Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 51
May 1, 2020
Michael Lewis — Inside the Mind of the Iconic Writer (#427)
“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours.”
— Amos Tversky
Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of many books, including Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. Both of his books about sports became movies nominated for Academy Awards, as did The Big Short, his book about the 2008 financial crisis. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and three children.
His critically acclaimed podcast, Against The Rules, returns with season two on Tuesday, May 5. Last season, Michael explored the attack on referees in sports, financial markets, newsrooms, courts of law, and the art world.
This time around, Michael focuses on coaches: why the role of coach has expanded beyond sports in American life and why everyone seems to love coaches. Each episode examines a different kind of coach. From money coaches and voice coaches to college coaches and even the one who changed his own life, Michael delves deep inside the vast world of the coach. Can a good coach level the playing field? What is the secret to effective coaching? What role do coaches have in creating unfairness? Can everyone be coached or are some people beyond help?
Please enjoy!
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 UCAN and Readwise. More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#427: Michael Lewis on the Crafts of Writing, Friendship, Coaching, Happiness, and Morehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/c8351f56-d9e0-4ae4-babd-5ae66145a60d.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by UCAN. I was introduced to UCAN and its unique carbohydrate SuperStarch by my good friend—and listener favorite—Dr. Peter Attia, who said there is no carb in the world like it. I have since included it in my routine, using UCAN’s powders to power my workouts, and the bars make great snacks. Extensive scientific research and clinical trials have shown that SuperStarch provides a sustained release of energy to the body without spiking blood sugar. UCAN is the ideal way to source energy from a carbohydrate without the negatives associated with fast carbs, especially sugar.
You avoid fatigue, hunger cravings, and loss of focus. Whether you’re an athlete working on managing your fitness or you need healthy, efficient calories to get you through your day, UCAN is an elegant energy solution. My listeners can save 25% on their first UCAN order by going to ucan.co and using promo code TIM. U.S. orders will also be shipped for free.
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 an episode with another iconic writer? Listen to my conversation with Malcolm Gladwell in which we discuss routines, habits, and tools, how to make your stories relatable, and why he eats as little as possible in the morning.
#168: Dissecting the Success of Malcolm Gladwellhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/9ad9500f-1dd0-44c5-9a39-4d64dee7d6a6.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Michael Lewis:
The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis
Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs
Princeton Alumni Network
Isidore Newman School
Johnny Tremain: A Story of Boston in Revolt by Esther Forbes
Bestselling Author Michael Lewis Has It All Figured Out, Forbes
Princeton University Department of Art & Archaeology
The Census of Antique Works Known to Renaissance Artists
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Bowery Mission
The Economist
London School Of Economics
Ochsner Medical Center
Updating a Classic Princeton Course (Physics for Poets), Princeton Alumni Weekly
The New Republic
The Wall Street Journal
Michael Lewis on Writing, Money, and the Necessary Self-Delusion of Creativity, Brain Pickings
Salomon Brothers, Wikipedia
Simon & Schuster
The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
The Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Goldman Sachs
Paul Stuart
A Whole New World by Lea Salonga & Brad Kane, Aladdin
Let It Go by Idina Menzel, Frozen
Chthonian Definition and Meaning, Collins English Dictionary
John McPhee, The Art of Nonfiction No. 3, The Paris Review
Draft No. 4 by John McPhee
A Sense of Where You Are by John McPhee
Oakland A’s
Becoming Michael Lewis by Walter Isaacson, The Washington Post
Pushkin Industries
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
Peloton
Alcatraz Island, NPF
Bikram Yoga, Wikipedia
The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles
Hotel Metropol, Moscow
Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes from a Mud Hut by Nigel Barley
SHOW NOTES
A story about the first time I was (kindly) rejected by Michael Lewis. [08:06]
How handing in a book report almost got Michael kicked out of middle school. [09:35]
What Michael’s thesis advisor at Princeton thought about his writing as an undergrad. [12:39]
How did Michael develop the ability to write without studying it directly? [16:38]
What was it about writing that got Michael hooked enough to keep submitting content to various publications even when he’d get more rejections than acceptance? [23:24]
Was it a hard decision for Michael to give up a high-paying job at Salomon Brothers to gamble on a career as a first-time author in 1989? [25:46]
Unintended consequences: Michael wrote Liar’s Poker as a cautionary tale with humorous overtones, but a lot of young people entering the workforce read it as a how-to book. [33:57]
In his own life, how does Michael think about ambition? By what metric does he measure success? [36:45]
Maximizing self-satisfaction, optimizing the writing process, and learning to sing. [41:00]
When you’re a developing writer, there’s no underestimating the value of having an honest, earnest editor on your side who isn’t afraid to give you impolite feedback — whether it’s Michael Kinsley or John McPhee. [45:45]
On the merits of productive laziness. [53:20]
One good question Michael asks himself to help determine if a potentially worthwhile project should proceed. [58:37]
An example of how feeling an obligation to the material resulted in a project that grew from an idea for a few pages in a magazine about baseball to a book about the way markets value people: Moneyball. [1:00:38]
How has Michael self-consciously cultivated the narrative that he’s “one of the happiest people” anybody knows (including fellow writer Walter Isaacson), and how does this direct his interactions with others? [1:06:37]
Since Michael’s perpetually cheerful disposition disarms conversations that invite complaints before they even begin, what conversational prompts emerge instead? [1:11:53]
Who are Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky — the subjects of Michael’s book The Undoing Project — and what has he taken away from studying their somewhat tempestuous relationship? [1:14:15]
Among the small group of friends with whom Michael shares his work in progress, how does he phrase his requests for feedback? [1:21:01]
Michael gives us a sneak peek of what we can expect from the upcoming episode of his Against the Rules podcast in which he interviews The Inner Game of Tennis author Timothy Gallwey and delves into why the coaching methods outlined there can be applied across disciplines — from playing tuba to hitting a softball. [1:24:48]
Now that he’s dipped his toes in the waters of podcasting, are we going to see a decrease in Michael’s literary output? [1:33:39]
What does Michael’s exercise regimen look like? How does pandemic exercise differ from non-pandemic exercise? [1:38:56]
Books Michael has gifted most. [1:44:08]
What would Michael’s billboard say? [1:49:05]
Parting thoughts. [1:51:07]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Diana Monroe Lewis and John Thomas Lewis
Donatello
William A.P. Childs
E.B. White
William Strunk Jr.
