)
Tim Ferriss, the Man Who Put His Money Behind Psychedelic Medicine (New York Times)
“Trip of Compassion” — The Most Compelling Movie I’ve Seen In The Last Year