Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 76

June 8, 2017

The Magic, Misdirection, and Mindset of David Blaine

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“I never look at anything really as a success. I always look at it as a work in progress.”

– David Blaine

David Blaine (@davidblaine) is a magician, illusionist, and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records.

A while back, he taught a group of TEDMED attendees (and me) how to hold our breath for longer than Harry Houdini’s lifelong record of three minutes and thirty seconds — which still pales in comparison to David’s own record of just over seventeen minutes.

This episode comes from the premiere of my new television show Fearless. If you want to watch the entire first episode, you can see it for free at att.net/fearless. (To watch all episodes, please visit DIRECTV NOW). Don’t worry if you’ve seen the episode or plan on seeing it because we recorded three hours of material and only one hour was used for the show. This episode is almost all bonus content that you won’t see anywhere else. Please enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast with a talented performer? — Listen to this episode with Jamie Foxx where we discuss Jamie’s workout routine, what he learned during In Living Color, and he shares some of his best impressions (stream below or right-click here to download):

This episode is brought to you by Exo Protein. These guys are making protein bars using cricket protein powder. Before you look disgusted, I bet they taste better than any protein bar you’ve ever had before! With recipes that were developed by a three-Michelin-star chef, the bars are paleo-friendly, with no gluten, no grains, no soy, no dairy, and they won’t spike your glycemic response. In fact, they’re less processed than any other protein bars you’ll be able to find.

Exo Protein is offering a deep discount to Tim Ferriss Show listeners if you go to ExoProtein.com/Tim, you can try a sampler pack with all of the most popular flavors for less than $10. This is a startup with limited inventory that sells out all the time, so act fast!

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QUESTION OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with David Blaine:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Fear{less}
The premiere episode of Fear{less} with David Blaine
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat Loss, Incredible Sex and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
How to Hold Your Breath Like David Blaine, World Record Holder (and Now, Me)
If This Is a Man and The Truce by Primo Levi
Laird Hamilton, The King of Big Wave Surfing (Plus: Gabrielle Reece and Brian MacKenzie)
“The Iceman,” Wim Hof
The “Wizard” of Hollywood, Robert Rodriguez
A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka
Aortic Valve Stenosis
David on TED Radio Hour: Is It Possible to Be Fearless?
Souen
Cervantes by Jean Canavaggio
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Secret Connection Between Cervantes and Shakespeare by David Kipen, Los Angeles Times
The Macrobiotic Way: The Definitive Guide to Macrobiotic Living by Michio Kushi and Stephen Blauer
Searching for Bobby Fischer: book and movie
Saint-Tropez
Reuben’s Restaurant
Grigory Perelman, the Maths Genius Who Said No to $1M by Luke Harding, The Guardian
Mirin Dajo: The Man Who Could Survive Being Impaled by a Sword
Naked by David Sedaris
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
How to Survive a Nuclear Attack by Irwin Redlener, TED
Scientists, Politicians Take the Threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse Very Seriously by Dan Vergano, USA Today
How I Held My Breath for 17 Minutes by David Blaine, TEDMED
Watch Domenico DeMarco Make Legendary Di Fara Pizza by Hillary Dixler, Eater
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
15 Things You Might Not Know About Michelangelo’s ‘David’ by Kristy Puchko, Mental Floss

Show Notes

Numbers that make you go “wow.” [07:07]
Why I had to remove David’s section from the second edition of The 4-Hour Body. [08:03]
David explains the story behind his Primo Levi tattoo. [08:47]
What Wim Hof taught David about cold that he couldn’t learn by himself. [13:24]
On fasting inspired by a Franz Kafka story. [17:42]
David’s heart condition may give him an (albeit risky) edge in endurance performance. [19:23]
Growing up, how did David interact with his teachers and other kids? [20:18]
David talks about running barefoot in the snow and exposing himself to the elements as a kid. [21:42]
We talk obsession, chess, and misdirection. [23:43]
The balancing points of salesmanship and magic — how does David pick subjects for his tricks? [25:34]
When David was a waiter, why would he make patrons’ tips magically reappear in their wallets? [26:34]
David has an obsession with Don Quixote and its author Miguel de Cervantes. [27:29]
Being a loner as a kid gave David time to practice magic. [30:07]
David talks about his mother’s fight against cancer. [30:47]
Why David hopes his daughter doesn’t pursue a career in magic. [33:06]
David’s summer in Saint Tropez that changed his career, and what he learned from Jeffrey Steiner and Jack Nicholson. [35:16]
How David struck up an acquaintance with Bobby Fischer. [44:06]
David’s needle-through-the-arm trick was inspired by human pincushion Mirin Dajo. [46:54]
What advice would David give to his twenty-five-year-old self? [48:31]
We discuss our own experiences with sleep deprivation. [49:27]
A favorite short story by David Sedaris. [51:10]
What does it take to divert someone’s attention while performing magic tricks? [51:44]
David’s TED Talk if he had to speak about something for which he’s not known. [56:30]
Are there any quotes David lives by or thinks of often? [1:00:10]
What ninth-grade class would David teach? [1:00:19]
How does David take failure? [1:01:41]
What’s next for David Blaine? [1:03:42]

People Mentioned

Primo Levi
Philip Roth
Italo Calvino
Marcus Aurelius
Laird Hamilton
Gabrielle Reece
Wim Hof
Robert Rodriguez
Patrice Maureen White
Franz Kafka
Bryan Callen
Miguel de Cervantes
William Shakespeare
Michio Kushi
Josh Waitzkin
Jeffrey Steiner
Jack Nicholson

A. J. Benza
Mickey Rourke
Frank Garcia
Bill Kalush
Bobby Fischer
Denise Albert
Grigori Perelman
Mirin Dajo
David Sedaris
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Herbert Hoover
Galileo Galilei
Domenico DeMarco
Abraham Lincoln
Michelangelo
Winston Churchill

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on June 08, 2017 19:25

June 4, 2017

The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo

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“Trusted third parties are security holes.”

– Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) is a polymath. The breadth and depth of his interests and knowledge are truly astounding.

He’s a computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer best known for his pioneering research in digital contracts and cryptocurrency.

The phrase and concept of “smart contracts” were developed by Nick with the goal of bringing what he calls the “highly evolved” practices of contract law and practice for the design of electronic commerce protocols between strangers on the Internet. Nick also designed Bit Gold, which many consider the precursor to Bitcoin.

This wide-ranging conversation is co-hosted by Naval Ravikant, a mutual friend and one of the most successful investors in Silicon Valley, who also happens to be one of Nick’s biggest admirers.

We cover a lot, including:

What is Bitcoin, what are cryptocurrencies, and what problem do they solve?
What is “social scalability?”
What is Ethereum and what makes it unique? Strengths and weaknesses?
How will smart contracts actually get adopted or go mainstream?
What are ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings)?
Blockchain governance — is there any existential risk?
“Wet” versus “dry” code
Pascal’s scams
Quantum thought
What fields will you be working on in the future?