Matt Ridley
Maria Popova
Michael Kinsley
Ned Chase
Chevy Chase
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Johnny Cash
John McPhee
Ed Zschau
Bill Bradley
Amos Tversky
Billy Beane
Scott Hatteberg
Barry Zito
Paul DePodesta
Walter Isaacson
Daniel Kahneman
Jacob Weisberg
Timothy Gallwey
Malcolm Gladwell
Frans Bengtsson
Amor Towles
Clive James
Gerald Durrell
Nigel Barley
Billy Fitzgerald
Laird Hamilton
Michael Lewis on the Crafts of Writing, Friendship, Coaching, Happiness, and More (#427)
“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours.”
— Amos Tversky
Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of many books, including Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. Both of his books about sports became movies nominated for Academy Awards, as did The Big Short, his book about the 2008 financial crisis. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and three children.
His critically acclaimed podcast, Against The Rules, returns with season two on Tuesday, May 5. Last season, Michael explored the attack on referees in sports, financial markets, newsrooms, courts of law, and the art world.
This time around, Michael focuses on coaches: why the role of coach has expanded beyond sports in American life and why everyone seems to love coaches. Each episode examines a different kind of coach. From money coaches and voice coaches to college coaches and even the one who changed his own life, Michael delves deep inside the vast world of the coach. Can a good coach level the playing field? What is the secret to effective coaching? What role do coaches have in creating unfairness? Can everyone be coached or are some people beyond help?
Please enjoy!
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 UCAN and Readwise. More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#427: Michael Lewis on the Crafts of Writing, Friendship, Coaching, Happiness, and More
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/c8351f56-d9e0-4ae4-babd-5ae66145a60d.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by UCAN. I was introduced to UCAN and its unique carbohydrate SuperStarch by my good friend—and listener favorite—Dr. Peter Attia, who said there is no carb in the world like it. I have since included it in my routine, using UCAN’s powders to power my workouts, and the bars make great snacks. Extensive scientific research and clinical trials have shown that SuperStarch provides a sustained release of energy to the body without spiking blood sugar. UCAN is the ideal way to source energy from a carbohydrate without the negatives associated with fast carbs, especially sugar.
You avoid fatigue, hunger cravings, and loss of focus. Whether you’re an athlete working on managing your fitness or you need healthy, efficient calories to get you through your day, UCAN is an elegant energy solution. My listeners can save 25% on their first UCAN order by going to ucan.co and using promo code TIM. U.S. orders will also be shipped for free.
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 an episode with another iconic writer? Listen to my conversation with Malcolm Gladwell in which we discuss routines, habits, and tools, how to make your stories relatable, and why he eats as little as possible in the morning.
#168: Dissecting the Success of Malcolm Gladwellhttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/9ad9500f-1dd0-44c5-9a39-4d64dee7d6a6.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Michael Lewis:
The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis
Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs
Princeton Alumni Network
Isidore Newman School
Johnny Tremain: A Story of Boston in Revolt by Esther Forbes
Bestselling Author Michael Lewis Has It All Figured Out, Forbes
Princeton University Department of Art & Archaeology
The Census of Antique Works Known to Renaissance Artists
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Bowery Mission
The Economist
London School Of Economics
Ochsner Medical Center
Updating a Classic Princeton Course (Physics for Poets), Princeton Alumni Weekly
The New Republic
The Wall Street Journal
Michael Lewis on Writing, Money, and the Necessary Self-Delusion of Creativity, Brain Pickings
Salomon Brothers, Wikipedia
Simon & Schuster
The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
The Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Goldman Sachs
Paul Stuart
A Whole New World by Lea Salonga & Brad Kane, Aladdin
Let It Go by Idina Menzel, Frozen
Chthonian Definition and Meaning, Collins English Dictionary
John McPhee, The Art of Nonfiction No. 3, The Paris Review
Draft No. 4 by John McPhee
A Sense of Where You Are by John McPhee
Oakland A’s
Becoming Michael Lewis by Walter Isaacson, The Washington Post
Pushkin Industries
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
Peloton
Alcatraz Island, NPF
Bikram Yoga, Wikipedia
The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson
A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles
Hotel Metropol, Moscow
Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown-Ups by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes from a Mud Hut by Nigel Barley
SHOW NOTES
Note from the editor: Dear listeners, the timestamps will be added shortly.
A story about the first time I was (kindly) rejected by Michael Lewis.
How handing in a book report almost got Michael kicked out of middle school.
What Michael’s thesis advisor at Princeton thought about his writing as an undergrad.
How did Michael develop the ability to write without studying it directly?
What was it about writing that got Michael hooked enough to keep submitting content to various publications even when he’d get more rejections than acceptance?
Was it a hard decision for Michael to give up a high-paying job at Solomon Brothers to gamble on a career as a first-time author in 1989?
Unintended consequences: Michael wrote Liar’s Poker as a cautionary tale with humorous overtones, but a lot of young people entering the workforce read it as a how-to book.
In his own life, how does Michael think about ambition? By what metric does he measure success?
Maximizing self-satisfaction, optimizing the writing process, and learning to sing.
When you’re a developing writer, there’s no underestimating the value of having an honest, earnest editor on your side who isn’t afraid to give you impolite feedback — whether it’s Michael Kinsley or John McPhee.
On the merits of productive laziness.
One good question Michael asks himself to help determine if a potentially worthwhile project should proceed.
An example of how feeling an obligation to the material resulted in a project that grew from an idea for a few pages in a magazine about baseball to a book about the way markets value people: Moneyball.
How has Michael self-consciously cultivated the narrative that he’s “one of the happiest people” anybody knows (including fellow writer Walter Isaacson), and how does this direct his interactions with others?
Since Michael’s perpetually cheerful disposition disarms conversations that invite complaints before they even begin, what conversational prompts emerge instead?
Who are Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky — the subjects of Michael’s book The Undoing Project — and what has he taken away from studying their somewhat tempestuous relationship?
