MetaLearn: Recent Episodes
Nasos Papadopoulos
MetaLearn helps you take your learning to the next level and master anything by exploring the fundamentals of accelerated learning and skill acquisition. Whether you’re looking to build a business, learn a language or pick up a sport, you’ll learn the principles and techniques needed to succeed, as well as gaining insights from the experts and thought leaders driving the global learning revolution.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss: closing the gap between knowing & doing, the challenge of living your values and the path to human progress.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss: how to ask great questions, the role of curiosity in progress and the impact of modern media and technology on expertise, sensemaking and democracy.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss: the importance of creativity for individuals and society, the process of discovering your genius and the difference between the gift and market economies.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss: how to understand your emotions, the patterns driving human behaviour and why mental health culture isn't improving mental health.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss: how to focus in a world full of distractions, the challenges of ADHD and how to deal with it and why myths about attention are harming you.
The Next Loop is a 12 part series summarising the most important insights from 6 years of conversations with some of the world's greatest thinkers, entrepreneurs and artists on the MetaLearn Podcast.
In this episode Nasos & Andrea discuss the topic of futureproofing yourself - how to adapt to a rapidly changing environment whilst maintaining your humanity so you can thrive in the modern world of work and live a good life.
Andrea Domenichini is a media producer and podcaster who runs his own show Voices in the Dark, and has been helping me with the latest episodes of the MetaLearn podcast. In this episode we discuss: - How to apply Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power in practice
- Avoiding manipulation and how to defend against people using power plays
- The true nature of power and how we misunderstand it in modern society
So whether you want to become a modern Machiavelli, realise your true potential or stop being the victim of other people's games, this episode will give you everything you need and more.
Raoul Pal is the CEO of Real Vision, a cutting edge financial media company and also runs his own macro research business, Global Macro Investor. In this episode we discuss:
- Raoul's 3 scenarios for how the war between Russia & Ukraine plays out
- The outlook for different asset classes including stock & bonds, commodities & crypto
- Why the tokenisation of culture through communities like Bored Ape Yacht Club are so significant
We also talk about the practical implications of potential social unrest and how people should be thinking about their life choices in that context as well as Raoul's philosophy of living in the future.
Visakan ‘Visa’ Veerasamy is a creator, marketer and the author of two books, Friendly Ambitious Nerd and Introspect. In this episode we discuss:
- How to navigate the hero’s journey of developing self awareness
- Confronting your inner tyrant so you can do the work you were built for
- Becoming friends with yourself and earning your own self-respect and admiration
This was a special conversation that will leave you with the mindsets and skillsets to better understand yourself, win your inner battles and realise your potential in all areas of life.
Iain McGilchrist is a psychiatrist and author of The Master and His Emissary and The Matter with Things. In the episode we discuss:
- The differences between the left and right brain hemispheres and how they shape your perspective
- The 4 pathways to understanding - science, reason, intuition & imagination
- How the big problems we face including the assault on Nature, destruction of Culture are all related
We also talk about the significance of morality and the intersection of science and religion.
Andrew Warner is an entrepreneur, author and the founder of Mixergy, a platform for interviewing the world’s top founders. In this episode we discuss:- Andrew’s techniques for learning anything from anyone, based on 2000+ interviews
- How to interrupt someone, ask tough questions and rescue bad conversations
- Strategies for building a thriving content business around interviews
We also discuss how Andrew improved his interviewing over time, what he learned from some of his interviewing heroes like Charlie Rose and the key mistakes to avoid for new interviewers.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur, financial analyst and the host of the Hidden Forces Podcast. In this episode we discuss:
- The key events that shaped the modern world including 9/11 and the 2008 Financial Crisis
- The rise of ‘financial nihilism’ and how it’s playing out in asset markets including crypto
- How to build a profitable media business with integrity in a post truth world
We also talk about Demetri’s recovery from a brain tumour that almost completely wiped his memory, the pros and cons of the different forms of media & the power of memes in crypto.
Oliver Burkeman is a journalist and author of the book 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. In this episode we discuss:
- The time management myths that are holding you back
- Practical strategies that help you focus on what matters most
- The true cost of convenience culture and what you lose
We also talk about how writing the book changed Oliver’s relationship to time, the path to producing original creative work and the issues with self-help culture.
Armand D’Angour is a professor of classics at the University of Oxford and the author of several books including Socrates in Love and his latest, How To Innovate.
In this episode we discuss:
- The 3 different types of innovation and how to use them to your advantage
- How the Greeks thought about change and what we can learn from them
- The relationship between innovation and ethics
We also cover the true story behind Archimedes’ famous “Eureka!” moment and Aristotle’s thoughts on political innovation.
Larry Grobel is a writer and interviewer who has interviewed every big name in Hollywood from Robert de Niro to Nicole Kidman, Al Pacino to Angelina Jolie. In this episode we discuss:
- The art of a great interview informed by Larry’ work with the world’s biggest stars
- Techniques for building rapport fast to make people feel comfortable and open up
- Larry’s principles for great storytelling that he’s used in his writing & interviewing
We also talk about Larry’s 10 days on Marlon Brando’s private island, his close 30 year friendship with Al Pacino and his controversial interview with former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight.
Gary Lachman is a writer and philosopher, whose work focuses on human imagination and the history of occult ideas. In this episode we discuss:
- Moving between the rational and the imaginative modes of consciousness
- The rise of meme magic in politics and how Trump, Putin others have used it
- How to make sense of a world dominated by philosophies of nihilism
We also discuss Gary’s experience in the rock band Blondie in the mid 70s, how the internet shapes reality and the history of some of the most important ideas about consciousness.
Andrea Domenichini is a media producer and podcaster who runs his own show Voices in the Dark, and has been helping me with the latest episodes of the MetaLearn podcast. In this episode we discuss:
- The role curiosity plays in learning and how to cultivate it in yourself and others
- The nature of knowledge and the thread running between science and the arts
- What Dungeons & Dragons has taught Andrea about storytelling, creativity and media
We also talk about growing up in different cultures, neurodivergence and the HBO Series Westworld and what it teaches us about consciousness.
James Hollis is Jungian analyst and author of 16 books, including his latest work Prisms and Living Between Worlds. In this episode we cover:
- How to deal with competing desires and create the life you want to live
- The meaning of Jung’s big ideas like the shadow and what they mean for you
- How James has written a book every two years for the last 3 decades
This was a wide ranging, deep conversation that will give you a fresh perspective on how to live a meaningful life.
Sergey Young is the Founder of the Longevity Vision Fund and author of the book The Science and Technology of Growing Young. In this episode we discuss:
- How using health data will eventually enable us to reverse aging
- The current state of aging research and progress made in recent years
- The simple things you can do to extend your lifes and stay healthy
This episode will give you a broad overview of the longevity field and unique insights into what you can do to live a longer, healthier life.
Tom Chatfield is a philosopher and author of the books Critical Thinking and How To Think. In this episode we discuss:
- How to avoid common thinking mistakes and deal with your biases to be less wrong
- The three characteristics of valuable information sources
- How to understand statistics and form an accurate picture of reality in a data driven world
We also discuss Tom’s experience writing a book during the pandemic and the task of teaching people to think. This episode will help you overcome thinking mistakes and make sense of the world around you.
Visakan ‘Visa’ Veerasamy is a creator, marketer and the author of two books, Friendly Ambitious Nerd and Introspect. In this episode we discuss:
- How to reframe your ambition so you can succeed your way
- How to create content that helps people, makes money and connects you to your tribe
- How to market yourself and your work without selling out
We also discuss Visa’s experience growing up as a child of multiple worlds, turning ADHD into a superpower, and the importance of creative scenes like the Golden Age in Ancient Greece and the Renaissance in Italy.
Visa is one of the most interesting and unique thinkers I’ve come across and this episode will give you a lot of valuable insight into creating, marketing and more.
Michael Meade is a mythologist, storyteller and author best known for books like The Water of Life, Fate and Destiny and The Genius Myth. In this episode we discuss:
- How to find and tap into your inner genius
- How to tell transformative stories that move people
- The most valuable life lessons from world mythology
We also cover Michael’s near fatal run-in with a gang aged 13 and his experience going on hunger strike after being drafted into the Vietnam War. This episode will fuel your imagination and help you discover and tap into your own genius.
Luke Burgis is an entrepreneur and author of the book Wanting, The Power of Mimetic Desire and How to Want What You Need.
In this episode, we cover:
- How to turn blind wanting that leaves you unfulfilled to intentional wanting that supports your values
- The different kinds of role models and how they affect your desires and behaviour
- How conflict often comes from similarities, not differences and the tactics to break the cycle in your life
This conversation will help you better understand what you want and why you want it, giving you the power to find more meaning in your work and life and transform your life for the better.
Rob Fitzpatrick is an author and entrepreneur, best known for his book The Mom Test. His latest offering is Write Useful Books.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Rob’s 4-part system for writing useful books based on product testing principles
- Common mistakes to avoid in getting feedback from readers
- Business lessons Rob has learned from a decade and a half of entrepreneurial projects
We also cover the publishing industry and Rob’s plans to disrupt it. This episode will give you a system for writing great non fiction that solves readers' problems and give you an insights into running an entrepreneurial career in a sustainable way.
Thomas Moore is an author and psychotherapist, best known for the NYT bestseller Care of the Soul. His latest book, Soul Therapy is focused on therapy that actually makes a difference.
In this episode we discuss:
- What therapy or "soul care" is and how it works
- The myths that to help you through dark times in life
- The modern obsession with childhood trauma
This conversation will give you a fresh perspective of therapy and help you separate the signal from the noise in a world of shallow conversations about mental health.
David Heinemeier Hansson is the creator of Ruby on Rails, Co-Founder and CTO at Basecamp and the best-selling co-author of Rework and Remote.
In this episode we discuss:
- David’s learning process and how he’s applied it to everything from photography to race car driving
- Basecamp's recent battle against Apple and the implications of Big Tech monopolies for business and society
- David’s take on a recent controversy at Basecamp around discussing political issues at work
This conversation will give you access to the methods and philosophies of an exceptional learner as well as insight into some of the key issues of our time.
Raoul Pal is the Co-Founder & CEO of Real Vision Group, a disruptive financial media brand. He also runs his own macro research business the Global Macro Investor and was himself previously a highly successful portfolio manager at one of the world’s largest hedge funds GLG.
The global economy is in a state of transition and with the march of technology accelerating and a new financial system and digital economy being created before our eyes, Raoul is the perfect guide to help you make sense of what’s going on. In this episode we discuss:
- How we got to the current crisis point in the global economy and what that means for you
- The emerging digital asset space (including cryptocurrencies, NFTs & community tokens) and its significance as a source of return to combat monetary debasement
- The skill of investing and what Raoul has learned about it after several decades in the markets
If you’re expecting tips on which cryptocurrencies to buy or sell this conversation isn’t for you. But it is what I hope will be an evergreen conversation charting the story of how we got to where we are and where we’re going, through the lens of one of the world’s most successful investors.
Barbara Oakley is an educator and writer who’s empowering people all over the world to learn more effectively.
She’s best known for her role as the lead instructor on Coursera’s Learning How To Learn and her bestselling book A Mind for Numbers but in the last few years she’s created an incredible body of work including multiple books and online courses.
In this episode we discuss:
- How and why Barb is releasing not one but two books in quick succession Learn like a Pro and Uncommon Sense Teaching
- The main insights from the last 5 years of research on the learning process
- The difference between declarative and procedural memory and why that matters for learning
This was a great conversation, full of fascinating insights about the learning process that you can go away and apply straight away.
Dean Nelson is the director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and author of the book Talk To Me.
He has over 40 years of experience in journalism and has written stories from all over the world, which have been published the likes of the New York Times & Boston Globe.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How to navigate career crisis and the two questions that resolved Dean’s own struggles
- How jazz is a useful analogy for understanding how to having better conversations
- The path to becoming an effective interviewer and talking to your heroes
This was a really insightful conversation that will teach you how to ask better questions and get better answers whether you interview for a living or not.
Eric Jorgenson is the author of the Navalmanack, a distillation of the best insights from Angel List Founder Naval Ravikant and the Founder of Course Correctly, a site that curates the best online courses for knowledge workers.
Eric is in the process of creating a course about leverage and has learned from one of the best thinkers on the subject, Naval Ravikant, founder of Angel List and one of the world’s best-known technologists.
In this episode we discuss:
- The core principles of leverage & the limiting beliefs that prevent people from applying it
- How to curate the best online courses in an ocean of available learning materials
- How the best way to become a unique specialist is to start as a generalist
This was a really insightful conversation that will give you some great ideas on how to apply leverage to your own life and business, as well as some powerful insights into the future of online education.
Dhrupad Karwa is the Founder and CEO of Inspo, an AI Inspiration Partner designed to enrich creative thinking at brands and agencies. He is also the co-founder and CEO of HaikuJAM, a social writing game that helps people write collaboratively online. In this episode we discuss:
- The importance of inspiration and how AI can bring more of it to our lives-
The challenges of building startups and what kept Dhru going along the way - The current state of the social media landscape and the challenge of navigating it
This was a great conversation that will give you an insight into the mind of an entrepreneur working on a fascinating problem at the intersection of human and machine creativity. Plus, if you’re craving some inspiration at the moment, Dhru’s stories and ideas will definitely give you a top-up.
Billy Broas is an entrepreneur, marketing coach and consultant and instructor of the Keystone online course. In this episode we discuss:
- Limiting beliefs holding you back from marketing yourself and your business
- Billy’s Bridge of Transformation Method
- What Billy learned from some of history’s greatest copywriters
This episode will give you the mindsets and skillsets you need to thrive in marketing, as well as great insights into human psychology, business and online education.
Anton Howes is a historian in residence at the RSA and a visiting lecturer at King's College London. He is also the author of the book Arts and Minds: How The RSA Changed a Nation.
In this episode we discuss:
- The innovator's mindset and why it’s much rarer than you think-
A vision for reviving the great exhibitions of the 19th century as a vehicle for progress - How to research and write a book, as well as advice for getting your work read
This conversation will give you some great ideas for how you can innovate more in your life, your organisation, and even for society as a whole as well as some valuable insights into the creative process.
Kevin Kelly is the co-founder and editor at Wired magazine, and one of the world’s leading technologists. He’s the author of What Technology Wants and The Inevitable and has recently launched Vanishing Asia, a photo-book documenting 40 years of Kevin’s travels in Asia.
In this episode we discuss:
- Kevin’s lessons about photography, the world and himself from 40 years of travel in Asia
- What the rise of Asia and accelerating global convergence means for you and the world
- How to succeed in the industry of ideas and the current state of intellectual property
This was a wide ranging conversation that will offer you powerful insights about travel, technology and where the world is going. Most importantly, you’ll get a fresh perspective on how to discover your own unique attributes so you can future proof yourself and live a good life.