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast featuring Naval Ravikant? — Listen to this prior conversation. In this episode, we discuss the habits and behaviors of highly successful and happy people (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients.

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Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter “Tim” in the “how did you hear about us” section.

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is visit Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to†Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Nick Szabo:

Unenumerated | Twitter

Connect with Naval Ravikant:

AngelList | Startup Boy Blog | Twitter

Fat Protocols by Joel Monégro, Union Square Ventures
Money, Blockchains, and Social Scalability by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Bitcoin
Cypherpunk
Galt’s Gulch
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Imitation Game
The Dawn of Trustworthy Computing by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Shell money
Market Crashes: The Tulip and Bulb Craze by Andrew Beattie, Investopedia
Fiat Currency: What It Is and Why It’s Better Than a Gold Standard by Jason Hall, The Motley Fool
What is a hardware wallet?
Bitcoin — The Internet of Money by Naval Ravikant, Startup Boy
Smart Contracts, Tying, and Product Liability by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Wet Code and Dry by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Ten Signs You Might Be a Libertarian by Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonimics
From Vending Machines to Smart Contracts by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
What are multi-signature transactions?
The Fifth Protocol by Naval Ravikant, Startup Boy
The Bitcoin Model for Crowdfunding by Naval Ravikant, Startup Boy
Why Startups Are Trading IPOs for ICOs by Erin Griffith, Fortune
What Drives the Value of Crypto Currencies? by Joshua Seims, MetaStable
“Best way to destroy your investment in Bitcoin…”
Bitcoin: The Magic of Mining, The Economist
What is hashcash?
Dunbar’s number
BitTorrent
Ethereum Project
Rootstock — Smart Contracts on the Bitcoin Blockchain by CryptoIQ, Medium
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto
Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform
Papers by Aviv Zohar on GHOST (Greedy Heaviest Observed Sub-Tree) and Bitcoin security
Bitcoin Hard Fork — If You Want Peace, Prepare for War by Piotr Piasecki, Brave New Coin
Where Bitcoin and Banking Collide by Noelle Acheson, Coindesk
Singapore’s Central Bank Completes Blockchain Payments Pilot, Nods at Digital Currency by Samburaj Das, Cryptocoins News
Smart Contracts Reduce Mental Transaction Costs by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
More Short Takes by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated (where Nick talks about quantum thought)
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Utilize the “Steel Man” Tactic to Argue More Effectively by Eric Ravenscraft, Lifehacker
Pascal’s Scams I and II by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil
“The Singularity” by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
Regulators Start To See Bitcoin As “Prosecution Futures” by JP Buntinx, The Merkle
The Father of Online Anonymity Has a Plan to End the Crypto War by Julian Berman, Wired
Monero vs. Zcash
Filecoin
Blockstack — The New Decentralized Internet
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) by Richard P. Feynman and Ralph Leighton
Moore’s Law
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? by Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American
The Illusion of Free Will by Sam Harris
The Top 20 Artificial Intelligence Films — in Pictures by Michael Hogan and Greg Whitmore, The Guardian
Collecting Metal: The Inner and Outer Worlds of Jewelry, Coins, Bullion Bits, and Odd Shiny Things by Nick Szabo, Unenumerated
New Evidence: Easter Island Civilization Was Not Destroyed by War by Annalee Newitz, Ars Technica
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Books by Matt Ridley
Cambridge Digital Library’s entry on Dead Reckoning

Show Notes

Introductions and the story of how Nick and Naval met. [08:05]
What is cryptocurrency? [10:47]
Where did Nick’s interest in cryptocurrencies begin? [11:48]
What is cryptography? [12:56]
What are the benefits of cryptocurrency? [15:44]
Why is cryptocurrency important to Nick? [17:13]
What is a blockchain? [17:43]
A brief history of currency. [18:51]
What makes money — including cryptocurrency — valuable? [23:59]
“Bitcoin is almost to computers what quantum mechanics is to physics — it throws a lot of people in the field off.” [26:53]
What is a smart contract? [30:45]
“Wet” versus “dry” code. [31:44]
The vending machine as the primordial smart contract. [33:36]
A situation where someone might want to use a multi-signature (multisig) transaction. [35:57]
What are ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings)? [41:56]
On the inevitable bubbles that show up in any prediction market. [43:00]
Most common cryptocurrency misconceptions. [45:40]
What makes Bitcoin unique? [49:50]
What was the innovation of BitGold? [51:20]
What is proof of work, and how is it used in Bitcoin mining? [53:42]
Computational inefficiency and social scalability. [1:00:04]
Would it be possible for a government to regulate cryptocurrencies out of existence? [1:05:02]
What is the incentive for a financial center like New York to be supportive (or cast a blind eye) to cryptocurrency development? [1:08:28]
Is Bitcoin inversely correlated to any particular asset classes? [1:10:13]
How do people accidentally lose their Bitcoins? [1:10:35]
What is Ethereum, and what are the pros and cons compared to Bitcoin? [1:12:53]
A cultural disconnect between the traditional financial world and the cryptocurrency community. [1:17:28]
What are the most valuable components of the traditional finance world? [1:19:05]
What reliable sources might someone from the traditional finance world consult if they wanted to learn more about cryptocurrencies? [1:20:40]
What will it take for the more widespread use of Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) among everyday consumers? [1:23:05]
What are the common characteristics of charlatans who scam the system? [1:28:54]
How is “fork” used in the context of cryptocurrencies? [1:31:13]
What problems do users of cryptocurrency most commonly encounter when dealing with the traditional banking infrastructure? [1:37:00]
How does “unenumerated” tie into the Ninth Amendment of the United States Constitution? [1:46:23]
What is quantum thought? [1:49:24]
How has Nick trained himself to practice quantum thought? [1:50:52]
What are Pascal’s scams and how do they relate to Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan? [1:54:54]
For which emergencies or possible future events (e.g. “The Singularity”) should we be prepared? [1:58:06]
Does Nick worry about anything in particular that most people seem to ignore? [2:00:55]
How current technologies are trying to overcome the potential for privacy leaks in transactions. [2:03:29]
What makes certain cryptocurrencies appreciate in value over others? [2:04:50]
Why Singularity and Simulation hypotheses are mutually exclusive. [2:12:31]
How does Naval minimize his mental surface activity in order to better focus on current endeavors? [2:14:40]
Why future generations will probably handle social media better than we do today. [2:17:08]
Favorite books? [2:20:42]
What high school class would Nick teach? [2:22:41]
What does Nick plan on writing about in the near future? [2:24:42]
What would Nick’s billboard say? [2:26:47]
Parting thoughts. [2:27:15]

People Mentioned

Naval Ravikant
Jamie Foxx
Charlie Munger
Ralph Merkle
Tim May
Eric Hughes
John Gilmore
Alan Turing
Charles Darwin
Donald Trump
Adam Back
Satoshi Nakamoto
Hal Finney
Bram Cohen
Steve Wozniak
Vitalik Buterin
Aviv Zohar
Dan Carlin
Alfred North Whitehead
Friedrich Hayek
Walt Whitman
Socrates
Sam Harris
Neil Strauss
Blaise Pascal
Nassim Taleb
Elon Musk
Lance Armstrong
David Chaum
Kim Kardashian
Richard Feynman
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Marc Andreessen
Alfred W. Crosby
Jared Diamond
Richard Dawkins
Matt Ridley
Christopher Columbus
Ferdinand Magellan

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on June 04, 2017 10:24

May 31, 2017

How to Fear Less: Vince Vaughn

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“Fear is more crippling than the actual consequences.”

