The Re-engineered You: Recent Episodes
Todd Lemense & Joe Anthony
This is a podcast about self-empowerment, and all the myths, lies, and misconceptions we tell ourselves. Then we use science and history to bust those myths and re-engineer a better you.
If your partner never touches another person—but shares their secrets and their soul—is it still cheating?
This week we dive into one of the messiest, most misunderstood corners of modern relationships: emotional infidelity. We start with a hard look at the gray areas of cheating; how modern dating apps, texting habits, and even inside jokes with coworkers can blur the line between friendship and betrayal. We’ll also share our own stories of emotional infidelity, and whether we got over them, or left our partners for someone more invested.
From there, we trace the psychology behind emotional cheating and ask: why do people who would never dream of having an affair still end up falling for someone else emotionally? Is it a sign that something is broken at home, or just human nature clashing with the pressure of long-term relationships? We’ll look at studies showing how emotional intimacy can trigger the same feelings of jealousy, abandonment, and betrayal as physical cheating, and how these emotional affairs often hurt worse than just sex, because they leave us feeling that maybe we’re not good enough as a person to keep our partner tethered to us.
Finally, we’ll explore the long-term impact. Can emotional infidelity actually sabotage our health, career, and social life? Why do the people who feel the most secure in their relationship sometimes fall hardest into emotional cheating? And what should couples ask each other to strengthen their bond, before someone starts hiding their phone and laughing at text messages?
Links:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/emotional-cheating
https://www.thecouplescenter.org/what-is-emotional-cheating-how-to-recover/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/01/emotional-infidelity-the-devastating-destructive-love-affairs-that-involve-no-sex-at-all
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/emotional-infidelity
https://www.vogue.com/article/emotional-cheating
https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/el9rwj/cmv_there_is_no_such_thing_as_emotional_cheating/
Are human minds capable of coping with social media? Political polarization, teen bullying, rising depression...no wonder our ability to ‘social network’ responsibly has come under question.
The internet is a wonderful place, full of knowledge, resources, and funny cats. But it can also be a cesspool full of violent videos, nudity, racist propaganda, and bullying. Someone, somewhere has to clean up all that hateful garbage we don’t want to see. Which is where Cognizant - a group of underpaid contractors for Facebook - come in. On The Re-Engineered You, we’ll talk about a series of TheVerge articles by reporter Casey Newton. And we’ll ask the question: if contractors with access to proper training, experience, and cautionary seminars can’t handle the anxieties of the internet, what chance do the rest of us have?
In Part 2 of this two-parter, we’ll also look at the human cost of social media. We’ll discuss the Myanmar genocide that utilized Facebook to spread their hate message. And we’ll look at the rising depression and suicide rates, and try to find a reason other than social media for the historic mental health crisis we’re facing. Finally, we’ll talk about how to unplug from the social network in a way that won’t leave you feeling out of the loop, and away from your friends.
History Links:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/19/18681845/facebook-moderator-interviews-video-trauma-ptsd-cognizant-tampa
Science Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46105934
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/NVSR-69-11-508.pdf?_ga=2.57817962.1595091322.1600113401-938738154.1600113401
https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20201005/social-media-use-may-play-important-role-in-youth-suicide-expert-says
https://time.com/5550803/depression-suicide-rates-youth/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/12/06/why-quitting-social-media-may-not-make-you-happier/?sh=5f06909a37c5
https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/heres-how-keeping-your-new-years-resolution-to-quit-facebook-twitter-and-instagram-could-change-your-life/articleshow/80095064.cms
Are human minds capable of coping with social media? Political polarization, teen bullying, rising depression...no wonder our ability to ‘social network’ responsibly has come under question.
The internet is a wonderful place, full of knowledge, resources, and funny cats. But it can also be a cesspool full of violent videos, nudity, racist propaganda, and bullying. Someone, somewhere has to clean up all that hateful garbage we don’t want to see. Which is where Cognizant - a group of underpaid contractors for Facebook - come in. On The Re-Engineered You, we’ll talk about a series of TheVerge articles by reporter Casey Newton. And we’ll ask the question: if contractors with access to proper training, experience, and cautionary seminars can’t handle the anxieties of the internet, what chance do the rest of us have?
In Part 1 of this two-parter, we’ll also look at the mechanisms and dopamine tricks that Facebook uses to keep us clicking and scrolling. We’ll investigate which ideas, precisely, rise to the top of the social media pile. And why lies seem to spread faster than the truth...because they do, according to science.
History Links:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona
Science Links:
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/09/online-reviews-shoppers-believe-pretty-face
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop#:~:text=The%20Gish%20gallop%20is%20a,or%20strength%20of%20those%20arguments.
https://qz.com/905252/donald-trumps-lies-are-all-part-of-a-debate-tactic-called-the-gish-gallop/ https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/
Having a child in America is the most expensive it’s ever been, historically, and state populations are shrinking for the first time. So why can’t we fix this?
Last week we talked about the elderly Americans who are quietly grieving a future without grandchildren. This week, we flip the lens and look at the cost, in dollars and cents, of becoming a parent for younger Americans. Because it turns out that raising kids isn’t just an emotional decision anymore—it’s a financial cliff. The ruling political party claims the ideal household is one two loving, working parents, an owned home, and grandparents who can help take care of the children…which, it turns out, is a shockingly low percent of us, far, far below replacement rates necessary to survive as a country.
This episode is all about the cold, hard census data surrounding the plummeting U.S. birthrate, and the hidden math behind America’s looming population crisis. What does it really cost to raise a child from birth to adulthood in 2025? Why are Millennials and Gen Z increasingly deciding that having kids is financially impossible? What kind of income would you need to afford even a single child without falling into poverty? (Spoiler: It’s a lot more than you’d think.)
We’ll also talk about the politicians on both sides who are offering unsustainable solutions: like praying that grandma can babysit eight hours a day indefinitely, or throwing money at the corporations driving up the cost of children in the first place. Then we’ll we shine a light on the one U.S. state that’s getting it right; the New Mexico childcare program, which is being funded through state land grants, and is already bringing up birthrates for their state.
Links:
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/new-mexicos-free-child-care-program-bringing-relief-millions-us-famili-rcna176421
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-cost-of-raising-a-child-by-u-s-state/
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/09/millennial-moms-share-the-money-moves-they-made-before-having-kids.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/more-republicans-support-spending-on-child-care-saying-its-an-economic-issue
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/16/kamala-harris-child-tax-credit.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/12/jd-vance-trump-raise-child-tax-credit.html
Half of all adults say they can’t have children… So what happens to the boomers who realize they’ll never have grandkids?
This week we confront one of the most emotionally charged topics facing America’s aging population: the coming wave of “forever empty nesters.” Inspired by a viral New York Times article, The Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent, we explore the profound generational divide around childbirth, parenting, and economic survival. While millions of Boomers quietly mourn the grandkids they’ll never meet, younger generations are too busy surviving debt, housing costs, and a crumbling job market to start families of their own.
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we take on the myths and the moral panic surrounding America's falling birthrate. Are Millennials and Gen Z really too selfish or “soft” to have kids? Or is it simply no longer economically possible? And what happens to America when the schools start to empty out, and family reunions start to look like BINGO night at the retirement home?
Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/well/family/grandparent-grandchild-childfree.html
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kelseyborresen/parents-not-having-kids-grandparent-grief
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ts7oWw_Ebs&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/generation-gaps/nope-boomers-xers-dont-work-harder-millennials.htm
https://brightside.me/articles/my-selfish-daughter-doesnt-want-to-have-kids-and-preserve-our-family-so-i-was-forced-to-have-babies-for-her-819648/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/999919/share-people-registered-vote-age/
https://www.cbpp.org/research/a-punishing-decade-for-school-funding
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-department-of-educations-budget-tug-of-war-congress-vs-presidents/
https://edlawcenter.org/research/600-billion-lost/
https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-births-notable-decrease-2023-marking-end-late-pandemic-rebound-experts-say
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45184
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/the-experiences-of-u-s-adults-who-dont-have-children/
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240525.htm
What can we pass on to our kids? What leaves a lasting effect, statistically? Money? Reputation? Reasoning skills…?
On recent episodes we’ve explored trust funds, affluency, and wealth insulation. So a natural stone for us to look under next: Legacy. What can we leave our kids? And, more importantly, what can we leave our kids that will be worthwhile in the generations to come?
In Part 2 we’ll look at one very specific aspect of Legacy: Talent. Can we pass on our talent through our children? Can we give our children special talent by sending them to expensive schools? Can we turn our children into sport legends by putting them on the field at an early age, or can we produce a Yo-Yo Ma by sending them to bed with a Cello every night? We’ll also ask the question: is it really unhealthy to live vicariously through our kids? What if we’re just...you know...really supportive, and our kids are really, really good at little league?
For historical context we’ll talk about Butch O’Hare, son of Easy Eddie, and how he defended an American aircraft carrier in WWII, solo, against a squadron of Japanese bombers. Then we’ll look at how Butch O’Hare met his end during a heroic mission.
History Links:
https://www.sportscasting.com/todd-marinovich-admits-robo-qb-upbringing-contributed-to-his-life-of-drugs-prison/
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/11/todd-marinovich-dad-marv-quarterback-drugs-rehab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R23k6l8Pj-E
Science Links:
https://qz.com/317570/making-your-kid-play-organized-sports-could-cost-them-their-creativity/
https://www.inc.com/amy-morin/science-says-there-is-a-surprising-upside-to-living-vicariously-through-your-kids-unfortunately-theres-a-major-downside-too.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_parenting#Views_on_success_and_achievement
What can we pass on to our kids? What leaves a lasting effect, statistically? Money? Reputation? Reasoning skills…?
On recent episodes we’ve explored trust funds, affluency, and wealth insulation. So a natural stone for us to look under next: Legacy. What can we leave our kids? And, more importantly, what can we leave our kids that will be worthwhile in the generations to come?
In Part 1 we’ll discuss the money side Legacy. We’ll take a look at national statistics for inherited businesses, trust funds, and the mega-wealthy Scrooge McDucks who leave their kids mountains of cash...and how quickly that gets spent. We’ll also look at family reputation, and look at the psychology of growing up in a successful or popular parent’s shadow.
For historical context we’ll be covering the death of an infamous mob lawyer - Easy Eddie - and how his sacrifice might have paved the way for his son to become one of the greatest military heroes of WWII...and eventually have an airport named after him.
History Links:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/butch-ohare-easy-eddie
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/26/the-incredible-life-and-terrible-death-of-the-navys-first-world-war-ii-ace/
https://www.stlmag.com/The-Butch-OHare-Story/
Science Links:
https://hbr.org/2012/01/avoid-the-traps-that-can-destroy-family-businesses
https://www.newretirement.com/retirement/average-inheritance-how-much-are-retirees-leaving-to-heirs
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-in-three-americans-who-get-an-inheritance-blow-it-2015-09-03
https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/what-its-really-like-to-have-a-trust-fund.html
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-90-of-rich-people-squander-their-fortunes-2017-04-23
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-parents-influence-kids-popularity-2017-8
Did you grow up with a gaming console and a ton of games? A cellphone? Ever borrow your folks’ car? Well, so did Affluenza Kid. So what’s the difference between his entitlement and ours?
As far back as there have been kings, commoners have known to mistrust spoiled rich princes. Our subject today is so spoiled-rich, he’s the Prince Joffrey of the upper-middle class. On The Re-Engineered You we’re talking about entitlement, and we’re asking the question; could Affluenza Kid’s defense team actually have been telling the truth? Is it really possible Ethan Couch, who killed four innocent people while drunk, high, and speeding, could be so wealthy and bratty he didn’t have a concept of morality or punishment? What about our own kids? Will getting them that brand-new iPhone be enough to tip them into Affluenza? What about when Grandma and Grandpa show up with a bag of toys and electronics? How much wealth and class insulation does it take to turn our little princes and princesses into cold-hearted bastards who smile for the camera during their manslaughter mugshots?
Then, finally, we’ll talk about “Moral Licensing” - something we all do. And we’ll attempt to reverse the damages of the Ethan Couches of the world by administering a vaccination against Affluenza. With a little cure backed by science, called Social Conscientiousness.
History:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Couch#Trial_and_sentencing
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/ethan-couch-affluenza-jail.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-history-of-hermits-in-gardens
https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/popular-instagram-account-shows-off-the-elite-lifestyles-of-worlds-richest-young-people/news-story/5047eb9ca4ccf1fd9d81917f239113b7
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east-africa/saudi-arabias-major-inward-outward-investments-2021-03-04/
Science:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ8Kq1wucsk
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/feelings-of-entitlement-enhance-creativity.html#:~:text=But%20a%20recent%20study%20finds,surprisingly%20positive%20outcome%E2%80%94increased%20creativity.&text=Researchers%20have%20found%20that%20people,and%20engage%20in%20hostile%20behavior.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-is-more-likely-to-return-someone-elses-money-the-rich-or-the-poor-2017-03-14
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahwatts/2019/02/14/our-brains-trick-us-into-trusting-rich-people-heres-how/?sh=9eb136b1e7ca
If you spent your whole life chasing greatness, would you recognize it when you finally caught it?
This week we pay respect to the strange, tragic, and ultimately inspiring career of Val Kilmer—the Juilliard-trained actor who became a Hollywood heartthrob, but never stopped chasing the deeper meaning in his work. We’ll start by delving into the autobiographical documentary Val, which Kilmer made about his own life. This documentary serves as both a scrapbook of his time as an actor, and a heartbreaking goodbye letter.
Then, we’ll talk about some of the early career setbacks that pushed Val into becoming more serious and “method” about the roles he took, like losing the lead to Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn, or being cast as Batman—a role he famously hated.
Finally, we’ll talk about the work ethic that made him so great as an artist, but also made him insufferable as a co-worker. We’ll discuss the Val behind the cameras, who was both difficult and deeply self-aware, obsessed with greatness yet filled with regret. And we’ll ask ourselves; did his commitment to art sabotage his career, or was it the only thing keeping him honest in a business built on compromise?
Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Val-Kilmer/dp/B09888KKZK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLUG_hSwOnQ&t=11s&ab_channel=LarryKing
https://valkilmer.com/citizen-twain-by-val-kilmer/
Is being “street smart” enough to earn a living these days? Or do you need a bachelor’s degree to not end up in an Amazon warehouse?
During an interview at SATELLITE, Elon Musk went on-record saying that he didn’t believe college was necessary. In his opinion, a degree shouldn’t be the hot item employers are looking for in skilled candidates. Nor is earning a degree necessary for someone seeking a good education. “You can learn anything you want for free,” Musk said. Then he went on to tell the crowd that Tesla isn’t looking to hire someone because they have a degree - they want people who have demonstrated exceptional ability, like Steve Jobs.
So today we’re putting Elon’s theory to the test. The Re-Engineered You’s going to answer, statistically, whether a degree is necessary to achieve success in today’s job market. How much more do you earn, on average, having various degrees? How many degree-holders actually work in fields related to their education? Is a degree necessary to do “the” job, or are jobs hiring graduates just because there are so many graduates floating around? And if college prices are getting so wildly out of control, and information is free online, then why are people still shelling out the big bucks to get a diploma?
By the end of the show we’ll also put Elon’s claim about not giving a damn about college degrees to the test. Todd and Joe will both fill out applications to become SpaceX astronauts. If we’re lucky, maybe next week we’ll have new show hosts!
History:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLbi6jGsVEk
https://savingjournalism.substack.com/p/i-talked-to-elon-musk-about-journalism
https://www.insidehook.com/article/history/errol-musk-elon-father-myths
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061015/how-elon-musk-became-elon-musk.asp
https://evannex.com/blogs/news/tesla-is-just-one-of-many-companies-with-roots-in-paypal#:~:text=In%201999%2C%20Elon%20Musk%20founded,stop%20shop%E2%80%9D%20for%20financial%20services.&text=Confinity%20had%20developed%20a%20clever,payments%2C%20which%20it%20called%20PayPal.
https://www.spacex.com/careers/
Science:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/633660/unemployment-rate-of-recent-graduates-in-the-us/#:~:text=U.S.%20%2D%20unemployment%20rate%20of%20recent%20graduates%202016%2D2020&text=This%20statistic%20shows%20the%20unemployment,were%20unemployed%20in%20the%20U.S.
https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0511/work-ex
Enough of these ‘basic bitch’ concerns about the government or economy. Here are the real existential threats facing humanity, ranked by how thoroughly they could wipe us out.
This week we take a break from self-improvement to dig into something much more pressing: the vast, incomprehensible ways the universe could erase us from existence. It all started when Joe, in his usual tactful manner, dismissed his friends’ everyday anxieties (housing, jobs, relationships) as "basic bitch worries" and invited them to contemplate something truly terrifying: the heat death of the universe, and the fact that all the stars will burn out and existence itself may just...stop. But why wait that long when we have plenty of other things to panic about right now?
From cosmic horrors to atoms becoming ‘unglued’ to the Y Chromosome losing its powers, we go through the biggest existential threats on our list, ranked by sheer magnitude. Can a gamma-ray burst wipe us out instantly without warning? Are we due for another asteroid impact? And what happens if artificial intelligence decides that humans are inefficient and quietly tanks the economy while we’re all asleep? If you’re looking for a list of apocalyptic scenarios that make your day-to-day problems seem tiny in comparison—this is your episode.
Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/03/18/5-killer-events-from-space-that-could-wipe-out-human-life-on-earth/
https://theconversation.com/six-cosmic-catastrophes-that-could-wipe-out-life-on-earth-71178
https://epic.uchicago.edu/insights/2024-poll-americans-views-on-climate-change-and-policy-in-12-charts/
https://longnow.org/ideas/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X10001864
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-58997-2
If hovering over your kids turns them into model citizens, then why do so many helicoptered adults turn out fragile and anxious?
This wee we take a hard look at helicopter parenting—the modern phenomenon of hovering over kids like a Secret Service detail—and its polar opposite, free-range parenting. We start with a story about Todd’s sister, who watches her newborn sleep like a military guard on night duty. This leads us to a bigger question: has our obsession with safety made us worse parents? What if all this surveillance is actually making our kids less prepared for the real world?