Neer Sharma is the founder of Patent Drop, a newsletter that gives you a peek into the future by summarising new patents from big tech companies.
He previously co-founded HaikuJAM - a mobile game that helps people feel better through collaborative writing, helping grow the community to over 1 million users.
In this episode we discuss:
- How to navigate a career change without having the next thing lined up
- What the latest patents coming out of big tech tell us about the future of online interaction
- Neer’s experiments with NFTs (non fungible tokens) and what the technology means for creators
This conversation will give you access to the mindset and strategies of someone who’s created a completely new career for himself by running experiments online as well as some great insights into the weird and wonderful virtual world that’s being built online.
Armand D’Angour is a Professor of Classics at Oxford University, a musician and the author of several books, including his latest Socrates in Love.
In this episode we discuss:
- Armand's revisionist biography of Socrates including an account of the woman who helped him shape his ideas on love
- The value of reviving ancient music and the methods for doing so
- What the Greeks’ attitude to the new can teach us about technology in the modern world
This was a wonderful conversation that will give you fresh insight into the foundations of Western philosophy and the connections between music and the classics.
Annie Duke is a bestselling author, speaker, and decision-making consultant. Her latest book, How to Decide is already earning rave reviews and her previous one, Thinking in Bets, became a national bestseller.
As a former professional poker player, Annie won more than $4 million in tournament poker before retiring from the game in 2012.
If you're anything like most people, you probably don't have much of a process for making decisions but what if decision making was a learnable skill? Annie has dedicated herself to teaching it through her books and consulting
In this episode we discuss:
- What games like poker, chess and backgammon can teach us about decision making
- How to learn effectively from your experiences without becoming biased by outcomes
- How to overcome analysis paralysis and eliminate unnecessary decisions
This was a great wide-ranging conversation with a lot of practical applications that will help you combat your own biases, address your weaknesses and become a better and more confident decision-maker.
Joel Christensen is a Professor of Classics at Brandeis University and author of the book The Many Minded Man. He also posts regularly on the popular Classics-oriented website Sententiae Antiquae.
The Many Minded Man explores Homer's Odyssey through a modern psychological lens, focusing on how it reflects the workings of the human mind and provides a model for coping with the challenges of chance and fate.
In this episode we discuss:
- The concept of agency and how The Odyssey helps us to understand what we can control
- How to use the power of storytelling to make sense of your life and the world around you
- What modern psychology can learn from Homer's Odyssey and Iliad
This was a wonderful conversation centred on some of the greatest stories ever told, which will show you how storytelling can shape a sense of agency and provide solutions to help you avoid destructive patterns.
Minter Dial is an international speaker and award-winning author, who focuses on the topics of leadership, branding and transformation. He has written three books including his latest You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Minter's experience observing 9/11 in New York changed his values
- The 4 paradoxes we all have to navigate in a modern business context
- What Minter learned from making a documentary about his grandfather
This conversation was remarkably insightful and wide ranging and in it, you'll discover the mindsets and skillsets required for transformational leadership and how to facilitate meaningful dialogue.
Christian Busch is a Professor at NYU and LSE and the author of the bestselling book, The Serendipity Mindset. He is also the co-founder of two thriving communities - Sandbox, a global community of young innovators, as well as of Leaders on Purpose, an organisation convening leading CEOs.
In this episode we discuss:
- The mindset needed to integrate serendipity into your career and life
- How to plan and set goals without over optimising and obsessing about efficiency
- How to keep a community fresh whilst maintaining the core values
This was a great conversation that will give you the mindset and skillset to use the unpredictability of life to your advantage and create your own luck.
Michelle Weise is the author of Long-Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs that Don’t Even Exist Yet.
She is an entrepreneur-in-residence and senior advisor at Imaginable Futures and her work over the last decade has concentrated on preparing working-age adults for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
In this episode we discuss:
- The current state of the landscape in workplace training and higher education
- The blend of skills we'll need to develop individually and as a society to thrive in the future
- What Michelle learned from working with legendary Professor Clayton Christensen
If you're interested in the intersection between the future of education and work this conversation is for you as well as giving you with plenty of original insight into how to direct your own career in a rapidly changing environment.
Tom Vanderbilt is a journalist and author of the book Beginners: The Curious Power of Lifelong Learning. In this conversation we discuss:
- The pain and joy of being an amateur and why it's so important
- Tom's criteria for learning new skills and picking teachers
- The unexpected benefits of picking up new skills
The limiting beliefs that stop us from learning new things are often so difficult to overcome because they're invisible and in this conversation, we map the territory so you can break through and feel good about becoming a beginner again.
Oli Barrett is a super connector named "the most connected man in Britain" by Wired magazine, who has received an MBE for services to business. In this episode we discuss:
- The 5 strategies for staying in touch with people
- The components of a good cold email or long-shot as Oli calls them
- How to create space for meaningful conversations online
I've learned a lot from Oli in the last few years and if you apply a fraction of what he discusses here to your network, you'll be in a very different place a year from now.
Anne Laure Le Cunff, founder of Ness Labs, an online school and community on mindful productivity. She's an ex-Googler, and holds a masters in Applied Neuroscience from King's College London, while her work has been featured in WIRED, Forbes, the FT and Rolling Stone.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Anne-Laure's personal values have changed over the course of her career
- Anne-Laure's system for consistently producing content online
- The concept of an anti library and how that relates to metacognition
This was a great conversation –– whether you're looking for some creative inspiration or techniques on publishing more, this episode has you covered.
Thomas Moore is a best selling author, international speaker and esteemed psychotherapist. This is Part 2 of my conversation with Thomas and in it we discuss:
- The movement of archetypal psychology and the art of creative collaboration
- The thinkers who have advanced our understanding of the human psyche
- How the pandemic has affected the soul aspects of our work experience
We also touch on the taboo around money in our society and how it relates to work. I hope you find Thomas' ideas as valuable as I have.
Thomas Moore is a best selling author, international speaker and esteemed psychotherapist. He has written 25 books about the soul, finding meaningful work and doing religion in a fresh way. In this episode we discuss:
- The idea of having a calling, when this is naive and when it isn't
- How Thomas has written 25 books in his career without retiring to a cabin in the woods
- The distinction between soul and spirit and why it matters for everyone
As Thomas himself puts it, so many of the problems we experience are not ones of knowledge but of imagination. I hope this conversation will be as much of a perspective shifter for you as it was for me.
Evan Carmichael runs a successful YouTube channel which distills the mindsets and skillsets from the world's top performers in sports, business and entertainment. In this episode we discuss:
- The relationship between belief and action that every creator has to navigate
- The systems and processes needed to create a thriving YouTube channel
- What Evan has learned from studying some of the world's top performers
Whether you're looking to start a YouTube channel, podcast or newsletter, this episode will give you the mindsets and approaches you need to succeed.
Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of 5 companies, acclaimed TED speaker and author of six books including her latest, Uncharted. In this episode we discuss:
- How to pursue a career as a series of experiments
- The problems with modern forecasting in an uncertain environment
- The dangers of prioritising efficiency in an uncertain world and the human qualities needed to thrive in it
This episode will give you great practical advice for navigating the world we live in as well as a fresh perspective on the most important questions of our time.
Josh Kaufman is an entrepreneur, researcher, and author of three bestselling books – The Personal MBA, The First 20 Hours, and How to Fight a Hydra.
This is Part 2 of my conversation with Josh, so if you haven't already, I recommend you go back and listen to Part 1 where we discussed:
- The concept of exploration/exploitation and how it helps you decide what to work on
- The system Josh uses for choosing what to outsource
- How Josh applied the fundamental law of marketing to his book Personal MBA
In this second part, we cover:
- How to overcome akrasia defined as a lack of self-control or acting against your better judgment
- The autofocus method Josh uses to manage his to-do list and the research methods he's used to produce 3 bestselling books
- The need to acknowledge tradeoffs in business and life and the dangers of optimising something too early
Josh Kaufman is an entrepreneur, researcher, and author of three bestselling books – The Personal MBA, the First 20 Hours, and How to Fight a Hydra. I had Josh on the podcast previously where we spoke about the power of storytelling for promoting behaviour change and mastering complex projects.
Josh's book The Personal MBA provides a crash course in business by covering timeless principles and recently hit its 10th Anniversary. The 10th Anniversary of the podcast was an excellent excuse to get him back on the podcast for another chat, which was so good and went on so long, that I've split it into 2 parts.
In this first part, we discuss:
- The concept of exploration/exploitation and how that can help you decide what to work on
- The system Josh uses for choosing what to outsource
- How Josh applied the fundamental law of marketing to his book Personal MBA
We also cover the five sections of business value creation, marketing, sales, value delivery, and finance that Josh structures in the business section of the book, and in Part 2 we'll touch on some of his ideas around people and systems as well as his research methods.
Paul Kirschner is a renowned educational psychologist and author. He is an Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the Open University of the Netherlands Guest Professor at the Thomas More University of Applied Science in Mechelen, Belgium and owner of kirschner-ED. His most recent book How Learning Happens, explores 28 key works on learning and teaching, chosen from the fields of educational psychology and cognitive psychology, and discusses what they mean in practice. He's also written books on Evidence Informed Learning Design and Urban Myths about Learning and Education.
In this episode we discuss:
- The educational researchers that have inspired Paul and laid the foundations for the field
- Why teaching is an art informed by a science, and how teachers should incorporate research on learning into their process
- The concept of self efficacy and how our beliefs about our abilities impact our performance
We also discuss when students should learn about how learning happens, the importance of teachers in goal setting and the debate on domain-specific vs domain-general skills.
In this episode I'll reflect on my experience building the podcast over the last few years and share some of the lessons I've learned about the creative process from 150 episodes. I discuss:
- How being willing to look foolish is the starting point of every great creative achievement
- The importance of promoting your own work and how to get over resistance to doing it
- The severe consequences of not doing creative work as a creative person
I hope these insights will prove useful for you. Thank you for listening to the MetaLearn Podcast!
Ben Saunders is one of the world’s leading polar explorers and an acclaimed keynote speaker. He is the 3rd person in history to ski solo to the North and South poles and holds the record for the longest ever polar journey on foot. In this episode we discuss:
- The daily life of a polar explorer including the training, the fundraising and the trekking
- The nature of motivation and grit and how Ben's lessons from polar explorations can be transferred to your daily life
- How to quit or ask for help when you need it - Ben recounts a tough decision he had to make and how it's influenced the way he operates
Ben's experience is unique and inspirational. The amount of obstacles he had to overcome mentally and physically to do what he did is right at the limit of human potential and I hope it will inspire you to dream a little bigger and grind a little harder.
Jack Butcher is a designer, entrepreneur and the founder of Visualize Value, a content platform teaching people to communicate through design and build great online products. In this conversation we discuss
- The principles of design that separate forgettable brands from iconic ones
- How to productize your skills and standout in the new economy
- The curriculum building methods Jack has used for his successful courses
So if you want to learn more about visual communication, or separate your income from your time, this episode has you covered.
Anna Gát is the founder of the Interintellect, a global community and talent platform for public intellectuals. In this episode we discuss:
- The moments that change lives – so called 'Damascus moments' that lead to personal transformation – and whether these moments can be forced.
- What it means to be an adult in an age where there are no clear transitions set out by society anymore and how we can manage that process ourselves.
- The notion of vocation – whether we all have something we're uniquely capable of doing, the process for discovering that and the need to harmonise your dreams with your practical reality.
I'm really impressed by what Anna is doing with the Interintellect and she's definitely spent a lot of time thinking about these questions in depth, so I'm sure you'll find this discussion valuable.
Sam Sethi is an award winning radio presenter, podcaster and entrepreneur who hosts the podcast Sam Talks Technology. In this episode we discuss:
- How to apply second curve thinking in your career to stay futureproof
- The future of podcasting and how listening habits differ across the world
- The cutting edge of voice tech and what's on the way
I'm becoming increasingly curious about the future of podcasting and voice tech and Sam was the perfect person to get into the weeds with on this, as well as providing some great insights on career, the army and much more.
Erica Young an expert in the field of network science and founder of the Reliants Project, a blog and podcast that educates people about the invisible impact of networks on our lives. In this episode we discuss:
- The networking myths that hold people back from proactively building relationships
- How understanding network science can help you progress in your career
- The habits of superconnectors, including running events and making introductions
We also talk about some of the core concepts in the field of network science, what the pandemic has done to our networks and much more.
Anna Gát is the founder of the Interintellect, a global community and talent platform for public intellectuals. In this conversation we discuss:
- How to build a thriving intellectual community and the inspiration behind the Interintellect
- Why utility tyranny and over optimisation is so harmful and how to combat it
- The mindsets and processes involved in facilitating great conversations
We also talk about Anna's educational experience which included managing Hungarian rockbands, her favourite lockdown books and podcasts and much more.
Anthony Metivier is a world renowned Memory Expert, the Founder of the blog MagneticMemoryMethod.com and author of the new book The Victorious Mind.
In this episode we discuss:
- The importance of metaphors and analogies for understanding the mind
- How to master meditation and safeguard your mental wellbeing
- How to navigate the world of self-help effectively
We also speak about the cultural conversation around mental health and the nature of knowledge.
Matt Clifford is the CEO and co-founder of the world's leading talent investor, Entrepreneur First, which helps people launch a tech startup from scratch. In this episode we discuss:
- The current state of talent allocation including whether there are too many entrepreneurs
- What's causing the slowdown in innovation in the West and how to halt it
- The tough problem of organising genius and successful attempts to do it
We also talk about the role of government vs business in solving big problems and how the startup ecosystem has been affected by COVID-19.
Olly Richards is a language learning expert and entrepreneur, who speaks 8 languages and runs the hugely successful blog and podcast I Will Teach You A Language. In this episode we discuss topics on building an expert business including:
- How to brand yourself to stand out in a crowded marketplace
- How to build your audience so you can reach your first students
- How to create and launch a course to make your first money online
So if you want to start a thriving online business, build an engaged audience and launch a successful course, this episode has you covered.
Jeff Cobb is the bestselling author of the book, Leading The Learning Revolution and the founder of Tagoras, a learning consultancy. In this episode we discuss:
- The impact of COVID 19 on adult learning and higher education
- The need to address disruption and displacement in employment - The secret to running good virtual events and learning experiences
So if you want to get up to speed with the latest in online learning, this episode has you covered.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a leading Bitcoin and open blockchain expert and bestselling author. In this episode we discuss: -The implications of the crisis for the global economy and people like you -The future of crypto including Bitcoin and different DeFi projects -The tradeoff between government control and individual liberties So whether you want to find out what all this economic craziness means for you, or whether it’s a good time to dip your toe into the crypto space, this episode has you covered.