Among the small group of friends with whom Michael shares his work in progress, how does he phrase his requests for feedback?
Michael gives us a sneak peek of what we can expect from the upcoming episode of his Against the Rules podcast in which he interviews The Inner Game of Tennis author Timothy Gallwey and delves into why the coaching methods outlined there can be applied across disciplines — from playing tuba to hitting a softball.
Now that he’s dipped his toes in the waters of podcasting, are we going to see a decrease in Michael’s literary output?
What does Michael’s exercise regimen look like? How does pandemic exercise differ from non-pandemic exercise?
Books Michael has gifted most.
What would Michael’s billboard say?[00:00]
Parting thoughts.
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Diana Monroe Lewis and John Thomas Lewis
Donatello
William A.P. Childs
E.B. White
William Strunk Jr.
Matt Ridley
Maria Popova
Michael Kinsley
Ned Chase
Chevy Chase
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Johnny Cash
John McPhee
Ed Zschau
Bill Bradley
Amos Tversky
Billy Beane
Scott Hatteberg
Barry Zito
Paul DePodesta
Walter Isaacson
Daniel Kahneman
Jacob Weisberg
Timothy Gallwey
Malcolm Gladwell
Frans Bengtsson
Amor Towles
Clive James
Gerald Durrell
Nigel Barley
Billy Fitzgerald
Laird Hamilton
April 29, 2020
The Random Show: Boozy Quarantine Edition! (#426)
Technologist, serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, self-experimenter, and all-around wild and crazy guy Kevin Rose (@KevinRose) rejoins me for another episode of “The Random Show.” In this one we explore fine (and not-so-fine) wines, dog adoption, great fiction and non-fiction reads, anniversary celebration during quarantine, exotic meats and decadent desserts, skiing accidents, and much more.
Please enjoy!
NOTE: This episode was recorded on April 2nd on Caffeine.tv. Thanks to everyone who joined this special live edition!
April 27, 2020
Books I’ve Loved — Cindy Eckert and Alexis Ohanian (#425)
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.
Cindy Eckert (@cindypinkceo) is a billion-dollar dealmaker, self-made entrepreneur, and tireless force of nature if you’re asking Fortune magazine. Prior to forming The Pink Ceiling (affectionately known as the Pinkbuator) to fund and foster female-led disruption in healthcare, Cindy built two pharmaceutical companies from scratch. As Founder and CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals, she created a new category of sexual wellness for women by taking on the FDA and winning the approval of the first and only pill for women’s libido, Addyi. Cindy sold that company for $1B and now invests in game-changing ideas that support her mission to put women on top.
Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) is the co-founder of Reddit and Initialized Capital and the author of the bestselling book, Without Their Permission. Alexis has long advocated for the open internet, STEM education, and paid family leave. Alongside Garry Tan, he co-founded Initialized Capital—a seed-stage venture fund with over $500M under management and a portfolio with $36B in market value so far. After selling Reddit to Conde Nast, Alexis returned in 2014 as executive chairman to help lead the turnaround of the now independent company, which was last valued at $3B.
Please enjoy!
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.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#425: Books I've Loved — Cindy Eckert and Alexis Ohanian
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/55496f88-f6d6-42eb-816b-ae5c5db1097a.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 Cindy Eckert:
The Pink Ceiling | Twitter | Instagram
Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer
Connect with Alexis Ohanian:
Initialized Capital | Website | reddit | Twitter
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
April 23, 2020
Brian Koppelman on Making Art, Francis Ford Coppola, Building Momentum, and More (#424)
“A lot of growing up is learning to shift the responsibility from the other to the self.”
– Brian Koppelman
Brian Koppelman (@briankoppelman) is a screenwriter, novelist, director, producer, and host of The Moment podcast. Prior to his hit show Billions, which he co-created and executive produced (and co-wrote on spec), he was best known as the co-writer of Rounders and Ocean’s Thirteen, as well as a producer of The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones. He has also directed films, such as Solitary Man, starring Michael Douglas.
Consider getting Brian’s The Royale mug (all proceeds go to Food Bank for New York City), and join the community using hashtag #TheRoyale on Twitter when you have your first cup of coffee in the morning. 
Please enjoy!
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 Helix Sleep and “5-Bullet Friday.” More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#424: Brian Koppelman on Making Art, Francis Ford Coppola, Building Momentum, and More
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/7f885c7a-ea7f-4ba0-87c7-a7e8150d8c2d.mp3Download
This podcast is brought to you by Helix Sleep. I started sleeping on a Helix in 2017, and they’ve been one of my top choices for mattresses ever since. Take their two-minute sleep quiz, and, based on body type and how you sleep, their algorithm will identify and match you to your perfect mattress.
Helix Sleep offers a 100-night trial and free shipping and returns. They’re manufactured in the USA, and because they ship it directly to you and cut out high-margin middlemen, they cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than comparable mattress-store options. To personalize your sleep experience, visit HelixSleep.com/TIM and you’ll receive up to $125 off your custom mattress.