– Vince Vaughn

Vince Vaughn (@WildWest) is one of the most prolific actors, writers, and producers in the world. He’s acted in more than thirty major motion pictures that have gone on to gross more than 1.7 billion at the box office. He is largely credited for redefining the R-rated comedy with his performance in the 2005 hit Wedding Crashers, which set the record for highest grossing R-rated comedy at the time. He is — and will continue to be, I expect — one of the most sought-after leading men in Hollywood.

As a listener to this podcast, Vince reached out with his production company Wild West to see if we might do a TV show together. The result is Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss — “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless. More details about the show can be found at tim.blog/fearless. Or, if you want to watch the entire first episode with performance artist David Blaine (@davidblaine), you can see it here or visit att.net/fearless.

I had the chance to catch up with Vince at Vulture Festival in New York City. In this conversation, we get into stories of his early beginnings, how to negotiate, his cold-calling career, and important decisions he’s made as a producer, an artist, and a businessperson. I had a blast doing this, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another podcast with a comedian, actor, and director? — Listen to my conversation with Jon Favreau. In his episode, we discuss his writing process, daily routines, how to create films that redefine categories, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by 99Designs, the world’s largest marketplace of graphic designers. I have used them for years to create some amazing designs. When your business needs a logo, website design, business card, or anything you can imagine, check out 99Designs.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss
The first episode of Fear{less} featuring David Blaine
My TED Talk from 2008: Smash Fear, Learn Anything
Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days and You Can Too
10 Key Techniques and Tactics of Marcelo Garcia (including the Marcelotine at number nine)
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Boiler Room
The prisoner’s dilemma
The Second City
The iO Theater
Del Close Describes the Birth of the Harold Improv Structure in This 1986 Cable Access Video
Pink’s Hot Dogs
Star Wars: Mark Hamill Screen Test Audition
The “all grownsed up” scene from Swingers
The 101 Coffee Shop
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Let’s All Remember the Late-’90s Swing Revival by Tom Breihan, Stereogum
Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The “speed or comfort” scene from Wedding Crashers
Old School
Clay Pigeons
There’s Something About Mary
Animal House
The kitchen fight scene from The Break-Up
Hacksaw Ridge
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

Show Notes

How Vince and I initially connected. [09:21]
Vince talks about childhood and early lessons he learned from his parents. [11:09]
Vince asks a lot of questions. Where did his curiosity originate? [15:19]
I share the traumatic experience that kept me from learning to swim until my thirties. [16:43]
Vince shares a traumatic experience from his high school days and what it taught him. [19:37]
The role of sports — particularly wrestling — in Vince’s development. [22:08]
On the process of developing grit. [27:33]
Vince talks about his young life as a telemarketer. [28:25]
My first job out of college was smiling and dialing. [33:11]
Did an academically disinclined Vince become class president in high school as a form of graduation insurance? [35:46]
Vince talks about sharpening his acting chops with improvisational legend Del Close. [40:13]
What separates good improvisation from great improvisation? [42:53]
Why did Vince decide to leave Chicago for Los Angeles? [44:43]
How did Vince make ends meet early in his acting career? [49:23]
Priceless lessons in hustle from an underprivileged friend. [50:03]
Vince Vaughn’s fight club. [54:07]
Advice for beginning actors coping with rejection. [56:55]
What is screen testing? [59:15]
Microfailures as an inoculation against rejection. [1:01:49]
Maintaining motivation by “always going back to white belt.” [1:02:17]
Why this podcast is an anomaly. [1:03:42]
How did Swingers come to be? Was it strictly scripted or heavily improvised? [1:05:27]
Was there ever any doubt during the filming of Swingers that the project would be completed? [1:12:41]
On working with and learning from Steven Spielberg. [1:16:41]
Why does Vince think Wedding Crashers was such a success in spite of its R rating? [1:19:04]
What made The Break-Up different from other movies Vince had done up to that point? [1:22:59]
Reassurances and tactical practicalities learned by looking over Vince’s career. [1:26:55]
Finding tone in storytelling. [1:28:58]
What Ben Franklin understood about expanding comfort zones and the art of the hustle. [1:30:42]
“Fear is more crippling than the actual consequences.” [1:35:29]
What would Vince’s billboard say? [1:37:15]
Parting thoughts. [1:38:39]

People Mentioned

David Blaine
Warren Buffett

Michael Jordan
Wayne Gretzky
Marcelo Garcia
George Washington
Angela Duckworth
Carol Dweck
Chris Sacca
Madonna
Del Close
Charna Halpern
Jackie Gleason
Chris Farley
Esther Perel
Charles Poliquin
Pavel Tsatsouline
Jon Favreau
Doug Liman
Dorothy Gale
The Wizard of Oz
Kurt Vonnegut
Steven Spielberg
Todd Phillips
David Dobkin
Owen Wilson
Wes Anderson
Jeremy Garelick
Jay Lavender
Mel Gibson
Benjamin Franklin
Henry Ford

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 31, 2017 10:35

May 30, 2017

Fear{less} is Here!

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I’m very excited to announce that my new TV show Fear{less} is now live! The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the show:

Fear(less) features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.

Now for the important details: if you want to watch (it’d mean the world to me), here are the different ways you can view the show.

If you have DIRECTV, tune in to channel 239 at 8 pm PT/ET on Tuesday, May 30th. The first episode features master illusionist and performance artist David Blaine (@davidblaine). We have 10 episodes, with a new episode coming out each Tuesday.
If you have The Audience Network/AT&T U-Verse, tune to channel 1114.
The entire first episode with David Blaine is available for you to watch for free at http://att.net/fearless.
Please watch and use the hashtag #FearlessTV as much as possible. I want to hear from you and know what you think about the show.
If you don’t have DIRECTV, you can download the DIRECTV NOW app. (Click here to sign up.) The app includes a free 7-day trial. To sign up, follow the steps below.

Click to sign up.[image error]
Enter your email.[image error]
Make your selection. The “live a little” is the most basic package and includes the show and the free 7-day trial.[image error]
Complete the process and enjoy!

Thank you so much for all your support. Enjoy the show!

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 30, 2017 15:49

May 26, 2017

Phil Keoghan — The Magic of Bucket Lists and Amazing Races

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“We celebrate success, but I think we should also just celebrate giving it a go.”