Stephen Kosslyn is the President and CEO of Foundry College and one of the world’s most respected cognitive scientists with four decades of experience at Stanford and Harvard. In this episode we discuss: * The implications of the coronavirus for online learning, including the limitations of Zoom lectures * Why Foundry College chose the future proof skills they teach when forming their curriculum * The need for lifelong learning programs and how you should be learning throughout your adult life
So whether you want to understand the educational implications of the current crisis and the future-proof skills you should be learning or get insight into the current state of online education, this episode has you covered.
Caroline Crampton is a podcaster, writer and media commentator. In this episode we discuss: - What Caroline looks for in a good podcast and her current listening habits - The business of media and why podcasts are growing so fast - How to make creative work that builds a loyal audience So if you’re keen to learn more about podcasting, writing and the creative process, this episode has you covered.
Daisy Christodoulou is the author of the new book 'Teachers vs Tech?’ and the Director of Education at No More Marking. In episode we discuss: - Why technology isn’t neutral, despite what Silicon Valley want you to believe - Daisy’s feedback on my ideas about the key 21st century skills - The companies and people that Daisy admires in the learning and education space This episode will help you reflect on how you use technology in your learning and point you towards some amazing thinkers and companies in the EdTech space.
Daisy Christodoulou is the author of the new book 'Teachers vs Tech?’ and the Director of Education at No More Marking. In episode we discuss:
- How tech can help improve education through adaptive learning and spaced repetition - Why teaching facts is still important for foundational knowledge - The bad ideas behind edtech disasters including a Pearson-Apple collaboration
This episode will give you insight into the learning process and dispel the myths that are harming the way we think about education.
Warren Shaeffer is the CEO and Co-Founder of Knowable, an audio-first learning platform. In this episode we discuss:
- How to launch a startup including finding a co-founder and building a product
- The audio revolution and why audio first learning has so much potential
- The importance of expertise and how to select for it on the internet
So whether you’re looking to supercharge your learning or find experts you can trust, this has you covered.
Julian Treasure is sound and communication expert, acclaimed TED Speaker and the founder of The Sound Agency. In this episode we discuss:
- How a recent health scare altered Julian’s perspective on life and work
- Julian’s tips for effective public speaking, based on his five TED talks
- The future of audio and what the current revolution means for you
Julian is a true master of his craft so if you’re looking to improve as a communicator and speak so people want to listen you’ll get a lot out of this episode.
Roei Deutsch is the CEO of Jolt, a Business School for the self-made that gives you a competitive advantage from day one. In this episode we discuss:
- The learning best practices used by the military intelligence unit in the IDF
- The key insights about communication from a political campaign
- The skills knowledge workers need to thrive in the 21st century
This conversation was a packed full of useful ideas that will make you reflect on how you’re approaching your learning and what you can do better.
Dr John Collins is an innovation consultant, technologist and entrepreneur. In this episode we discuss:
- How to become a polymath and productively spread time across projects
- The future of synthetic biology and the innovations emerging from the field
- John’s approach to tapping in to creativity individually and in groups
The conversation also covers the ethics of technological progress and the problems with linear thinking and will help inspire you to reconnect with your natural curiosity.
Nelson Sivalingam is the Founder and CEO of HowNow, a learning platform that helps organisations onboard and upskill their teams in the flow of work. In this episode we discuss:
- How Nelson learned film and video production by following his curiosity
- How to learn more effectively at work and what HowNow does to facilitate this
- The skills Nelson believes people need to thrive in the 21st century
Whatever career path you’re on, this episode will give you some great insights into how you can learn more effectively on the job to improve your performance.
David Perell is a writer and educator on a mission to transform our relationship with information. In this episode we discuss:
- The future of media and David’s idea of Naked Brands
- Why identity is the key to transformative learning experiences
- Why knowledge workers should train more like athletes and how to do it
This conversation will give you a fresh perspective on learning and teach you how to leverage the power of the internet to accelerate your career.
Martin Schmalz is an Associate Professor of Finance at Oxford’s Saïd Business School. He is also the co-author of the book The Business of Big Data: How to Create Lasting Value in the Age of AI. In this episode we discuss:
- The mainstream narrative around AI and what you actually need to know
- The uniquely human skills you should be developing to thrive in a world with AI
- How the business of big data affects your privacy and what to do about it
Regardless of your understanding of AI, this episode will give you a lot to chew on and get you thinking critically about the way you learn and live with technology.
Alex Dunsdon is an Investment Partner at Saatchi Invest, Chief of Staff at e-commerce platform RedBrain and all-round curious person. In this episode, the main theme is the overlap between understanding your self and doing great work. We discuss:
- Alex’s recent career shift and the personal realisations behind it
- My experience in the last year and what I’ve learned about how I work
- The power of imagination and why ideas rule the world
This conversation will be really useful if you’re looking to make a career change but even if you’re happy with what you’re doing there’s loads of great insights that will help you do better work and question the world around you.
Eric Partaker is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mexican restaurant chain Chilango and a High Performance Coach. In this episode we discuss:
- The major problem with most approaches to personal development
- The relationship between identity, emotion and habit formation
- How to integrate the high performance mindset into all areas of your life
So whatever aspect of life you’re looking to improve, this episode will give you all you need and much more.
Eric Partaker is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mexican restaurant chain Chilango and a High Performance Coach. In this episode we discuss:
- The importance of building career capital and how Eric did this at McKinsey and Skype
- The art of branding and how Eric applied this at Chilango
- How Chilango became one of the most successfully crowdfunded businesses of all time
So whether you’re looking to take your career to the next level or upgrade your business, this episode will give you all you need and more.
Josh Kaufman is an entrepreneur and the bestselling author of The Personal MBA, The First 20 Hours and How To Fight a Hydra. In this episode we discuss:
- The benefits of fiction and non-fiction for promoting behaviour change
- Dealing with practical concerns when pursuing your dreams
- The skills that Josh stuck with after writing the First 20 Hours
This was a wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary conversation with lots of great insights whether you want to start your own business or learn a new skill.
Niko Bonatsos is the Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners an early stage venture capital fund specialising in Series A and B tech startups. In this episode we discuss:
- How Niko harnessed the power of serendipity as a student in multiple countries
- Why Niko wants the founder he invests in to be learning animals and how he identifies this
- The current state of the conversation in Silicon Valley
We also discuss Niko’s investment in Snapchat which IPOd with a $28 billion valuation so this was a great episode packed full of useful insights about all things tech.
Steve O’Hear is a leading technology journalist for Techcrunch where he focuses on European startups, companies and products.
Steve has written for some of the world’s top publications and has also started a company himself, co-founding the London and Prague-based startup Beepl, In his role as CEO there, Steve helped the company raise its first round and develop and launch its product
A man of many talents he also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed documentary 'In Search of the Valley', which was released in back in 2006 spending one month visiting and talking to many of the valley's biggest personalities.
In this episode we discuss:
- How technology has affected journalism and changed the rules of the game
- Steve’s tips and tricks for asking good questions to get the types of answers you’re looking for in an interview
- The current state of the global tech ecosystem and whether we’re in a bubble or not
We also discuss Steve’s experiences as a founder and filmmaker, which makes this episode a wide-ranging and multidisciplinary one. So whether you’re curious about the state of the global tech industry, how journalism is evolving or what it takes to make the most of an interview, this episode has you covered.
Venkatesh Rao is an author, consultant and the founder of the hugely popular blogs Ribbon Farm and Breaking Smart. Ribbonfarm is a multidisciplinary blog focused on strategy and decision-making, while Breaking Smart is devoted to in-depth explorations of the emerging digital economy.
Venkat is also the author of the highly acclaimed book on decision-making, Tempo, and offers consulting services in organisational development, strategy and executive coaching, working with a number of prestigious clients like famed VC firm Andreesen Horowitz. In this episode we discuss:
- Venkat’s lessons about the creative process from years of writing on his two blogs
- The conditions needed to generate insight from conversation and how Venkat works with the likes of Marc Andreesen from Andreesen Horowitz
- Why dialectic is the driving force of any good relationship and a healthy society
This conversation was a lot of fun to record and it was great to chat to Venkat while he was visiting here in London! Whether you want to have more insightful conversations or know what it takes to run a hugely popular blog, this episode has you covered.
Azeem Azhar is a strategist, product entrepreneur and analyst, currently working as the Senior Advisor for AI to the CTO of Accenture. He is also the creator of the Exponential View newsletter and podcast, which offer cutting edge insights into technology, business and society.
If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, then you’ll have noticed that technology is a topic I’ve covered extensively – and that’s because I believe understanding tech is an essential part of understanding our modern world and operating effectively in it. Azeem is uniquely positioned to offer insight into the space, given his multidisciplinary background
He founded and sold PeerIndex, a company which applied machine learning to large-scale social media graphs to make predictions about web users. As an investor he invests in tech startups, particularly in the AI sector and he has the ear of some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and technologists
In this episode we discuss
- Azeem’s lessons as a successful entrepreneur and how that affects his investment decisions
- The potential impact of AI on the labour market and how to position yourself for the changes to come
- How technology changes our understanding of the world and how we act in it
This episode was a real pleasure to record and it was great to get inside the head of someone who has thought as deeply about the interactions between technology, business and society as Azeem has.
Richard Bowdler is the founder of StoryThis, a company that develops bespoke learning solutions for companies who want to maximise their investment in learning & development and he’s also building a technology platform to end unwanted forgetting and make the world a smarter place.
Rich is someone I’ve known for a couple of years now and I was really pleased to finally get him on the show – he’s got a fascinating background having experienced life as a Buddhist, Royal Marine Commando & Memory Expert. In his spare time he also runs an exclusive, invitation-only, peak-performance mind-body training programme for executives.
In this episode we discuss
- The learning environment in the military and how it differs to school and university
- How Rich first came across memory palaces and how we can all use them to improve our learning and manage our knowledge
- The skills that Rich believes are essential to thrive in the 21st century, including the art of personal reinvention
So whether you want to boost your memory, reinvent yourself or you’re just curious about the learning environment in the Royal Marines, this episode will leave you with range of useful insights.
Uri Bram is the bestselling author of Thinking Statistically and the CTO of Umuzi, an educational organisation that supports talented young people to develop the skills needed to access high-value careers.
For those of you who are long time listeners, you may remember Uri first appeared on the podcast back on episode 62 where we spoke about key statistical principals, music theory and learning skills from experts.
Uri like me is someone who is interested in a number of different areas and he’s been up to a lot since we last spoke, joining Umuzi in South Africa as their CTO.
Umuzi teach a range of digital skills, including coding, copywriting and design, using real life projects to make the experience as practical as possible.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How the courses are selected and delivered at Umuzi and how they compare to other alternative education programs
- Whether there is a tradeoff between training skills and teaching people to think
- How to choose projects when you have a lot of interests and trouble focusing
So whether you’re interested in alternative education or have too many interests and want to find a way to pick your projects better, this episode will leave you with a range of useful insights.
Fritjof Capra is a scientist, educator and author, best known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of Physics and Systems Thinking.
Capra first became widely known for his book, The Tao of Physics, which explored the ways in which modern physics was changing our worldview from a mechanistic one to a holistic one.
Since then Fritjof has embarked on a multidisciplinary adventure, exploring the connections between the sciences, producing a remarkable body of work and teaching all over the world.
His most recent book, The Systems View of Life integrates the biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions of life into one unified vision, which has implications for politics, economics and how we live our lives.
Fritjof also spent a decade studying the notebooks of the ultimate Renaissance Man – the artist, scientist and engineer, Leonardo Da Vinci – producing two books on the subject which show that Leonardo himself was a systems thinker long before the term was even invented.
In this conversation we discuss
- How many of the problems in our world from climate change to financial security are just facets of a single crisis in perception
- How you can learn systems thinking and teach it to others
- The secrets behind Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius
This was a fascinating and wide ranging conversation – Fritjof has dedicated his career to these subjects so this episode will definitely challenge you and get you thinking about the world from different perspectives.
Alex Beard is an author, speaker and the Senior Director of the Global Learning Lab at Teach for All network of independent organizations working to help all children fulfill their potential.
After starting out as an English teacher in a London comprehensive, he completed an MA at the Institute of Education before joining Teach For All.
Alex has travelled around the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and these experiences form the basis of his book Natural Born Learners which he describes as a user's guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century,
Alex’s experiences formed the basis of our discussion in this episode we discuss three big issues, concretised in his experiences:
- The power of education for development and the dangers of exam factories in South Korea
- The potential of personalised learning and the dangers of over optimisation in Silicon Valley
- The human centred model of education and celebration of teachers in Finland
We also discuss the personal takeaways Alex got from his trip around the world that you can apply to your learning on an individual basis – so whether you’re a parent, teacher or learner this episode has you covered.
Barbara Oakley is an educator and writer who’s empowering people all over the world to learn more effectively.
For those of who you who are long time listeners you’ll remember Barb from Episode 46 of the show, where we discussed Barb’s insights from learning skills in the US military and retraining herself as an engineer at the age of 26.
She’s best known for her role as the lead instructor on Coursera’s Learning How To Learn, one of the world’s most popular online courses and her bestselling book A Mind for Numbers, which the course was based on.
It’s been a year and a half since we last spoke and in that time Barb has released her second MOOC Mindshift and launched a new book, Learning How To Learn, which is a guide at effective learning aimed at kids and teens.
In this episode we discuss:
- Barb’s journey as a thought leader in the learning space
- Teaching children how to learn effectively
- Whether the future of online educational content is free
This conversation is great as a standalone piece and I’m sure you’ll get a lot from it, whether you’re a parent who wants to be more proactive in your child’s education or an aspiring thought leader who wants to reach a big audience without compromising on your principles.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a best-selling author, speaker, educator and one of the world’s top bitcoin and open blockchain experts.
You’d have to be living on a planet far, far away to not have heard of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology these days. Whether it’s the daily price movements in Bitcoin or how ICOs are turning some people into millionaires and bankrupting others it’s getting hard to find a signal above the noise.
But if you scratch below the surface you’ll realise that Bitcoin and the Blockchain technology it’s built on isn’t a fad – it has the potential to transform the lives of billions of people and transform the world as we know it.
If there’s one guy to speak to about all this it’s Andreas. He’s the bestselling author of 4 books, an internationally acclaimed speaker sought all over the world, and he’s even testified in hearings of the Australian and Canadian Senate about cryptocurrencies and their implications for society.
In this conversation we dive into a whole range of topics including:
- The 6 career epiphanies Andreas had that led him into the crypto space
- The core principles behind cryptocurrencies and how Bitcoin and Ethereum can coexist in the same ecosystem
- The implications of the technology for our lives as individuals and for society
Andreas is both a specialist and a generalist and he approaches the subject by drawing on multiple fields including history, economics and psychology. He’s also a very engaging speaker as you’ll discover in this episode and you’ll get a lot out of this conversation regardless of how much you know about Bitcoin or Blockchain.
I recently turned 26 and this summer will be 5 years since I graduated from university, which means I’ve been making my way in the world of work for half a decade.