This episode is also brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter, which every Friday features five bullet points of cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
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 Brian Koppelman’s first time on the show? Listen to our conversation in which we explore how he got started, how he handles rejection, his big breaks, creative process, and much more:
#10: Brian Koppelman, co-writer/producer of Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, The Illusionist, etc.https://rss.art19.com/episodes/a7042c78-d249-4a70-8be3-cf68760113ba.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Brian Koppelman:
Website | Podcast | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
The Royale (All Proceeds go to Food Bank for New York City)
Brian Koppelman, Co-Writer/Producer of Rounders, The Illusionist, Ocean’s Thirteen, The Tim Ferriss Show #13
Billions
Rounders
Ocean’s 13
What Would a Professional Do?, Seth’s Blog
Where Are You Still Using Single-Ply?, tim.blog
‘Billions,’ ‘Rounders,’ and Andre the Giant with Brian Koppelman, The Bill Simmons Podcast
Chernobyl, HBO
Transcendental Meditation
The Artist’s Way Morning Pages Journal: A Companion Volume to the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Dom D’Agostino on Fasting, Ketosis, and the End of Cancer, The Tim Ferriss Show #117
What’s the Difference Between Momentum and Inertia?, The Workshop
Billions Season 4 Premiere Dedicated to Dennis Shields, The Hollywood Reporter
How to Lose 100 Pounds on The Slow-Carb Diet, tim.blog
Opioid Crisis Fast Facts, CNN
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research
The Godfather
The Godfather 2
Runner Runner
Brian Koppelman at Vine
Brian’s March 16th Quarantine Royale Post
The Royale (All Proceeds go to Food Bank for New York City)
Food Bank For New York City
The NBA
Jack Dorsey Has Revealed the Secret Way to Get Verified on Twitter (Kinda), Nieman Lab
How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area, Codus Operandi
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
Spielberg
Star Wars
Jaws
Apocalypse Now Final Cut — 40th Anniversary
Hearts Of Darkness
Sex, Lies, and Videotape Movie Edition Screenplay and Production Notes by Steven Soderbergh
Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
Little, Big by John Crowley
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang
Arrival
The Monologue Brian Wrote for Vincent D’Onofrio
Godfather of Harlem
Full Metal Jacket
Final Draft
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), CDC
SHOW NOTES
Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.
As lifelong learners, Brian and I have tried to help each other maintain momentum, not inertia, in our individual voyages of personal growth. A lot of it has to do with learning to take feedback with a professional — not personal — mindset.
Brian admits he doesn’t always take feedback constructively in the moment. Here’s the question you should really ask someone when they solicit your feedback.
How does Brian keep from saying something he might later regret to someone offering honest feedback that prompts an emotional response?
When given honest feedback that prompts an emotional response, how does Brian keep from saying something he might later regret?
We all get stuck at some point. Here’s how Brian got unstuck from one of his own struggles that may be familiar to many of us.
Why it’s never a mistake to tell people to be careful with opioids — even if they have no history of addiction.
To maintain the positive momentum of his own behavioral change, Brian checks in weekly with a supportive professional. What does this look like?
Why Brian is glad he started his weight loss regimen 10 weeks ago rather than in the middle of self-quarantining.
What led to Brian making an effort to close the gap between his public and private life, and how does he put this in practice? [:00]
What is The Royale, and how can visiting theroyalebk.com help feed hungry people in New York?
Is having a blue verification checkmark on Twitter really all it’s cracked up to be?
Brian has always been proactive in using his craft as a vehicle for expanding his circle of friends and his circle of influences. Here’s how we became friends and the free-range serendipity that happened as a result.
Brian’s favorite books and movies that showcase the messiness of the artistic process.
Brian talks about the monologue he wrote for Vincent D’Onofrio, how it came about, the process surrounding it, and what it supports.
When writing, how does Brian compose his first drafts? What does he tend to notice and refine on further drafts?
COVID talk and final thoughts.
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Seth Godin
Bill Simmons
Michael Johnson
Penn Jillette
Craig Mazin
Julia Cameron
David Levien
Amy Koppelman
Mike Tyson
Dennis Shields
Francis Ford Coppola
Tom Kretchmar
Jocko Willink
Deontay Wilder
Jason Roberts
Steven Spielberg
George Lucas
Eleanor Coppola
Steven Soderbergh
Sidney Lumet
Haruki Murakami
Ted Chiang
Vincent D’Onofrio
Peter Attia
April 21, 2020
Rana el Kaliouby — AI, Emotional Intelligence, and the Journey of Finding Oneself (#423)
“Embrace your emotions.”
– Rana el Kaliouby
A pioneer in Emotion AI, Rana el Kaliouby, PhD (@Kaliouby), is co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, and author of the new book Girl Decoded: A Scientist’s Quest to Reclaim Our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology.
A passionate advocate for humanizing technology, ethics in AI, and diversity, Rana has been recognized on Fortune magazine’s 40 Under 40 list and as one of Forbes magazine’s Top 50 Women in Tech. Rana is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a newly minted Young Presidents’ Organization member. She co-hosted the PBS series NOVA Wonders, and appears in the YouTube Originals Series The Age of A.I. hosted by Robert Downey, Jr.
Rana holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and did her postdoctoral research at MIT.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.
This podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs and “5-Bullet Friday.” More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#423: Rana el Kaliouby — AI, Emotional Intelligence, and The Journey of Finding Oneself
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/1551805a-6f37-4d4d-aaee-a9a4cb1a09fe.mp3Download
This episode is 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 is an active community with more than 675 million members worldwide. 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.
With LinkedIn, you can hire the right person quickly when you need them. And if you need to hire for healthcare or essential services, you can post your jobs for free. When it’s time to find and hire that right person, LinkedIn is here to help. Just visit LinkedIn.com/Tim to get started! Terms and conditions apply.
This episode is also brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter, which every Friday features five bullet points of cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.
It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.
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 inspiring entrepreneur striving to make the world a better place? Listen to my conversation with Patrick Collison in which we discuss the joys of reading, how to improve one’s decision-making process, and much more.
#353: Patrick Collison — CEO of Stripehttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/1869f87a-edca-4737-b3fe-cad55c90559f.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Rana el Kaliouby:
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Girl Decoded: A Scientist’s Quest to Reclaim Our Humanity by Bringing Emotional Intelligence to Technology by Rana el Kaliouby and Carol Colman
Affectiva
The World Economic Forum
NOVA Wonders
The Age of AI
Affective Computing by Rosalind W. Picard
American University in Cairo
University of Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
87% of Egyptian Men Believe Women’s Basic Role Is to Be Housewives: Study, Egypt Independent
Four Women On What Their Hijab Means to Them, Allure
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, BBC News
Emotion AI Overview, Affectiva
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?, Psych Central
Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms and Causes, The Mayo Clinic
Google Glass
Brain Power
Objectified
frog Design
‘Perfect Storm’: Parkinson’s Disease May Worsen Depression, NBC News
Tesla Promises ‘One Million Robo-Taxis’ in 2020, Engadget
The Definitive Guide to Reading Facial Microexpressions, Science of People
Would You Pull the Trolley Switch? Does it Matter?, The Atlantic
Sand Hill Road is Now the Wall Street of the West Coast, Redwhale
Iron Bank of Braavos, Game of Thrones Wiki
Wallenberg Family of Sweden
Kleiner Perkins
Spotify Turns Our Emotions into Data, and Then Profits Off of Them, The Hustle
Horizons Ventures
Predicting Divorce From The First 3 Minutes of Conflict Discussion, The Gottman Institute
Day One
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), CDC
Little, Big by John Crowley
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Becoming by Michelle Obama
What Is Imposter Syndrome and How Can You Combat It? by Elizabeth Cox, TED-Ed
Qalyubia Governorate, Wikipedia
SHOW NOTES
Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.