– Phil Keoghan

Phil Keoghan (@PhilKeoghan) has worked in television for almost thirty years on more than a thousand program episodes in more than a hundred countries. His work has earned him numerous awards, including ten prime-time Emmys. He is perhaps best known as the co-executive producer and host of CBS series The Amazing Race, currently in its twenty-ninth season.

But there is much, much more to Phil’s story, including unbelievable bucket lists, near-death experiences, and more. As just one example…

In 2013, he decided to retrace the 1928 Tour de France riding an original vintage bicycle, with no gears, to tell the forgotten underdog story of the first English-speaking team to take on the toughest sporting event on earth.

This experience was captured and turned into the brand-new film Le Ride, a gorgeous documentary and the first to be shot on a Sony F55 camera in 4K, which is equivalent to Super 35mm film.

There are many takeaways from this conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode on positive mindset? In this episode, we explore meditation and mindfulness with Chase Jarvis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Harris, and Rainn Wilson (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by MeUndies. I’ve spent the last year wearing underwear from these guys 24/7, and they are the most comfortable and colorful underwear I’ve ever owned. MeUndies are designed in LA and made from sustainably-sourced fabric that’s three times softer than cotton. Even better, it includes free shipping.

If you don’t love your first pair of MeUndies, they’ll hook you up with a new pair or a refund. If you love the product, they have a subscription offer where you can save up to 33% after your first pair. Check out MeUndies.com/Tim to see my current faves (some are awesomely ridiculous, like the camo). That’s MeUndies.com/Tim.

This podcast is also brought to you by Headspace, the world’s most popular meditation app (with more than four million users). It’s used in more than 150 countries, and many of my closest friends swear by it. Try Headspace’s free Take10 program — 10 minutes of guided meditation a day for 10 days. It’s like a warm bath for your mind. Meditation doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, and it’s had a huge impact on my life. Try Headspace for free for a few days and see what I mean.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Phil Keoghan:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Le Ride
The Amazing Race
3:45 LIVE!
Girl You Know It’s True by Milli Vanilli
Phil being bowled by Cyndi Lauper on Breakfast Time with Tom Bergeron in 1995.
The Last Cruise of Mikhail Lermontov by Derek Grzelewski, New Zealand Geographic
The Bottom of The Great Blue Hole in Belize
No Opportunity Wasted: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want by Phil Keoghan and Warren Berger
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Harry Potter: The Complete Collection (1-7) by J.K. Rowling
The Tail End by Tim Urban, Wait But Why
That’s Incredible! vs. That’s Fairly Interesting
Tall poppy syndrome
New Zealand All Blacks
The Greatest Haka EVER?
Beached Az: The Seagull. Ep 1, Series 1
From Denmark to Bhutan: The Policies of Happiness by Colin Todhunter, Countercurrents.org
About the Suzuki Method
Did the Idea for FedEx Earn That Company’s Founder a Failing Mark While He Was a College Student? by Barbara Mikkelson, Snopes
Adventure Crazy with Phil Keoghan
Survivor
Tim Ferriss Interviews Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
1928 Tour de France
The Ride (not to be confused with Le Ride)
Gallipoli
Zoom H6
Shure SM58 microphone
Shure MV88 iOS Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone
Moleskine Classic Notebook
Sony F55 4K Camera
Moleskine Smart Writing Set
Evernote
Penultimate

Show Notes

Phil shares his Milli Vanilli dreadlock-twirling story. [06:03]
Phil tells us about having a panic attack while diving a shipwreck at a hundred and twenty feet — and how this charted the course for a life of adventure. [11:50]
What was Phil’s self-talk when returning to the wreck (and in the moment of facing similar fears)? [24:05]
Applying the concept of deliberate practice to optimism and surrounding oneself with people who work to make anything possible. [26:01]
Cultivating optimism in others (especially one’s children) and the benefits of removing “I can’t” from the family vocabulary. [28:59]
How does Phil always say yes to spending time with his daughter — even when he’s got a deadline looming? [31:21]
A simple but effective way to start your own bucket list. [33:26]
What Tim Urban of “Wait But Why” taught me about the limited time we really have with our parents (and children). [34:43]
The importance of word choice on thought (and how we can positively modify our everyday vocabulary). [36:11]
On Aussie-Kiwi rivalry across the Tasman Sea (and a couple of good sheep jokes). [44:49]
Low expectations vs. high expectations. [50:00]
Favorite failures. [53:09]
The two kinds of bucket lists. [58:23]
How did Phil get involved in American television — and eventually The Amazing Race — in spite of concerns about his New Zealand accent? [1:00:50]
How long does it take to shoot a season of The Amazing Race? [1:03:33]
What are the most common mistakes that novice TV hosts make? [1:05:23]
Phil shares the story of his brilliant grandfather. [1:08:23]
Respect your elders. [1:12:01]
How did Phil’s latest documentary, Le Ride, come about? [1:13:19]
How long was the 1928 Tour de France course? [1:18:05]
Why Harry Watson should be in the Sporting Hall of Fame (and what Phil is doing to memorialize him in his hometown). [1:20:01]
What a standing desk did for Phil. [1:21:54]
We talk general gear, travel recording equipment, Phil’s experience shooting the first documentary ever on a Sony F55 4K camera, and how sometimes a smartphone does the job in a pinch. [1:22:14]
A purchase of less than a hundred dollars that had the most positive impact on Phil’s life. [1:26:27]
What are Phil’s journaling habits? [1:27:58]
Parting thoughts. [1:30:36]

People Mentioned

Fab Morvan
Rob Pilatus
Tom Bergeron
Elle Keoghan
Tim Urban
Matt Mullenweg
Peter Jackson
Naval Ravikant
Malcolm Gladwell
John Keoghan
Elizabeth Keoghan
Jack Sussman
Peter Faiman
Jeff Probst
Les Moonves
Jerry Bruckheimer
Bertram van Munster
Elise Doganieri

Jimmy Fallon
Stephen Colbert
Jon Stewart
David Letterman
Johnny Carson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Howard Stern
Ernest Hemingway
Jack Keoghan
Harry Watson
Hubert Opperman
Morgan Spurlock
Oprah Winfrey

Robert Rodriguez

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 26, 2017 07:38

May 21, 2017

The Relationship Episode: Sex, Love, Polyamory, Marriage, and More (with Esther Perel)

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“Nothing will give us more meaning in life than to know that we matter for others.”

– Esther Perel

I’ve wanted to speak with psychotherapist Esther Perel for years.

In a cover story, The New York Times called her the most important game changer in sexuality and relational health since Dr. Ruth.

Her TED talks on maintaining desire and rethinking infidelity have more than 17 million views, and she’s tested and been exposed to everything imaginable in thirty-four years of running her private therapy practice in New York City.

In this episode, Esther and I explore:

How to find (and convince) mentors who can change your life.
What she’s learned from Holocaust survivors.
Polyamory and close cousins.
Is there such a thing as too much honesty in relationships?
Can we want what we already have?
Why do happy people cheat?
And much more.