I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years and while I’ve certainly developed expertise in the field of accelerated learning, I think some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned have been career related.
So in this episode I’m going to share 5 lessons I’ve learned in the last 5 years that will help you level up your career and get you closer to where you want to be.
These core lessons are going to sound simple, but I’ll be drawing on my own experience - both good and bad - along with the conversations I’ve had with some remarkable people on the podcast to make them concrete.
The purpose of this episode is not to get you to blindly follow what I did – but to get you to reflect on your own experience in a way that gets you to take action that makes sense for your own career ambitions.
Alex Dunsdon is an entrepreneur and investor who thrives on connecting people and ideas.
He’s the Co-Founder of the Bakery an innovation agency which transforms big companies by connecting them up to the technology and talent they need to solve their biggest problems.
He’s also a partner at Saatchi Invest, where he backs mission drive founders that obsess over product and has invested in business like City Mapper and Dojo
In this episode we discuss:
- Alex’s career lessons including a light bulb moment that changed everything and why he invests in cult leaders
- The challenges of corporate innovation and why corporates should be competing with VCs given their assets
- The LinkyBrains community Alex has founded and the importance of multidisciplinary thinking for innovation
So whether you’re looking for tips on how to think better and innovate in the modern world of work or are just curious about how a seasoned operator picks his companies and grows a business, this episode has you covered.
Charles Fadel is the founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, an institution focused on making education more relevant and answering the question: “What should we learn in the 21st century?”
Charles is also a respected thought leader and author in the global education space who works with several teams at the OECD and he’s also co-authored the highly regarded 4 Dimensional Education and 21st Century Skills.
Prior to starting the Center for Curriculum Redesign, Charles had a 25-year career in the technology space, which included 13 years as Global Education Lead at Cisco Systems – so it’s safe to say that he has witnessed first hand the disruptive effects of exponential change.
In this conversation we dive into a whole range of topics including:
- The race between technology and education and its implications for your career
- The knowledge, skills and character traits needed to thrive in the 21st century
- The challenge of measuring soft skills and metalearning CCR's efforts to do so
So if you're curious about the knowledge and skills you need to acquire to future proof yourself and attempts to update the curriculum for our generation, this episode has you covered.
Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist, and the Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, a California based non-profit charity dedicated to combating the aging process.
Through his work at SENS, Aubrey works on the development of medical innovations that promote rejuvenation and can postpone all forms of age-related ill-health including diseases like alzheimers, certain forms of cancer and atherosclerosis.
Aubrey started off as a computer scientist and AI Researcher before becoming a self-taught bio gerontologist, which makes him a fascinating example of someone who can pick up new skills and develop deep knowledge in new fields
In this conversation we discuss:
- The transferability of research as a skill and the multidisciplinary nature of innovation
- The core ideas behind Aubrey’s research – and what that means for the future of human aging
- How to successfully spread your message to attract interest to your work
Aubrey has a love for bold statements and is often a magnet for controversy in the media, but he’s a remarkably flexible and original thinker, so whether you're curious about the future of human aging or want to learn more about how to communicate effectively in a world full of noise, this episode has you covered.
This episode is another special one on equations that changed the world.
Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity is widely known as the world’s most famous equation created by history’s most famous scientist.
In simple terms the equation reads - E = MC² which states that Energy = Mass x Speed of Light²
This theory predicts the equivalence of mass and energy and a space-time continuum, which fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe and how it works.
In practical terms, Einstein’s theory ultimately led to the creation of nuclear energy sources – a defining moment in the history of humanity similar to the discovery of fire, because it allowed us to have far greater energy yields than we’d ever had before by splitting the atom…
Today’s guest, Kalid Azad, is the founder of Better Explained, one of the world's most popular maths websites that makes hard concepts easy to understand. After studying Computer Science at Princeton, Kalid spent a few years at Microsoft as a program manager, founded a Y Combinator startup, and currently works as a developer.
Kalid uses an intuition first approach to explain difficult ideas in a way that anyone can understand and this makes him the perfect guide for this episode. In this episode we discuss:
- Einstein’s backstory and how it influenced his work
- The mechanics of the equation in a way that you can understand
- The implications of the equation for our view of the Universe
So whether you’re looking to find out more about Einstein, dive deeper into the equation and its importance, or explore maths and physics in a way that’s fun and accessible, this episode has you covered.
What I've found from experience is that presenting on and off camera is both a science and an art.
As an academic tutor and university lecturer I’ve spent plenty of time standing up and presenting to students, and I've now racked up plenty of hours in front of the camera by creating my own online course, Make Me A MetaLearner, and teaching on my YouTube channel.
To improve my skills, I've studied some of the best presenters, both past and present, to try and find out what they did differently.
What I discovered is that they all followed certain rules, despite having very different individual styles, which have been developed through years of consistent deliberate practice.
These rules apply whether you’re a beginner who’s presenting for the first time, or an experienced pro who’s spoken plenty of times before.
In this episode I'm joined by writer videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds and we discuss:
- How to create a consistent presenting style and tone
- How to manage your energy levels to come across well
- How to optimise your body language for maximum impact
So whether you're looking to get in front of the camera or want to nail a presentation at work, this episode has you covered.
James Bidwell is the owner of Springwise, an innovation portal, which crowd sources innovation ideas from all over the world and publishes the top 3 every day.
He is also the co-founder of RE_SET, an innovation consultancy for the disruption economy working with boards to help them thrive in an unpredictable world. James was also formerly a marketing manager at Disney, marketing director at Selfridges and CEO of Visit London.
In this episode we discuss:
- How to stay on top of the rapid pace of change in modern society
- How to innovate in the 21st century disruption economy
- How to market effectively in a noisy world, while staying true to values
So whether you’re curious about how to stay relevant in a constantly changing world or want to find out how to get your message heard in a world full of noise, this episode has you covered.
The process of authoring and producing my first course, Make Me A MetaLearner, was a great learning experience for me.
It taught me a lot about the skills of research and writing and the importance of structuring educational content in a way that's easy to digest and understand for students.
As a university lecturer I’ve spent plenty of time preparing lessons and delivering them to students, but authoring an online course was a completely different ball game for me.
Looking back, I can see that a big part of the process could be broken down into a number of key steps, which I had to figure out by trial and error.
This episode is part of my process for reflecting on what I've learned and in it I'm joined by writer, videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds. We discuss:
- How to brainstorm ideas effectively and channel them into a skeleton structure
- How to manage the process of a prolonged piece of writing and stay productive
- How to build a system that makes your educational content easy to understand
So whether you want to author your own educational content or are just curious about what goes on behind the scenes here at MetaLearn, this episode has you covered.
Tom Stafford is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Sheffield.
He’s also the author of the book Mindhacks, a book featuring 100 DIY mind experiments you can try at home, and he runs the excellent MindHacks blog dedicated to psychology and neuroscience news & views.
Tom has done some fascinating research into skill acquisition by studying the process of playing computer games (which can be tracked across the whole learning curve) drawing out some useful general insights that you can apply to any skill you’re learning.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- What Tom has discovered about the learning process through his research in cognitive science
- The tradeoff between trying new things (exploration) and doing what works (exploitation)
- The keys to teaching effectively and improving the classroom experience for students
So whether you’re looking for some cutting edge insights from cognitive science to apply to your learning or are curious about how it can improve the classroom experience, this episode has you covered.
Finding great teachers is a big part of learning anything.
But for most people, the top experts are off limits.
They’re only available to the few who can afford to fork out for their services, or a select who have spent years working their way up in the industry have the privilege of meeting and working with them.
So what if I told you that in 12-24 months you could be speaking to any teacher or expert you wanted?
That you could create your own education, build your own curriculum and learn from the best in the world.
You’d probably be interested. And you’d probably say I was crazy.
But in the last 18 months since launching the MetaLearn Podcast, that’s exactly what I’ve done.
In this episode I'm joined by writer, videographer and all around MetaLearner Will Reynolds and we discuss:
- How to choose your niche and build a brand around your podcast
- How to reach out to guests, get the gear you need and interview them for your show
- How to edit and promote your podcast to share your learning with a wider audience
So whether you're looking to start your own podcast or are just curious about what goes on behind the scenes here at MetaLearn, this episode has you covered.
Tim Urban is the founder of the blog WaitButWhy and is one of the Internet’s most popular writers.
With brilliant stick-figure illustrations and epic analysis on everything from artificial intelligence to the future of the brain, Wait But Why, has gained a huge audience and number of famous fans such as Tesla, Space-X and Solar City CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk asked Tim to write about his companies and their surrounding industries, leading to a five-part series of posts discussing the importance of sustainable energy and transport, the future of space exploration and the implications of an AI augmented human brain.
In this episode we discuss:
- The future of the brain and the difference between human and computer intelligence
- How Tim learns from the smartest people in the world, including Elon Musk and his team
- What human super-intelligence means for you and the superpowers it could give you
So whether you’re curious about the future of the brain and what we humans will be able to do down the road or just want to get some tips on how to learn from the world’s smartest people, this episode has you covered.
This episode is a special one on equations that changed the world.
And what better one to start with than Isaac Newton’s Universal Law of Gravity – an equation that ultimately helped us put a man on the moon!
In simple terms the equation reads:
Earth’s Gravitational Force = (G x M x m) / D squared
Earth’s Force = (Gravitational Constant x Earth’s Mass x Mass of the Object) / Distance between the Earth and Object Squared
What this equation allowed the smart scientists at NASA to do was to to establish with accuracy where exactly the moon was, which was no mean feat in itself.
And by calculating the rate at which gravity diminished on the way to the moon, they determined what size rocket they’d need and the best route to get there.
Today’s guest, Kalid Azad, is the founder of Better Explained, one of the world's most popular maths websites that makes hard concepts easy to understand.
After studying Computer Science at Princeton, Kalid spent a few years at Microsoft as a program manager, founded a Y Combinator startup, and currently works as a developer.
Kalid uses an intuition first approach to explain difficult ideas in a way that anyone can understand and this makes him the perfect guide.
In this episode we discuss:
- Newton’s backstory and how it influenced his work
- The mechanics of the equation in a way that you can understand
- The implications of the equation for our view of the Universe
So whether you’re looking to find out more about Newton, dive deeper into the equation and its importance, or explore maths and physics in a way that’s fun and accessible, this episode has you covered.
Tiago Forte helps people and companies improve their productivity and prepare for the future of work using design thinking and technology.
He does this through his consultancy and training firm Forte Labs, and as editor of Praxis, a members-only online publication on the future of productivity.
He has also produced a series of highly successful online courses on productivity and has written a book on the future of work.
In this conversation we get into:
- The fundamental pillars of a great note taking system
- How design thinking can be used to improve your productivity
- The actions you can take to prepare yourself for the future of work
So whether you’re looking to finally get organised in 2018 or want to future proof your career, this episode will give you plenty of awesome insights that you can apply right away.
Today’s episode is a special one for several reasons.
First, it’s episode 100 of the podcast! This is a big milestone so thank you for supporting the show and I’m looking forward to taking things forward in the weeks and months to come.
Second, it’s the first day of 2018 – so Happy New Year and all the best to you and yours for the year ahead.
And third, this episode is my review of 2017, so in it I’ll discuss 5 key lessons I’ve learned in the year gone by. I’ll take story from my own experience that demonstrates each lesson and then try and draw some generalisable advice that you can apply to your learning and life.
In this episode I discuss:
- The 3 qualities of all exceptional learners I’ve discovered from my interviews
- How to identify great teachers and filter through the average ones
- The importance of accountability and how to set up systems that create it
So whether you’re looking to pick up a new skill in 2018, want to find a great teacher or are just curious about what I’ve learned in the year gone by, this episode has you covered.
Nat Eliason is the founder of Growth Machine, a new content marketing business and the host of the Made You Think and Nat Chat podcasts. In this conversation we discuss:
- How to teach yourself anything with the sandbox method
- How to run and manage self-experimentation projects
- Career lessons from building a thriving blog, podcast and a business
So whether you’re looking to upgrade your learning or run a few more self-experiments this episode has you covered.
Ali Almossawi is an author of books on critical thinking and computer science and a data visualizer at Apple. In this conversation we discuss:
- How to use algorithms to think smarter and make better decisions
- How to improve your critical thinking skills in a world full of noise
- How to make sense of the data deluge of the 21st century
So if you want to see the world like a computer scientist or level up your critical thinking skills, this episode has you covered.
Choosing what to learn is no easy task if you’re doing it right. But doing a bit of work up front can save you a lot of trouble in the end. In this episode I discuss:
- The major differences between passion and professional projects
- A simple framework for identifying the skill you should learn next
- The three skills everyone should be developing in the 21st century
So whether you’re overwhelmed with multiple ideas or can’t come up with what to learn next, this episode has you covered.
Cecily Sommers is a futurist and author who speaks, writes, and consults on the forces shaping our future. In this conversation we discuss:
- The universal principles behind mastering any skill or field of knowledge
- The 4 Forces shaping the 21st Century and what to do about them
- The mental models and habits needed to think like a futurist
So if you want to learn more about the mindsets and skillsets needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world, this episode has you covered.
Stephen Kosslyn is world-renowned cognitive scientist and the Founding Dean of Minerva, an innovative new university. In this conversation we discuss:
- How Minerva applies the science of learning to its curriculum and pedagogy
- The major misconceptions about the Minerva project and its key innovations
- The importance of community in any learning program
Whether you’re interested in the application of learning science or curious about the latest innovations in education this episode has you covered.
Seth Godin is one of the world’s best marketers, the author of 18 bestsellers and the founder of the altMBA. In this conversation we discuss:
- What Seth has learned from building a successful online education program
- Seth’s insights on creativity, including quitting projects and getting feedback
- Seth’s advice on selling and marketing effectively
Whether you’re looking for creative inspiration, insight into alternative education or the secrets to selling well, this episode has you covered.
Oli Barrett is an entrepreneur and speaker who makes valuable connections between people and ideas. In this conversation we discuss:
- How to turn contacts into connections and build relationships that last
- The best strategies for effective communication in different contexts
- The best time management techniques for juggling multiple projects
Whether you’re looking to build better, hone your speaking skills or manage your day better, this conversation will give you all that and more.
Kyle Pearce is the Founder of DIY Genius – a self-education platform that helps people learn faster online. In this episode we discuss:
- How Kyle learns best and the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century
- How to access the flow state that produces optimal performance
- Kyle’s travel experiences and what he’s learned from other cultures
So whether you’re looking to learn more effectively online, build a mobile business, or get into flow this episode will give you all you need and more.
Jonathan Levi, an entrepreneur, angel investor, and online educator who hails from Silicon Valley.
Since 2014, Jonathan has been one of the top-performing instructors on Udemy, including a flagship course on speed reading, memorisation and accelerated learning techniques called Becoming A SuperLearner.