Then, we explore real-world examples of parents who went to extreme lengths to protect their kids—from designing their environment to maximize success from birth, to micromanaging every moment of their day. We’ll also shift gears and look at the free-range movement, led by Lenore Skenazy, who became internet famous after letting her nine-year-old ride the New York subway alone. Lenore was labeled “The World’s Worst Mom” by news media, but was she really? What if the studies uphold Lenore’s radical views, or suggest that free-range kids might actually be better at managing risk, making decisions, and dealing with failure?
Finally, we get into the psychology of resilience. Why are kids who experience controlled risk—like riding a subway alone or being left to figure out their own problems—better at handling life’s curveballs? Does helicopter parenting actually sabotage a child’s ability to grow into a self-sufficient adult? And if spending quality time with kids is proven to raise their grades, then how do we strike a balance between being overprotective and being negligent?
Links:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10106685/
https://nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/16/i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-the-subway-alone-i-got-labeled-the-worlds-worst-mom/
https://www.freerangekids.com/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-the-subway-alone/
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2018/06/helicopter-parenting
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9176408/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/19/magazine/how-much-can-parents-really-control-how-their-kids-turn-out/
https://www.amazon.com/Nurture-Assumption-Children-Revised-Updated/dp/1439101655
Migrant workers are dying by the thousands in Qatar to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. Is the thrill of a game worth their sacrifice? Are international sports in general?
In Part 2 of our examination of international sports, we’ll bust the old myth about why Salt Lake and Sochi bent over backwards to host the Olympics. Ideally, the host city gets a tourism boost that’ll make the economy flusher than a smart-toilet. Unfortunately, there’s a reason we use the term “myth” to describe this tourism boost. We also wrap up our discussion about the Qatar FIFA scandal, and speculate about the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing - which may turn out to be a human rights violation on just as incredible a scale, with the imprisoned Muslim Uighur population already being used for cheap labor in detention centers.
Finally, we wrap up this two-parter by revealing what you can do to make a difference in how FIFA and the International Olympic Committee select its host countries. Namely, how you can avoid buying their branded material, and instead support the athletes directly. In a way that will actually improve their lives.
Ideally we all reach ‘self actualization’ at the top of the pyramid. But what happens if our lower blocks get sabotaged by our job? Or addiction? Or by society?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one of the most widely accepted psychological models in self-improvement and corporate leadership. But what if we told you that the version of Maslow’s pyramid you’ve seen in textbooks and seminars is actually just corporate rebranding, and the iconic pyramid was drawn by a business guru?
This week we take a wrecking ball to the traditional idea that human needs are a simple step-by-step ladder to greatness. Instead, we argue that success is more fragile than we’ve been led to believe—because when one block of the hierarchy crumbles, the whole structure can come crashing down. First, we dive into the origins of Maslow’s theory and how a corporate professor turned it into the colorful pyramid that companies love to use as a management tool. Then we discuss the hidden flaws in the traditional model, and why human motivation isn’t as simple as “conquering” one step after the next.
What happens when safety, health, or stability get ripped out from under you? Can someone who has reached self-actualization suddenly lose it all? And why is society, and our jobs, built to weaken the lower needs?
We’ll also look at real-world examples of people who seemed to have climbed to the highest level of personal achievement—only to plummet back down due to financial ruin, mental health struggles, or life circumstances beyond their control. From artists like Vincent van Gogh to modern business moguls who fell from grace, we explore how losing key elements of Maslow’s hierarchy can turn even the most successful figures into cautionary tales. If success isn’t a linear path, then what’s the real way to achieve lasting fulfillment?
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlBG2ojDbQ8&t=1626s&ab_channel=Biography
https://scottbarrykaufman.com/who-created-maslows-iconic-pyramid/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz7Sp_O84JM&t=684s&ab_channel=HenrikG.S.Arvidsson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVFwAA17lmM&ab_channel=BigThink
At best mentors get footnoted during award speeches. At worst they get forgotten. Yet 76% of professionals claim mentorship is vital to success.
On today’s episode we’re looking at the overall recognition received by mentors, starting with the inspirational story of Doug Blevins - an NFL kicking coach who was nominated for the Hall of Fame. Blevins is a coach who has been called the “premier” mentor of kicking - yet never ran a play or kicked a field goal in his life, because Doug has been confined to a wheelchair for his entire career.
We’ll also delve into the statistics of mentorship - what it does for students and teens, how mentorship can keep kids in school, and how good coaching can shrink the achievement gap. Then we’ll talk about mentorship for big boys and girls - what mentorship can do for you, why it’s vital for entrepreneurs and professionals, and why so few people actually seek out qualified mentors. Lastly, Todd and Joe will discuss their mentorship experiences, and they’ll spill the beans on how to find the best mentors for free!
History Links:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2012/10/07/doug-blevins-hall-of-fame-nomination/1617861/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1997/08/22/kicking-coach-is-on-a-roll/c614ec2b-84df-4509-a383-1941a8a8d412/
https://www.abilities.com/community/adaptive-sports-kicking-coach.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWxPv-D4boA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJucnu_IggRCKiUqyrcAAiQ/videos
https://www.pushfar.com/article/15-famous-mentoring-relationships/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentor_(Odyssey)#:~:text=In%20the%20Odyssey%2C%20Mentor%20
https://www.sparknotes.com/biography/alexander/section2/
Science Links:
https://www.mentoring.org/mentoring-impact/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1478210316674159
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259703693_Socio-economic_Determinants_of_Demand_for_Private_Tutoring
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2019/07/03/new-study-76-of-people-think-mentors-are-important-but-only-37-have-one/?sh=2f14bd2b4329
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2019/07/03/new-study-76-of-people-think-mentors-are-important-but-only-37-have-one/?sh=110990924329
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2014/01/06/finding-a-mentor-is-easier-than-you-think/?s h=360638e452f5
Steve Jobs said “stay hungry”...but will staying hungry make you happy? Or are highly motivated people secretly miserable?
This week we shift gears to tackle a fundamental question about work ethic: is it better to be endlessly driven by hunger and ambition, or is true success found in balance and contentment? To explore this, we turn to one of the most brutal proving grounds for toughness—professional boxing. Enter Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero, two legendary fighters from the same city who took completely different paths to the top. Tapia, fueled by a life of hardship and tragedy, fought with reckless abandon, as if every fight could be his last. “Kid Dynamite” Romero, on the other hand, approached the sport with discipline, precision, and a scientific detachment. When they finally met in the ring, it wasn’t just a title on the line—it was a battle between two ways of life.
So, which approach truly leads to victory? And does hunger always win over happiness?
To answer this we’ll also pull back the curtain on modern work culture. The grind mindset tells us that success requires suffering, and happiness and comfort are signs of weakness. But does the research actually back that up? We’ll dig into the data on high performers across industries—athletes, CEOs, artists, and even military leaders—to see whether the “tough guys” actually achieve the most, or if those who prioritize balance have the last laugh.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXDzB8Xv8AY&ab_channel=FullTimeX2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYLdUzOogY8&ab_channel=billpaxton
https://www.parentingforbrain.com/toughen-up/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/01/16/i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-the-subway-alone-i-got-labeled-the-worlds-worst-mom/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvrMNDv6iYU&ab_channel=BigThink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dv2Hdf5TRg&t=609s&ab_channel=TED
https://www.smh.com.au/national/boxer-struggled-with-drugs-and-mothers-murder-20120529-1zh4k.html
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3658407/
https://www.armytimes.com/2016/08/19/army-physical-un-fitness-a-system-that-promotes-injury-and-poor-nutrition/
https://nmshof.org/danny-romero/
Migrant workers are dying by the thousands in Qatar to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. Is the thrill of a game worth their sacrifice? Are international sports in general?
Today we look at the shady bidding process Qatar underwent to secure the privilege to host the World Cup. Then we ask ourselves: Why? Why international sports in general?
International sports are supposed to be good for morale, both for the host country, and for the individual who cheers from the couch as someone wearing their flag scores a goal. So we’ll first examine the neurological process we undergo when we see our heroes emerge victorious. Then we’ll look at the lives of the athlete themselves, how much they earn, and if it’s worth the price they pay with their body and mind. We’ll also talk about why the backstage of the Olympics is usually an orgy filled with used condoms - or worse, a systematic displacement of the impoverished. And we’ll speculate on the real reason countries try to outbid on another to host an international event. Spoiler: It’s not just for those sweet, sweet tourism dollars.
How do we counterpunch any argument? Is there a secret ‘finishing move’, linguistically, that we can use to win any debate?
We pick up where we left off with the life of William Jennings Bryan, the man who could talk a crowd into anything—except, perhaps, the one belief that mattered most to him; that the Bible should be the only creation story taught in schools. Bryan had built his entire career on persuasion, but as he stepped onto the national stage one last time to defend the Bible in the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, he found himself up against one of the sharpest legal minds in history, Clarence Darrow. Darrow was America’s most ardent defense attorney, and he didn’t just challenge Bryan on evolution—he put Bryan’s faith on trial. And, for the first time, the Boy Orator struggled to find an answer.
What does it actually mean to “win” an argument? In this episode, we break down the mechanics of debate—why logic alone isn’t enough, how moral conviction make people double down, and why most people argue not to learn, but to win, and make the other side “cry salty tears”. We also look at modern political polarization, the decline of fact-based debate, and why most public debates today are just outrage-fueled performances designed to make money.
Finally, we break down the psychological tools used by history’s greatest debaters—including Bryan and Darrow—to actually change minds. What rhetorical trick did Darrow use to dismantle Bryan’s faith in court? Why did Bryan believe his voice alone could turn the tide? And if debate today is just another form of entertainment, is it still possible to truly persuade someone of anything?
Links:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1895643?seq=6
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-cross-of-gold-speech/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQsCUqO6jk&ab_channel=TheSpurlockMuseumofWorldCultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud1ANAF9pW8&ab_channel=Wisecrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLfr7sU5W2E&ab_channel=60Minutes
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfsjXIewIHs&ab_channel=HistoryThatDoesn%27tSuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGN0l1QdoiM&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZhVPEZETCU&ab_channel=RobertGreene
How far can the power of persuasion take us? And does money win over substance every time?
In this episode we pick up where we left off with the life of William Jennings Bryan, the Great Orator, by diving into his early career as a lawyer and his surprising approach to making money. Most notably how he argued his way into a job as a saloon debt collector, despite being a staunch Baptist who abstained from drinking. How did Bryan convince a room full of skeptics, including drunks, to pay their tabs to a man who didn’t believe in alcohol? What else can we learn from his ability to win over the most unlikely of allies?
Then, we turn our attention to Bryan’s rise as a populist politician. We’ll set the stage for his most famous speech, The Cross of Gold, which won him his place in Congress as Nebraska’s first Democratic representative. Then we’ll talk about his presidential campaigns, and how Bryan’s opponents weaponized their vast wealth against him. Then, despite losing three presidential campaigns, Bryan’s career takes a turn for the ‘legendary’ and leads him to glory and riches on the public speaking circuit, then to a position on Woodrow Wilson’s presidential cabinet, and finally to a small town where a school teacher is about to challenge the government over the right to teach evolution in school.
Join us as we explore the trials, triumphs, and enduring legacy of William Jennings Bryan, and compare his era of gentleman politics to the sorry state of Youtube debaters and mainstream outrage media that has flourished in the internet age.
Links:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1895643?seq=6
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-cross-of-gold-speech/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQsCUqO6jk&ab_channel=TheSpurlockMuseumofWorldCultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud1ANAF9pW8&ab_channel=Wisecrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLfr7sU5W2E&ab_channel=60Minutes
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfsjXIewIHs&ab_channel=HistoryThatDoesn%27tSuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGN0l1QdoiM&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZhVPEZETCU&ab_channel=RobertGreene
What if the ability to change hearts and minds could be cultivated into a superpower?
Today we kick off a multi-part series about one of history’s most magnetic orators, William Jennings Bryan, the man who could stand in front of any crowd and win them over with his voice. First, we explore how Bryan’s speaking abilities, developed as a homeschooled child in a devoutly religious household, turned him into the surprise valedictorian and a debate club super star. To the point where his talent for public speaking made professors question their beliefs, and turned the opinions of people who had already made up their minds against him.
Then, after recounting Bryan’s early struggles and triumphs, we’ll dig into the meat of William Jennings Bryan’s rise to political fame - how he became Nebraska’s first Democratic congressman, flipping a Republican stronghold by connecting with voters and sharing stories that resonated. We also discuss the stark contrast between Bryan’s authentic connection with audiences, and the modern-day performative nature of debates where outrage and "gotcha" clips overshadow meaningful dialogue.
What does it take to develop such persuasive power? What can we learn from Bryan’s dedication to his craft and his genuine desire to connect? And could honest, constructive debate ever regain its power in an age of social media bubbles and clickbait rhetoric?
Links:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1895643?seq=6
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-cross-of-gold-speech/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQsCUqO6jk&ab_channel=TheSpurlockMuseumofWorldCultures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud1ANAF9pW8&ab_channel=Wisecrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLfr7sU5W2E&ab_channel=60Minutes
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-tech-platforms-fuel-u-s-political-polarization-and-what-government-can-do-about-it/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfsjXIewIHs&ab_channel=HistoryThatDoesn%27tSuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGN0l1QdoiM&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZhVPEZETCU&ab_channel=RobertGreene
According to polls, a shocking number of Americans support Luigi Mangione and the murder of Brian Thompson. What does that say about our shifting morality as a country?
An Axios poll recently revealed that a disturbing number of Americans support Luigi Mangione and his decision to murder UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. So much so that movements are spreading throughout Twitter and Instagram, to educate potential jury members about “Jury Nullification” or the process in which a jury declares someone is technically guilty but morally correct. If this happened to be the verdict during Mangione’s trial it would, hypothetically, allow him to walk free.
On today’s episode we’ll discuss Jury Nullification and review the events of the shooting, briefly, before we recap the most recent wave of headlines. Then, we turn our focus to the meat of the episode; when is murder justified? And why are there so many movies and TV shows about average men taking matters into their own hands when the system fails to intervene?
We’ll also attempt to tackle the sticky subject of healthcare reform, and ask whether or not the CEOs of these major companies could actually make change if they wanted to, or if their hands are tied by their obligation to maximize profit for their shareholders? Because if the Brian Thompsons of the world are supposedly powerless to fix the predatory practices of their companies…then who has the power? Is it us, the voters? Can we all agree that healthcare is broken and vote for a new system? Is it possible to ‘grass roots’ a solution? Well, no. In this unique circumstance, the average voter might actually be helpless to change the system, and we’ll explain why.
Links:
https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-ceo-manhattan-shooting-death-48590215ba756741bbaadeeb6255d135
https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-suspect-ceo-assassin-shooter-b5ff640798d799271ddd8db9f3d2a20e
https://www.axios.com/2024/12/17/united-healthcare-ceo-killing-poll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdmwGLg-9uo&ab_channel=NBC15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox8LtwBvnag&ab_channel=electronmediagroupinc.
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/unitedhealth-group/summary?id=D000000348
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14177745/gen-z-influencers-luigi-mangione-acquittal-guilty.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2eeeep0npo
We have self-driving cars and AI assistants smart enough to manage our schedules. So why is Errand Paralysis so persistent? Because businesses need you to feel fatigued, that’s why...
On today’s episode we’re paying special attention to a Buzzfeed article written in 2019 by Anne Helen Petersen, and we’re looking at the term she popularized called Errand Paralysis. Or, as it was known a decade ago: Millennial Burnout. We’re going to discuss why businesses insist on making customers jump through hoops and use confusing, convoluted automated systems to claim rebates, file complaints, complete surveys, and generally get on with our lives. And we’ll discuss why living in today’s computer age feels more like being a “life admin” than simply “living.” These automated check-the-boxes-and-stay-on-the-line services aren’t just a minor inconvenience, either. With everything added up, we’re talking about tens of thousands of hours you’ll waste throughout your lifetime, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars we burn as a country due to errand burnout.
Finally, we’ll look at the most extreme example of Errand Paralysis in the entire world: the bizarre case of Lal Bihari and his Association of Dead People. A group of Indian land-owners who were given the run-around by their local government after they were legally declared dead. Several members of whom became so desperate to be recognized as “alive” on-paper, they began committing political crimes to get arrested.
History Links:
https://openthemagazine.com/features/india/the-living-dead/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bihari
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaagaz
Science Links:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/07/i-feel-bombarded-with-to-dos-the-hell-of-life-admin-and-how-to-get-on-top
https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlynborysenko/2019/05/29/burnout-is-now-an-officially-diagnosable-condition-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-it/?sh=379ebfe62b99
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/reading-the-privacy-policies-you-encounter-in-a-year-would-take-76-work-days/253851/
https://www.consumerreports.org/medical-billing/sick-of-confusing-medical-bills/
https://www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/cyber_seminars/archives/3633-notes.pdf
Are moral values given to us by our parents? Are they just arbitrary rules put on us by society? Or have morals “evolved” with us?
Moral values seem to come under question a lot these days. Especially in politics, if news anchors and talk-show hosts can be believed. One party does something morally questionable, and the other party clutches their pearls and acts like common decency is under attack. Next week, the parties switch roles.
But what are moral values, really? Does the human mind come pre-packaged with an innate understanding of “goodness” and “badness”? Are we born with a sense of morality? Or is morality taught to us by our parents and reinforced by society? And perhaps more importantly, does being moral earn more money in the long-run? Does the moral life make us healthier?
Today we’re going to look at moral values, where they come from, and whether they’re a help or a hindrance throughout our lifetime. Then we’ll look into a family of serial killers known as The Bloody Benders. And we’ll talk about how the most morally upright man in fiction - Pa Wilder - the dad from Little House on the Prairie - might have ridden away in the middle of the night to deliver a little vigilante justice to the Benders.