Esther is the author of the international bestseller Mating in Captivity, which has been translated into 26 languages. Fluent in nine of them (I’ve heard her in person), this Belgian native now brings her multicultural pulse to her new book The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity (October 2017, Harper Collins).

Her creative energy is right now focused on co-creating and hosting an Audible original audio series, Where Should We Begin.

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode about relationships? — Listen to my interview with Astro and Danielle Teller. In this conversation — my first podcast with a couple — we cover focus on something I haven’t personally figured out: relationships. It’s important to note that the Tellers are not “for” marriage but, rather, “for” the freedom to decide how to live most honestly and happily, whether as part of a couple or as a single person (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet.

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Esther Perel:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
The Jewish Community of Antwerp, Belgium by Haim F. Ghiuzeli, Museum of the Jewish People
If This Is a Man and The Truce by Primo Levi
Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum
We’ve Stopped Trusting Institutions and Started Trusting Strangers by Rachel Botsman, TEDSummit
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Chutzpah — The Yiddish Word That Means Audacity, My Jewish Learning
Esther Perel on the Difference Between Sexuality and Eroticism, Big Think
History of Monogamy: The Shift from Duty to Pleasure by Esther Perel
More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory by Franklin Veaux and Janet Hardy
Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships by Tristan Taormino
Understanding Polyamory: What’s Compersion? by Hannah Rimm, HelloFlo
I Think You’re Fat by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire
Rethinking Infidelity … A Talk for Anyone Who Has Ever Loved by Esther Perel, TED2015
From Theater to Therapy to Twitter, the Eerie History of Gaslighting by Katy Waldman, Slate
Monica Lewinsky on the Culture of Humiliation, Vanity Fair
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
The Erotic Mind: Unlocking the Inner Sources of Passion and Fulfillment by Jack Morin
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Show Notes

Esther gives us a little background about her life. [07:20]
Esther elaborates on the experience of growing up among Holocaust survivors in Antwerp. [08:58]
To what combination of “chance and choice” did Esther’s parents attribute their survival of the Holocaust? [17:35]
What comes first: trust or vulnerability? [27:12]
Thoughts on impermanence as motivation for living life fully. [29:03]
Esther considers herself counterphobic. Does she think this is a good thing? [31:25]
How did Esther come to study in Jerusalem? [33:53]
How should someone seek and approach a mentor? (Sometimes it just takes a healthy dose of chutzpah.) [40:06]
What is eroticism, and what does Esther mean when she calls the erotic “an antidote to death?” [49:32]
What are the ethical options for an otherwise happy couple experiencing sexual listlessness? [53:08]
In a relationship, is there such a thing as too much honesty? How do Americans and Europeans tend to differ on the subject? [1:01:04]
Does honesty — or one-hundred percent sharing — equal caring for the other person in a relationship? [1:07:19]
If one of her patients wants to disclose an infidelity to a partner, how does Esther walk them through the decision process? [1:08:39]
Is it possible for a partner in a non-exclusive relationship to overcome the fear of being left as a result of discussing infidelity? [1:14:09]
How would you score on a quarterly relationship report card? [1:22:08]
How does Esther feel about a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for a polyamorous relationship? [1:23:44]
The value of innovation and flexibility over rigid ideology in a relationship. [1:26:32]
Every relationship is a power dynamic. [1:29:00]
What was the research process like for Esther’s upcoming book about “historically condemned and universally practiced” adultery? [1:32:36]
Is there an argument for marriage these days? [1:39:22]
Why does Esther find divorce rates for second marriages particularly interesting? [1:45:16]
Why does marriage often lead to sub-par behavior between people in a relationship? [1:46:57]
Through the lens of infidelity, what human questions is Esther trying to answer in her upcoming book? [1:50:00]
What books has Esther gifted most and found worth rereading? [1:53:58]
What would Esther’s billboard say? [1:55:05]

People Mentioned

Primo Levi
David Blaine
Sala Ferlegier
Icek Perel
Jack Saul
Rachel Botsman
BJ Miller
Salvador Minuchin
Ed Zschau
Richard Feynman
A.J. Jacobs
Oscar Wilde
Bill Clinton
Monica Lewinsky

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 21, 2017 19:30

May 17, 2017

Accelerated Learning and Mentors – My Personal Story

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This episode is by request. You have asked me many times for an episode on education, accelerated learning, and my mentors. It will all be covered in the following conversation with Charles Best (@charlesbest), the founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit website that enables anyone to help a classroom in need. It is one of my favorite companies — profit or non-profit — in the world. (And I’m not just saying that because we used to be wrestling partners in high school.)

Charles founded DonorsChoose.org back in 2000 at a public high school in the Bronx where he taught history. Flash forward to 2017, and DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “ultimate favorite things” and made the cover of Fast Company as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World,” the first time a charity has received such recognition.

To date, teachers at more than seventy percent of all the public schools in America have created classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and more than two million people have given to those projects.

Charles joined me for a conversation at SXSWedu in front of an audience of educators and administrators to talk about learning things faster, good teaching versus bad teaching, the value of tough love, and much more. Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode about accelerated learning? — Listen to my interview with Luis Von Ahn, the co-founder of Duolingo. In this episode, we discuss what 2-3 books and resources he’d recommend to entrepreneurs, language learning tips, early mentors and key lessons learned, and how to recruit and vet technical talent (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Alibaba and Gateway17. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner in the US, the stars don’t always align — but this might get close. Alibaba (if you’re not familiar with it, imagine Amazon and Google having a baby in China) is hosting Gateway17, a conference designed to help US businesses tap into the five hundred million consumers of China’s growing middle class.

Gateway17 takes place June 20-21 in Detroit, Michigan, and it puts you in direct contact with experts who want to help you grow your business into the booming Chinese marketplace. Speakers include Alibaba founder Jack Ma (in his only speaking engagement of the year), UPS CEO David Abney, and master interviewer Charlie Rose. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, Alibaba is offering you a ticket for $125 (they’re usually $500) if you sign up at gateway17.com by May 25 and use the code “Tim” at checkout.

This podcast is also brought to you by Soothe.com, the world’s largest on-demand massage service. Because I’ve been broken so many times, I have body work done at least twice a week — so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either.