How did the book Affective Computing by Rosalind Picard — and meeting the author — change Rana’s life?
How did Rana manage to live in Cairo with a husband and two kids and commute to her job in Boston?
Rana gives us a glimpse of her family life growing up in Egypt.
What prompted Rana’s decision to wear a hijab in her 20s, and why did she eventually stop?
How does Rana define artificial intelligence, and why is she an advocate for bringing EQ into the equation?
What led Rana to work with artificial intelligence on a more human level, and how can it be used to help people who are on the autism spectrum?
In what ways does Rana foresee this technology helping in the mental health field — particularly for people suffering from depression?
What other applications is Rana excited to explore with facial mapping technology?
How does Rana feel about the potential for this technology to be used as a lie-detector test?
What has Rana learned about her own emotions in the process of trying to teach computers how to understand emotions?
What common misconceptions do people have about emotion, and how has talking about it evolved over the past few decades?
What it was like for Rana and Roz to pitch to potential investors for Affectiva in the male-dominated world of Silicon Valley — with Rana’s six-month-old in tow.
Where did funding eventually come from, and how enthusiastic were the investors who said yes?
How might this technology be used for dating?
Rana shares her journaling tools and habits.
Books Rana gifts most and recommends (and one I’m enjoying at the moment).
What compelled Rana to write Girl Decoded, and what did she learn in the course of writing it?
What about Rana’s relationship with her father has gone unsaid that she’d like to convey to him?
What would it take for Rana to consider Girl Decoded a success?
Why diversity in data collection and ethics in tech are crucial.
What would Rana’s billboard say?
Parting thoughts.
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Robert Downey Jr.
Rosalind W. Picard
Adam and Jana
Frank Moss
Peter Wallenberg
Mary Meeker
Solina Chau
Li Ka-shing
John Gottman
Ryan Holiday
Jhumpa Lahiri
Ben Franklin
John Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Harold Bloom
Ursula K. Le Guin
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Molly
Roger Scholl
Michelle Obama
Gabi Zijderveld
April 16, 2020
Dr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope (#421)
Photo by Vincent Calmel“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”
Dr. Jane Goodall
Dr. Jane Goodall (@JaneGoodallInst) was born on April 3rd, 1934, in London, England. At the young age of 26, she followed her passion for animals and Africa to Gombe, Tanzania, where she began her landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild, immersing herself in their habitat as a neighbor rather than a distant observer. Her discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools rocked the scientific world and redefined the relationship between humans and animals.
In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) to advance her work around the world and for generations to come. JGI continues the field research at Gombe and builds on Dr. Goodall’s innovative approach to conservation, which recognizes the central role that people play in the well-being of animals and the environment. In 1991, she founded Roots & Shoots, a global program that empowers young people in nearly 60 countries to act as the informed conservation leaders that the world so urgently needs.
Today, Dr. Goodall travels the world, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, environmental crises, and her reasons for hope. In her books and speeches, she emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things and the collective power of individual action. Dr. Goodall is a UN Messenger of Peace and Dame Commander of the British Empire.
The next chapter of Dr. Jane Goodall’s life’s work unfolds in a brand-new documentary, Jane Goodall: The Hope, premiering on Earth Day, April 22nd, at 9E/8C on Nat Geo, Nat Geo WILD, and Nat Geo Mundo. The two-hour special takes viewers through the chapters of Dr. Goodall’s journey in the 60 years since her groundbreaking discoveries researching wild chimpanzees in Gombe, including her activism, creation of her non-profit organization, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), and Roots & Shoots youth program, along with her current efforts to inspire the next generation.
Dr. Goodall’s work through the Jane Goodall Institute is advanced through the generous support of people like you and me. To show your support, visit janegoodall.org/tim.
Please enjoy!
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 ExpressVPN and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.
More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#421: Dr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/eb77a432-bd07-45dc-b3f6-2c1e2199c333.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. I’ve been using ExpressVPN since last summer, and I find it to be a reliable way 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.
One 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 LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.
With a community of more than 660 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!
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 another episode with someone who’s thinking big to save the planet? Make sure to check out my conversation with Mike Phillips, in which we discuss the countless benefits (and dispel countless myths) of reintroducing predator species to ecosystems where they’ve been eradicated.