History Links:
https://kathlit.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/laura-ingalls-wilder-and-the-bloody-benders/
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/53672/bloody-benders-americas-first-serial-killers
https://www.historynet.com/the-bloody-benders-grim-harvest.htm
Science Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/health/brain-moral-judgments
https://www.oxygen.com/martinis-murder/serial-killers-ted-bundy-dennis-rader
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watching-eye_effect#:~:text=They%20signify%20that%20our%20actions,through%20mere%20depictions%20of%20eyes.&text=Empirical%20psychological%20research%20has%20continually,and%20more%20pro%2Dsocial%20behavior.
https://www.newswise.com/articles/lying-less-linked-to-better-health-new-research-finds
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/science-jan-june09-achievement_04-17
https://jamesclear.com/personal-values-journal#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20turns%20out%20that%20writing,connected%2C%20and%20empathetic%20toward%20others.
Clean air, low crime, and people who smile when you pass by…so if small towns are so great, why are people leaving?
According to country artist Jason Aldeen, folks in a small town “take care of our own” and “you cross that line, it won't take long - for you to find out, I recommend you don't…”
In other words, despite having less police presence and less access to public safety nets, small towns are allegedly safer and more prosperous because rural people look after each other. Our question today is; do they really?
Are small towns more moral than the rude, uncaring city folk, who can walk over a homeless person without blinking? Are small towns safer, since everyone owns a gun, and they’re willing to defend themselves or their kin whenever necessary? Are small towns happier with all that clean air and sprawling nature? And, if small towns really are as wonderful as the songs make them out to be, why are they still shrinking all across the United States?
On today’s episode we’ll separate the myths from the facts, and help you decide if small town living is right for you. We’ll also explore a tale from history that feels like it was yanked straight from an Aldeen song. It’s a story about a small town in Missouri that banded together to murder the local bully, Ken McElroy, who put their humble population through years of hell. At the end of which we’ll decide if Ken’s death is the example that proves the rule that small towns are safer…or if this is the murder that shatters the myth of small towns completely.
Links:
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/05/america-a-nation-of-small-towns.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGxGDdQnC1Y&ab_channel=CrashCourse
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-in-rural-areas-die-at-higher-rates-than-those-in-urban-areas/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/surprise-big-cities-safer-small-towns-study-finds-flna6c10713797
https://usafacts.org/articles/which-cities-have-the-highest-murder-rates/
What type of encouragement really motivates us, negative encouragement or positive? And which political figure was so good at encouragement he was said to have “mobilized the english language and sent it into battle...”?
Winston Churchill knew what it was like to fall down, both in politics and in career. In the first World War he sent a sizable chunk of the British navy to be blown up in the Dardanelles - a dangerous and strategically valuable location, and a risky maneuver that almost paid off. But his failure there would get Churchill kicked out as the First Lord of the Admiralty, and drummed out of politics. So how did he go from wartime disgrace in WWI, to the voice of encouragement for a war-torn Britain in WWII?
On the Re-Engineered You we take a few notes from the master of encouragement, Winston Churchill, as well as a few recent studies from universities, labs, and anti-depression pharmaceuticals. We also look into sports statistics and the world of professional coaching, all so we can answer the question: Does encouragement even work? And if so, how do we get the best out of the four most powerful words in the English language: “You Can Do It”?
Science:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nfls-home-field-advantage-is-real-but-why/
https://kwiklearning.com/kwik-tips/why-compliments-are-amazing-for-your-brain-and-the-world/
https://www.amazon.com/Hardwiring-Happiness-Science-Contentment-Confidence/dp/0385347316
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12003280/
https://www.peakendurancesport.com/endurance-psychology/psychological-aides/encouragement-boosts-performance/
https://hbr.org/2013/07/if-you-want-to-motivate-someone-shut-up-already
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353513/
History:
https://www.history.com/news/winston-churchills-world-war-disaster
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/winston-churchill-resigns-2
https://www.history.com/news/winston-churchills-world-war-disaster
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-winston-churchill
https://www.history.co.uk/article/winston-churchill%25E2%2580%2599s-most-famous-ww2-speeches
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Later_life_of_Winston_Churchill#:~:text=Churchill%20suffered%20his%20final%20stroke,since%20W.%20E.%20Gladstone%20in%201898.
Studies consistently list humor as the number one trait for desirability and attractiveness, regardless of gender. So...how do we get funny?
Mark Twain is widely considered one of America’s greatest humorists. And comedy itself as a traveling act originated, in-part, from Twain traveling across Europe and America, taking his humor articles on the road. But as historians seem to enjoy pointing out: Twain didn't set out to invent comedy as a stand-up act. In fact, Twain went on tour because he was flat broke, and public speaking was surprisingly lucrative for the time.
On this episode of The Re-Engineered You we’re looking at humor in general. We want to know why humor seems to be a hack to attractiveness. Why being funny seems to make you more money in life, and if that continues as we age (and so do our jokes). How do we get funny if we’re born with a sense of humor that inspires more groans than guffaws? And we want to break down joke structure as a written art, that way we can discover how naturally funny folks might up their game going forward.
History:
https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/mark-twains-legendary-humor
https://twainstudios.com/2013/09/27/mark-twains-style-of-humor-lives-on-in-todays-comedy/
https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-mark-twain
https://freebeacon.com/culture/comedy-tour-saved-mark-twain/
https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/price/frog.htm
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-mark-twain-burglary-goes-comically-awry/
Science:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/27/gender1
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-so-funny-the-science-of-why-we-laugh/
https://www.sjsm.org/2017/03/the-neuroscience-of-humor-why-some-people-are-funny-and-others-arent/
https://slate.com/culture/2014/04/are-comedians-really-depressed-or-is-sadness-just-funny.html
https://www.juggle.org/be-funnier-with-scotty-meltzer-nice-structure/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufdvYrTeTuU
Colleges are still raising prices, even while faith in higher education plummets. So why are local governments offering free rides to these overpriced institutions?
Every year, The Re-Engineered You collects data and articles on the diminishing state of US colleges. As of the most recent Pew Research numbers, only 22% of Americans say that getting a four-year degree is worth taking on loans to achieve. Even worse, only a quarter of us believe it’s “extremely important” or “very important” to have a college degree at all, without about half of Americans saying it’s less important than it was twenty years ago, despite the rise in technical jobs.
And yet, while the public believes a college degree to be more worthless than ever, employers still prioritize education job candidates, and state governments are panicking at the absence of skilled workers among younger populations. In short; we’re entering an era of artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, and data-driven industry, and we’re producing high school graduates who neither care for a degree, nor believe in a degree. Nowadays, a degree on your wall is less of an indicator of education, and more of an indicator of debt.
Which is why our episode today is all about free college. Which states are offering free degrees in STEM fields, which states are sending their graduates to community college, and which states are honoring alternative, unaccredited systems like Study.com, Sophia Learning, or simple work experience.
Links:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/05/23/public-views-on-the-value-of-a-college-degree/
https://www.npr.org/2024/11/22/nx-s1-5202754/free-college-tuition-university-texas-mit-carnegie-mellon
https://nypost.com/2024/11/18/lifestyle/15-states-you-can-move-to-that-offer-free-college-tuitionno-matter-what-you-earn/
https://www.collegehacked.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/well/family/grandparent-grandchild-childfree.html
Numbers make us numb. But how big does a death count have to get before our eyes glaze over? What’s the optimum number of victims to make us care?
After a year of Covid lockdowns the news media hasn’t gotten tired of running pandemic stories. Probably because, according to Deadline, television watching has spiked during peak quarantine months. Yet our ability to feel compassion for one another, and to focus on relief bills, seems to have remained discerning bordering on stagnant. So on this episode of The Re-Engineered You we want to look into Compassion Fatigue. A well-documented phenomenon wherein numbness sets in as the death toll or victim count rises. We explore how many victims it takes before we check out, mentally. How other creatures besides humans feel compassion. And how exactly does compassion for one’s fellow man die - at the personal level, corporate level, and political level.
We’ll also discuss a critical moment in history when a depressed alcoholic butcher of a battle general sat down at the peace table, and did something nobody expected. He showed compassion, in a way that made his opposition want to believe in the possibility of peace, and in a united America.
History Links:
https://www.nps.gov/apco/the-meeting.htm
https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/how-gen-grant-helped-the-south-fight-a-silent-enemy/article_98d1bef8-38e8-11e8-968f-7b3528deba8e.html
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-robert-e-lee-and-ulysses-s-grant
https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/books/info-2017/ron-chernow-interview.html
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Poverty_and_Poor_Relief_During_the_Civil_War
https://www.history.com/news/ulysses-s-grant-president-accomplishments-scandals-15th-amendment
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/denying-the-grave/202011/covid-19-and-compassion-fatigue
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-minds-brains-cannot-make-sense-coronavirus-enormous-death-toll
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-10-mn-9038-story.html
https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=the-truth-about-animal-grief
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201711/why-people-sometimes-care-more-about-dogs-humans
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201401/feeling-deprived-can-lead-some-illogical-behavior
How much free will do we really have? Can we choose not to be angry at the news? To not eat or drink? Can we “choose” how we feel about our boss? Or our spouse?
In this episode we’ll dive into the murky waters of free will—or the lack thereof—through the lens of popular culture, primatology, and psychology. Inspired by the haunting character of Rust Cohle from True Detective, we’ll try to answer whether or not human beings are simply “programmed” by our environments, genetics, and hormones (much like Rust suggests) or whether we have free will in a more biblical sense.
We also discuss the now-famous Sapolsky lectures about free will, and discuss the role of epigenetics, social conditioning, and evolutionary psychology in shaping our “choices.” Along the way, we’ll dissect fascinating studies on willpower and decision-making, from prison release boards deciding inmates' fates based on blood sugar levels, to how holding a warm coffee can influence your opinion of a stranger. Then we delve into how hormones like progesterone may subtly dictate mate preferences—perhaps explaining why some prefer “bad boys” while others go for the artistry David Bowie types.
The episode culminates with the big question: Are we “free agents” in our own lives? Or are we more like tourists in a theme park, picking which roller coaster we want to ride, but ultimately limited to what’s available within the park itself?
Links:
The Stanford Sapolsky Lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNnIGh9g6fA&list=PL848F2368C90DDC3D&ab_channel=Stanford
Other Links:
https://www.vulture.com/2014/02/philosopher-assesses-true-detective-characters-rust-cohle-marty-hart.html
https://news.yale.edu/2008/10/23/hot-coffee-we-see-warm-heart-yale-researchers-find
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/apr/11/judges-lenient-break
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26180187
Is it love we’re feeling, or is it lust? What’s the difference, chemically? More importantly, how long can love really last, and how do we keep it going into old age?
20 years ago a group of hikers in East China discovered a mysterious set of stone steps leading up into the mountains. They followed it, not knowing if they would find the ruins of an ancient civilization or a forgotten temple. Instead, they discovered an elderly couple who ran away from civilization together, and a love story so profound it was given China’s title of “Greatest Love Story of the Year.”
On this episode we’ll cover everything from Marriage Rates in the US to Dating Apps, hormones to evolution, and everything from “I do” to “joint taxes”. All so we can answer the big question: Is love worth it? And if so, how can we tell when we’re in love? We’ll also share a few of our own anecdotes about falling into and out of love - with people, pets, and family. Then we’ll ask Professor Google if it’s statistically better to make our own choices about who we love...or leave it to arranged marriages?
History Links:
https://www.weirdasianews.com/2007/12/15/man-carves-wife-a-6000-stair-path-in-mountain/
http://www.china.org.cn/travel/2012-11/06/content_27019583.htm
http://english.sina.com/china/2012/1104/523029.html
https://www.alamy.com/file-chinese-man-liu-guojiang-and-his-wife-xu-chaoqing-walk-downstairs-along-the-love-ladder-he-built-for-her-on-a-mountain-in-gaotan-village-yuan-image263851509.html
https://www.trip.com/travel-guide/chongqing/ladder-of-love-18231657/
Science Links:
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/young-adults-especially-men-having-sex-less-frequently
https://www.today.com/tmrw/dating-during-coronavirus-how-pandemic-has-affected-dating-t186385
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/love-actually-science-behind-lust-attraction-companionship/#:~:text=Testosterone%20and%20estrogen%20drive%20lust,oxytocin%20and%20vasopressin%20mediate%20attachment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/science/dogs-love-evolution.html
https://medium.com/illumination/is-it-love-9ab82633930e
https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-high-price-of-being-single-in-america/267043/?single_page=true
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-love/201208/arranged-vs-love-based-marriages-in-the-us-how-different-are-they
How do we push ourselves to start hustling? Vision boards? Goals? Motivational videos every morning? Well, we have some stats...
The world of motivational speaking seems to agree: goal-setting is king when it comes to getting your hustle on. But on today’s episode we’ll explore precisely what types of goals produce the best results, and how those goals, vision boards, and bucket lists, should fit into your life realistically. We also discuss a surprising type of habit-setting behavior called Keystone Habits. And we break down the research on why Keystone Habits (broad quality-of-life habits like working out and meditation) work better than goals. And how something as simple as jogging or meditation can start a domino effect of positive behaviors. All according to science.
As our example of someone who really got his hustle on, we’ll talk about the quirky story of William Coltharp - a banker without a bank. Who, in 1916, decided if he couldn’t buy the bank materials he needed locally, he would have the bank shipped to him by parcel post and laboriously assemble the pieces. Brick by brick. Like the world’s most frustrating IKEA purchase.
What does the perfect corporate team look like? Is it all introverts? All Extroverts? Is it a team full of all-stars? Google found the answer...and it’s surprising.
Google has licked a lot of interesting problems within its corporate structure. By turning its vast analytics network (not to mention a lot of capital and resources) onto its human resources problems, Google has found solutions to the optimum time for maternity leave, th perfect number of new hiree interviews, the best employee perks, and whether meddlesome middle managers are actually helpful. You name it - anything within the corporate structure, Google has developed a model for it. Except for one thing: how to build the perfect corporate team.
To discover both the best team composition, and the best structure for a corporate meeting, Google had to dig deep and develop new methods within its People Operations division - AKA Google’s human resources. After all, maybe it does take a rocket scientist to answer the question; do we get straight down to business in the boardroom, or do we engage in pre-meeting small-talk?
During the episode Todd and Joe will also share their own boardroom horror stories. Compare best and worst team-building exercises. And discuss why high-fives and ass-slaps make NBA teams score more points, according to science.
When is the prime of our life? Is it when we’re our healthiest? Our strongest? Our best-looking? Is it when we’re financially secure?
The Bee Gees showed up late to the disco scene, but they made it their own - practically branding themselves onto disco by staying #1 on Billboard for four weeks straight. That should have proven to the world that the Bee Gees were geniuses who were just hitting their prime. Instead, it convinced all of America to rise up and reject disco, chasing the Bee Gees back to Britain with T-Shirts that said “Shoot the Bee Gees”
Today on the Re-Engineered You, we want to be able to recognize when our prime is. So we don’t end up like the Bee Gees - lost and confused after the ship has gone down under our feet. So we’re looking at statistics to tell us when all of our various primes might hit us in our life. When is our health prime? Our sports prime? When will we hit the prime of our career? Our finances? Or what about our creative prime? When should we expect to put out our magnum opus symphony, or our award-winning novel.
History:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rattlesnakes_(1955_band)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAJfOcnYYEQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97lgR41qZC8
https://www.ft.com/content/f9a09975-03b1-44c2-9673-b772ecf6ff4f
https://nypost.com/2017/09/23/how-the-bee-gees-went-from-no-1-to-national-pariahs/
https://www.startribune.com/bee-gees-fever-barry-gibb-explains-why-he-s-gone-country-but-won-t-watch-the-acclaimed-documentary/600008366/
Science:
https://time.com/63500/brain-aging-at-24/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094215
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2016/fitness-aging-physical-decline-cs.html#:~:text=New%20study%20says%20decline%20begins%20in%20our%2050s&text=By%20the%20time%20you%20reach,according%20to%20a%20new%20study.
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/10/23/majority-of-americans-say-parents-are-doing-too-much-for-their-young-adult-children/#:~:text=A%20new%20Pew%20Research%20Center%20analysis%20of%20Census%20Bureau%20data,largely%20stable%20in%20recent%20decades.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2019/04/18/how-young-adults-feel-about-financial-independence-from-their-parents/?sh=17ebb65862b0
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/23/when-you-will-most-likely-hit-your-creative-peak-according-to-science/
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.160
Food companies, advertising, and the medical system are conspiring to make you fat. So is taking Ozempic cheating? Or is it merely evening the odds?
For decades the show South Park has preached personal responsibility in all matters, and shamed and mocked the characters who reject that responsibility - so much so that the creators have been accused of hiding libertarian messages in their art. However, perhaps for the first time, South Park ended a recent culture episode with a more Jesus take the wheel kind of attitude. During their episode about Ozempic, The End of Obesity, show creators demonstrate that between food cartels selling us addictive food, and a crooked medical system trying to keep us unhealthy, the only way to win the game might be to cheat. Which brings us to our question for today…is taking Ozempic a moral failing? A vanity? A miracle cure that can free us of our dependence on addictive foods?
In this conversation, Joe and Todd also talk about their personal experiences with Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight loss drugs. We discuss how it’s being sold to the public (whether they need it or not), who Ozempic was originally intended for, and who should be shamed for injecting themselves for purposes of vanity, rather than health. We’ll also discuss why state medical coverage of Ozempic is being revoked for low-income Americans, creating a system where unhealthy patients who need the drug to improve their health are being cut off, whereas wealthy patients who want it to cut a few pounds for swimsuit season are “prescription shopping” and going out of pocket.
Or, as the creators of South Park put it; wealthy people get Ozempic, poor people get Body Positivity.