After much personal testing, I can affirm that Soothe delivers a hand-selected, licensed, and experienced massage therapist to you in the comfort of your own home, hotel, or office in as little as an hour. I was amazed at the quality of service and convenience. Think of it as Uber for massages, available in fifty cities worldwide. Download the app at Soothe.com and use code TITAN20 to get $20 off your first massage.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Charles Best:

Twitter | DonorsChoose.org

The Art and Science of Learning Anything Faster
Total Immersion: How I Learned to Swim Effortlessly in 10 Days and You Can Too
The Pareto principle (80/20 approach)
How to Learn Any Language in Record Time and Never Forget It
Tango World Record — Tim Ferriss and Alicia Monti
stickK
DietBet
Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier by Terry Laughlin and John Delves
Recommendations and Resolutions for 2016
Why Can’t You Draw The Face of a Penny? Understand the Reason and Learn Spanish Twice as Fast
Memory Palace (Method of loci)
Michael Gruneberg demonstrating how to learn a language with word association and visualization mnemonics.
When learning a new language, reading comic books for dialogue and watching familiar movies like Die Hard or Babe in that language work well for me.
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre
The Art of Learning Project
Searching for Bobby Fischer: book and movie
Marcelo Garcia In Action
Meta learning
Jocko Willink on Discipline, Leadership, and Overcoming Doubt
Maria Popova
Brain Pickings
The Man Who Studied 1,000 Deaths to Learn How to Live
Duolingo
reCAPTCHA
The 7 Biggest Facebook Distractions and How to Avoid Them by Ravi Shukle at Post Planner
The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Serenity Prayer
How to Not Be Evil — Dr. Phil Zimbardo
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Stoicism for Modern Stresses: 5 Lessons from Cato
Marpac Dohm-DS All Natural Sound Machine
QuestBridge
Classical and Operant Conditioning by Christopher Real
Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor
The Princess Bride — battle of wits scene
Toastmasters International

Show Notes

Charles discloses our shared history and asks me to recall a teacher who made a really big difference in my life. [07:56]
We’re both very grateful to our wrestling coach Mr. Buxton. [09:34]
I talk about my framework for accelerated learning: DiSSS (deconstruction, selection, sequencing, and stakes). [10:46]
Which of my personal experiments could a teacher safely assign to a kid to “try at home?” [22:11]
During experimentation, do I ever go by intuition over data? [26:37]
Of all my podcast guests, who would I nominate to design the ideal school? [30:07]
What subject would I teach at such a school, and what might the first day of lessons look like? [33:26]
In this school, what other podcast guests would be a virtuoso teacher? [36:16]
How has technology enriched — and hindered — the pursuit of learning? [39:25]
My one-minute primer on Stoic philosophy and how Stoicism could inform our public school system. [43:22]
Why am I such an advocate for DonorsChoose.org? [48:55]
What is the number one skill I think our students need to learn today that isn’t taught enough? [51:27]
Is there any skill I wouldn’t recommend learning rapidly? [53:41]
What purchase of less than a hundred dollars has changed my life in the last six months? [54:07]
How tools and systems I’ve helped develop can be used to address inequity in public schools. [54:39]
When does the transition between memorizing and internalizing/learning happen in my framework? [57:06]
How do I recommend teachers address students who struggle with competition tasks due to anxiety or learning disabilities? [59:27]
What legacy do I hope to leave in the field of education and learning? [1:02:19]
Farewell from the benevolent army of learners. [1:03:17]

People Mentioned

Oprah Winfrey
Kathleen Vinski
John Buxton
Masatoshi Shimano
Josh Waitzkin
Bobby Fischer
Derek Sivers
Terry Laughlin
Kevin Rose
Cicero
Michael Gruneberg
Ben Goldacre
Marcelo Garcia
Mike Tyson
Wayne Gretzky
Mickey Mantle
Jamie Foxx
Jocko Willink
Maria Popova
BJ Miller
Luis Von Ahn
Adam Gazzaley
Seneca
Marcus Aurelius
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
William J. Clinton
Phil Zimbardo
Cato
Leo Tolstoy
B.J. Fogg
Molly

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 17, 2017 20:08

May 12, 2017

How to Reverse Aging with Art De Vany

[image error] “There is no such thing as successful aging because aging is damage.”

– Art De Vany

Dr. Arthur De Vany is nearly eighty years old and ripped. Better known as Art De Vany, he was signed as a professional baseball player in his youth and later earned his Ph.D. in Economics at UCLA. He is most famous for his “evolutionary fitness” approach to training and diet, and our conversation focuses on that.

During his time at UCLA, Art did many things, including creating mathematical and statistical models to precisely describe the motion picture market. Art is Professor Emeritus of Economics of the University of California, Irvine, and is a member of its acclaimed Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences.

A lifelong student of metabolism and fitness, Art has lived as a Paleo athlete for more than thirty years and is considered a “patriarch” of the Paleo movement.

He believes there is no such thing as “healthy” aging and that we can intervene to protect against the aging process. In this episode, we talk about his daily schedule, workout routines, why he never gets sick, ice ages, economics, philosophies of intermittent everything, and really dig into the details of a fascinating man.

Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear another episode from a guest that defies aging? — Listen to this interview with Jerzy Gregorek. In this episode, we discuss flexibility, strength, muscle gain, and fat loss at any age (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is also brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have two to recommend:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Vagabonding by Rolf Potts

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audible.com/Tim. Choose one of the above books, or choose any of the endless options they offer. That could be a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or even a class. It’s that easy. Go to Audible.com/Tim and get started today. Enjoy.

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Art De Vany:

Facebook I | Facebook II (like Art himself, more active)

The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging by Arthur De Vany, PhD
Understanding the Stretch Reflex (or Myotatic Reflex) by Brad Walker, StretchCoach
The Inland Waterways: Institutions, Economics, And Policy by Arthur S. De Vany and Andrew J. Rettenmaier
Computability and Algorithmic Compression, Wheat and Tares
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.
What are fractals?
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
When Bill Gates Walks into a Bar
Toba Catastrophe Theory
The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean
How Humans Learn: Lessons from the Sea Squirt by Sian Beilock Ph.D., Psychology Today
Myokine
Neurotrophic factors
Arthur De Vany — Renewing Cycles
Autophagy: Process and Function by Noboru Mizushima, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Glycolysis
The Legend of Tithonus
The Effect of Mitochondrial Density on Athletic Performance by Roger Schmitz, Moxy
How I Dropped to 5.6% Body Fat and Gained Muscle, Part 1, Art De Vany on Line via The Internet Archive
When the Sea Saved Humanity by Curtis W. Marean, Scientific American
Corm
Strength Training is Learning from Tail Events by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Medium
Hollywood Economics: How Extreme Uncertainty Shapes the Film Industry by Arthur De Vany
Pareto distribution
Arthur De Vany sample workout
How I Practice Evolutionary Fitness by Aaron McCloud
Is Endurance Exercise Really Beneficial?, Art De Vany
Eccentric training
Current Evidence That Exercise Can Increase the Number of Adult Stem Cells by Filippo Macaluso and Kathryn H. Myburgh, Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility
Proteasome
Peripheral vs. Ectopic Fat by Stephan Guyenet, Whole Health Source
My Life Extension Pilgrimage to Easter Island
Caenorhabditis elegans
Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)
FGF21 is an Akt-regulated myokine by Yasuhiro Izumiya, et al., FEBS Letters
A Look at Ribosomes, British Society for Cell Biology
What is a Turing Machine?, University of Cambridge
Faust by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
FOXO1
Neural Darwinism: The Theory Of Neuronal Group Selection by Gerald Edelman
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences – NYU
Kurtosis
Lessons from the Left Coast: What Hollywood Can Teach Pharma about Marketing by Maureen Winigrad, HLG Health Communications
What is Leptokurtic?
Melatonin
How Testosterone Supplementation Shuts Down HPTA by Rick Vallejo, Evolutionary.org
The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat by Loren Cordain
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Skin In the Game: The Thrills and Logic of Risk Taking by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
General equilibrium theory