He has also snowballed this success into a top-rated podcast, Becoming SuperHuman, and numerous other online courses in a range of subjects from productivity to bitcoin.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The most common mistakes people make when trying to process and remember information
- The value of nootropics and cognitive enhancers in learning
- What Jonathan thinks makes great online education
So whether you’re looking to discover the techniques that will help you consume and remember information more effectively, experiment with nootropics or gain insight into the principles of good online education, this conversation has you covered.
Noah Kagan is the founder of AppSumo and Sumo.com, two multi million dollar companies that help businesses grow. In this conversation we discuss:
- How Noah learns best and his experience learning a new language
- The lessons Noah has learned from building an 8-Figure business
- The secret behind getting your ideas heard in a world full of noise
So whether you’re looking to build or grow your business or accelerate your learning with beginner’s mind, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Dr. Alex Pattakos is a bestselling author and the founder of the Global Meaning Institute. In this conversation we discuss:
- The importance of finding meaning in learning and how to do it
- The lessons Alex learned from his mentor, the psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl
- The lessons that we can learn from the Greeks to live a more meaningful life
So whether you’re looking to find meaning in your learning or want to develop greater self-awareness this episode has you covered.
Matt Clifford is the co-founder of Entrepreneur First, the world's leading technology talent investor. In this episode we discuss:
- The qualities aspiring entrepreneurs should be looking to cultivate
- The environmental characteristics that produce startup hubs
- What Matt has learned from creating over 100 startups in the tech space
So whether you’re looking to build a startup or want to get some insight into the tech trends that will affect us in the future, this episode has you covered.
While your brain doesn’t come with a user’s manual, there are things we’ve learned that apply to most humans. In this episode we discuss:
- The most common brain myths dispelled including the 10% myth
- The 3 key insights from neuroscience about the brain in recent years
- The MetaLearning strategies that build on these insights
So if you’re looking to learn more about your own brain and how to use it better in learning and life, this episode has you covered.
My first video course, Make Me A MetaLearner launches today and I’m doing a special episode here to celebrate the launch! In this episode I discuss:
- Why I made Make Me A MetaLearner in the first place
- The learning problems that I’ve faced on my journey
- How I designed Make Me a MetaLearner
I believe that MetaLearning is the ultimate 21st century superpower. Check it out for yourself from the courses section on my site or from the link below
http://metalearn.teachable.com/p/make-me-a-metalearner/
Jonathan Cutrell is the founder and host of the Developer Tea Podcast and the Director of Technology at Whiteboard. In this episode we cover:
- The core skills of a good developer and advice on learning to code
- How Jonathan got his pilot’s license and learned to fly planes
- Jonathan’s lessons from 300+ episodes of the Developer Tea Podcast
So whether you’re looking to learn how to code, start a podcast, or fly a plane, this episode will give you everything you need and more.
George Spencer is the founder of Rentify an online letting agent disrupting the property rental market. In this conversation we discuss:
- How George learned enough about the property market to disrupt it
- How to develop core business skills including raising money and hiring
- The most common media myths about entrepreneurship
So whether you’re looking to build business skills or understand how to leverage tech to disrupt inefficient markets this episode has you covered.
Play is one of the most heavily neglected aspects of learning something new. In this episode, we discuss:
- How to find a balance between play and hard work
- How effective gamification is in improving the learning process
- How to reframe whatever you’re doing to make it more enjoyable
So whether you’re looking to make your learning more fun or you want to learn more about gamification, this episode will give you all that and more.
Rajeeb Day is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Learnerbly a content platform that helps businesses develop their people better. In this conversation we discuss:
- The current state of the corporate L&D market
- What Raj picked up from interviewing over 100 learning experts
- Raj’s lessons about entrepreneurship from building 3 successful businesses
Whatever size business you work in this episode will give you some great insights into how you can learn better at work.
In this episode we discuss the major learning problems people face, which can be broken down into 5 main areas:
1) Not getting started
2) Not getting momentum
3) Burning out and giving up
4) Plateauing and losing interest
5) Integrating skills into your life
So whether you're looking to get over the first hurdle of getting started or just want to comfortably integrate a new skill you’ve learned into your life, this episode has you covered.
Gabriel Wyner is an author, ex opera singer and the founder of the Fluent Forever language learning method. In this conversation, we discuss:
- The three pillars of the Fluent Forever language learning system
- The process Gabe uses to maintain the languages he speaks
- How learning languages can help you gain a better understanding of yourself
So whether you’re looking to pick up a new language or dive into an immersion this episode will give you all that and more.
Virtual reality has the potential to change learning and education immeasurably and so it’s important that we engage critically with the technology. In this episode we discuss:
- The current state of VR in learning and where it’s likely to go
- The disadvantages of VR that we need to guard against
- The potential benefits of using VR to learn motor skills
So whether you're looking to understand more about VR or prepare yourself for what’s to come this episode will give you all you need and more.
Jo Cruse is the CEO of The Unreasonables, which delivers leadership programmes to the UK”s top schools. In this conversation we discuss:
- The most important skills young people need to develop in the 21st century
- The lessons Jo learned about entrepreneurship on her travels
- The tradeoff between social impact and the bottom line in business
So whether you’re looking to arm yourself for the 21st century or build a business with a social impact, this episode will give you all that and more.
Deliberate practice isn't just doing something repeatedly – when done properly, it’s a little more complicated. In this episode we discuss:
- How to manage the tradeoff between quantity and quality of practice
- How to reflect on your progress to calibrate accurately
- How to build learning habits so that practicing becomes automatic
So whether you're looking to play an instrument or pick up a sport this episode will give you the ideas you need to structure your learning and get practicing now!
Robert Twigger is a bestselling author who has written books on everything from accelerated learning to studying martial arts. In this conversation we discuss:
- The process of using micromastery to learn new skills quickly and enjoyably
- The difference between the Eastern and Western philosophies of learning
- How to learn about yourself and the world through travel and adventure
So whether you’re looking to pick up new skills or start new adventures, this episode will give you all that and more.
Experts can help you plan your practice, focus on the right sub skills and accelerate your learning through feedback. In this short episode I cover:
- The different types of expert and how to choose the right one for you
- How to get objective feedback so that you can improve
- How to balance your needs for self direction and guidance to accelerate your learning
So whether you’re looking for an expert online or in person, this episode will help you separate the wheat from the chaff.
Julian Baggini is a philosopher and author who has written almost twenty philosophical books for a general audience. In this conversation we discuss:
- How to become more aware of your own thinking in the different areas of life
- Julian’s discussion of the question “What’s the point of school?”
- How to develop reasoning and critical thinking skills to make better decisions
So whether you’re looking to make better decisions or understand your own thinking this episode will give you all that and more.
We’ve all probably had glimpses of great teamwork in our own lives, where every one’s strengths complement each other and compensate for individual weaknesses, but these are often fleeting and temporary.
But examples of these learning experiences are few and far between in most schools and universities and in the organisations that many work in after finishing their education.
Collaborative learning skills must be continuously refined and practiced, not just things that people write about on their CVs and talk about in job interviews – because they can have a massive impact.
In this short episode, I'm joined by Will Reynolds - writer, videographer and all around MetaLearner. We discuss a range of topics including:
- The benefits of collaboration in learning and how to use it effectively
- The difference between dialogue and discussion and how to use both
- How to find a balance between competition and effective teamwork within groups
So whether you're looking to use collaborative learning to pick up a new skill or just want to work better in teams, this episode will give you everything you need and more.
Ulrich Boser is a bestselling author and senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress. In this conversation we discuss:
- The key MetaLearning principles Ulrich discovered in his research
- How Ulrich has applied learning science to basketball
- The importance of trust in education and how to develop it
So whether you’re looking to upgrade your learning skills or understand how to leverage trust in your learning, this episode will give you all that and more.
Our natural instinct to compete with others can be a powerful motivator for learning. In this short episode, we discuss:
- The benefits of competition in learning and how to use it constructively
- How competition can harm learning if it’s not kept in check
- How to compete with yourself over an extended period of time
So whether you're looking to use competition to start learning a new skill or just want to try competing with yourself for a while, this episode will give you all you need and more.
Mads Holmen is the CEO of Bibblio, an API platform helping knowledge publishers and learning platforms deliver smarter content recommendation. In this episode we discuss:
- How to live and learn in the attention economy
- The structural problems that drive fake news
- The fundamentals of AI and Machine Learning
So whether you’re looking to understand the structure of the attention economy or get a deeper understanding of AI and Machine Learning, this episode will give you all that and more.
We all want to be perfect at anything we learn but these expectations are unhelpful and can leave us in a state of paralysis. In this short episode, we discuss:
- Why perfectionism hurts learning, and the rare cases it helps
- The difference between high general expectations and low specific expectations
- Simple strategies to overcome perfectionism
So whether you're looking to overcome perfectionism or find your balance between ambition and slacking, this episode will give you all you need and more.
Kevin Kelly is the co-founder and executive editor at Wired magazine, and one of the world’s leading technologists. In this episode we discuss:
- How to build the learning superpowers needed to thrive in the 21st century
- The technological forces shaping the future of learning and education, including AR, VR and AI
- Kevin’s insights on skill acquisition
So if you’re looking to broaden your understanding of the technological forces that will transform our society, this episode has you covered.
Many of us in the West have accepted the belief that productivity and efficiency are the foundations for success and happiness but that's not always true. In this episode, we discuss:
- The problems with worshipping at the altar of productivity
- The importance of constraints for the creative process
- How to balance productivity and creativity
So whether you're curious about productivity, want to cultivate more creativity or want to balance these forces in your life, this episode has you covered.
Nelson Dellis is a 4x US Memory Champion and one of the leading memory experts in the world. In this episode we discuss:
- The techniques Nelson and competitive memory athletes use to memorise everything from names and faces, to decks of cards
- The importance of regular mental training for mental health
- The life lessons Nelson has learned from mountain climbing
So whether you’re a beginner looking to boost your memory or want to memorise huge quantities of information, this episode has you covered.
"What's the point of school?" is a question that’s been asked for hundreds of years but we still don’t seem to have a clear answer. In this episode, we discuss:
- The difference between learning and education and why it matters
- The harmful mindsets that education instils in us and how to combat them
- How the method of teaching has evolved in schools across history
So if you want to learn more about the philosophy behind education, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Will Reynolds is a videographer and writer who has become a regular fixture on the podcast. In this episode we discuss:
- How to go from novice to getting paid for new skills like videography
- The importance of cultivating transferable MetaSkills
- The lessons we can learn from autodidacts like Eminem and Frank Zappa
So whether you’re looking to pick up hard skills and get paid for them or navigate the challenges of being an autodidact, this episode will give you all that and more.
Technology is changing the way we learn but it's not a magic pill that will solve all our educational problems. In this short we discuss:
- The best ways to filter information online to get to the good stuff quicker
- The importance of working diversity into your content consumption
- How to protect your precious attention in the digital economy
So whether you're looking to filter content more efficiently or stay focused in a world full of distractions, this episode will give you all that and more.
Uri Bram is the bestselling author of Thinking Statistically and speaks about using data and statistical thinking effectively in the real world. In this episode we discuss:
- The key statistical principals that everyone should be aware of
- How understanding music theory makes you a better musician
- How to learn complex skills from experts
So whether you’re math-phobic or already consider yourself a stats maverick this conversation will give you a whole range of useful insights that.
Anyone can learn another language but the thing that holds most people back is a series of limiting beliefs. In this episode we discuss:
- Whether there is a "language learning gene" that most great polyglots have
- Whether immersion is important for the language learning process
- Whether children are actually better language learners than adults
So if you're looking to learn a new language this episode will eliminate any doubts you have and give you the tools needed to make real progress.
Gabriele Oettingen is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg and a bestselling author. Her research focuses on human motivation and goal setting, exploring the impact of the way we look at the future on our emotions and behaviour.
We’re living in an age where positive thinking is all the rage – from pop music to political speeches thee message is the same: think positive, focus on your dreams and they’ll come true before you know it. The problem with following this advice is not only that it’s empty and hard to action – but that it can actually reduce your chances of achieving your goals.
Gabriele Oettingen has spent twenty years researching the science of human motivation and discovered time and again that conventional positive thinking falls short. By changing the way we think about the future her research has proven that we can become healthier, improve our personal relationships and perform better at work.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How people normally set goals and what they’re doing wrong
- The pitfalls of positive thinking and how to avoid them
- The practical tools you can apply to get better results in your life
So whether you’re looking to make some major changes in your life or just level up that extra one per cent, you’ll learn the practical strategies needed to change your mindset and habits in order to achieve your goals.
If you’re someone with multiple interests, you’ve probably been branded a “Jack of all Trades, Master of None” more times than you can remember. And those of us with many interests sometimes struggle because we can’t be put into a box and labelled as an expert in a specific field.
But during the Renaissance, a polymath was seen as a perfected individual, someone who had mastered intellectual, artistic and physical pursuits. Hence the term “Renaissance Man” that’s still often used to describe people with multiple interests to this day.
In this short episode, I'm joined by my friend Will Reynolds, who is a perfect example of a polymath and MetaLearner because he’s taught himself a whole range of skills including writing, playing the guitar and videography – and importantly he’s been able to make a living from these skills.
We discuss a range of topics including:
- The lessons we can learn from great polymaths like Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Johann Goethe
- Where society's obsession with specialisation comes from and how to deal with it
- How to balance exploring different fields with focusing on getting things done
So whether you're looking to balance your multiple interests, make progress on your learning projects or learn from the great polymaths of history, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Ellen Langer is a Harvard psychologist widely known as the “mother of mindfulness” and is the author of eleven books and more than two hundred research articles on mindfulness over the last 35 years.
Mindfulness is becoming more and more of a buzzword these days but very few people actually understand it and even fewer know how to apply it in their everyday lives. But there are few things that can have a bigger impact on your learning and life than improving your awareness of yourself and the world around you.
Ellen is the perfect guide to the field of mindfulness because she takes a clear, no nonsense approach, devoid of the mysticism that often surrounds it. This makes her ideas easy to digest and more importantly, easy to apply in practice.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- What mindfulness actually is and how it differs from mindlessness
- Some of the most common learning myths and how to combat them
- How to keep learning fun and avoid it becoming a chore
So whether you're looking to finally understand mindfulness, uncover some of the learning myths that we're vulnerable to at school or improve your awareness of your own learning, this episode will give you all that and more.
Simon Peyton Jones is a computer scientist who currently works as a researcher for Microsoft and has built his own programming language, Haskell. He is also chair of Computing at School, which was central to the 2014 reform of the English curriculum that made computer science a foundational subject.
As our lives become increasingly influenced by computers, it's surprising how few of us know anything about how these devices work. We don't all need to become programmers, but understanding the core principles that are behind our favourite websites and apps is important when we spend so much time on them.