Links:
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-174491/ozempic-subcutaneous/details
https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/Cd3Fse6Xve3v7e69nMKZmNchXwEHGvll/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park:_The_End_of_Obesity
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/16/ozempic-weight-loss-drugs-medicaid-coverage-glp-1
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/-weight-loss-drugs-wegovy-zepbound-out-of-reach-rcna142763
We talk a lot about mega-success stories like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, but what about winners who measure success without using money as their yardstick?
There are a few fundamental rules to being a success in America. You should make more money than your father did. You simply must set goals to be a success. And you should end your career at an upward arc. But what if, statistically, very few of us are likely to do these things? How then are we to assess our successes, our happiness, if we never make more money than our parents? Or, if envisioning our goals can be counter-productive, how do we track our aspirations?
Today we’ll talk about how goal-setting and goal-visualizing can actually hamstring our desires. And we’ll explore the career trajectory of music icon Dan Fogelberg, whose mark on America was a bit more subtle than our usual episode subjects. However, we would be hard pressed to find a better model for someone who found their own measure of success in life, or who lived up to it so spectacularly, than Dan Fogelberg.
History Links:
https://www.danfogelberg.com/paul-zollo
https://variety.com/2007/music/markets-festivals/singer-dan-fogelberg-dies-at-56-1117977824/
https://fromthehistoryroom.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/leader-of-the-band-lawrence-fogelberg/
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/06/arts/dan-fogelberg-s-time-has-arrived.html
Science Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2018/08/07/youll-probably-make-less-than-your-parents/?sh=47a6df5e4b1e
https://medium.com/@chadbockius/life-lessons-on-goals-9cdbc76f1d27#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20Harvard%20study,bother%20to%20write%20them%20down.&text=If%20I%20bother%20to%20set,more%20successful%20than%20those%20without.
https://hbr.org/2015/02/increase-the-odds-of-achieving-your-goals-by-setting-them-with-your-spouse
https://buffer.com/resources/how-our-brains-stop-us-achieving-our-goals-and-how-to-fight-back/
https://time.com/5373095/self-esteem-highest-study/
https://www.businessinsider.com/winning-powerball-lottery-happiness-2017-8#:~:text=A%20classic%201978%20study%20on,a%202.96%20out%20of%205.
Most genres are drifting away from their storytelling roots. So who do we blame for convincing our artists to make poppy, empty-calorie music?
The top-rated hits on Spotify aren’t new artists or breakout albums anymore. In fact, less than 5% of Spotofy’s Top 200 are new music. Instead, the Top 200 are mostly old bands, like The Police and Creedence Clearwater Revival. This isn’t a case of all new artists sucking, either. It’s a flaw in the pay structure for online musicians. The current pay scale goes something like this; established names get the biggest piece of the streaming pie, and new creators making radio-worthy music get to live off Top Ramen and Kool Aid packets.
Today’s episode is Part 2 in our series about the death of storytelling and writing in rap, as well as other musical genres. In the last episode we talked about “punching in” and the technology that led most rappers to stop writing altogether, choosing to freestyle their lyrics over tedious note-taking. Today we’ll talk about why Dua Lipa is using this same method, and how generic-sounding knockoff artists use punching in to produce twenty cash-grab songs in the time it takes Dua Lipa to produce one mega-hit.
Finally, we’ll talk about the CEO of Spotify, and why his pay structure in particular has encouraged this model of quantity over quality. We’ll also talk about his response to countries like France, who are changing laws to guarantee equitable artist pay. Spoiler: the CEO who’s worth $5 Billion because he under-paid new artists…isn’t a fan of equitable payment structures. His response to starving artists who are quitting the industry early? Work harder, dummies.
Links:
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-100-biggest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time__18789/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSgl95BEmd0&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoBCZYQBWdQ&ab_channel=VanityFair
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/
https://www.statsignificant.com/p/when-do-we-stop-finding-new-music
https://songexploder.net/dua-lipa https://www.newsweek.com/hip-hop-decline-music-billboard-1896490
https://www.theregreview.org/2024/05/30/stern-the-inequalities-of-digital-music-streaming/
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/02/08/should-streaming-services-change-how-artists-are-paid/
Is there any way to prove, with data, that rap is straying from its storytelling roots? What about Country music? Or Rock? Are all music genres leaving storytelling behind?
In 2018 Kendrick Lamar became the first rapper in history to win a Pulitzer prize for writing, putting him on the same level as novelists like Harper Lee and Cormac McCarthy. His album DAMN was poetry and metaphor in motion, set to music. But even after proving how crucial storytelling is to rap, more rappers than ever are using a freestyling technique called “punching in” which is showing up to the studio and making up lyrics off the top of their heads.
Today’s question is: if the Kendrick method of storytelling results in Pulitzer-level lyrics, and punching in results in meaningless phrases strung together in loose themes…then why is punching in winning the rap game? And why are more and more rappers abandoning pen and paper altogether?
In this episode we’ll talk about the seismic shift occurring in music. A shift which started in rap, but quickly carried over into all musical genres. If you’ve ever suspected that new music is worse than the stuff you used to hear on the radio…you may be right. And it has less to do with getting older and hating on younger music, and a lot more to do with how we pay musicians and artists, and what kind of art we incentivise with our clicks.
Links:
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-100-biggest-hip-hop-songs-of-all-time__18789/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSgl95BEmd0&ab_channel=TheNewYorkTimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoBCZYQBWdQ&ab_channel=VanityFair
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/
https://www.statsignificant.com/p/when-do-we-stop-finding-new-music
https://songexploder.net/dua-lipa https://www.newsweek.com/hip-hop-decline-music-billboard-1896490
https://www.theregreview.org/2024/05/30/stern-the-inequalities-of-digital-music-streaming/
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/02/08/should-streaming-services-change-how-artists-are-paid/
https://hypebeast.com/2020/7/spotify-ceo-tells-musicians-to-work-harder-record-more-stop-complaining
Jim Rohn famously said “We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” - So how do we find the highest caliber people to fill those spots in our entourage?
Sports heroes have them. Movie stars travel with them. And rappers use them as accessories like handbags or purses. Entourages are more than a symbol of fame, or a group of friends to to hit the clubs with. In a practical business sense, entourages are your mentors, your personal evaluators, your advisors, and your private think-tank. A good entourage will go out to dinner with you, listen to your business startup plan, and help shore up the weak spots. On today’s episode we want to clarify the role of an entourage in a practical day-to-day sense, and we want to talk about how to find good entourage members without having to shell out big bucks. We’ll even look into the science of how good teams work together. Why the structure of how friends interact with each other looks like a chemical compound. And how you can become the information broker of multiple entourages.
We’ll also look at the exploits of the ultimate entourage: Captain Eugene Fluckey and the crew of The Barb. A submarine in WWII that broke all the records (and the rules) about sub warfare, thanks to her captain and officers. Not only did The Barb smash records, re-write the book on submarine operation, and earn the interest of Franklin Delano Roosevelt...it was also the only submarine to ever torpedo a freight train. A little trick that wouldn’t have been possible, if Captain Fluckey hadn’t recruited the brightest, most talented, craziest officers to his side.
History Links:
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2011/march/sailor-who-torpedoed-train
https://www.historynet.com/hell-and-high-water-the-uss-barb.htm
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/893889.Thunder_Below_
https://books.google.com/books?id=to2aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT29&lpg=PT29&dq=Kitojima+Sanji&source=bl&ots=Ohj64oYBIr&sig=ACfU3U0LHE6J6iEVECu4nmGlr0HcF9P4qw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk7JuPj-ntAhVNjp4KHdEoBPIQ6AEwBHoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=Kito&f=false
Science Links:
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/study-if-you-want-to-succeed-dont-work-with-your-friends/258626/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2013/06/26/friends-in-business-together-4-success-stories/?sh=582eaf052a92
https://www.fastcompany.com/3023424/why-successful-people-have-so-many-groups-of-friends
Everyone tells themselves a story about how they got to be where they are. So what do successful people “mythologize” about themselves, and why don’t we?
Some self-mythologies are clearly delusional. When Jeff Bezos tried to rebrand himself as a space-faring test pilot during his Blue Origin phase, or when Mark Zuckerberg declared he would only eat meat he personally hunted and slaughtered, becoming a more primal male (a resolution he has since relaxed) the attempts to re-brand themselves came off as disingenuous. This is similar to when Michael Jordan told the world he had always been “the underdog” in his youth, when in reality his coaches and mentors attested to the opposite; that the up-and-coming basketball phenom had received a privileged amount of attention and extra coaching.
In short, we all make up mythologies about ourselves in our own mind: where we came from, what we had to overcome, what we’re all about at our core. So why does it seem so many rich and famous people end up with such delusional mythologies about themselves? Would we be better off, or at least wealthier, if we made up grandiose self-mythologies?
In this episode we’ll weigh some of the pros and cons of re-imagining our own stories to make ourselves heroic. We’ll talk about societal heroes like nurses, soldiers, and police, who actually deserve their heroic myth, and compare their self-stories to the realities of the job. We’ll talk about celebrities who have taken self-mythologizing from profitable to self-delusional. And we’ll compare the self-mythologies of Al Capone, a gangster who believed he was a good man with a bad temper, to his eldest brother, who was of all things a boy scout and award-winning law enforcement agent.
Whose self-mythology is the most profitable? The person who tells themselves a story and everyone else agrees? Or the person who lies to themselves, and it makes them rich and famous?
Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Gun-Hart-Long-Lost-Brother/dp/1506124631
https://todayinhistory.blog/2022/05/19/march-28-1892-two-gun-hart-prohibition-cowboy-2/
https://www.historynet.com/two-gun-hart-the-prohibition-cowboy/
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a32439185/al-capone-dementia-syphilis-treasure-true-story/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smarts/200901/on-the-value-of-mythologizing-yourself
Guilt, fear, and social obligation...these are the tools of the manipulator. So how do we spot skilled manipulators, and where do they hone their skills in the first place?
Manipulation comes in different flavors, and different sizes. The child who threatens a screaming fit in a crowded store if they don’t get a toy, is a manipulator. But so is the tyrant who demands love from the people, while simultaneously shutting down the news media. On today’s episode we’re going to define true manipulation - that is, getting something out of you without directly asking for it. And we’re going to explore the styles of manipulation, how to spot them, and how to beat the manipulators at their own game. Then we’ll ask the question: Is lying a manipulation? Is gossip? And is there anything inherently negative in spreading gossip or lies?
For our historical example we’ll look at one of history’s most prolific and successful manipulators, Napoleon Bonaparte. Whose greatest manipulation had nothing to do with his height (which was perfectly normal for his era!) Instead we’ll focus on the most clever manipulations ever devised by a benevolent tyrant. Like how Napoleon literally painted himself to be the hero of several of his early battles. How Napoleon attacked and eventually shut down the majority of printing presses in Paris. And how he won the hearts and minds of the people by flooding their homes with art and pamphlets of himself. Truly historic levels of manipulation.
Can you change your genetics through diet and discipline? What about your stress level? Your IQ? Your earning potential?
In this episode we continue our talk about the field epigenetics, and attempt to bust the top three claims being made by epigenetic researchers. Health, wealth, and longevity are supposedly malleable and changeable, to a degree, thanks to practices that reverse DNA methylation (aging). But how firm is the science of changing our bodies and minds? Are there any proven cases of people living longer, thanks to adopting a DNA-friendly diet? Or is this another case of self-help brands disguising themselves as cutting edge data?
First we discuss conscientiousness - the Big Five trait that’s been proven to make more money - and we look at the Universities claiming to have isolated the genes linked to conscientious attitudes and behaviors. Then we’ll move on to metabolic health, immune function, and longevity, aka the plumbing inside the Fountain of Youth. We’ll talk about the very real, very early studies that have been proven to extend human life by several years. Through which we’ll introduce Steve Horvath, the doctor leading the Genetic Clock Project, and we’ll explain why he can tell your age, and life expectancy, with just a drop of your blood.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuQKXux8UlE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15220929/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/analysis-how-poverty-can-drive-down-intelligence
https://www.sciencealert.com/epigenetic-changes-striatum-dopamine-receptors-affect-general-intelligence
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/conscientiousness
https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-tricks-longevity-expert-reduced-longevity-2023-10
Epigenetics is a newborn field of science which claims we can change our genome…sort of. So how much can we actually alter?
Epigenetics as a field emerged from a collection of now-disproven frog studies, some musty church records in starving Swedish towns, and laboratories that conducted cruel studies on mice and their pups. However, by carving away the earliest claims about the potential boons of epigenetics, scientists have finally managed to unveil the seeds of truth about methylation - that is, the “rust” that accumulates on our DNA as we age - and what they’ve discovered is astonishing.
In Part One of our epigenetic series, Todd and Joe will talk about the Överkalix starvation records, and explain how hungry Swedish grandparents accidentally bred a generation of children who were virtually immune to heart disease. Then we’ll begin a conga-line of debunking all the factors that we can, and what we can’t change as humans, in our own genetic code. Trauma, nature vs nurture, stress responses, and IQ levels are the first facts we’re going to tackle. We’ll discuss the rodent studies that proved that nurturing mothers can produce normal children, even if those children are genetically “bad seeds.” We’ll also talk about why garbage food and stress hormones can age your genes faster than what’s natural. And we’ll explain why brilliant Einstein-level smart genes can’t replace a good learning environment, and how the American system is failing young geniuses by cutting away support systems and creating high-pressure, high-stress environments.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuQKXux8UlE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15220929/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/analysis-how-poverty-can-drive-down-intelligence
https://www.sciencealert.com/epigenetic-changes-striatum-dopamine-receptors-affect-general-intelligence
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/conscientiousness
https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-tricks-longevity-expert-reduced-longevity-2023-10
Jeff Bezos has stepped down as the CEO of Amazon! But what legacy will he leave behind? Or, more importantly, what precedence has his company set for wages in America?
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, but his empire remains intact. Or, to quote Percy Bysshe Shelly; “Look upon my works ye mighty, and despair!”On today’s episode we take a look at the $15-an-hour model that’s allowed Bezo’s empire to conquer the shopping world, and we’ll compare Amazon’s warehouses to other big-name businesses that have gone to court over wage theft and shady labor practices in the last few years. We’ll also discuss minimum wage in general, why the president is pushing for $15 a federal minimum wage, and how $15-an-hour (or less) became a business standard for half of America’s workforce. We’ll ask the all-important question: how did business in America get here, and how do we convince corporations to raise their pay?
Special Note: As of this January, Elon Musk is technically the richest man in the world, surpassing Jeff Bezos. But for the sake of argument we’ll be using Bezos and Amazon as our model for modern Pharaohs.
History Links:
https://logicmag.io/bodies/surviving-amazon/
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/supreme-court-case-shows-how-amazon-legally-cheats-workers/
https://www.cnet.com/features/amazon-fired-these-7-pregnant-workers-then-came-the-lawsuits/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/24/thousands-amazon-workers-receive-food-stamps-now-bernie-sanders-wants-amazon-pay-up/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/minimum-wage-workers-cannot-afford-2-bedroom-rental-anywhere-in-the-us.html#:~:text=But%20a%20new%20report%20finds,30%25%20of%20a%20renter's%20budget.
https://prospect.org/power/wage-theft-real-national-emergency/
Science Links:
https://www.epi.org/publication/employers-steal-billions-from-workers-paychecks-each-year/
https://www.publicjustice.net/a-victory-against-wage-theft-and-for-class-actions-in-braun-v-walmart/
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/71-flsa-internships
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-27/ab5-independent-contractors-how-businesses-are-responding
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/uk-supreme-court-rul
Jeff Bezos has stepped down as the CEO of Amazon! But what legacy will he leave behind? Or, more importantly, what precedence has his company set for wages in America?
Jeff Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s CEO, but his empire remains intact. Or, to quote Percy Bysshe Shelly; “Look upon my works ye mighty, and despair!”On today’s episode we take a look at the $15-an-hour model that’s allowed Bezo’s empire to conquer the shopping world, and we’ll compare Amazon’s warehouses to other big-name businesses that have gone to court over wage theft and shady labor practices in the last few years. We’ll also discuss minimum wage in general, why the president is pushing for $15 a federal minimum wage, and how $15-an-hour (or less) became a business standard for half of America’s workforce. We’ll ask the all-important question: how did business in America get here, and how do we convince corporations to raise their pay?
Special Note: As of this January, Elon Musk is technically the richest man in the world, surpassing Jeff Bezos. But for the sake of argument we’ll be using Bezos and Amazon as our model for modern Pharaohs.
History Links:
https://logicmag.io/bodies/surviving-amazon/
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/supreme-court-case-shows-how-amazon-legally-cheats-workers/
https://www.cnet.com/features/amazon-fired-these-7-pregnant-workers-then-came-the-lawsuits/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/24/thousands-amazon-workers-receive-food-stamps-now-bernie-sanders-wants-amazon-pay-up/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/26/minimum-wage-workers-cannot-afford-2-bedroom-rental-anywhere-in-the-us.html#:~:text=But%20a%20new%20report%20finds,30%25%20of%20a%20renter's%20budget.
https://prospect.org/power/wage-theft-real-national-emergency/
Science Links:
https://www.epi.org/publication/employers-steal-billions-from-workers-paychecks-each-year/
https://www.publicjustice.net/a-victory-against-wage-theft-and-for-class-actions-in-braun-v-walmart/
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/71-flsa-internships
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-27/ab5-independent-contractors-how-businesses-are-responding
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/uk-supreme-court-rul
Blue Zone communities eat vegan, practice faith, and attend garden parties, and it keeps them youthful into their nineties. But…what if Blue Zones were a lie?
For the last two decades Blue Zones have been hailed as medical paradises. These are pocket communities where faithful vegans can expect to see their hundredth birthday, and drinking wine every day keeps them young and spry. For twenty years these Blue Zone books and Blue Zone lifestyles have been touted on Ted Talks, Oprah, Netflix, and magazines. Except, what if the data behind the original Blue Zone studies were cherry-picked to promote one man’s self-help tour? What if Blue Zone living was the original grift health brand, and nobody bothered digging deeper?