#383: Mike Phillips — How to Save a Specieshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/b47b8a89-1ce5-41ad-9e39-abeea1e599d6.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with The Jane Goodall Institute:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Connect with Roots & Shoots:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
New Doc Special The Hope Tells Story of Jane’s Living Legacy, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
A Minute of Intense Devastation — Bournemouth’s Bloodiest Air Raid, Dorset Life
World War II: The Holocaust, The Atlantic
From Earthworms to Chimps, Crayola
The Story of How a Hen Lays an Egg, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
Jane Goodall Keeps Going, With a Lot of Hope (and a Bit of Whiskey), The New York Times
Jane Goodall Is Still Wild at Heart, The New York Times
Peter Jones Department Store, London
Natural History Museum, London
Leakey and Goodall: Scientists Who Changed How We Define ‘Human’, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
Gombe Stream National Park
Jane (Documentary)
Flo, Flint, David, and Goliath: The Famous Chimps of Gombe, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
Compassion: The Chimpanzee Who Saved a Life, Lessons for Hope
Lion Country Safari, Florida
Some Apes Jane Goodall Studied Fought a Years-Long War, AV Club
Did Jane Goodall Compare Donald Trump’s Actions to Primate Dominance Behavior?, Snopes
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), CDC
COVID-19 Should Make Us Rethink Our Destructive Relationship with the Natural World by Jane Goodall, Slate
What Is a Wet Market?, The Guardian
Coronaviruses Often Start in Animals — Here’s How Those Diseases Can Jump to Humans, Discover
This Tanzanian City May Soon Be One of the World’s Most Populous. Is It Ready?, National Geographic
The Power of One by Jane Goodall, Time
The Shocking River Fire That Fueled the Creation of the EPA, History
15 Animal Species Miraculously Saved from Extinction, BestLife
Human Viruses Kill Great Apes, Live Science
Biomedical Research Chimps Say Goodbye to Labs, Hello to Freedom, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
, CNBC
Blind Artist: Introspective and Memory Recollections: Introspective and Memory Recollections by Gary J. Haun
Richard Turner — The Magical Phenom Who Will Blow Your Mind, The Tim Ferriss Show #411
How the California Condor Returned from the Brink of Extinction, The Los Angeles Times
Jane Goodall Spreads Message of Hope, USC News
Fall of Berlin Wall: How 1989 Reshaped the Modern World, BBC
Nelson Mandela’s Inspiring Limestone Quarry Classroom, Prism Decision Systems
Don’t Miss These Five Displays at the National Geographic’s Jane Goodall Exhibition, The Washington Times
Jane’s Animal Friends, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News
SHOW NOTES
Why is Dr. Goodall grateful for growing up during WWII? [08:27]
Was Dr. Goodall’s childhood affinity for animals shared by other members of her family? How did her mother encourage curiosity where less patient parents might have done the opposite? [11:16]
Dr. Goodall describes instances of her mother’s uncanny intuition, her own experience with what some might deem “supernatural,” and what she sees as her next big adventure. [14:16]
About that time in March of 1957 when Dr. Goodall lost her passport — and almost her entire hard-earned savings — just prior to leaving for Africa. [17:04]
How Dr. Goodall connected with legendary paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, serendipitously became his secretary, and was set on the path to studying chimpanzees in the wild. [19:21]
How did Dr. Goodall come to be accepted among the chimpanzees she was observing, and what did she feel the first time she was able to look deeply into a chimpanzee’s eyes? [22:56]
What groundbreaking observations were made by Dr. Goodall at this time that changed our understanding of chimpanzee behavior, habits, and intelligence? [26:35]
On primate personalities, compassion, and the uplifting story of the time Lion Country Safari keeper Marc Cusano was saved by a chimpanzee known as Old Man. [27:33]
What did observing compassion among chimpanzees as well as the violence of the ’74–’78 Gombe Chimpanzee War lead Dr. Goodall to infer about human nature? [31:08]
How does Dr. Goodall explain the variance in attitude among chimpanzees — what makes some ruthlessly vie for dominance through physical force and others take a more subtle approach? [33:15]
After many decades of observation — of not just chimpanzees but humans — where does Dr. Goodall currently stand on thinking about human nature, and what is she doing to try and steer young people toward being better stewards of the planet than the generations that came before? [36:50]
Why COVID-19 is really just a symptom of a much larger series of problems society needs to face if it wants to be sustainable. [41:36]
Dr. Goodall takes us back to the founding of the Roots & Shoots youth program in 1991 to explain what values and skills it aims to instill in future generations. [44:41]
How does Dr. Goodall cultivate the hope necessary for overcoming apathy — what she has called “the greatest danger to our future?” [49:54]
Who was Mr. McGregor, how did he meet his end, and what did Dr. Goodall take away from the experience? [55:37]
Stories that Dr. Goodall has found particularly effective for reaching the heart and grabbing the attention of people — particularly policymakers — who she meets in her travels, and why you should always be prepared to tell stories about what’s important to you no matter where you are. [1:01:35]
Dr. Goodall has been an inspiration to people around the world for decades. But who inspires her, and how does a mysterious figure by the name of Mr. H enter the picture? What other symbols does she collect, and why? [1:07:30]
Does Dr. Goodall still have Jubilee, the stuffed chimpanzee her father gave her when she was a toddler? [1:11:00]
How did the way Dr. Goodall’s own mother raised her and the observation of chimpanzee mothers in the wild influence her own parenting style? [1:12:16]
How did Jane’s son get the nickname of “Grub?” [1:14:55]
Was it a culture shock for Grub to go from Nairobi, where he grew up, to England for school? [1:16:02]
Dr. Goodall seems very comfortable spending long periods of time alone. How does she relate to such solitude? [1:17:39]
As an 86-year-old who seems to work from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day (with a dog walk in the middle), to what does Dr. Goodall attribute the maintenance of her mental clarity, sharpness, and endurance for such a long period of time? [1:20:13]
Why does Dr. Goodall think some of her fans get such an emotional charge out of meeting her? [1:25:00]
You might not be able to teach your children to be optimistic, but here’s what Dr. Goodall learned about optimism from her own childhood, and how her mother encouraged her without promising that achieving her dreams would be easy. [1:27:57]
What would be on Dr. Goodall’s billboard? [1:29:13]
Information on where Dr. Goodall’s new documentary, This is Jane Goodall: The Hope is airing on Earth Day, and parting thoughts. [1:30:07]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Margaret “Vanne” Myfanwe Joseph
Mortimer Morris-Goodall
Derek Bryceson
Louis Leakey
Mary Leakey
David Greybeard
Old Man
Marc Cusano
Frodo
Fifi
Freud
Goblin
Mr. McGregor
Humphrey
Mel and Spindle
Gary Haun
Mr. H
Nelson Mandela
Jubilee
Flo
Benjamin Spock
Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick
Tarzan
Johnny Weissmuller
April 13, 2020
Books I’ve Loved — Matt Mullenweg (#420)
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.
Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) is the founding developer of WordPress, the open-source software used by over 35% of the web. Matt is also the CEO of Automattic, which is now the force behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, and many other products.
Having built his own 1200-person company with no offices and with employees scattered across 68 countries, Matt examines the benefits and challenges of distributed work and recruiting talented people around the globe on Distributed, which you can find on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Please enjoy!