Simon is uniquely positioned to offer insight into the field, given his many years of research and application and his experience teaching computer science as a Professor at University level.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The core computer science principles that everyone should understand
- The importance of focusing on ideas, not devices, in computer science education
- Simon’s view on whether there’s a tradeoff between technology and humanity
So whether you want to become a programmer, understand the basic principles behind computers or hear an industry insider's views on to how to manage the use of technology in schools, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Jeff Cobb is a thought leader in the field of lifelong learning and the author of the bestselling book, Leading The Learning Revolution. He also runs a popular blog and podcast, and is the founder of Tagoras, a learning consultancy.
As we move from a knowledge economy to a learning economy where we need to acquire new skills everyday just to stand still, the importance of lifelong learning is rapidly increasing and opportunities in the space are huge.
Jeff is someone who is uniquely placed to view the lifelong learning industry from a big picture perspective given his many years of experience and the range of different clients he has been involved with.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The main trends driving the increased demand for lifelong learning
- What makes good educational content and what should be avoided
- How the shift towards mobile is likely to affect the future of learning
So whether you're looking to start a business in the lifelong learning market or are just curious about the latest trends in the space, this episode will give you in depth insights from an industry insider.
Ed Fidoe is one of the founders of School 21, an innovative new school in Stratford, East London that's reinventing education by preparing its students, aged 4-18, for the 21st Century.
For so many people, school was characterised by drudgery, rote learning and the stress of exams. But school doesn't have to be that way and there are plenty of people trying to reinvent education for the 21st century.
Ed is one of these people, and along with cofounders Peter Hyman and Oli de Botton, he built a school from scratch that aimed to rebalance head (academic success), heart (character and well-being) and hand (generating ideas, problem solving and making a difference).
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The core skills needed for the 21st century and how to develop them
- The process of reinventing education and the challenges ahead
- The effective and balanced use of technology in classrooms
So whether you're a parent thinking about how to manage your children's eduction or are just curious about innovation in education, this episode will give you a series of fascinating insights from an insider's perspective.
Barry Schwartz is an acclaimed Professor of Psychology who recently retired after 45 years of teaching at Swarthmore College. Barry has also written three bestselling books on the Paradox of Choice, the Meaning of Work and Practical Wisdom and has done a series of popular TED talks on those subjects.
Practical wisdom is something we could all do with more of. It’s close to what the Ancient Greeks called phronesis - a general understanding of how to live a good life and the decisions we should make.
Barry has spent years studying the subject and even had the opportunity to teach a class on it at Swarthmore, which makes him perfectly placed to offer insights into the topic of wisdom.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How to become wiser using tools to learn from our everyday experience
- How practical wisdom could be applied to improve the educational system
- How to make better choices in a world of infinite possibilities
So whether you're looking to make better decisions in your life, learn from your everyday experience or just get a little bit wiser across the board, this episode has you covered with actionable principles and strategies you can apply now.
Barry Pousman is the founder of Variable Labs, a Virtual Reality company that creates immersive experiences to help people develop soft skills.
Virtual Reality is likely to be a game changing technology for a number of industries but its impact on education in schools and businesses will be huge.
As someone who's running a company at the cutting edge of the industry, as well as filming his own VR experiences, Barry is perfectly placed to offer insights into the potential of the technology.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How learning in VR accelerates the development of soft skills like negotiation
- The potential for VR to revolutionise education in schools and universities
- How VR differs to other storytelling mediums like film, audio and books
So whether you're curious about how VR can help you learn new skills or want to know more about it's impact on the educational system, this episode will give you insights from the cutting edge of this revolutionary new industry.
Kalid Azad is the founder of Better Explained, one of the world's most popular maths websites that makes hard concepts easy to understand. After studying Computer Science at Princeton, Kalid spent a few years at Microsoft as a program manager, founded a Y Combinator startup, and currently works as a developer.
For many people, maths is the subject they used to hate most in school and they carry this fear of numbers into later life. But it doesn't have to be that way - and understanding basic mathematical principles can be both fun and useful.
Kalid uses an intuition first approach to explain difficult ideas in a way that anyone can understand and this makes him a great person to talk to about any subject or skill including his current profession of computer programming.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How to get better at maths and why some people find it so hard
- The secrets behind great explanations of tricky concepts
- How Kalid has learned skills from coding to snowboarding and weight training
So whether you're looking to get better with numbers, learn to code or pick up physical skills, this episode will give you the actionable principles and techniques needed to succeed.
Niklas Jansen is the co-founder of Blinkist, an app that distills the core insights from non-fiction books into 15-minute summaries that you can access from your smartphone or tablet in written or audio form.
If you're someone who wonders about how to apply what you read in everyday life, then the app is worth checking out, because the short summaries or "blinks" cut away the excess and drive you to take action.
Niklas founded Blinkist with three friends in 2012 and the business has since gone on to raise Series A funding and acquire over a million users.
In this conversation we discuss a range of interesting topics including:
- How Niklas started the business and learned the skills of entrepreneurship
- How to apply what you read and use Blinkist to learn more in less time
- How Niklas and his co-founders create a learning environment at the business
So whether you're looking to build your own business, remember more of what you read or learn better from your coworkers, this episode will give you actionable strategies that you can apply today.
The MetaLearn podcast has reached the big 5-0. The show is now in 127 countries with listeners on every continent and is growing rapidly – in fact in the first 3 months of 2017, the podcast had 40% more downloads than the whole of 2016!
In today’s special episode you’ll have the chance to hear my reflections on learning and education after fifty episodes of the podcast. I'm interviewed by Joshua Fields, who was the very first guest on the podcast.
Josh is a mental and physical health expert with qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and mindfulness meditation and is also a blogger at the Huffington Post, contributing on mental health, entrepreneurship and economics.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- My main reflections on learning based on my insights from the podcast
- The lessons I’ve learned from working as a lecturer and teacher
- My views on the future of learning and the educational system
So if you're interested to find out what I've learned after 50 episodes of the podcast, look no further than this special episode.
They're two words that get thrown around a lot but what exactly is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
Knowledge is something closer to what the Ancient Greeks called Episteme – a specialised knowledge in a particular field or an ability in a skill that's descriptive or explanatory in nature.
Wisdom is something that’s harder to define but it’s closer to what the Greeks called Phronesis – it’s a more general understanding of how to live a good life and the decisions we should make.
In this episode I discuss the differences between knowledge and wisdom, and the insights we can draw from them, including:
- Knowledge comes and goes but wisdom lasts
- Knowledge is additive and wisdom is subtractive
- Knowledge Can Be Taught But Wisdom Must Be Learned
So whether you're looking to make better decisions in your life or become more practically wise, this episode will give you actionable insights that will help you think smarter and make better decisions.
Ben Medder is a movement coach who has trained in martial arts, athletics and parkour. He’s taken inspiration from the likes of Ido Portal, best known for his work with MMA fighter Connor McGregor, and the Fighting Monkey and Evolve Move Play Methods.
Many people don't identify as being athletic but physical skills can be learned like anything else. While you're not going to become the next Usain Bolt by doing a few sprint sessions, it's easier than most people think to get good at a sport.
As someone who has learned and taught a wide range of physical skills as a coach, Ben is perfectly placed to give advice on the most important elements of picking up new sports or physical practices.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- Ben’s advice to people looking how to move better and pick up a physical skill
- The parallels between parenting and teaching in different contexts
- The role of movement and sports in the educational system
So whether you're looking to learn karate or kayaking, football or fencing, this episode has you covered with practical strategies you can apply straight away.
In modern society, learning has become synonymous with taking in information passively and retaining it. Students view teachers as people who are supposed to deliver information into their heads so that they can recall it when required.
But this is the one of the most damaging misconceptions we carry into our lives because the truth is that all learning is active. It isn’t a process of having something done to you – it’s a process of you doing something to yourself.
The best teachers all understand this – and know that their main role is not to build a whole fire for their students - it’s to ignite the spark of inspiration that will help them build and feed the fire themselves.
In this episode I discuss some of my main insights about teaching including:
- The teacher’s role in society and how it’s changed throughout history
- The qualities and characteristics that I think make great teachers
- The things we can learn from other educational systems who value teachers
Whether you're involved in the educational system or not, you'll gain insights that will help you reflect on the role of teachers in your life and help you become a great teacher to others, whether at school or in life as a parent or friend.
Barbara Oakley is an educator and writer who’s empowering people all over the world to learn more effectively. Barb is best known for her role as the lead instructor on Coursera’s Learning How To Learn – the most popular online course in the world last year – and her bestselling book A Mind for Numbers.
For all the hours we spend in school it's remarkable that we're never taught how to learn. This is even more surprising when recent developments in cognitive psychology and neuroscience mean that we know more about the learning process than at any point in history.
Barb's work on the MOOC Learning How To Learn has brought this knowledge to the public domain, with remarkable results thanks to her engaging presentation style and ability to communicate complex ideas in a simple way.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- Barb’s insights from learning in the military and retraining as an engineer at 26
- How to apply what cognitive science has established about the learning process
- The future of online education and the success of "Learning How To Learn"
So whether you're looking to upgrade your learning skills, find out more about how they pick up skills in the military or understand the secrets behind great online education, this episode will give you all that and more.
Is it really possible to learn from animals? For thousands of years, all kinds of authorities have been repeating the idea that we humans are exceptional and by far the most intelligent in the animal kingdom.
So it’s easy to see why we humans think we’re much smarter than animals – but is that actually the case?
The fact that animals don’t understand us in some ways, and that we don’t understand them in others implies our intelligences are different. But different in kind rather than rather in level – like the difference between analytical and musical intelligence, rather than the 'I’m smarter than you' type of intelligence.
In this episode I dive into 5 of the main lessons I think we can learn from our friends in the animal kingdom including:
- What wolves can teach us about leadership
- What ants can teach us about collaboration
- What giraffes can teach us about being ourselves
So by the end you'll have gained insight into to some of the main lessons we can learn from some of the remarkable creatures we share the world with.
In ancient cultures, mythology served a number of other important functions on an individual and personal level which may not be immediately obvious.
On a personal level mythology created a sense of awe about the mystery of human existence. By creating this sense of wonder, mythology helped people to learn about their own lives in a way that few other fields could.
On a social level, mythology educated people about how they fit into the group they lived in. Rituals would help to mark the different stages of life and would help to define the roles of the different members in that society.
In this episode I discuss the insights we can take from mythology including:
- My interpretation of the myth of the Trojan Horse in Homer's Iliad
- The danger of hubris, drawing on the myth of Icarus and Daedalus
- The hero's journey, drawing on Homer's Odyssea
In this episode you'll learn to look beyond the surface of mythology and find far more than literary entertainment - because mythology is at the core of ancient wisdom and points at what it means to live a good human life.
Zahra Davidson is a multidisciplinary designer innovating in education by encouraging people to learn in communities. She is the founder of Enrol Yourself, an organization that gives people the structure and support to pursue learning marathons (long term learning projects) with other lifelong learners.
When we leave school we often miss out on one of the most important components of learning anything - community. Communities allow us to learn from others, assess our performance level and share the learning experience.
Zahra has experience of participating in great learning communities and has now built and managed her own, so she's perfectly placed to offer insights into the process of using community to accelerate the learning process.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The importance of learning in communities
- The impact of the educational system on collaborative learning
- The qualities needed to become a self directed learner
So whether you're looking to join a community to supercharge your learning or start your very own learning marathon, this episode will give you the tools and techniques you need to succeed.
Children are full of life. They're constantly growing and learning. They embody curiosity and the creative spirit. And these are all qualities we could all use more of in every area of our lives.
We become so used to learning things we don’t really want to at school and university that we stop asking questions. We forget what it’s actually like to learn something we love and to learn it in a way that’s fun and enjoyable.
But the good news is that every one of us can rediscover that boundless curiosity and learn like a child again by looking to the creative geniuses all around us.
In this episode I explore the insights children have to offer us, including:
- Asking questions about everything and exploring your curiosity
- Living fearlessly and recognising your limiting beliefs for what they are
- Having fun and making the learning process enjoyable rather than a chore
So by the end of this episode you'll have everything you need to bring more creativity and joy into your life and work.
Dr Iain McGilchrist is a psychiatrist and writer who is committed to exploring the mysteries of the brain and mind. He is best known for his book The Master and His Emissary in which he explores the differences between the brain's right and left hemispheres and their effects on history and culture over the centuries.
Most scientists have long abandoned the attempt to understand why nature separated the brain's hemispheres. But anyone who knows anything about the area would say there are differences: it’s just that no-one seems to know why.
Iain has spent years researching the subject in depth and has made some remarkable findings about the differences between the left and right hemispheres and their impact on society in the Western World.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The true differences between the left and right brain
- The impact our left brain dominated world has had on the educational system
- How to apply what cognitive science has established about the learning process
So whether you're looking to understand the mechanics of your brain a little better or find out how our thinking affects the society we live in today this episode will give you all that and much more.
Most people over estimate how hard it is to learn a new skill because they confuse getting good at something with becoming a master in it.
This short episode will give you a simple framework to take you from the novice, beginner stage to an intermediate level of proficiency as enjoyably and effectively as possible in the skill you want to learn.
In this episode you'll learn how to:
- Filter learning projects in order to choose the ones you're likely to stick with
- Build strategies based on the three pillars of mindset, habits and environment
- Deal with the inevitable challenges you'll face on your learning journey
So whether you're building a business, learning a language or picking up a sport, this episode will give you the principles and techniques needed to succeed.
The idea that we all learn differently has been appropriated by various theorists who suggest that most of us can be placed into one of several predefined categories - or learning styles.
While I’m reluctant to promote one specific category set when it comes to learning, I think the process of looking at them can be helpful in getting you to reflect on your own experience and understand what works best for you.
So in this episode, I’ll outline some areas that I think are important to pay attention to when trying to work out how you learn best, including:
- The activity of learning – Reading vs. Listening vs. Speaking vs. Writing
- The optimal time for learning - The times of day you're wired to learn best at
- The mode of learning - taking a specialist approach vs. a generalist one
This episode will help you identify how you learn best by offering you some simple tools and techniques you can apply to reflect on your personal experience and consider how your learning differs according to the situation you’re in so that you can adapt flexibly to learn the skill you want to in the most effective way.
In this short episode I review what I learned in 2016, sharing my successes and failures in everything from the process of starting a podcast, to holding discussion groups as a university lecturer and pursuing my own language learning projects.
In ancient Roman myth, Janus was the god of transitions. The early part of January, named after Janus, was traditionally seen as a time for reflection on the year gone by and planning the year ahead - a process of looking forwards with one head and backwards with the other to determine action in the present.
For me, this last year was a significant one and in this episode I condense the most important lessons I’ve learned into 5 main areas, sharing my successes and failures with you along the way.