On this episode, Todd and Joe talk about the author of the Blue Zones studies, Dan Buettner, and how his career as a celebrity fundraiser and lifestyle promoter may have influenced his choice to publish Blue Zones scientific paper. We’ll also review the work of other demographers, census takers, and scientists, who have attempted throughout the years to highlight the flaws in Buettner's work (and why many of his findings haven’t been replicated). Then we’ll take a look at actual lifespan scientists, whose work has been replicated successfully. This includes Steven Horvath, inventor of the Grim Age Prediction Model, which can take a sample of your blood and tell you how old you are and approximately how long you have left. We’ll also report on the diet and exercise routine that has been proven, in multiple laboratories and across various continents, to extend human lifespan, based on tracking human DNA methylation. AKA: science might have cracked the true secret to long life, and it has less to do with veganism or faith than you might think.
Original Blue Zones Publications:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff40YiMmVkU&ab_channel=TED-Ed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66MMnJ7wYs&ab_channel=TruthIsLife7
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6125071/
Science Links:
https://slate.com/technology/2023/11/centenarian-blue-zone-health-long-life-netflix.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuQKXux8UlE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-tricks-longevity-expert-reduced-longevity-2023-10
Todd and Joe have both stumbled through publishing in very different ways. Today they share horror stories about writing, and talk about the current state of publishing.
Publishing is, to put it nicely, a minefield. Older generations remember when being a published author meant you were successful and financially secure. Younger generations will know that self-publishing is a way to put your name on a book...which will get ignored in the Amazon bookstore, lost among the literal millions of self-published titles that come out each year.
On this episode of The Re-Engineered You we walk you through the process of writing your first book - and how to guarantee that it has personal meaning to you. We’ll also talk about what not to do when you’re ready to get published. And we’ll draw on national publishing statistics, quotes from professional publishers, scam stories from experts, and cringy anecdotes from Joe and Todd’s own experiences in writing and publishing. Spoiler: we went down very different publishing roads, yet we both found all the mines we could possibly step on.
History Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/848294-by-the-time-i-was-fourteen-the-nail-in-my
Resources:
https://ideas.bkconnection.com/10-awful-truths-about-publishing?redirected=true
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/10-point-guide-to-dodging-publishing-pitfalls/2011808.article
https://www.wiseinkblog.com/self-publishing-2/8-signs-your-publisher-is-a-scam/
https://www.markinblog.com/book-sales-statistics/
https://bookadreport.com/book-market-overview-authors-statistics-facts/
Conservatives are claiming he was a liberal operative. Liberals are claiming he was a registered republican who got fed up. Here’s what both sides are glossing over…
This weekend a young man named Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate presidential candidate Donald Trump at a political rally. And while both parties are trying to find ways to blame the other side, nobody seems to be talking about the simple demographics of modern shooters. That is, Thomas Matthew Crooks fits the exact profile of every other 20-something mass shooter we’ve already seen this year. Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t a political issue, so much as an issue of youth despair and lack of hope.
In this episode we explore the motivations and characteristics of political shooters, present and throughout history, and we examine the similarities between Crooks and other would-be American assassins. We also talk about non-political factors like mental health issues, isolation, and a desire for recognition. Then we address the elephant in the room: the tendency for mainstream media to immediately assign blame to the opposing political side.
Links:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gw58wv4e9o
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/07/14/trump-assassination-lincoln-kennedy/
https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/public-mass-shootings-database-amasses-details-half-century-us-mass-shootings
https://rockinst.org/gun-violence/mass-shooting-factsheet/
We’re all built to tune our social antenna whenever we enter a new tribe, but what makes some people so darn good at it?
Today’s discussion is all about Social Calibration, the secret “sorting hat” of society. Calibration is something we all do subconsciously from birth, so unless someone is incredible at it we’re generally not impressed by it. However, we’ll outline the benefits of social calibration, such as building better relationships, gaining more opportunities, and being able to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds. We’ll also talk about why calibration is such an overlooked skill, and how it invisibly sorts us all into higher or lower earring careers, higher or lower social stratas, or different education systems.
We’ll also talk about the inspiration for the character John Blackthorn from Shogun, whose real name was William Adams. We’ll discuss how Adams lost a brother who wasn’t able to “calibrate” during his dealings with foreigners, and paid with his life. Then we’ll compare Adams/Blackthorn to the Portuguese missionaries who arrived in Japan years before him, and take a closer look at why Adams’ method of calibration won him serious riches and titles. Then we’ll spoil the next two seasons of Shogun (which have not yet been written by the studio) but will ostensibly follow the real-life successes of William Adams as he integrates himself deeper into Japanese culture.
History Links:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Adams
https://www.williamadams.fr/the-life-of-william-adams/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssyXe9SuZcA&ab_channel=HistoryLeaks
Science Links:
https://www.psychology-lexicon.com/cms/glossary/36-glossary-c/22804-calibration.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886921008618
Precisely identifying our emotions can save our sanity and lessen heartbreak. So why, as adults, do we limit our emotional vocabulary to ‘fine’ or ‘meh’?
In past episodes The Re-Engineered You has talked about several different studies covering emotional granularity. During our Rejection episode, we covered how emotional granularity (identifying the micro emotions one feels during rejection) can lessen the heartache of rejection. In our Meanness episode we talked about a study wherein the US Military teamed up with researcher at University of Pennsylvania - to utilize emotional granularity to build up the mental toughness of soldiers. And in our Loneliness episode we came across articles about how identifying the exact social needs you are lacking, will allow you to target those needs to get them fulfilled in a healthy way.
So today, we’re bringing all our separate research points home. We’re discussing emotional granularity, everything we’ve learned behind the scenes about using the language of self-awareness. And we’ll be discussing a story about a man who grew up without a language of any kind. Specifically, the moment he realized everything in the world has a name, and that naming a thing gives you power over it. Just like emotions.
History Links:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91725-words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Man_Without_Words
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/the-science-of-smart-how-to-build-mental-toughness/
Science Links:
https://www.inc.com/mareo-mccracken/the-best-way-to-deal-with-rejection-according-to-science.html
https://www.affective-science.org/pubs/2015/kashdan-et-all-unpacking-emotion-differentiation-2015.pdf?version=meter+at+7&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/23/seven-ways-overcome-loneliness-mental-health
Is there really a “male epidemic” going on? And why has treating young men as a societal nuisance backfired so spectacularly?
Why are young men so annoying? So volatile? So full of puppy-like energy? And how has the government’s policy of defunding the younger generations, according to Professor Scott Galloway, led to mass suicide and mass toxicity in younger men? Today we explore how and why young men have been stripped of hope for the future, as an age cohort, and what we can do to get it back.
First we introduce the challenges being faced by young men which include a lack of opportunities, an era of economic struggle, and the loss of higher education among middle and lower classes. Then we’ll cover the high rates of suicide and depression among young men, and the disturbing lack of guidance from older males who consider them a nuisance. We’ll also talk about the terrible toxic role models who have offered themselves for teens to model themselves after, and the truly poisonous advice that Youtube and Google algorithms prioritize to curious teenagers online.
Finally, we’ll get to the root causes of long-term male hopelessness, like financial instability, loneliness, and loss of identity. If the cornerstone of building a positive masculine identity is job stability, family, and home ownership, then as voters we couldn’t have designed a better system for depriving young men of hope for the future.
Links:
Suicide rates in teens.
https://www.upworthy.com/the-suicide-rate-for-kids-ages-10-14-nearly-tripled-in-the-past-decade-why-and-what-can-we-do
Boys and men commit suicide at a rate of 3-to-1 in civilized countries.
https://www.wcpp.org.uk/commentary/male-suicide-a-silent-epidemic/
Colleges losing male applicants and graduates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/26/women-colleges-gender-imbalance/
Opinion: Scott Galloway, Prof. NY Stern: Why young, lonely, broke men are a danger to society.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/19/opinions/masculinity-toxic-men-boys-education-galloway/index.html
Opinion: Jimmy Carr (comedian) podcast interview about young men’s lack of opportunities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHLAazKUU68
Suicide and Crisis Hotline:
https://988lifeline.org/how-we-can-all-prevent-suicide/
There’s a fine line between bragging and self-promoting. So how do we find that line? And how do we put it on our job resume’?
Evel Knievel literally had one trick. He jumped over stuff with a motorcycle. So how did he enjoy such a storied, successful career, traveling all around the world on his one trick? How did he get so many opportunities, and so much attention? With masterful self-promotion, that’s how! So we’ll take a cue (or several) from the best self-promoter since P.T. Barnum. Which, arguably, Evel might have been better at, since Barnum at least had a revolving cast of attractions, and Evel just had a motorcycle.
On this episode of The Re-Engineered You, we talk about self-promotion. Specifically, what makes someone a good self-promoter rather than an annoying bragger. We’ll talk about the psychology of bragging, whether it works or just annoys people, and how we can do it right. We’ll also discuss Imposter Syndrome - feeling that you haven’t actually earned your good fortune - and how to overcome it so you can start promoting yourself. Finally, we’ll broach the all-important question about Self-Promotion: Is it really okay to lie on your resume? But...what if everyone else is lying on their resume, too?
Science Links:
https://www.livescience.com/50848-bragging-annoys-people.html#:~:text=People%20who%20brag%20may%20think,in%20the%20journal%20Psychological%20Science.
https://time.com/5312483/how-to-deal-with-impostor-syndrome/
https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2015/04/your-self-promotion-balancing-act
History Links:
http://evelknievel.com/the-man/
https://www.history.com/news/evel-knievel-motorcycle-jump
https://www.history.com/news/most-daring-stunts-after-evel-knievel
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-32837795
http://evelknievel.com/the-man/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Evel_Knievel_career_jumps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAwydEEuWh0
https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/how-many-bones-did-evel-knievel-break/article_7329bfac-df64-52f1-b0e9-9fb69b00de4d.html#:~:text=He%20crashed%20more%20than%2020,broken%2040%20to%2050%20bones
Knowing what’s within our power to change is the cornerstone of stoicism. So how much can we change in the face of relentless corporate lobbying?
In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman explains how “nudging” works in making healthier choices. In short, if you give people options, but make the default option the healthier choice which has to be rejected in order to make a bad one, then almost nobody makes poor choices. This was a revolutionary, utopian way of looking at how we could all improve our lives, and the world. If you want children to eat healthier in schools, make fruits and vegetables the default. If you want people to take responsibility for their healthcare, make healthier choices the default. Same with student loans, housing, and adult food. Simple, right?
Well, not so simple. Especially when lobbyists, advertisers, and politicians read those same studies, then spend vast fortunes to make the addictive, unhealthy, irresponsible choices the default.
How do we, as Americans, reclaim our personal responsibility? How do we reject the terrible defaults addictive food companies have put in front of our kids? How do we say “no” to a medical system designed to over-bill us by default? How do we walk away from a system that puts us all in debt or makes us fat, when the news media blames us for not taking personal responsibility?
History Links:
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/firsthand-accounts-great-depression
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/10/lunchables-lead-consumer-reports-school-cafeteria/
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1243939166/lunchables-consumer-reports-school-lunch
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1198909604
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1653/commercialization-and-discontent-on-the-american-farm-the-farmers-movements-of-the-late-19th-and-early-20th-centuries
Science Links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3695078/
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-major
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017337/
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/07/state-lawmakers-america-medical-debt-00114330
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/2008-financial-crisis-3305679
A strong sense of responsibility makes for strong character. But how much is too much? When do we stop taking responsibility for predatory laws and businesses?
During the Great Depression, average Americans blamed themselves for the financial struggles, believing they were at fault for their own misfortune. Even while banks were gambling with their money, companies were throwing away food and clothes, and farms were collapsing, pastors and politicians still told the people they were at fault for not taking personal responsibility. Obviously we understand the system itself was flawed, with weak regulation over Wall Street, poor responses by the Federal Reserve, and a lack of support from President Herbert Hoover. There’s no way we’d fall for the old Hoover rallying cry of “The people will fix our system, not the system itself!” …right?
Today we’ll look at how modern marketing and lobbyist campaigns have continued to tout “personal responsibility” as they create more and more unbalanced systems designed to put Americans into debt. We’ll look at the food companies that are shouting “Personal Responsibility!” as they put garbage into elementary schools, and which piece of “nudge psychology” has been hijacked to send us all into consumerism overdrive.
Knowing where to take personal responsibility, and which factors are actually within our control, is both the cornerstone of stoicism and a necessity to maintain strong internal locus of control. In this conversation, we discuss the line between actual personal responsibility, and the false concept of personal responsibility that gets used as a scapegoat for bad mortgages, bad medical debt, and bad policies overall.
History Links:
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/firsthand-accounts-great-depression
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/10/lunchables-lead-consumer-reports-school-cafeteria/
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/10/1243939166/lunchables-consumer-reports-school-lunch
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1198909604
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1653/commercialization-and-discontent-on-the-american-farm-the-farmers-movements-of-the-late-19th-and-early-20th-centuries
Science Links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017337/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3695078/
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-major
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10017337/
When is a relationship unsalvageable? When is it too toxic to survive? And how do you pull a dysfunctional relationship out of a nosedive?
On the first-ever episode of The Re-Engineered You we covered Toxic Relationships. Then, over the course of six months, we got better recording equipment, a better studio, and better at writing. So we’re taking another shot at this topic with a Redux of Toxic Relationships. We’re covering subjects like; How to spot dysfunction in a relationship early enough to avoid it. Where our attraction to dysfunction comes from. And how to salvage a dysfunctional relationship if pulling the ripcord and bailing isn’t an option.
We’ll also talk about our own experiences applying the lessons from the first Toxic Relationships episode. And we’ll look at one of the all-time, hands-down, bat-shittingest relationships we’ve ever read about. The explosive, nuclear-meltdown of a marriage between legendary crooner Frank Sinatra and femme fatale Ava Gardner. Here’s a bonus fact we didn’t have time to cover: Sinatra once fired a pistol into a hotel mattress and threw himself to the floor, so Gardner would rush in, thining Sinatra had shot himself.
History Links:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/10/06/ava-gardner-frank-sinatra-2/#:~:text=Ava%20Gardner%20and%20Frank%20Sinatra%20were%20one%20of%20Hollywood's%20most%20infamous%20couples.&text=Before%20they%20had%20even%20met,star%20in%20her%20own%20right.
https://www.jazziz.com/im-a-fool-to-want-you-the-love-story-of-frank-sinatra-and-ava-gardner/
Science Links:
https://time.com/5274206/toxic-relationship-signs-help/
https://online.king.edu/news/dysfunctional-families/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201302/the-familiarity-principle-attraction
https://time.com/5411624/how-to-tell-if-being-manipulated/
https://brainfodder.org/facial-expression-contempt/
https://www.gottman.com/about/research/faq/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170518104015.htm
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/where-science-meets-the-steps/201602/is-it-true-love-or-low-self-esteem
https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-magic-relationship-ratio-according-science/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-a-biological-basis-for-the-7-year-itch/
We read celebrity tweets, watch celebrity interviews, and listen to celebrity podcasts. They’re our entertainment and our royalty. But should we look to them for our morals? Our politics?
Back in 2009, the world discovered through an interview that Eminem had never heard of internet porn. Barbra Streisand has a multi-shop boutique mall in her basement. Nic Cage bought a dinosaur skull. And Mark Zuckerberg bought up the houses in his neighborhood so he could pick his neighbors. For as much as we trust celebrities for their moral and political opinions (see; all the bad celebrity PSAs that have come out during Covid) they sure seem to be disconnected from the issues the rest of us face. It’s easy to tell everyone to stay safe and practice self-care from a mansion in the Hollywood hills.
So for today’s episode we’re going to try to put aside our own biases, to take a look at celebrities and how the process of wealth insulation and isolation from the public can drive the wedge between the artist and reality. We’ll dive back into our studies on wealth, inequality, and millionaire callusing. We’ll discuss exactly how much free stuff celebrities get each year (spoiler: It’s a lot!) and we’ll watch and laugh as Bill Gates fails, hard, at guessing the prices of common household products in Ellen’s celebrity “Price is Right”.
History:
https://www.insider.com/bill-gates-grocery-prices-ellen-degeneres-video-2018-2#:~:text=The%20billionaire%20admitted%20to%20Ellen,it%20costs%20closer%20to%20%241.
https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-real-estate-lake-tahoe-palo-alto-hawaii-2019-5#mark-zuckerberg-lives-in-a-5000-square-foot-estate-in-palo-alto-california-1
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2015/01/23/johnny-depp-is-on-his-way-to-becoming-the-most-overpaid-actor-in-hollywood/?sh=a8e6e34521ac
https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-trouble-with-johnny-depp-666010/
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/eminem-kamikaze-new-album-tyler-creator-track-gay-slurs-retirement-a8516806.html
https://www.thethings.com/eminem-album-sales/
Not everything has to be a competition...but maybe it should be. When creative people compete, everyone can win, and we’re going to explore how.
Motown didn’t just blossom naturally from the cracks of the Detroit sidewalk, like a dandelion. It took serious creative cultivating and gardening to make it bloom into the hit-making juggernaut Motown became. The man to lead that cultivation was none other than Berry Gordy; the legendary musician producer who fostered an atmosphere of creative competition, which in turn attracted the greatest performers in America to the tiny Detroit studio known as Hitsville. Today we’re looking at how Gordy’s process of creative competition worked. How it transformed the culture. And how sometimes the best way to get incredible results from your people, both in music and in the business world, is to turn everything into a competition. We’ll also be looking at the psychology of competition, and ask ourselves; is it human nature to compete with each other? And if so, is it healthy or productive for us to get competitive about everything? Finally, we’ll share a few stories of our own about competitive natures, and how Todd and Joe first started working together. Spoiler: it involved a friendly competition.
History Links:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6733446/
https://www.businessinsider.com/where-do-nasa-astronauts-come-from-ohio-and-new-york-2019-7
https://www.fastcompany.com/90240826/this-is-how-competition-affects-your-brain-motivation-and-productivity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown_discography
Science Links:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/why-we-compete/403201/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15791143-top-dog
https://www.fastcompany.com/90240826/this-is-how-competition-affects-your-brain-motivation-and-productivity
What’s the most important ingredient for making a good first impression? Is it body language? Is it the value you project? And will someone please tell us what to do with our hands?!