Show Notes

Introductions from an undisclosed mountain location. [07:12]
How did Art get into economics? [08:17]
You can’t reduce your life to an algorithm — the Zen of evolutionary fitness. [11:10]
Bill Gates walks into a bar… [14:25]
How would Art predict the chance for a movie’s success if he were in charge of a studio? [14:48]
How did fitness and diet enter the scene for Art? [20:02]
Where do cavemen fit into the equation? [20:51]
Lessons from the sea squirt. [23:22]
On myokines, proteostasis, neurotrophic factors, and muscle degeneration. [23:58]
Aging is not programmed — it is the result of the failure of a renewal program. [25:56]
The legend of Tithonus. [28:55]
Mitochondrial density is all the rage. [29:46]
Did seafood save humanity? [31:24]
Brain expansion as a survival response. [32:59]
Why Art eats two meals a day. [34:02]
How Art proactively encourages low mitochondrial density. [36:26]
Is Art responsible for getting Nassim Nicholas Taleb into deadlifting? [37:13]
“Non-steady state exercise is very difficult to quantify.” [40:46]
What does Art’s exercise regimen look like? [41:26]
Time-efficient exercise has kept Art almost entirely injury free for over sixty years of working out. [48:59]
Why does Art prefer shorter rest intervals over longer ones? [50:04]
What does Art have for breakfast? When does he go to sleep? [50:38]
On meal intervals and intermittent fasting to fight muscle degeneration. [52:07]
What does Art have for dinner? [53:39]
How excess fat prevents stem cells from doing their job. [54:41]
What are the most common things people in the Paleo movement get wrong? [56:10]
What does Art have against coconut oil? [57:40]
How does Art take his eggs? [58:38]
Art’s thoughts on minimizing mTOR activation and use of rapamycin and metformin. [1:00:07]
Exercise your muscles, heal your liver. [1:04:51]
How is the ribosome like a universal Turing machine? [1:07:13]
To what part of his regimen does Art owe for not being sick in decades? [1:13:06]
Advice for alleviating depression. [1:16:33]
On the benefits and practice of cold exposure. [1:19:22]
What has Nassim Taleb taught Art? [1:20:10]
What’s your advantage: informational, analytical, or behavioral? [1:24:42]
Art regularly takes melatonin — but not for sleep. [1:27:37]
Why wouldn’t regular consumption of melatonin cause some type of malfunction? [1:31:09]
On human knowledge: what we can know vs. what we can’t know. [1:32:58]
Books Art has gifted or recommended most to others. [1:36:55]
Areas Art considers dead ends in the quest for longevity. [1:40:48]
What does Art do to minimize the likelihood of injury during exercise? [1:44:50]
What kind of class would Art lead if he were to return to teaching? [1:47:20]
What would Art’s billboard say? [1:49:51]
Parting thoughts. [1:52:37]

People Mentioned

Naval Ravikant
Kamal Ravikant
John Durant
Richard Nikoley
George Murphy
Friedrich Hayek
Enrico Barone
William O. Douglas
Benoit Mandelbrot
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Callie Curry
Val Kilmer
Tom Hanks
Tithonus
Aurora
Zeus
Curtis Marean
Andrew Dillin
Pope John Paul II
Robert Evans
Dustin Hoffman
Filippo Macaluso
Doug McGuff
Yasuhiro Izumiya
Alan Turing
Gerald Edelman
Charles Darwin
Warren Buffett
Charlie Munger
Fidel Castro
Dom D’Agostino
Molly
Loren Cordain
Cynthia Kenyon
Mike Mentzer

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 12, 2017 18:11

May 7, 2017

The Savant of Speed — Ryan Flaherty

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“Don’t buy complexity; the simpler you make your training, the better the results become.”

– Ryan Flaherty

Ryan Flaherty (@ryanflaherty1) is the Senior Director of Performance at Nike. Prior to holding that position, Ryan was the Founder and President of Prolific Athletes LLC, a sports performance facility in San Diego, California, where he trained some of the world’s best athletes. His clients include Serena Williams, Russell Wilson, the Arizona Cardinals, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, and hundreds of other professional athletes. He’s also working with runners on Nike’s “Breaking2” project to break the 2-hour marathon barrier.

While he is well known for dramatically improving his athletes’ speed, more and more athletes (and coaches) seek Ryan out for his training and guidance on injury prevention. Many of Ryan’s clients have made remarkable recoveries from injuries, and several NFL teams and European soccer clubs have sought his methodology to implement into their training programming.

Ryan developed an algorithm called “Force Number” that is based on the hex (or trap) bar deadlift and body weight to predict speed such as the forty-yard dash.

In this discussion, we talk about exercises for reducing injury potential, how Ryan uses the Force Number, what his workouts look like from warmup to finish, how he helped Meb Keflezighi train for his Boston Marathon victory, how to go from sprinting to long distance running, and lots more.

Whether you’re trying to become a better athlete or just less injured from your workouts in any type of training, you’ll want to check out this conversation with Ryan Flaherty, the Savant of Speed!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want to hear an episode with Peter Attia (who introduced me to Ryan Flaherty)? — Listen to his first appearance on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss optimizing blood testing, training for ultra-endurance sports, consuming synthetic ketones, using metabolic chambers, extending longevity by avoiding certain types of exercise, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is brought to you by Soothe.com, the world’s largest on-demand massage service. Because I’ve been broken so many times, I have body work done at least twice a week — so I have a high bar for this stuff. I do not accept mediocrity, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either.