Some of the themes related to what I learned in 2016 include:
- Discussion and dialogue as learning tools
- The power of community for learning anything
- Knowing when to give up on a learning project
So whether you're looking to learn better in teams, manage your learning projects more effectively or find out what I've learned from teaching at a university this past year, this episode will give you all that and more.
Ellen Jovin is a polyglot, writer and the founder of Syntaxis, a communication skills training firm based in New York.
In 2009, she started a project to learn as much as she could of the languages spoken in New York in a year. But once she started, she never stopped - her schedule has included 21 different languages involving a total of nine different alphabets and writing systems - and she’s still going strong with no end in sight.
Ellen’s an accomplished polyglot and an excellent communicator as I found out when we met at the Polyglot Conference in Thessaloniki, where she gave a fantastic talk on language learning products.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- What it means to know a language and Ellen’s definition of fluency
- The method Ellen uses to learn languages and how this can be used by others
- The challenges Ellen has faced learning languages and how she overcame them
Whatever language you’re learning and whatever stage you’re at, you’ll benefit from Ellen’s insights and leave this episode with mindsets and skillsets that you can take away and start using straight away.
Shane Parrish is the founder of Farnam Street, an online intellectual hub that covers topics like human misjudgment, strategy, and philosophy to help readers make better decisions.
We all make decisions every day which ultimately affect the results we get in our lives. But so few of us ever stop to think critically about the process we use for making those decisions, let alone try to improve it.
Shane has spent years thinking and writing about decision making, drawing on multiple disciplines and interviewing thought leaders in the field. Add to this his experience as an investor and he's perfectly placed to offer valuable advice that can help you make better decisions in your life.
In this episode we discuss a variety of interesting topics including:
- Shane’s process for making decisions and how it’s evolved over time
- What Shane has learned from his heroes Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
- The importance of multidisciplinary thinking and learning in a complex world
So whether you're looking to make an important career decision or want to decide whether you should buy shares in that company you've been following, this episode will give you the actionable strategies needed to make that process more structured and increase the chances of a positive outcome.
Michael Levi Harris is an actor, filmmaker and polyglot who runs the accent coaching business My Accent Guy. Michael trained at the Guildhall School in London as an actor and has since been involved in a number of theatre productions. He also wrote and starred in the short film 'The Hyperglot'.
Actors are masters of using body language and non-verbal communication to develop characters and connect with an audience. But these techniques have many applications across disciplines from language learning to public speaking.
Michael gave one of the most entertaining talks at the Polyglot Conference on how to apply acting techniques to language learning, so I reached out to find out what other areas these techniques could be applied to.
In this episode we discuss a range of interesting topics including:
- Whether personality is innate or constructed and how acting affects this
- Michael’s method for language learning and accent development
- Insights gained from screenwriting and acting in films and plays
So whether you're looking to improve your non verbal communication for a presentation at work, upgrade your accent or find out more about the world of film and theatre, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Paddy Milner is a musician and songwriter who’s widely recognised as one of the leading blues piano players in the world.
He’s currently the piano player of choice for Sir Tom Jones, following several years with the late great Jack Bruce and his current group Londonola plays homegrown British music with a strong dose of New Orleans spirit.
On top of being an exceptional musician, Paddy is also a great teacher and has produced several blues piano courses for different levels. This makes him the perfect man to outline the process of learning and mastering an instrument.
In this episode we discuss a range of interesting topics including:
- Paddy’s creative process and where he draws inspiration from
- The key habits needed to pick up and master a musical instrument
- Paddy’s experience of working with the likes of Jack Bruce and Tom Jones
So whether you're looking to pick up a new instrument or take your current one to the next level this episode will give you all the inspiration you need and actionable strategies you can start applying straight away.
The human brain is a remarkable tool but so few of us actually know how to use it properly. Advances in neuroscience and cognitive psychology mean that we now know more about the brain than at any point in history, so there's a whole host of knowledge out there that can help us understand and use our brains better.
This episode will introduce you to the weird and wonderful world of the brain, showing you how to understand your own one better and how to apply some of the major insights from neuroscience and cognitive psychology to improve your learning and life.
Plus I answer some of your questions including:
- What are the major differences between the right and left sides of the brain
- How can we apply knowledge about the brain to improve learning and memory?
- How important are brain genetics in determining intelligence?
So whether you're looking to for an instruction manual to help you use your brain better, or want understand the difference between the left and right hemispheres or the role of genetics in intelligence this episode has you covered.
Luca Lampariello is a polyglot and language teacher who runs his own language learning company LinguaCore and the highly popular blog The Polyglot Dream. Luca speaks 13 languages and is currently fluent in 10 of them but he’s always adding more to his repertoire.
One of the main reasons I love learning languages is because speaking them is an amazing way to connect to other people and cultures and Luca is big proponent of this as well. To put it simply, he's my kind of polyglot!
In this episode we discuss a range of topics, including:
- What it means to know a language and Luca’s definition of fluency
- The method Luca uses to learn languages and how this can be adapted by others
- The challenges Luca faced in language learning and how he’s overcome them
Whatever language you’re learning and whatever stage you’re at, you’ll benefit massively from Luca’s insights and leave this episode with mindsets and skillsets that you can take away and start using in your own learning straight away.
Language learning seems far more complicated than it is. Ultimately it's a skill that can be broken down into three sub skills - grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation - which you'll need to develop to get to a good level of proficiency.
But one of the things that's rarely discussed is the importance of community for language learning. This is something I've experienced on my language learning journey and my time at the Polyglot Conference in Greece.
In this episode I’ll teach you how to become a better language learner, offering a series of tools and techniques that you can apply to any language to develop the skills of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Plus I answer some of your questions including:
- Can you learn two languages at once and what’s the best method to do this?
- How do you maintain languages that you already know?
- How important is a total immersion experience for language learning?
So whether you're looking to pick up a new language, maintain ones you already know or refresh and old one you've forgotten, this episode has you covered with practical strategies and techniques you can apply straight away.
Mariana Marquez and Emma Zangs are two public speaking coaches and choreographers, who teach people to speak better and improve their body language through their company MetaSpeech.
One of the things that gives the most bang for the buck in public speaking is good body language, but it's something people often ignore and fail to improve.
As choreographers and movement directors Mariana and Emma bring a fresh perspective to the world of public speaking and they’ve successfully coached clients securing funding, pitching on TV shows and speaking at conferences.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- The most common non-verbal communication mistakes and how to avoid them
- How to tap into the mind-body connection
- The importance of thinking with the body and movement in schools
So whether you're looking to improve your body language for an upcoming presentation at work or understand the relationship between your mind and body better, this episode has you covered.
Julian Treasure is a communications expert, acclaimed TED Speaker and the founder of The Sound Agency, a consultancy that helps businesses improve their results by becoming more conscious about their sound.
Studies have shown that we spend 60% of our communication time listening but the average person can only remember 10% of that 3 days later. And every one of us needs to learn how to listen better, especially in a world full of noise.
As an expert on sound and listening Julian is perfectly placed to advise on this and his 5 TED talks on listening, speaking and communication have been viewed an estimated 40 million times, with one in the top 20 of all time.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- How we can use sound to positively influence our learning and life
- The 5 simple tools that people can apply right now to listen better
- The tips we can learn from great speakers to improve our communication skills
So whether you're looking to improve your listening or speaking skills, or use
sound more consciously in your learning life, this episode has you covered with actionable strategies you can apply right away.
Richard Nisbett is the Theodore Newcomb Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Michigan and has written 3 great books for a lay audience on mental models, the nature of intelligence and how thinking differs across cultures.
Understanding the patterns behind our thought processes is a crucial part of developing self awareness and improving as learners, as we're often subject to cognitive biases that take us down the wrong path.
Richard has spent decades researching thinking across contexts and cultures, which is why I was so keen to reach out to have a discussion on the subject.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- How to become aware of the mental models that drive behaviour and decisions
- The differences between Eastern and Western thought
- The way we view intelligence and the state of the nature vs. nurture debate
So whether you're looking to become aware of your own thought processes, understand the main cultural differences between Asians and Westerners or gain insight into the nature vs nurture debate, this episode has you covered.
The future of learning will be determined by a number of key issues - from the impact of technology and the rise of EdTech, to the evolution of the educational system and the need for lifelong learning in personal and professional contexts.
In this episode I explore all of these issues in depth and answer the question I always ask guests at the end of my podcast interviews - "What's your vision for the future of learning?"
Plus I answer your questions including:
- Is there a way to increase the likelihood of people completing online courses?
- What are the differences between digital and in person learning experiences?
- How do we integrate learning into our lives effectively?
So if you want to know what can do to put yourself at the cutting edge of learning, this podcast will give you an insider's perspective of the major trends and actionable insights you can apply to your life.
Jordan Poulton is the co-founder of Makers Academy, London's leading Web Developer Bootcamp which teaches you how to code in just 12 Weeks. He is a former president of Oxford Entrepreneurs and previously appeared on the BBC’s hit show The Apprentice in 2013.
Coding is arguably the skill with the fastest growing demand in the modern economy and more people are looking to acquire the skill every year. But coding is a challenging skill to learn and people are often unsure where to start.
Jordan went through the first Makers Academy cohort and by the end of the process, he was asked to join the Makers Team as a Co-Founder. As a result, he's got both a student's and an educator's perspective on the topic, which makes him uniquely placed to give advice on the subject.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- The fundamental skills and mental models a good programmer needs to develop
- The blend of theory and practice that’s best for learning entrepreneurship
- The changing educational landscape of the 21st century
So whether you're learning to code, building a business or curious about the way technology is shaping education, this episode will give you all that and more.
Ed Cooke is the founder of Memrise, an online platform that uses memory techniques to optimise learning. Ed has also previously competed in memory sports and became a Grand Master of Memory when he was just 23.
Human memory is something that few people understand well but the secrets behind improving it are both simple and fun.
Ed is someone who has applied these techniques to himself and his business Memire and even coached US journalist Josh Foer to win the US memory championships, which makes him the perfect man to explain them.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- Practical applications of memory techniques that people can use everyday
- How much we actually know about memory and the mind
- The role of technology in learning and the future of ed tech
So whether you're looking to improve your memory to remember vast amounts of information or understand the limits of your mind, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Tom Chatfield is a author and speaker who’s written several books about the digital age. He’s also worked with several companies as a consultant including Google and Mind Candy and spoken at forums including TED Global.
We all need to think more critically about how we interact with digital technology, because the secret to living and learning well with it is not related to which devices we use, but to how we use them.
Tom has spoken and written about the use of technology in a number of different areas so I reached out to him to get a critical perspective on the use of technology in learning and life.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- The advantages and disadvantages of the different types of media
- How to choose what methods to use when learning something online
- How to build unwired states in your day to increase focus
So whether you're looking to make more of your time online, find the best resources for what you're learning or spend more time disconnected, this episode will offer you actionable strategies you can implement right away.
Not everyone can go down as a master orator like Lincoln, King or Churchill, but we can all learn to become better speakers. And in an age where ideas are the main currency, being able to communicate them effectively is a huge advantage.
Plus, we spend 30% of our communication time speaking, whether it’s in a presentation at work or a conversation with a friend – so it’s definitely a skill worth working on.
In this episode, I break down the strategies of some of the greatest speakers, both ancient and modern and how we can apply them in different situations from public speeches to presentations at work.
Plus I answer some of your questions including:
- What are the elements that a good speech should include?
- What are your tips for improving body language and the use of gestures?
- How do you deal with the fear of public speaking and does it ever go away?
So whether you're looking to give better presentations at work, prepare for a TedX talk or just get your point across better in a discussion, this episode is packed full of actionable tools and techniques you can use immediately.
Rob Fitzpatrick is a serial entrepreneur who teaches early-stage entrepreneurship in Europe via his company Founder Centric. Rob is a Y Combinator alum and is the author of The Mom Test, a handbook on customer development that teaches you how to learn from customers even when they’re lying to you.
One of the most crucial parts of building a successful business is developing a rounded skillset that allows you to build products that solve problems and forge relationships with customers and partners to sell those solutions effectively.
Rob teaches people to do this and is great at awesome at distilling his entrepreneurial experience into practical advice. He's also taught at Oxford and UCL as well as designing education programs for accelerators and the UN, so if you want someone to teach you entrepreneurship you can’t get much better.
In this episode we discuss a real whirlwind of topics including:
- The core skills and mental models every entrepreneur needs to learn
- How to talk to customers effectively and get the results you want
- Rob’s own approach to learning new skills from chess to programming to repairing sailing boats and reading up on diesel engines.
So whether you're starting out as an entrepreneur and are looking to build a new business or learn from the customers you already have in an existing one, this episode will give you that and much more.
Studies on listening have show that we spend 60% of our communication time listening and that the average person can only remember 10% of that 3 days later.
For a skill that we need to use so often and neglect so heavily, you’d think that listening was pretty useless. But this couldn’t be further from the truth because every one of us needs to learn how to become a better listener.
In this episode, I show you how to become a better listener by offering a series of practical tools and techniques for improving your skills in different situations.
Plus, I answer some of your questions including:
- What are the main blocks to listening and how can you overcome them?
- How do you can digest what you’re hearing without preparing your 'answer'?
- What are the things I should do to listen better on the phone?
So whether you're looking to improve your listening skills to communicate better with your boss at work or to retain more of the podcast episodes you're listening to, this episode has you covered with practical strategies.
Scott Young is a lifelong learner and online entrepreneur who runs the business ScottHYoung.com where he tries to answer the question: “What’s the best way to learn?” through free articles, and a series of books and courses.
In a world of limitless access to information, it's become possible for all of us to direct our own learning like never before. And Scott is a great example of someone doing this - taking on ambitious ultra learning projects which include:
The MIT Challenge, where he successfully learned MIT’s 4-year computer science curriculum in a year without taking classes
The Year Without English, where he travelled the world with a friend to learn four languages in a year – Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin and Korean.
In this episode we discuss a wide range of topics including:
- The core skills and habits someone needs to become a self directed learner
- The advantages/disadvantages of the different forms of media for learning like blogs vs books and podcasts vs videos
- The principles that cognitive science has proven help people learn faster
So whether you're building a business, learning a language or learning to code, this episode will give you the tools and techniques needed to direct your own ultralearning project.
While it may be difficult to put your finger on that special something that geniuses like Tolstoy or Shakespeare had, being able to communicate well in writing is a skill that can be learned like any other.
If we deconstruct the art of writing, its three main components are research, storytelling and the organisation of ideas. So if you can develop these skills by putting in consistent deliberate practice, you’re going to become a better writer.
In this episode I show you how to become a better writer by presenting the tools and techniques needed to improve rapidly.
Plus I answer your questions including:
- What tips have you got for getting over writer's block?
- How do you develop your own unique style as a writer?
- What are the principles that everyone should apply to become a better writer?
So whether you're looking to improve your written communication at work, or improve your writing skills for a blog you're starting this episode will give you actionable strategies you can apply straight away.