On today’s episode we talk about the science, and the most common misbelief, about making a good first impression. Whether you’re trying to impress your new boss, the in-laws, or an interviewer, we’ve got your back on. First we’ll use psychology to design the worst first-impression possible, so we know what not to do. Then we’ll talk about the most important element of making a good impression. And no; it’s no driving an expensive sportscar. It’s much simpler, and much cheaper, and it involves coming off as a trustworthy member of the tribe.
We’ll also talk about the now-infamous blowout fight between Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles, and why the two men took to fisticuffs in a smokey little projection room. We’ll discuss how these two should have been best buds, on-paper (both writers, both prodigious drinkers, both in love with Spain and bullfighting) but ended up discrediting each other’s careers. In part because of their initial sour meeting.
History Links:
https://www.wellesnet.com/clash-of-the-titans-when-orson-welles-met-ernest-hemingway-to-narrate-the-spanish-earth-may-1937/
https://www.thelocal.fr/20140822/when-hemingway-took-back-the-ritz-bar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvxwf1jxdaM
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/16/what-orson-welles-really-thought-about-ernest-hemingway#:~:text=Orson%20Welles%20once%20described%20his,rivals%20and%20sometimes%20prickly%20antagonists.&text=%E2%80%9CBy%20late%201973%20he%20was,who%20were%20inspired%20by%20Hemingway.
https://www.wellesnet.com/clash-of-the-titans-when-orson-welles-met-ernest-hemingway-to-narrate-the-spanish-earth-may-1937/
We all need to be tough in life. But how far can we take ‘tough’ before we’re just being mean? What about tough CEO’s? When do we get to blame them for bullying?
The business world was rocked last year when the CEO of France Telecom and several of his managers were found guilty of bullying their employees so badly, and so cruelly, that 35 of them committed suicide, directly blaming the company for their deaths. Here in America, we justify the actions of CEOs and managers by saying that they’re being tough to get the best out of their employees. So that’s our episode today; Is it tough, or mean? And how will we know when we cross that line?
We’ll also touch on science and sports psychology to determine how necessary ‘toughness’ is for the human experience. How to make yourself tough, in case you aren’t already. What separates tough from mean (spoiler; it’s all about how you utilize power!) How military training now implements ‘strategic optimism’ to toughen its drill sergeants. And, finally, why it’s so difficult for us to identify our own bullying habits.
History Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/world/europe/france-telecom-trial.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/former-france-telecom-bosses-jailed-over-workplace-bullying
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48948776 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50865211
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_S.A.#Acquisition_of_Orange_and_privatisation
Science Links:
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/are-you-mentally-tough/
https://www.safeathopkins.org/resources/for-managers/tough-boss-or-workplace-bully/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/heidilynnekurter/2020/02/19/women-bullied-at-work-heres-why-your-female-boss-dislikes-you/?sh=2c07d485654b
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/the-science-of-smart-how-to-build-mental-toughness/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/03/16/are-you-a-bully-and-dont-even-know-it/?sh=746dd442222f
Contrary to popular belief, money can buy happiness. But according to science you’re probably shopping in the wrong aisle.
Today we explore the pursuit of happiness and debunk 6 common myths about what makes us truly, long-term happy. Over the past 10 years a multi-billion dollar industry has popped up around selling Americans the ‘happiness dream,’ but how many of those early happiness studies can be trusted? How much was real science, versus wishful thinking bought and paid for by the same industry trying to sell us self-care routines and weekend seminars?
Our first myth concerns money, and how we buy happiness. We’ll talk about the happiness index, the income slope that determines our happiness peak, buying fancy things, and expensive plastic surgeries. (You can try to guess now which of those will actually make you happy). We’ll also talk about the gifts you can give yourself that will actually make you long-term-happy, versus the gifts that fade. Then we’ll delve into five more myths about what’s really keeping your happiness hostage.
Does chasing success make you happy, or does it just keep you in a miserable rat race? What about mastery in your career? Is Mastery just part of the rat race too? Which part of the country should you move to, to be more happy. And why do so many news agencies get it wrong? Why does your family have the worst happiness advice? Should you even try to be happy in the first place, or does embracing negative emotions make you live longer?
Join us on our mission to free the American hostage known as happiness. Then, stick around until the end when we discuss the three biggest indicators of happiness, which have yet to be dethroned even after 30 years of repeated studies.
History:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/real-life/british-girl-gets-free-34dd-18723546
https://www.myfreeimplants.com/meet-the-members
Science:
https://time.com/6296357/happiness-strategies-lack-data/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01651-4
https://time.com/collection/happiness-revival-guide/6240219/things-that-wont-make-you-happy/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7114070/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/money-happiness-study-daniel-kahneman-500000-versus-75000/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_is_body_appreciation_and_how_can_you_cultivate_it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WMpnWJ99DY&ab_channel=TheWeekendUniversity
We can never really know how others see us. But with some awareness and the right tools, we can get pretty darn close. Today’s episode; Self Perception!
To have total self-perception we would literally have to see ourselves, and experience ourselves, through other people’s brains. Unfortunately that’s impossible until we’re living in a Sci-Fi future. In the meantime, Joe and Todd will discuss techniques to become more self-perceptive. We’ll look into studies that have arisen over the years about how people perceive themselves. And we’ll share stories of inept criminals, self-deceiving romantics, and mirrors that can reveal your true self (or at least your un-reversed self…)
We’ll also talk about the bank heist that inspired the Dunning Kruger Effect. A heist involving a very confused, very un-perceptive man, who covered his face in lemon juice and squinted his way through a series of major felonies.
History Links:
http://awesci.com/the-astonishingly-funny-story-of-mr-mcarthur-wheeler/
https://medium.com/@littlebrown/i-wore-the-juice-the-dunning-kruger-effect-f8ac3299eb1
https://www.propublica.org/article/dr-death-christopher-duntsch-a-surgeon-so-bad-it-was-criminal
http://psychwatch.blogspot.com/2007/09/richard-feynman-gets-psychiatric-exam.html
Science Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y50i1bI2uN4
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200505/metaperceptions-how-do-you-see-yourself
https://qz.com/992127/studies-find-high-achievers-underestimate-their-talents-while-underachievers-overestimate-theirs/
https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it
https://hbr.org/2018/10/working-with-people-who-arent-self-aware
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/03/you-dont-know-yourself-as-well-as-you-think-you-do/554612/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-25587-001
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-reversing_mirror
https://repeller.com/true-mirror/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-are-less-beautiful-than-you-think
If the surgeon general can’t decipher his ER bill, what chance do we have? Well, today, we’ll learn to speak “hospitalese” together.
Dr. Jerome Adams, former Surgeon General of the United States, experienced firsthand the challenges of medical billing when he received a shockingly high bill for a simple ER visit. This incident highlighted the lack of transparency and fear patients face when it comes to healthcare costs, which recently sent Dr Adams on the warpath on Twitter. On today’s episode we’ll follow that path, and discuss why medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US, and why 51% of patients are unclear about what they are actually paying for (spoiler: it’s written that way on purpose by the hospital).
A decade ago we used to blame patients for being uninsured, for being irresponsible, or for neglecting to build a rainy day fund. But the lack of regulation in the healthcare industry has allowed these problems to become sweeping and profitable. It’s not longer an accident when they confuse the patient, it’s on purpose. Overall, there is a dire need for transparency, regulation, and support for patients facing exorbitant medical bills. This systemic issue has become so ubiquitous, and has put so many Americans into debt, it’s led to the rise of attorneys who specialize in fighting the healthcare system. So why shouldn’t we borrow some of their tricks?
Price gouging, false billing, overcharges, hospital mergers, private equity, debt collectors, and unexpected fees…today we’ll cover it all, and we’ll give you the tools you need to read, decipher, and fight your medical bill in a step-by-step process. From preparing yourself for a lengthy battle, to getting an itemized bill, to looking up medical codes and costs, it’s easier than you think. And the hospitals definitely don’t want you to know this.
History Links:
https://www.businessinsider.com/former-surgeon-general-medical-bill-shows-broken-healthcare-system-2024-2
https://fortune.com/well/2024/03/01/former-surgeon-general-jerome-adams-5000-medical-bill/
Step-By-Step Guide to Dispute Bills:
https://www.resolvemedicalbills.com/guides/medical-bill-guide
Medical Code Lookup:
https://www.cms.gov/medicare/physician-fee-schedule/search/overview
Healthcare Bluebook:
https://www.healthcarebluebook.com/ui/home
All great artists, creators, composers, and inventors have their obsession. But how far is too far? And how do we channel obsession into rewarding passion?
Obsession, left on its own, makes us do funny things. Maybe we fixate on the dream car we want to buy one day. Maybe we spend hours in the gym trying to sculpt our biceps. Or we obsess over someone we’re attracted to. Heck, maybe we fight bears in home-made junk armor we built from scrap. (Well, some of us…) So today we’re tackling the subject of obsession. We want to identify when it’s healthy, when it’s getting out of hand, and when obsession starts to tip into the realm of lucrative passion. Or, as Todd put it; how to aim your obsession like a pistol.
To give us a yardstick to measure our obsession against, we’ll be talking about Troy Hurtubise. Also known as the scrap-metal Iron Man, and the star of the documentary Project Grizzly. Troy might be the perfect model for creative obsession. After all, Van Gogh was an amazing painter, but I bet he wasn’t confident enough to strap canvases to his body and challenge a bear to a brawl.
History Links:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/evk38w/the-man-who-built-a-suit-to-fight-bears-showed-us-how-we-should-live
https://nationalpost.com/feature/he-was-a-viral-sensation-before-the-internet-cheapened-that-status
https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2018/06/27/death-of-troy-hurtubise-star-of-project-grizzly-means-he-is-not-suffering-anymore.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EdOGdmy0mA
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mr-personality/201107/what-makes-your-obsession-healthy-or-unhealthy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/annapowers/2019/03/31/creativity-and-passion-intimately-linked-according-to-new-research/?sh=9eddba62c34d
https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-motivated-mind-where-our-passion-creativity-comes-from/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creativity-the-art-and-science/201910/creativity-runs-passion
https://www.businessinsider.com/10-ways-to-make-money-from-your-passion-asap-2012-2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2012/05/22/the-real-secret-to-making-money-by-following-your-passion/?sh=33ca02ef1cf8
Napoleon is a hot, incomprehensible mess of a film, but you should still watch it. After learning these important historic facts.
Join us in a dissection of Ridley Scott's Napoleon. We’ll peel back the layers of this cinematic enigma to uncover a grandiose depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte, and pit the actual historic French Emperor against Ridley Scott's vision of a bumbling man-child. We’ll explore the film's ambitious attempt to blend the tumultuous romance between Napoleon and Josephine with the epic scale of the Napoleonic wars, revealing a narrative filled with creative liberties and historical omissions. Which looks more like a dot-to-dot drawing of Napoleon, rather than a full portrait.
We’ll also delve into the specifics of Napoleon's military genius, most notably his abilities as a wizard of artillery. Then we’ll cover the significant battles that shaped his reign, including the important PR coup (which the film conveniently leaves out) and we’ll shed light on the nuanced realities of Napoleonic warfare, contrasting it with the film’s dramatized battles and its portrayal of Josephine as a pivot around which the emperor's wars turned.
Finally, we’ll read interviews with the director and the screenwriter, and tease out answers to Ridley Scott's decision-making process in choosing which elements of Napoleon's life to highlight, and which to throw in the dumpster and willfully forget. Spoiler alert: the writer wanted a love story, the director wanted an epic biopic, the public wanted a war spectacle, and somehow we got all at once, shoved in a blender and left on puree.
Links:
https://www.vulture.com/article/napoleon-ridley-scott-battle-of-austerlitz-behind-the-scenes.html
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/13/ridley-scott-director-profile
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13287846/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/napoleon_2023
If you’re truly nice, then you’re treated like a doormat. And if you’re fake-nice, then it means you want something. So, are there any benefits at all to being nice in this life?
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, podcast listeners! Today we’re covering the subject of Niceness, both the evolutionary background, and the real-world benefits. We’ll look at how being nice, or niceness in general, became the standard operating procedure for humans (which it still very much us, despite the outrage you see on the nightly news.) We’ll talk about the science of niceness as it relates to dateability. IE; does being nice make you more attractive, or less attractive? And we’ll also look into finances and family; do nice people bank more Benjamins throughout their lifetime than jerks and cynics?
To serve as our example of what a ‘Nice Guy’ really looks like, since the internet seems to have tained that word, we’ll use the ultimate Nice Guy as our role model; Mr Rogers. We’ll read stories about how insanely, incurably nice Fred Rogers was, both on-screen and off-screen. And we’ll finally answer the question; what made Mr Rogers really mad, and what did he do about it?
History Links:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030413175940/
http://esquire.com/features/articles/2003/030227_mfe_rogershero_8.html
https://www.cracked.com/blog/5-moments-that-prove-mr.-rogers-was-greatest-american/
Science Links:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/missing-link-found-for-how-modern-humans-evolved-friendly-faces/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/conscientiousness
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meet-catch-and-keep/201405/do-nice-guys-really-finish-last
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/do_kind_people_make_more_money
How do you know when you’ve reached the peak? The peak of your career? The peak of mastery? The peak of your relationship…?
In this episode we take a look at the fascinating world of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club of the 90s: a brutal bootcamp of childhood talent that began by weeding out 10,000 tiny performers, and ended with the transformation of 20 teens into future pop stars through inhuman training. Grueling schedules, rapid-track schoolwork, acting lessons, dance choreography, and public speaking, all to mold children who wouldn’t crack under the pressure of constant public scrutiny. It’s no wonder the 90’s Mickey Mouse Club produced half a dozen mega-stars in the world of pop…and why its success will never be repeated.
Further, we delve into the psychological impact of early fame in life, and the overall concept of false summits. How do early relationships, early jobs, and early successes shape our standards of winning and losing? If you’re the star quarterback growing up, or the head cheerleader, do you plant your flag on that early peak and never climb higher? Or does it prime you to be a go-getter and a climber? Are there ways to determine if your relationship can get any better? And what are the lessons from the lives of child stars that we can apply to our own journey of success?
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7oit6Asgc&t=4s&ab_channel=Let%27sTalkPop
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/lance-bass-was-kicked-off-a-russian-spaceflight-two-decades-ago-now-hes-back/
https://time.com/6325780/britney-spears-justin-timberlake-relationship-timeline/
https://nypost.com/2023/08/30/employees-feel-dissatisfied-after-this-long-in-the-same-role-poll/
https://www.gottman.com/blog/marriage-not-big-thing-million-little-things/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-resilience/201107/does-imagining-goal-make-you-less-likely-achieve-it
Music Links:
“2010 Pop Song” during the intro narrative was written and recorded by Akira Sora https://freemusicarchive.org/music/akira-sora/single/2010-pop/
Making friends in college was easy. Lend someone your lecture notes, and you have an ally for life. So why is it so hard to make friends as adults? And how do we keep them?
More and more we have to rely on Facebook, Discord, Twitch, and Zoom to get our fix of friendship. On today’s episode, we want to ask the question; are Facebook friends real friends? Can you even count them? When you meet a friend at a bar and they finish their drink, lean in close, and nudge you to look at the attractive bartender...is that the same as getting a Facebook ‘poke’? We’ll try to answer these, as well as discuss how to feed and water your friendships throughout your adulthood years, and we’ll analyze exactly which types of friendships are important to your health; both mental and physical.
We’ll also discuss the most gutsy, and strange, friendship ever formed. The friendship between a Jewish American sniper captured in WWII, and the Nazi Luftwaffe Officer who was guarding the camp. Stranger still; these two didn’t kindle their friendship long after the war, like a buzzfeed article. Max Gendelman and Karl Kirschner met, and tried to escape the Nazi camp, together, during the war.
History Links:
https://bethjacobrwc.org/max-and-karl/
http://archive.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/gendelman-made-friends-with-german-pilot-who-aided-his-escape-qt5q3g7-159325935.html
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/times-past/article39461337.html
https://www.history.com/news/7-historical-odd-couples
http://archive.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/gendelman-made-friends-with-german-pilot-who-aided-his-escape-qt5q3g7-159325935.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camp_badge
Science Links:
https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-friendship
https://www.livescience.com/53315-how-friendships-are-good-for-your-health.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/fashion/the-challenge-of-making-friends-as-an-adult.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/201605/10-ways-make-and-keep-friendships-adult
https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-media-affect-math-dunbar-number-friendships
Joan Crawford was mocked for becoming Pepsi’s spokeswoman, and Orson Welles was chased to Spain for political opinions. What changed for celebrity endorsements?
In Part 2 of our celebrity-as-CEO spotlight, we talk about Joan Crawford, an iconic figure of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Known not just for her acting prowess but also for her unique role in Pepsi's rise to sugary power. We dig into Crawford's transition from a screen legend to a pivotal figure in the corporate world, and explore her marriage to Pepsi's CEO and how it propelled her into a new realm to become the first “influencer”. But most importantly, we talk about the public backlash, and ask: why are fans today willing to put up with relentless marketing from their favorite stars, but not in Crawford’s age?
The episode also casts a light on the changing dynamics of celebrity endorsements and we cast a light on the future of celebrity branding. Do people actually trust celebrities anymore, at all, for their political opinions? How many of these so-called stars are actually hurting their causes more than helping? And what is the “process of apology” that Hollywood agents and managers keep pushing celebrities to complete, and why do so many stars ignore their instructions?
Join us for an in-depth look at the complexities of celebrity-brand relationships, and the legacy Crawford left behind in both Hollywood and the corporate world.
History Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSu76VUIkEg&ab_channel=TheMoneyChannel2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2023/03/10/shaq-may-be-hiding-in-his-house-to-avoid-ftx-lawsuit/?sh=3497318e7209
https://fortune.com/2023/05/17/crypto-lawsuits-shaq-celebrity-endorsers-ftx/
https://www.cracked.com/article_35322_a-complete-history-of-goop-being-awful.html
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/04/fx-feud-finale
https://www.campaignlive.com/article/history-advertising-no-170-joan-crawfords-pepsi-sign/1392770
Science Links:
https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-scandal-engulfs-a-celebrity-endorser
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000187.pdf
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1948550616641472
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-me/202203/the-role-familiarity-in-attraction
https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-scandal-engulfs-a-celebrity-endorser
https://www.forbes.com/sites/genedelvecchio/2020/06/25/dear-celebrities-research-shows-that-your-political-opinions-hurt-your-cause-more-than-help-it/
Celebrities online are doing less and less entertaining, and more and more product peddling and brand management. How much is this hurting public trust?
Celebrities today are hyper-endorsed: like NASCAR cars plastered in brands and labels that they don’t represent, and they don’t understand. In this episode we uncover the tangled world of celebrity endorsements, with a spotlight on Shaquille O'Neal's controversial involvement with FTX and cryptocurrency just before the big crypto bust. As we delve into Shaq's story we're forced to question the ethical boundaries of celebrity influence. What does it say about our society when our idols endorse products they barely understand? And why is Shaq hiding in his mansion from the authorities, like the world’s biggest hide-and-seek player?
We also navigate the treacherous waters of celebrity marketing, shedding light on how such endorsements shape consumer perceptions and market dynamics. We’ll take a look at the Federal Trade Commission's role in regulating sponsored content, and ask if the FTC is doing enough to regulate celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and her snake oil line of products. And we’ll examine the science-backed correlation between the square footage of a celebrity’s mansion, and how disconnected and pompous that celebrity behaves.
Finally, we’ll take a look at the broader implications of celebrity branding in our digital age. Are celebrities inadvertently turning themselves into walking advertisements, blurring the lines between opinion and commercial gain? How much influence do they actually hold in shaping our personalities, or our children? And if celebrities are effectively becoming brand managers with stunningly good looks…can we trust them to tell us who to vote for, or which political policies to endorse?
History Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSu76VUIkEg&ab_channel=TheMoneyChannel2
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahemerson/2023/03/10/shaq-may-be-hiding-in-his-house-to-avoid-ftx-lawsuit/?sh=3497318e7209
https://fortune.com/2023/05/17/crypto-lawsuits-shaq-celebrity-endorsers-ftx/
https://www.cracked.com/article_35322_a-complete-history-of-goop-being-awful.html
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/04/fx-feud-finale
https://www.campaignlive.com/article/history-advertising-no-170-joan-crawfords-pepsi-sign/1392770
Science Links:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000187.pdf
https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-scandal-engulfs-a-celebrity-endorser
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1948550616641472
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-you-and-me/202203/the-role-familiarity-in-attraction
https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-scandal-engulfs-a-celebrity-endorser
https://www.forbes.com/sites/genedelvecchio/2020/06/25/dear-celebrities-research-shows-that-your-political-opinions-hurt-your-cause-more-than-help-it/
What are people attracted to? What is ‘chemistry’ in attraction? Is it pheremonse? Is it fate? Is it magic? We’ll also cover studies that explore whether attractive people are naturally meaner than the rest of us. Or if sitting next to an attractive person on the bus, without any provocation, can make you stressed. Lastly, we’ll share the one behavior for both men and women that can increase your attractiveness...if you practice it regularly.
History Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/fashion/27linda.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Pugach
Science Links:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/science-of-attraction-_n_6661522
https://www.insider.com/why-are-we-attracted-to-certain-people-2018-11#its-possible-that-opposites-dont-attract-6
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/201210/why-are-mean-people-so-good-looking
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/04/how-attractive-people-affect-your-brain/586870/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/humor-sapiens/201106/are-women-more-attracted-men-who-court-them-humor
Career-wise, it pays to play it safe. Which could explain why we’re socially primed to hold each other back, especially when we think someone “isn’t ready”...
Today we delve into the remarkable journey of Lady Gaga, born Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta, who went from high school outcast to global icon. Gaga claims she faced relentless bullying for her unconventional style and love for older music, and she carried these scars well into her mega-millions career. Which begs a critical question: as a society if we love underdog stories so much, why are we naturally primed to hold each other back? Was Lady Gaga's path a blend of inherent genius and strategic defiance, or did she really have to fight her way every step?
We’ll also dissect the elements of her resilience, and talk about her exceptional IQ, creativity, and unwavering dedication to her art. We’ll look at studies that reveal our natural preference for eccentric artists, even when their eccentricity is a marketing stunt. Moreover, we’ll look at a robust Gallup poll that compares talent vs tenure, and try reason out why companies are more likely to promote boring, wallpaper-safe drones who have put in their years, rather than climbers who are genuinely trying to up-skill themselves.
Finally, we touch upon the broader implications of ladder climbers within our social fabric. Does being a victim of bullying inevitably lead to greatness, or is it a hurdle too high for most? How does one's social class and support system play a role in shaping our destiny? And what lessons can we learn from Gaga’s journey about nurturing talent, resilience, and the courage to be different?
Links:
https://www.goalcast.com/lady-gaga-school-bullies-facebook/
https://time.com/44365/becoming-popular-can-turn-you-into-a-target-for-bullying/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.1999
https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/187871/leadership-mistake-promoting-based-tenure.aspx
Did you know that the quickest indicator of your socioeconomic class is in the way you speak? And that hiring managers will base your salary on your class? Yay classism!
Stay classy, ya’ll! Because today we’re talking about socioeconomic class. Starting with how much class will affect your earning potential throughout your lifetime (a lot) if socioeconomic class will determine where you live (it will) and if you have any control over how people perceive your class (you do!)
As an added bonus, we’ll play a game of “classy or just rich?” to see if we, as Americans, can tell the difference between class and money. And we’ll get into the subtle facial and speech clues that broadcast to others whether you’re Gucci or Wal-Mart.
Lastly, we’ll talk about Anna Delvey. AKA Anna Sorokin. The daughter of a Russian trucker who almost fooled a network of high-class socialites into loaning her $25 million dollars for an art club. The list of people Anna conned is pretty impressive, and includes several well-known celebrities. And she did it all with a few well-placed hundred-dollar bills, and a hard-to-nail-down foreign accent.
History Links:
https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/how-anna-delvey-tricked-new-york.html
Science Links:
https://news.yale.edu/2019/10/21/yale-study-shows-class-bias-hiring-based-few-seconds-speech
https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/01/30/staying-classy/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/emigre
https://www.businessinsider.com/income-inequality-upward-mobility-map-us-2018-2
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170705133020.htm
Dolly Parton forgave Porter Wagoner for controlling her creatively, for suing her for millions, and for slandering her. But how she forgave him is perhaps the most important part.
In the first half of our episode we delve into the heart of the great country music saga. Was it Dolly's sheer kindness that allowed her to forgive Porter Wagoner? Was Dolly a ‘natural forgiver’ or ‘people-pleaser’? Or was her forgiveness more about strategic acumen - a calculated move to make herself look like a saint while Porter was dragged down by the devils of addiction and jealousy? We’ll examine the twists and turns of their relationship, and ask ourselves: how do you forgive someone you want to keep loving? Especially if forgiveness means they’re more likely to hurt you again.
Moving beyond the narrative, we’ll dissect the psychology of forgiveness in intimate relationships. Starting with how we can forgive without feeling like a doormat. How do we maintain the delicate balance between emotional healing and setting new boundaries? How the hell do we ask a spouse, or a parent, to sit down and admit the wrong they’ve done without sounding like a Dr Phil wannabe? We’ll walk through the steps of establishing real mutual recognition of the hurt that’s been done, and outline the process of apology and reconciliation. Unpacking the practical components for giving and receiving a true and honest “I’m sorry.”
We’ll also explore the tricky pitfalls of forgiveness. Does being a people pleaser make you a natural forgiver? What if you’re higher on the anxiety spectrum, are you more likely to hold vicious grudges? Is there a point where forgiveness becomes detrimental to one's self-respect? And most importantly, did Dolly ever truly forgive Porter, or was it a hollow Hollywood pardon?
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpMjtNVEEtQ&t=53s&ab_channel=FactsVerse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmDAcYhNJlo&t=580s&ab_channel=emerysmemories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-wv2ZUqVT0&ab_channel=VintageVHSVideos
https://stmuscholars.org/i-will-always-love-you-the-dolly-parton-and-porter-wagoner-love-story/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2vpcDm368g&ab_channel=DaleCriswell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK40qogSdFI&ab_channel=ComedyCentral
Ronald Reagan nearly died from a bullet to the chest, and the shooter showed zero remorse. So why would Reagan forgive his would-be assassin immediately?
Today we delve into John Hinckley's attempt on President Ronald Reagan, unraveling a tale of pedophelic obsession, copycat violence, and unexpected forgiveness. What drove a man like Hinkley to commit such an act? More importantly, why the hell would Reagan forgive him right away, even while Hinkley seemed so pleased with himself? Todd and Joe will navigate the murky waters of Hinckley's mind, tracing his path from obsession with a young Jodie Foster to the fateful day that shocked America. Through this lens we’ll dissect the societal narratives around forgiveness. Does forgiving the unforgivable make us weak or enlightened? Does religion encourage us to forgive too soon? And why is TV and media obsessed with revenge, while forgiveness is treated like a boring afterthought?
We’ll also delve deep into the benefits and steps of real forgiveness. Exactly how healing is forgiveness for our soul? Is there a medical benefit to forgiving your enemies? Or does forgiveness make us appear weak to our peers, while grudges secretly keep us safe? We’ll discuss the implications of forgiveness through the justice system and mental health. If prison isn’t an institution for rehabilitation and forgiveness, then what is it good for?
Links:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/john-hinckley-jr-seeks-forgiveness-shooting-reagan-presidential/story?id=85925642
https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/news/20190327/why-holding-a-grudge-is-bad-for-your-health
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/04/02/hinckley-pursued-actress-for-months-letter-shows/b0142c0b-48f0-4bcc-ae85-a243838f4de8/
https://metrovoicenews.com/ronald-reagan-forgave-wanted-to-meet-john-hinkley/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k46rWLMXoHc&ab_channel=CBSMornings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRFBgEC_8_U&ab_channel=CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEK2pIiZ2I0&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lyCTx8ydhI&ab_channel=NYCouncilonProblemGambling
https://www.amazon.com/Chatter-Voice-Head-Matters-Harness-ebook/dp/B087PL8YVQ
Love makes us do crazy things. But exactly how far should we let our crush get out of hand? Sending chocolates and flowers? Unsolicited genital pictures? Trenchcoat, wig, and duct-tape...?
The press called her the Astro-Nut, and late night talkshows made fun of her for taking diapers along on her 900-mile car trip to harass a romantic rival. But today we’re explaining why love and obsession could turn any one of us into Lisa Nowak, the NASA engineer who stalked and pepper-sprayed a rival lover...and rival astronaut. We’ll also discover what kind of man, exactly, would be a big enough catch for two of the most accomplished women in the world to go all Jerry Springer over.
To keep us from drifting toward the dark side of romance, we’ll also explore types of dangerous attractions, and what mechanisms in the human mind can kick our puppy love into high gear; right into stalker mode. We’ll also talk about an interesting study that reveals if it’s better to know how much a partner likes you, or if you should let them wonder. And we’ll look at online dating statistics to find out how often we, as humans, aim for partners out of our league. (Spoiler: It’s a lot!)
History Links:
https://www.biography.com/news/lisa-nowak-lucy-in-the-sky
https://www.bustle.com/p/wheres-lisa-nowak-in-2019-the-disgraced-former-astronaut-keeps-to-herself-18800036
https://time.com/5685017/lucy-in-the-sky-true-story-lisa-nowak
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Astronaut-won-t-face-attempted-murder-charge-1843415.php
Science Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_liking
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21169522/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201302/the-familiarity-principle-attraction
https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/26/attracted-authority-figures-9322172/
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/8/eaap9815
Major publishers have been caught trying to pass off artificially generated art and articles as man-made. How long until they fire their creative teams entirely?
In today’s episode, Todd and Joe delve into the role of artificial intelligence in the publishing industry. Starting with the alarming case of Jane Friedman, a writer who discovered a series of fake books being sold under her name and brand. Except when she dug deeper she found the writer was an Artificial Intelligence. And the publishing platform profiting from these fakes, Amazon, had zero intent on helping her save her reputation or career.
Amazon's market is being flooded with books written by AI. Major news outlets are quietly employing artificial intelligence to write their articles. And fantasy publishers are using AI to create their cover art. Yet nobody seems willing to admit to replacing their human creative staff with robots. We question the authenticity of content produced by AI and debate whether this AI labor trend will lead to an ocean of mediocre TV shows and books, and a Marvel-ization of the entire creative industry, or if it’s just a birthing pain toward a new era of innovative creativity. How will Netflix, Hulu, and HBO look in an AI-dominated world? Can any major publisher resist the siren song of free content? Will every product review sound like it was written by someone just learning the language? And is there a possible future where writers use AI as a tool to enhance their craft, rather than being replaced by it?
Links:
https://janefriedman.com/i-would-rather-see-my-books-pirated/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boVjMb8Fcgw&ab_channel=ClownfishTV
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/tech/people-arrested-for-using-ai.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/arts/music/streaming-music-payments.html
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/09/amazon-removes-books-generated-by-ai-for-sale-under-authors-name
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sports-illustrated-latest-media-company-224402249.html
Quitting should be the easiest thing in the world. So why does it take us so long to throw in the towel? And is there an obvious sign when it’s time to bail?
Quitting a job, a skill, or an academic pursuit, always feels like failure. At best there’s the relief of leaving something awful and grueling in the rear-view mirror, with the knowledge that you’ve wasted at least a little bit of time. At worst, quitting can mean leaving a wreckage of friends, finances, and investments behind you. But quitting is becoming more and more necessary as a skill, since people in the modern economy can expect to hold more jobs, and a greater variety of jobs, throughout their lifetime.
On today's episode we discuss quitting as a skill. Quitting as its own virtue, really. And quitting as an art. We’ll talk about how to gird yourself against the feelings of failure that come with quitting. How to plan ahead to make quitting take less of a toll on you. And we’ll reach back in time and talk about a man who should have quit his job long before he was fired; Lee Iacocca, the man who was so successful Ford fired him out of jealousy. We’ll also discuss the horrifying study that proves that if there’s just a tiny bit of hope, mammals will struggle to the bitter end.
History Links:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-ford-ii-fires-lee-iacocca
https://www.thethings.com/why-henry-ford-ii-fired-lee-iacocca-the-full-story/
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/kidding-ourselves/201405/the-remarkable-power-hope
https://www.fastcompany.com/3027564/scientists-debunk-the-myth-that-10000-hours-of-practice-makes-you-an-expert
https://www.amazon.com/Obstacle-Way-Timeless-Turning-Triumph/dp/1591846358
https://www.visier.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Visier-Insights-Retaining-Millennials-June-2018.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/11/13/robert-greene-how-to-become-the-master-of-any-skill/#6c242b5c1a23
Is all the hatred toward baby boomers justified economically and politically? Or is this another case of Millenials and Gen Z being jealous and lazy?
Baby Boomers, once considered the most prosperous and influential generation, are now facing a surge in homelessness. A situation which is being exacerbated by rising housing and rental costs. So who’s to blame? Young people for not holding up the economy? Older people for not using their overwhelming political force to craft a better system? Or should the fault be laid at the feet of other boomers on capitol hill, quietly undercutting retirement funds…?
Throughout the episode Joe and Todd will hold court. We’ll call into session ‘The People v The Boomer Generation’. First by reading the prosecution’s arguments against Boomers, which include scathing jokes by George Carlin and SNL, the opinions of an economic policy maker Lord David Willett, and one of Clinton’s advisors, who argues that Boomers are the first generation to consume more than they’ve built. Then we’ll hear from the New York Post and Newsweek columnists battling the tide of Boomer hate…by complaining about the lazy Millennials serving their coffee.
Finally, we’ll cut through all the hatred and bluster, and examine the complexities of generational dynamics. Emphasizing the need for understanding and empathy across generations. Because at the end of the day we’re all equally being charged historic fees to breathe free air. It’s just that one of our age groups built the policies evicting us all…and the other age group has yet to fix it.
Links:
https://www.metatube.com/en/videos/426603/Millennial-Millions-SNL/
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/02/12/boomers-silents-still-have-most-seats-in-congress-though-number-of-millennials-gen-xers-is-up-slightly/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-08-15/cost-of-college-degree-in-u-s-soars-12-fold-chart-of-the-day#xj4y7vzkg
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/loan-servicers-preying-upon-students-lawmakers-look-to-change-that.html
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a1451/worst-generation-0400/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/08/us/baby-boomers-gen-z-cec/index.html
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038026120916104
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unconscionable-baby-boomers-becoming-homeless-103000310.html
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/05/us/making-mark-on-politics-baby
It’s the final straw that breaks the camel’s back...but how many straws can we take? How bad is day-to-day stress for us, really, compared to the big life events?
When we complain about stress, we tend to focus on the big ‘stress events’ in life. Getting fired. Breaking up with our boyfriend or girlfriend. Taking the kids to the doctor. Getting bad news from the doctor…But over-all life stress; the stress that saps us, and leaves us unmotivated and cranky...that comes from the thousand of little ‘stress cuts’ we receive throughout the day, doesn’t it?
On today's episode we talk about the health toll micro-stresses take on our bodies, and if it’s really worth dealing with nagging co-workers and annoying neighbors. We also talk about one of the most entertaining rampages in American history; The Colorado Killdozer incident, and we discuss the day-to-day annoyances and stresses that drove Marvin Heemeyer to crack and wreck up a small town with his home-made bullet-proof tank.