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.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#420: Books I've Loved — Matt Mullenweg
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/6323f824-a56f-4341-b568-ae3b1c38310e.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 Matt Mullenweg:
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu
Sum: Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Becoming Wise by Krista Tippett
On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
Principles by Ray Dalio
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Remote by Jason Fried and Daivd Heinemeir Hansson
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
The Great Mental Models by Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien
Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles T. Munger
The World is Sound: Nada Brahma by Joachim-Ernst Berendt
Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
April 9, 2020
Ryan Holiday — How to Use Stoicism to Choose Alive Time Over Dead Time (#419)
“Anger is often what pain looks like when it shows itself in public.”
— Krista Tippett
Ryan Holiday (@RyanHoliday) is one of the world’s foremost thinkers and writers on ancient philosophy and its place in modern life. He is a sought-after speaker and strategist and the author of many bestselling books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and The Daily Stoic. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold more than two million copies worldwide. He lives with his family outside of Austin, Texas. You can subscribe to receive his writing at RyanHoliday.net and DailyStoic.com. Ryan was also the fourth-ever guest on the podcast in the very beginning, and he has written multiple popular guest posts for my blog, which you can find at tim.blog.
His latest book is Stillness Is the Key, which was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
This episode focuses on Stoic philosophy and how to apply it in our current uncertain times.
Please enjoy!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.
This podcast is brought to you by LegalZoom and Trello.
More on both below.
Listen onApple Podcasts
Listen onSpotify
Listen onOvercast
#419: Ryan Holiday — How to Use Stoicism to Choose Alive Time Over Dead Time
https://rss.art19.com/episodes/cbf0214e-5f23-4032-9a3a-f9ea2d530a02.mp3Download
This episode is brought to you by LegalZoom. I’ve used this service for many of my businesses, as have quite a few of the icons on this podcast, including Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg of WordPress fame.
LegalZoom is a reliable resource that more than a million people have already trusted for everything from setting up wills, proper trademark searches, forming LLCs, setting up non-profits, or finding simple cease-and-desist letter templates.
LegalZoom is not a law firm, but it does have a network of independent attorneys available in most states who can give you advice on the best way to get started, provide contract reviews, and otherwise help you run your business with complete transparency and up-front pricing. Check out LegalZoom.com and enter promo code Tim at checkout today for special savings and see how the fine folks there can make life easier for you and your business.
This episode is also brought to you by Trello. Now, more than ever, teams must come together and work together virtually to handle challenges, opportunities, and everything in between. Trello, part of Atlassian’s collaborative suite, is an app with an easy-to-understand visual format and tons of features that make working with your team more functional and more fun. Teams of all shapes and sizes—and companies like Google, Fender, and even Costco—all use Trello to collaborate and get work done.
With Trello, you can work with your team wherever you are, whether it’s at home or in an office. And no matter what device you’re using—computer, tablet, or phone—Trello syncs across all of them so you can stay up to date on all the things your team cares about. Keep your workflow going from wherever you are with Trello. Try Trello for free and learn more at trello.com/tfs!
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 another episode with Ryan Holiday? — In this conversation, we discuss empathy cultivation, why competition is for losers, lifestyle design, reading list methodology, and much more. (Stream below or right-click here to download):
#410: Ryan Holiday — Turning the Tableshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/fd3d44b6-ce5b-41e1-8efb-a7d8a0f75481.mp3Download
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Ryan Holiday:
RyanHoliday.net | Daily Stoic | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday — Turning the Tables, The Tim Ferriss Show #410 (Ryan’s Last Appearance on the Show)
Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Khan Academy
What Is Stoicism? A Definition and 9 Stoic Exercises to Get You Started, Daily Stoic
Premeditatio Malorum, Daily Stoic
Fear-Setting: The Most Valuable Exercise I Do Every Month, tim.blog
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), CDC
The Unprecedented Stock-Market Reaction to COVID-19, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Why Uber Stock Fell 17.6% in March, The Motley Fool
How 3D Printing Is Bringing An Ancient Art Form Back to the Future by Ryan Holiday, Observer
A Timeline of the19th Century, Oxford Reference
A Timeline of the 20th Century, ThoughtCo.
A Timeline of the 21st Century, Wikipedia
Chapter III, “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman” by Martin Luther King, Jr., Stanford University (Regarding the Etymology of the Word “Decision”)
SXSW 2020
Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman Posted an 11% Gain in March after Turning $27 Million into $2.6 Billion with Coronavirus Bets, Markets Insider
Bear Market Definition, Investopedia
Whipsaw Definition, Investopedia
4 Warren Buffett Principles for Investing in the Coronavirus Crash, The Motley Fool
Anger Management: 8 Strategies Backed By Two Thousand Years of Practice, Daily Stoic
Locus of Control and Your Life, Verywell Mind
5 Timeless Truths from the Serenity Prayer That Offer Wisdom in the Modern Age, HuffPost
Coronavirus Cases, Concentrated on the Coasts, Now Threaten America’s Middle, The New York Times
On Being with Krista Tippett
Shortage of Personal Protective Equipment Endangering Health Workers Worldwide Copy, WHO
Westworld, HBO
Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rain Forest, National Geographic
From Tree to Shining Tree, Radiolab
The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master (aka The Moral Letters to Lucilius) — Free PDFs (See Volume 1, Letter 56 — On Quiet and Study)
New York Requests 85 Refrigerated Trucks To House The Coming Dead, Jalopnik
The 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Verywell Mind
Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The World Is a Narrow Bridge and the Important Thing Is to Not Be Afraid, Daily Stoic
The Bear by William Faulkner
“The Coward and the Hero Feel the Same” Cus D’Amato
Why Japan Failed at Pearl Harbor, The National Interest
What Are The Main Differences Between Epicureanism And Stoicism? Daily Stoic
Antonine Plague, Ancient History Encyclopedia
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Mastery by Robert Greene
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Cato, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Flexport
Frontline Responders Fund, GoFundMe
Operation Masks