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Ryan Flaherty:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
The Money Lift: How a Top-Flight Trainer Discovered the Most Important Exercise Every Athlete Should Do by Josh Condon, Men’s Fitness
USA Track & Field
How Your Deadlift Max Will Make You Faster by Andy Haley, Stack
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Back to the Basics: Hypertrophy by DeWayne Smith, NASM
Quarterback Guru Ryan Flaherty’s Workout Secrets by Andy Haley, Stack
Dynamic Warmups Make You Stronger, Faster by Kate Bongiovanni, competitor.com
Get Better Results With Activation Exercises at FitBodyHQ
Amortization phase and plyometrics explained at Athlepedia
Fitness Defined: Concentric and Eccentric Contractions (and Why It Matters) by Nicole Nichols, SparkPeople
My dog hates phosphocreatine.
How to do Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats, WeightTraining.com
Six Questions About Tempo Training by Mike Robertson, T Nation
Vastus Medialis Obliquus (VMO), the Key to the Knee by Vivian Grisogono
Single Leg Step-Downs by ProlificAthletes
Nike+ Training Club App
Seven-Way Hips by ProlificAthletes
Close Chain Clamshell with band by ProlificAthletes
Ankle Mobility Exercises to Improve Dorsiflexion by Mike Reinold
Improving Ankle Plantar Flexion by Movement Rx
Inversion and Eversion by manitobafitness
Seated Single Leg Box Jump by ProlificAthletes
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Symptoms and Causes by The Mayo Clinic
Russell Wilson Has a Sprained MCL, Not Expected to Miss Time by Jeanna Thomas, SB Nation
Wall Hamstring Stretch with Femur Rotations by Samantha Maxfield, Dear Samantha
DCT Proflex
Cris Carter Explains Why Ex-Browns QB Robert Griffin III Became an NFL Bust by Andrew Lynch, Fox Sports
Meb Keflezighi’s Boston Marathon Win Is a Victory for Us All by Sean Gregory, Time Magazine
Nike Connects Athletes Everywhere with the World’s Elite Trainers
Four Common Errors in the Overhead Squat by Spencer Arnold
A Simple Drill to Correct Overstriding by Jenny Hadfield, Runner’s World
Report: Three Oregon Football Players Hospitalized after ‘Grueling’ Workouts by Chantel Jennings, ESPN
Variety of Causes Can Be at Root of Rhabdomyolysis by Shawn Bishop, The Mayo Clinic
Speed Trap by Charlie Francis
Altis
Westside Barbell
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Bible
The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness by Jeff Olson
Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court by John Wooden and Steve Jamison
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
The Inner Ring by C. S. Lewis

Show Notes

Is speed innate or teachable? [08:37]
Experiments at USA Track that helped Ryan coach speed. [11:19]
How much attention does Ryan pay to the foot’s impact point when trying to increase the efficiency of a runner’s stride? [14:22]
Ryan focuses his research on exercises that produce maximum results within a limited timeframe. [17:14]
Ryan explains the purpose of a Force Number and how he happened upon it as a metric for improvement. [18:08]
What protocol would Ryan recommend for a former competitive athlete trying to improve strength output? [20:40]
How much of his or her own body weight should a healthy adult expect to pull? [23:23]
What’s a reasonable lifting goal for someone to achieve over the course of a year? [24:38]
After building a hypertrophic base, how many times a week would Ryan have someone do a hex (trap) bar deadlift workout? [25:27]
From warmup to end, what would such a workout look like for an elite level athlete? [26:59]
In addition to seven-way hips, what glute med exercises are good to mix into a weekly routine? [37:25]
Neglecting these areas will likely lead an athlete to injury. [39:46]
Improving internal rotation to the femur and ankle flexion. [44:11]
How did Ryan suspect that Robert Griffin III (AKA RG3) wouldn’t last long in the NFL? [45:57]
How many inches off the floor should the grips of a hex (trap) bar be, and where should hands be in relation to the feet? [48:43]
Dropping bar weight vs. lowering quickly. [53:45]
After sustaining a knee injury on a recent hike, what rehab work might I do for Ryan to clear me for an upcoming ski trip? [55:47]
The injury-producing machine Ryan would remove from gyms and exercises he would recommend against. [1:00:38]
Aside from the hex (trap) bar deadlift, the one exercise or stretch Ryan thinks everyone should do. [1:04:29]
How Ryan used his sprinting to help Meb Keflezighi win the Boston Marathon. [1:05:50]
How does training a sprinter differ from training a marathon runner? [1:06:53]
Ryan’s current project at Nike. [1:09:21]
What does Ryan hate to see at the gym? [1:10:58]
Simplicity is good. Rhabdomyolysis is bad. [1:14:44]
Why Ryan hopes The Force Method “is obsolete in two years.” [1:18:24]
Trainers and performance coaches who had an influence on Ryan. [1:19:38]
What has Ryan borrowed or adapted from Louie Simmons, in particular? [1:22:25]
Incorporating weight loss — or gain — into training. [1:24:56]
What books has Ryan gifted most to others? [1:28:56]
What advice would Ryan give his younger self? [1:32:25]

People Mentioned

Peter Attia
Pavel Tsatsouline
Charles Poliquin
Dominic D’Agostino
Serena Williams
Russell Wilson
Marcus Mariota
Jameis Winston
Meb Keflezighi
Peter G. Weyand
Usain Bolt
Molly Pup
Amelia Boone
Robert Griffin III
Charlie Francis
Ben Johnson
Tonie Campbell
Dan Pfaff
Louie Simmons
Buddy Morris
John Wooden
C. S. Lewis
Jay Z
Tom Brady

View more on Timothy Ferriss's website »

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Published on May 07, 2017 16:06

May 4, 2017

Exploring Smart Drugs, Fasting, and Fat Loss — Dr. Rhonda Patrick

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“Avoiding all stress isn’t the answer to fighting aging; it’s about building resiliency to environmental stress.”

– Rhonda Patrick

Rhonda Patrick, PhD, (@foundmyfitness) is an American biochemist and scientist. She first appeared on this podcast back in episode twelve, and whether you want to extend life, inexpensively buy a stem cell “insurance policy,” or guard against cancer, Rhonda has valuable insights and recommendations.

In this episode, Rhonda tackles some of your most requested topics, including:

Best practices for fasting (and who struggles most with time-restricted feedings)
What blood tests are most important to analyze for overall health
The “minimum effective dose” for the benefits of sauna
Heat vs. cold exposure, and how they should be used effectively
Most effective smart drugs
The latest fat loss research
And much, much more

Rhonda is known for her studies of the mechanistic link between vitamin D and serotonin production, research that may have important implications for the understanding of autism and other disorders, and for her popular podcast, Found My Fitness.

Dr. Patrick also conducts clinical trials, performed aging research at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and did graduate research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she focused on cancer, mitochondrial metabolism, and apoptosis.

Enjoy!

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Listen to it on iTunes.
Stream by clicking here.
Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

Want even more from Rhonda Patrick? Listen to her first appearance on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss life extension, optimal performance, and much more (stream below or right-click here to download):

This podcast is sponsored by Alibaba and Gateway17. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner in the US, the stars don’t always align — but this might get close. Alibaba (if you’re not familiar with it, imagine Amazon and Google having a baby in China) is hosting Gateway17, a conference designed to help US businesses tap into the five hundred million consumers of China’s growing middle class.

This podcast is also brought to you by WordPress, my go-to platform for 24/7-supported, zero downtime blogging, writing online, creating websites, and basically everything online. I love it to bits, and the lead developer, Matt Mullenweg, has appeared on this podcast many times.

Whether for personal use or business, you’re in good company with WordPress being used by The New Yorker, Jay Z, FiveThirtyEight, TechCrunch, TED, CNN, and Time, just to name a few. A source at Google told me that WordPress offers “the best out-of-the-box SEO imaginable,” which is probably why it runs nearly 30 percent of the Internet. Go to WordPress.com/Tim to get 15% off your website today!

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Selected Links from the Episode

Connect with Rhonda Patrick:

Website | Podcast |Twitter | Instagram | Facebook