John-Paul is an entrepreneur and best-selling author with a mission to spread awareness of better communication. A former associate editor at The Financial Times, he has worked with people at the top of government, business and the creative arts, and some of the world's leading companies.
Asking questions is an essential skill that few of us ever learn how to do properly - but it's of vital importance in all areas of our life because asking the right question at the right time can make all the difference.
JP has spent a large portion of his career asking questions as a journalist and has since helped thousands of people improve their communication skills so I reached out to him for chat to discuss these ideas in depth.
In this episode we discuss a wide range of topics including:
- The key to asking insightful questions
- Understanding how to have better conversations
- How to think about and deal with failure
So whether you're looking to ask better questions, deal with making mistakes or just have more great conversations, this episode will give you all that and much more.
There’s a feeling nowadays that reading isn’t as important as it used to be – we have many other ways to get information including television and the internet. While all of these are useful in the right context, they can't replace reading fully.
In the US only 40% of people who graduate college ever read a book again. But it’s been well documented that most successful and intelligent people across fields from business, science and the arts are voracious readers.
In this episode I show you how to how to choose your books and the tools and techniques that will help you read better.
Plus I answer some of your questions including:
- Does speed reading actually work?
- Do you take notes while you read and what method do you use?
- How do I remember and apply more of what I read?
So whether you're looking to read faster, more widely or remember more of what you read, this episode has you covered with actionable strategies you can start using to take your reading to the next level today.
Mads Holmen is the CEO of Bibblio, a platform helping knowledge publishers deliver smarter content recommendation. Bibblio’s clients include the University of Cambridge and Oxford University Press as well as the BBC and YouTube.
It's been well documented that the educational system in the West has problems, but if you want to improve a system you need to look at the ways people think and interact with each other before changing the rules - and that's what educational philosophy is all about.
Mads is someone who has integrated ideas from educational philosophy into his business Bibblio and he’s often invited to speak about them on panels about learning and ed-tech. After seeing him at a talk in London, I reached out to him for a chat about some of the big issues in the field of learning and intelligence.
In this episode we discuss a wide range of topics including:
- How to think about learning and education
- Whether there’s an ideal curriculum for the 21st Century
- The nature of intelligence by drawing insights from the nature vs nurture debate
So whether you're looking to deepen your understanding of the ideas driving our educational system or find out how to navigate the endless stream of content online, this episode has you covered.
What if one of the most powerful tools for igniting change in the world was something that’s been available to us since childhood?
Questioning - deeply, imaginatively and critically – can spark unique insights and unleash our innate creativity. It can help us see the world through fresh eyes and notice things others don’t. And it can inspire us to take focused actions that improve the quality of our lives.
Most creative and successful people in all fields from science to business recognise the importance of asking incisive questions because they can lead to such powerful insights.
In this episode I discuss a number of topics related to questions including:
- What’s the difference between a good question and a bad one?
- The best frameworks you use to ask better questions
- The questions you should be asking yourself to prove the validity of your ideas
So whether you're looking to leverage the power of questioning in learning, business or life this episode has you covered.
Vincent Dignan is an entrepreneur and growth hacker who helps early-stage companies acquire users. Through his company Magnific he’s driven thousands of followers, conversations, and signups for startups using a combination of social media growth and guerrilla community management tactics.
On top of this he’s a great public speaker regularly giving talks around the world on marketing and growth hacking and he recently completed a 45-date speaking tour of the US, speaking in 13 different cities.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- Vince’s tips that will help you market your content and grow your business
- The habits that will help you pick up skills and get more done with less
- How to give a memorable public speech and get people interested in the event
We also discuss Vince’s favourite books for entrepreneurs and his thoughts on the feedback loop between teaching and learning.
Whether you’re looking to grow your business and acquire users, become a better speaker or just get more done in less time, you’ll leave this podcast with plenty of actionable strategies you can apply.
Many people assume that great communicators possess an intrinsic talent – they look at the abilities of Martin Luther King, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and assume that it’s a gift that can't be learned or improved.
While I think it may come easier to some people than others, the reality is that almost anyone can become a great communicator with consistent, deliberate practice over a period of time.
In fact it’s pretty shocking that communication skills aren’t taught in the vast majority of schools given how important they are in all areas of life.
In this episode I discuss a range of topics including:
- The basics of public speaking and how to improve regardless of your level
- The techniques you can use to become a better listener
- The tips that will improve the quality of your writing and refine your style
So whether you're looking to become a better listener, speaker or writer, this episode has got you covered with actionable strategies you can apply today.
Will Reynolds and Erin Potter are the founders of the New Work Order, a close-knit network of ambitious people, building careers on their own terms.
I met Will at a workshop he was running on entrepreneurship and the vision he’s crafted with Erin to help people take control of their own careers resonated with me as it’s something I’ve been trying to do since graduating from university.
The important thing about community is that it allows people to learn from each other and to get a objective view of how they're progressing over time. Will and Erin have done this in the area of career so I decided to get them on for a chat.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- Build a learning community around you so that taking action becomes a habit
- Manage your work and learning so that it stays fun rather
- Practical strategies to learn a range of skills from web design to writing
So whether you’re looking to pick up skills to build your own career or thinking about how to optimise your work/life balance, you’ll leave this conversation with plenty of actionable ideas to start applying to your life immediately.
There’s something about learning teams that magnifies any achievement we gain in isolation. We’ve all been part of a team, whether at work or in sports or the arts where everything just works – every one’s strengths complement each other and compensate for individual weaknesses to produce amazing results.
I've been exploring how we can learn better in teams recently, diving into organisational theory and reflecting on my own experiences at the Hive Global Leaders Program in San Francisco and the IO Collective Retreat in Evia, Greece in the last month.
In this episode I discuss a range of topics including:
- How the individual visions of leaders get translated into communities
- The balance between conflict and cooperation in communities
- How to refine and master the skill of learning in a team
So whether you're looking to have more constructive discussions at work or want to mesh better with your teammates in your Sunday League football team, this episode will offer you actionable tools and techniques you can apply now.
Alex Rawlings is a polyglot and language teacher who runs the blog Rawlangs as well as a series of Polyglot Workshops and Conferences all over the world. In 2012 Alex was named Britain’s most multilingual student after winning a nationwide competition, where he was tested for fluency in eleven languages.
One of the most common language learning myths is that you have to live in a country to learn a language. But this simply isn't true if you're approaching the process properly and Alex is proof of that, having lived in the UK most of his life.
As well as being an exceptional learner Alex is also great at communicating his knowledge and helping others on their language learning journeys, which is why I reached out to him for a conversation.
In this episode you’ll learn Alex’s tips and tricks for:
- Picking the right language teacher
- Refreshing languages you haven’t used for years
- Using technology intelligently in your language learning
So whether you're just getting started on a new language, or want to refresh your high school French or Spanish, this episode will give you actionable strategies that you can apply right away.
Olly Richards is a language learning expert and entrepreneur, who speaks 8 languages (including French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese and Cantonese) and runs the blog and podcast I Will Teach You A Language.
There are a lot of myths about language learning - and while natural ability and upbringing definitely influence someone's ability, I believe that everyone is capable of learning a foreign language to a good standard.
Olly is a perfect example of someone who's developed his ability over time - he started learning languages when he was 19 and since then has managed to pick up eight, which should serve as a big inspiration to the rest of us.
In this episode you’ll learn Olly’s tips and tricks for language learning including:
- Choosing the right materials in the ocean of available options
- Creating good language learning habits and managing your time
- The most effective methods Olly uses and how to find the ones that work for you
Whether you’re a beginner picking up your first foreign language, or an expert with several already under your belt, you’ll leave with some great new insights and actionable strategies that you can apply straight away to your learning.
Habits are so important because up to 90 percent of our behaviour is based on them, which means they make up nearly all of what we do on a daily basis.
When it comes to learning, we all have good habits and bad habits. And over a longer period of time, these very small behaviours can add up to produce very positive or very negative results.
The good news is that all of them are malleable which means we can learn to effectively change bad habits and better ones. And in this episode you’ll learn to leverage the power of habit in your learning to achieve superhuman results.
In this episode I discuss a range of topics including:
- How to stay motivated when you don’t feel like learning
- How long it takes for a habit to become automatic
- What to do when you fall off the wagon
So whether you're looking to gain a deeper understanding of habit creation and maintenance or apply it to specific skill that you're learning right now, this episode will give you all that and much more.
Tom Rogers is an entrepreneur and the Founder of Music Gurus, a platform that provides music courses & training from the world's top musicians. Tom is also a keen musician – he started his own band at school and went on to study at music college before getting an MBA at INSEAD.
Many of us wish we could learn a musical instrument but don't know how to start. Without music in our lives, we're not only missing out on one of life's great pleasures but we're also robbing ourselves of the broader understanding that music brings because music is a MetaSkill, which can be applied across domains.
In this episode we dive into a whole host of topics including:
- The best strategies you can use to learn instruments from scratch
- How to apply insights from music to other areas like languages and business
- The challenges of building an online education platform
So whether you're looking to pick up an instrument, understand the mechanics of online education or access and apply the principles of music across fields, this episode will give you all that and much more.
There is a tradeoff between following multiple interests and focusing on one thing - but the key is to find the right balance in a way that works for you.
If your friends and family tell you that you should be focusing more, then you probably fall into the category of someone with multiple interests. If so, I’ve got you covered here with strategies to help you explore these interests, integrate them into your life and focus at the right time.
Alternatively, if you’re someone with a tendency to become doggedly focused on a single learning project in a way that makes it more of a chore than an enjoyable experience, I’ll also give you ways of working novelty into your learning in a way that allows you to continue making progress.
In this episode I discuss a range of topics including:
- How to learn several things at once without getting distracted
- How to identify the times when you need to focus single-mindedly on a skill
- How to build variety into your learning routine to keep it fresh and enjoyable
So whether you're an aspiring polymath or want to focus on a long term learning project, this episode has you covered with actionable strategies you can start applying today.
Alexis is a transformative coach who works with TV personalities, CEOs and award winning authors through his coaching business, the Live Life in Full Colour Project. He also has 10 years of experience in the British Army where he worked as a communications specialist and fitness instructor.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- The strategies Alexis used to rapidly pick up skills in the army, including everything from combat training to jumping out of planes
- How to learn by doing and the link between motivation and habit creation
- The techniques Alexis uses with his clients to promote behaviour change
So whether you're looking to learn a new physical skill, remove the obstacle of low motivation or permanently change your behaviour, this episode will give you strategies to achieve all that and much more.
Greta Rossi and Mark Spokes co-founders of Akasha Innovation, a not for profit social enterprise which gives social entrepreneurs the mindsets and skill sets and they need to succeed on their journey as change makers.
Greta is a social entrepreneur, transformative coach and the acting CEO of Akasha, while Mark is the academic director of the organisation and designed their learning program using a decade of experience in transformative learning and mentoring in higher education and social enterprise.
Having a clear purpose and developing self awareness are both crucial components of learning anything, but they're rarely discussed in any depth in most environments because they're complex and hard to define.
Greta and Mark have spent years helping young people from all over the world to develop these skills, so I reached out to them to get the inside story.
In this conversation we dive deeply into:
- The importance of having a purpose and how to find it
- Accessing multiple intelligences, including emotional and spiritual intelligence
- The process of developing self-awareness on your learning journey
So whether you're looking to find more meaning in what you're learning or want to become more aware of what works for you and what doesn't this episode give you the principles and techniques needed to succeed.
Dr. Anthony Metivier is the creator of the Magnetic Memory Method - an effective and fun method that helps you remember virtually any kind of information using memory techniques.
So many people believe that having a good memory is linked to intelligence or brain structure. But we're all capable of remembering a remarkable amount of information if we use the right techniques. Put simply, your memory is an incredible tool and whatever you're learning, you should learn how to use it.
Anthony has been using and teaching memory techniques for many years and has even competed in memory sports events, where competitors memorise multiple decks of cards and huge strings of numbers.
In this conversation we discuss a range of topics including:
- How to use memory palaces today to memorise virtually anything
- Strategies for learning languages including German, Spanish and Mandarin
- Insights into the weird and wonderful world of memory sports
So whether you're looking to remember definitions for a final exam, memorise foreign language vocabulary or prepare for a presentation at work, this episode will help you do all of that and much more.
Anton is an architect turned entrepreneur with a mission to transform the way we live and work. Over the past 10 years he has accelerated a number of social and tech ventures through his consultancy The Exponentials and he is currently a co-founder of the Village 3.0 Movement and Head of Product for TechFarm.
In a world of unlimited access to learning resources it's become possible for all of us to structure our own education like never before. But access to information isn't enough - we still need to cultivate productive habits, leverage the power of community and find inspirational teachers and mentors to guide us on our way.
Anton is a prolific learner and someone who's successfully integrated his continued education into his life, which is why I reached out for a conversation.
In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:
- The current state of the educational system and possible alternatives
- Simple habits you can use to accelerate your own learning
- The importance of your environment and the communities you participate in
Whether you're trying to squeeze more out of your day, or want to find communities and mentors that will support you, this episode has you covered and is packed full of actionable insights you can apply straight away.
Josh is a mental and physical health expert with qualifications in hypnotherapy, neurolinguistic programming and mindfulness meditation. He also blogs at the Huffington Post on mental health, entrepreneurship and economics.
Josh and I go back to Oxford where he was in the year above me on the same economics course and after bumping into each other a few times since then, we've since become good friends and shared a bunch of fascinating conversations.
Learning is a much more holistic process than most people realise and often, the most important factors in learning anything are psychological and emotional. Put simply, the physical and mental state we're in when we're learning is crucial and Josh has some great insights in these areas.
In this episode, we discuss a range of topics including:
- The amazing techniques that you can use to prime your mind for learning
- How to build a morning routine that sets you up for the day ahead
- The insights we can draw from Eastern Philosophy in the Western World
Whether you're looking to be more productive, build stronger habits or shift your mindset to overcome limiting beliefs, this episode will give you all that and more.
In this episode I provide an introduction to MetaLearn, featuring an exploration of the main themes in accelerated learning and skill acquisition as well as some insight into my own personal story.
My mission is simple - to empower people to manage their own learning so they can use their knowledge and skills to make an impact on the world around them.
In the last 5 years, I’ve done extensive research in the fields of cognitive psychology and educational neuroscience and taken courses in memory retention and accelerated learning from some of the world’s top experts.
I’ve also applied the methods to my own learning projects and as an academic tutor taking many from Cs and Ds to straight As in the space of a few months.
I believe that learning is a skill that can be acquired and improved and here on the podcast, I’ll break down the principles and techniques needed to learn anything fast. By tuning in you'll understand how to rapidly acquire skills and knowledge and master any skill or field of knowledge.
In this first episode I’ll outline some of the main themes and objectives of the podcast and will touch on my own personal story, so you can get to know me a little better!