Real Mind Control: The 21-Day No-Complaint Experiment, tim.blog
“My master Attalus used to say: ‘Evil herself drinks the largest portion of her own poison.’ The poison which serpents carry for the destruction of others, and secrete without harm to themselves, is not like this poison; for this sort is ruinous to the possessor.” — Letter 81 — On Benefits, The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master (aka The Moral Letters to Lucilius)
Alive Time or Dead Time Challenge: You Choose If This Time Is Productive Or Not, Daily Stoic
SHOW NOTES
How do the ideas of the ancient Stoics help me face the trials and tribulations tracked in by our apparent apocalyptic horseman du jour during the age of COVID-19 — for example, the roller coaster ride that my stock portfolio’s value has become? [05:12]
Contemplating the amount of war, pestilence, and famine the world’s gone through since the Marcus Aurelius statue that sits on Ryan’s desk was carved in 1840 — and reminding ourselves that as bad as things get, history marches on (with or without us). [11:27]
How Ryan prepared in anticipation of the pandemic, what he’s been struggling with most since then, and what I’ve been doing to cope with the same struggle. [12:48]
It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you miss; it matters how many opportunities you take advantage of. [16:06]
There are times when I may make very fast good decisions, but I almost never make good rushed decisions. [21:08]
How would the Stoics suggest processing the anger we might be feeling over our government’s delayed response toward the pandemic — especially if we were already advocating precaution in the weeks before and being denounced as Chicken Littles for our trouble? [00:00]
How am I thinking about fear, and what would I say to someone who’s feeling overwhelmed by fear right now — for themselves and loved ones — under circumstances that are “unfair” and beyond anyone’s control? [31:48]
How can you make the next three to six months something you look back upon as a sacred time that you really treasure, not just survive? Is it going to be “alive time or dead time,” as Robert Greene would say? [40:17]
A few more thoughts on fear. [45:05]
Why I’m confident (and optimistic) that crisis will overcome incompetence in how the United States comes out of this ordeal. [48:08]
When stuff breaks down, real leaders stand up — like Emperor Marcus Aurelius working to keep Rome’s economy going during 15 years of a pandemic instead of fleeing to the countryside for safety. With different levels of skills and resources, how might we each channel our inner Stoic to be of service to the world during this crisis — and see it as an opportunity rather than something to simply be survived? And can you simultaneously be a pleasure-loving Epicurean and duty-bound Stoic? [51:08]
Since anger and complaining accomplish about the same amount of nothing, quarantine might be an excellent time to revisit Will Bowen’s 21-day no-complaint experiment. [1:02:20]
And if you want to further your contribution to ensuring the world doesn’t grind to a total standstill, maybe try the Daily Stoic’s Alive Time, Dead Time Challenge! [1:04:18]
Using this rare window of time to foster a sense of community where it has largely broken down. [1:05:15]
The origin story of the expression “alive time or dead time,” how some of the most brilliant minds have expressed their greatest work during times of quarantine, and parting thoughts. [1:06:16]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Seneca
Marcus Aurelius
Mark Twain
Abraham Lincoln
Oscar Wilde
Bill Ackman
Warren Buffett
Euripides
Donald Trump
Greg Abbott
Bozoma Saint John
Krista Tippett
Lucilius Junior
Molly
Abraham Maslow
Nelson Mandela
Tony Robbins
Johann Georg Faust
Robert Greene
William Faulkner
Dean Martin
Mike Tyson
Cus D’Amato
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Cato the Younger
Will Bowen
David Brooks
Malcolm X
William Shakespeare
Isaac Newton
Macbeth
April 8, 2020
A Dialogue with Yourself: Past, Present, and Future
When the world—inner or outer—seems upside-down, journaling is often what saves me (here’s a real example).
My girlfriend recently found a gem in “The Isolation Journals,” a project by Suleika Jaouad (@suleikajaouad) intended to be “a 30-day creativity project to help make sense of challenging times.” Each day for 30 days, you receive a journaling prompt from some of Suleika’s favorite writers, artists, and musicians.
Below is a sample from Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargle) that I simply loved. You can sign up here, and you can find past prompts here. Full disclaimer: I don’t know Suleika at all, nor her future plans, but I think this 30-day project is a wonderful way to stay and feel connected… both with others and yourself.
Both Suleika and Rachel have given me permission to share the below.
Enter Rachel Cargle
Lately, I’ve found comfort in appreciating the various versions of myself thus far. That younger me who was brave enough to make the big move to the city. Child me who opened her heart to curiosity and found hobbies that I still indulge in today. Teenage me who was scared often and instead of pushing myself into discomfort I cared for myself with a confident “no” to things I preferred not to be a part of. That version of me just a few years ago who found little morsels of joy even in the midst of what felt like the biggest storm.
I smile and look at her (those younger versions of me) with my mind’s eye. I hug her, I dance with her, I tell her I am proud of her, I forgive her for the things she was pitting against herself, I let her in on secrets about her future that she can only imagine.
I also have been indulging in the practice of praying to future versions of myself. The version of myself next year who will be fresh off of surviving a global pandemic. The version of myself who is 40 and will be benefiting from the choices I’m making now. The version of myself who is 50 and taking stock of how I’ve been existing in this world. The version of myself who is 70 who may be celebrating deeply in the friendships I am investing in now.
I pray to those versions of me. I ask her to be gentle with me, I coax her for hints on what to come, I list for her all the ways I am caring for her, right now—with that expensive face cream, through weekly therapy, by taking a few risks in business. I make promises to her, I speak my desires for her. I get energized and inspired knowing that she—that sage and grounded version of me—is waiting to meet me finally.
Take some time to reflect on all versions of yourself. This is a deeply intimate and revealing practice that can offer healing, insight, and hope.
Your prompt for the day:
Write a letter to your younger self. Thank them, praise them, scold them, comfort them—engage in whatever way you feel led with one or many versions of your younger self. Whatever comes to mind.
Now, let’s shift to exploring your older self. What would you want to say? To ask? To request? Tell your older self what you are doing now in service of them. Tell them what the ideal situation might look like when you finally meet—where might you be living, what type of work might you be doing, who you might be spending time and space with.
###
Quick afterword from Tim: Here’s one more related prompt that I regularly use myself: “Imagine that you’re suddenly the older version of you — 5, 10, or 15 years in the future. If you sat down over wine or coffee with the current, younger you, what advice or observations might you offer?”