History Links:
https://sofrep.com/news/folk-hero-or-real-villain-the-complex-tale-of-colorados-killdozer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tread
Science Links:
https://hbr.org/2020/07/dont-let-micro-stresses-burn-you-out?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter_weekly&utm_campaign=insider_activesubs&utm_content=signinnudge&deliveryName=DM87610
Is Michael Jordan truly ‘competitive’? Or was he just a jerk with an amazing mid-court game? Is there even such a thing as ‘competitive instinct’?
In the realm of fierce competition does one need to adopt an aggressive, antagonistic persona to succeed? Will people respect you at all if you’re not socially dominant in the boardroom or on the field? Michael Jordan, renowned for his hyper-competitive nature on and off the court, serves as our case study for this episode. Wherein we explore the psychology and consequences of intense competitiveness, and ask the question: if humans are born without horns, then why do we feel the need to lock them so often?
Todd and Joe will also look at Michael Jordan's legendary career and confrontational style and discuss the necessity of having a competitive spirit throughout life, questioning whether it inevitably leads to social ostracism. We also compare MJ’s ‘killer instinct’ with our own domains of competition, like writing and business, where success can stem more from being well-informed and dogged, rather than confrontational. And we talk about case studies that prove that competitiveness, when channeled correctly, can lead to extraordinary achievements without crossing into hostility. Examples of this are Tom Brady, or the Texas Rangers. People who have achieved greatness with a markedly different approach. Namely, the “quiet eye” approach to competitiveness.
History Links:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28973557/the-last-dance-untold-story-michael-jordan-chicago-bulls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_VhhunGOeI&ab_channel=nuraman00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz6go7xC3Zs&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJowIB7c_A&ab_channel=UncutHoops
Science Links:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/what-athletes-see/416388/
https://online.eou.edu/resources/article/psychology-of-competitiveness/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141029084021.htm
Does it pay, financially, to be the bad guy? Do miserable people live longer? Because in today's political and business world, it sure seems like it.
Anyone who’s a fan of obscure history will have heard of Joseph Hatch, the man who boiled millions of penguins to sell their oil. And if you haven’t heard of this penguin-boiling supervillain, then you’re in for a treat! Because on today’s episode we’re exploring villainy, and whether it pays to be the bad guy (like Joseph Hatch) We’ll look at the health benefits of being quick to anger and cynical. We’ll explore the upsides of being greedy and miserable. And we’ll answer the age-old question; are wealthy people all assholes? But more importantly; why does wealth callus us? And what’s it take to reconnect rich assholes, like Scrooge?
History Links:
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/harvest-of-souls/
https://allthingscomedy.com/podcasts/207---the-animal-horror-of-macquarie-island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hatch
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21501-boiled-to-death-penguins-are-back-from-the-brink/
Science Links:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160809-why-it-pays-to-be-grumpy-and-bad-tempered
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167206298566
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-04866-001
https://www.wired.com/story/why-are-rich-people-so-mean/
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/nordic-welfare-news/the-fast-and-the-furious-research-shows-that-owners-of-high-status-cars-are-on-a-collision-course-with-traffic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_wealth_reduce_compassion
https://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/12/08_survival_of_kindest.shtml
LIV Golf has acquired the PGA. So why is a sports merger about to change American politics? And why are Saudi golf managers paying off Washington lobbyists?
16 of the last 19 presidents were golfers. 90% of the CEOs from Fortune 500 play golf. And 80% of all executives on the field say golf was essential for establishing their business relationships. Golf is a profoundly influential game, whether you follow it or not. Political deals made on the back nine by judges and politicians will determine the prices of gas, the taxes on cigarettes, and how many missiles the US sells to the middle east. Which is why it’s concerning that golf as a sport has been purchased by a foreign country - one with a history of paying off politicians and meddling in American campaign finances.
In Part 2 of our LIV Golf series, we’ll focus on the messy battle between PGA and LIV, and talk about whether loyal PGA golfers were morally right to badmouth LIV players who took Saudi money. Then we’ll continue our history of Saudi “sports washing” and find out why the wives of American boxers weren’t allowed to watch their husbands fight in Saudi matches. We’ll also confront the elephant in the room whenever Saudi money comes up: the killing and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Kashoggi by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. And how Saudi Arabia’s reputation may have been tarnished by the murder, yet international sports stars are still happy to take Saudi money.
What will it mean for the PGA now that golf has been purchased by the Saudi Public Investment Fund? And what will it mean for the future of politics, to have the most popular sport among the wealthy elite get bought up and stuffed into another country’s investment portfolio? We may not be Nostradamas but we have a few predictions, and none of them are optimistic.
Links:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/30/saudi-arabia-10-reasons-why-women-flee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loujain_al-Hathloulhttps://saudigazette.com.sa/article/545149
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/10/saudi-arabia-ramped-up-foreign-influence-operations-in-the-us-during-bidens-presidency/
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-state-dept-okays-650-million-potential-air-to-air-missile-deal-saudi-arabia-2021-11-04/
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/25/liv-golf-lobbies-up-00053802
https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/08/09/pga-head-admits-mistakes-in-liv-golf-deal-rollout-but-calls-merger-with-saudi-backed-tour-the-right-move/?sh=1c5b2f32527a
https://ceoworld.biz/2021/01/05/why-do-rich-men-play-golf/
https://nypost.com/2022/07/28/greg-norman-opens-up-about-liv-golf-blood-money-controversy/
LIV Golf has acquired the PGA. So why is a sports merger about to change American politics? And what is Saudi ‘sports washing’?
16 of the last 19 presidents were golfers. 90% of the CEOs from Fortune 500 play golf. And 80% of all executives on the field say golf was essential for establishing their business relationships. Golf is a profoundly influential game, whether you follow it or not. Political deals made on the back nine by judges and politicians will determine the prices of gas, the taxes on cigarettes, and how many missiles the US sells to the middle east. Which is why it’s concerning that golf as a sport has been purchased by a foreign country - one with a history of paying off politicians and meddling in American campaign finances.
In Part 1 of our LIV Golf series, we discuss the inception of a “World Golf Tour” by pro golfer Greg Norman nearly 30 years ago, and why the PGA worked so hard to squash any tour competition, including Norman’s proposed series. Then we’ll talk about the origins of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and why Saudi set its sights on golf in the first place. We’ll also cover (briefly) the payments and gifts the Saudis have given our presidents and politicians, and we’ll learn that pretty much every president who’s held office has been touched by Saudi money or jewels in some way.
Links:
https://wwos.nine.com.au/golf/pga-tour-greg-norman-liv-golf-1994-world-tour-tim-finchem-fallout/1aee6f8c-b4bf-4ea4-8c14-976534143de8
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2016/05/16/golfers-make-better-business-executives/?sh=2f2ce305b4a5
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Saudi%20Guardianship%20Report%20103020_0.pdf
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-hotel-received-270-000-from-lobbying-campaign-tied-to-saudis-1496700739
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jared-kushner-reveals-rare-details-about-ties-with-saudi-crown-prince-11659003014
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-165/issue-116/house-section/article/H5594-7
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/12/02/the-king-of-saudi-arabia-gave-over-13m-in-gifts-to-the-obamas-last-year
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-security/obama-administration-arms-sales-offers-to-saudi-top-115-billion-report-idUSKCN11D2JQ
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2091572-the-no-tiger-effect-how-woods-absence-is-taking-the-glow-off-golfs-majors
Does it pay, financially, to be the bad guy? Do miserable people live longer? Because in today's political and business world, it sure seems like it.
Anyone who’s a fan of obscure history will have heard of Joseph Hatch, the man who boiled millions of penguins to sell their oil. And if you haven’t heard of this penguin-boiling supervillain, then you’re in for a treat! Because on today’s episode we’re exploring villainy, and whether it pays to be the bad guy (like Joseph Hatch) We’ll look at the health benefits of being quick to anger and cynical. We’ll explore the upsides of being greedy and miserable. And we’ll answer the age-old question; are wealthy people all assholes? But more importantly; why does wealth callus us? And what’s it take to reconnect rich assholes, like Scrooge?
History Links:
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/harvest-of-souls/
https://allthingscomedy.com/podcasts/207---the-animal-horror-of-macquarie-island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hatch
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21501-boiled-to-death-penguins-are-back-from-the-brink/
Science Links:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160809-why-it-pays-to-be-grumpy-and-bad-tempered
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167206298566
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-04866-001
https://www.wired.com/story/why-are-rich-people-so-mean/
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/nordic-welfare-news/the-fast-and-the-furious-research-shows-that-owners-of-high-status-cars-are-on-a-collision-course-with-traffic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_wealth_reduce_compassion
https://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/12/08_survival_of_kindest.shtml
Disgust. It determines what food you eat, how tolerant you are of other people, and which political party you join. So…who’s using it against you?
Before the Punic Wars, Cato the Elder convinced his fellow Romans that the foreign Carthaginians were untrustworthy barbarians who committed child sacrifices on the regular. In 1895, after Japan defeated China in the first Sino-Japanese war, Japan referred to China as the “Sick Man of Asia”...which they stole from the Tsar Nicholas who used the term “Sick Man of Europe” to bash on the Ottoman Empire. In every era of politics, encouraging a nation to feel disgust for another group is the playbook for driving a population to war. Disgust is the secret weakness we all share. It’s the ‘easy button’ leaders use to push us into hating. And at the time of this writing, MSNBC has posted a Youtube video referring to Republican tactics as “barbaric” and Fox has a video referring to liberal education as “a sick lie.”
On today's episode we attempt to identify and disconnect the ‘easy button’ in our psyche. We look at where disgust originated as an emotion. How it helped early man survive plagues and parasites by staying away from foreigners. Why it continues to help us avoid poisoning ourselves with bad food or spoiled meats. And, most importantly, we try to identify when the emotion of disgust is healthy, and when it’s being used against us to profit other people.
Science Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/magazine/disgust-science.htmlhttps://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ft12177-000
History Links: https://thewire.in/caste/caste-honour-killings-cases-lawshttps://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/12/430075644/dining-like-darwin-when-scientists-swallow-their-subjects
Loyalty should be simple; I show an interest in your well-being, and you reciprocate. So why is it so hard to inspire loyalty at work? And why are companies clamoring for our “customer loyalty?”
If you had a dollar for every “customer loyalty” program, loyalty rewards card, and loyalty app you were offered at stores...well, you wouldn’t need their loyalty program in the first place. On this episode of The Re-Engineered You, Todd and Joe talk about Loyalty as a human concept, whether or not pets actually feel loyalty toward us, and why Josiah Royce called Loyalty “the heart of all the virtues.” They also talk about cult-like loyalty (and how to inspire it!) as well as loyalty in business, loyalty in the workplace, and loyalty in politics. They also talk about the most loyal dog in the world; Hachiko. A Japanese Akita that waited at the train for his master to return...for ten years.
History Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachik%C5%8D
https://www.cesarsway.com/the-true-story-of-hachiko-a-loyal-dog-that-waited-over-9-years-at-the-train-station-for-his-deceased-owner/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/hachiko-dog
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-main-ingredient/201901/who-deserves-your-loyalty#:~:text=Loyalty%20is%20a%20survival%20mechanism,difference%20between%20life%20and%20death.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27601.Cults_in_Our_Midst https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-attachment-theory-2795337
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2015/11/17/7-ways-unforgettable-leaders-inspire-loyalty/#783333a9508d
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect
The internet was hit by a bombshell last month, with data on whether college degrees earn back their return on investment. The answer is…complicated.
An article from the New York Times entitled Americans Are Losing Faith In College. Whose Fault Is That? caused a massive stir in both the education community and with students. New data shows that the promise of college - that you’ll make back more money than the degree costs - has tipped in the wrong direction. For many Americans, the benefit from certain degrees has become “indistinguishable from zero” on the job market, according to the report.
Todd and Joe discuss the most significant findings from this study, especially where faith in the college system is concerned. If less than half of American parents believe sending their kids to college is a good thing, then where does that leave us as a nation? What happens economically when Canada and England have double our enrollment rates? How do we educate a nation if the only colleges left are hyper-expensive elite ivy league? And if jobs are getting more complicated, not less, how will train the next batch of American workers?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/magazine/college-worth-price.html
Geniuses have it made, right? With enough smarts, you can just sit back, relax, and get paid to ponder life’s big problems. Well, as our research shows, that’s not exactly the case.
If TV shows about geniuses like Sherlock Holmes, Big Bang Theory, and House are telling the truth, then having hyper-intelligence is like having a hack for life. All you have to do is make clever references, solve other people’s problems, and cash your check at the end of the day. So that’s what today’s podcast is all about; hyper intelligence, and the myths surrounding it. How much of a life-hack is genius intelligence, really? Do people with genius-level IQ make more money throughout their lifetime? Do they worry as much as the rest of us? And is it easier for geniuses to score a date compared to us dummies? We’ll also look at a hyper-intelligent man named William Sidis, who might have been the smartest, and most miserable person of his generation.
History Links:
https://www.npr.org/2011/01/23/132737060/meet-william-james-sidis-the-smartest-guy-ever#:~:text=Born%20in%20Boston%20in%201898,Times%20before%20he%20was%202.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James_Sidis
https://www.sidis.net/TransfersContents.htm
Science Links:
https://www.mensa.org/mensa/about-us
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-news-for-the-highly-intelligent/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencelight/2017/06/13/why-the-secret-to-getting-rich-isnt-being-smart/#1cd329e9589a
https://hbr.org/2015/08/research-technology-is-only-making-social-skills-more-important
https://www.forbes.com/sites/vanessamcgrady/2018/02/23/social/#65a5be9e108c
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meet-catch-and-keep/201809/the-romantic-disadvantages-being-smart
In light of recent politics, what even is a ‘responsible gun owner’? Who should be allowed to carry? And what are the steps to packing heat, legally?
Joe has carried a concealed weapon for nearly two decades over the course of his career in private security and private investigations. Todd learned to shoot in the Army, and hasn’t touched a gun since. Today, they discuss what it means to be a responsible gun owner. Especially in an era of rising violence, political tensions, and mass shootings. They talk about the actual stats behind burglaries and violent crimes (as opposed to what the news reports) as well as the #1 unspoken statistic about gun ownership. Who is a gun owner more likely to shoot? A criminal, or themselves?
Todd also shares his experiences getting licensed, and what it feels like for a political ‘moderate’ to sit through several hours of scare tactics to get his paper signed. Then we talk about the potency of “fear marketing” and why a responsible gun owner should hypothetically never need to draw their weapon, especially if they’ve taken de-escalation classes to complement their firearms training.
TRIGGER WARNING: This episode briefly touches on the subjects of suicide and self-harm, as it relates to the questions and statistics any responsible gun owner should ask themselves before getting licensed. If you’re sensitive to these subjects, please skip this episode.
Links:
https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/ascii/vdhb.txt
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/06/handgun-ownership-associated-with-much-higher-suicide-risk.html
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/guns-and-suicide/
https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/father-of-4-killed-at-missouri-sports-bar-after-fight-over-dogs-weight
Did you know that Louisville had a prank “Purge” that lasted 10 hours? Or that the Truman Show became a real psychological delusion? Today we ask; how much does Hollywood shape our expectations, really?
Back in 2014, someone on Twitter advertised a “Purge” in Louisville Kentucky. It should have been a joke that died as quickly as it started. But people took it seriously. Seriously enough that it cost Louisville revenue, spawned dozens of articles across the country, and ended with thousands of people staying indoors, monitoring police scanners and the “Louisville Purge Megathread.”
Of course, there was no purge. But we allow Hollywood to shape our day-to-day expectations...even ridiculous expectations, like a city-wide free-for-all crime wave. We take cues about love from romantic comedies. We judge our houses and apartments against the apartments we see on Friends or Sex in the City. We even base our family structure on television families. Today, we ask the question; how realistic are our Hollywood expectations?
History Links:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-louisville-purge-hoax
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2014/08/16/aftermath-louisville-purge/14169789/
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/90135/how-its-wonderful-life-went-box-office-dud-accidental-christmas-tradition
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/09/we-expect-way-too-much-from-our-romantic-partners/541353/
https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2013/12/28/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-change-your-life/
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201608/the-truman-show-delusion
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-nagging-repetition-effective-communication-marton-jojarth#:~:text=Advertising%2C%20Marketing%2C%20and%20the%20Rule%20of%207&text=The%20most%20famous%20is%20probably,Advertising%2C%20written%20by%20Thomas%20Smith.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/21/friends-debut-anniversary-how-much-is-monicas-apartment-worth-now.html#:~:text=An%20apartment%20of%20the%20same,works%20in%20the%20West%20Village.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/blogs/spaces/infographic-much-simpsons-house-worth-212450921.html?ref=gs#:~:text=Being%20diehard%20fans%20of%20the,home%20would%20be%20worth%20%24289%2C060
We live our whole life with our biggest flaws on display. Why does no one point them out? Why are people predisposed to “stay mum” about our failings?
Marie Antionette may have never actually uttered the phrase “Let them eat cake” but she sure as hell didn’t hide the fact that she was spending French money to build an expensive play-village on palace grounds, all so she could LARP as silk-wearing peasants with her friends . Meanwhile, the real peasants of France were dying, crushed under an unfair tax system her husband had supported. So why didn’t anyone tell Marie that building an opulent “village” was basically courting the worst kind of optics?
Today, Todd and Joe discuss the ‘MUM Effect’ - a little-known study in the field of Self Awareness that basically explains why nobody bothers to correct our character flaws. A few minutes of advice from a qualified social mirror could save us years of heartache and bad optics, yet nobody speaks up. We also harken back to old episodes about mentors, and why Lyndon B Johnson took criticism on public speaking from his wife. Lastly, we talk about finding our own “mirrors” and discuss the qualifications a mirror should have, especially before we allow them to point out our biggest flaws.
History Links:
https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/taxation/#Tax_farmers
https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/marie-antoinette-facts-life-death-cake-buried/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/31/priority-queens-hamlet-peek-inside-marie-antoinettes-fairy-tale-rustic-village-versailles-loved-act-like-simple-peasant/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBn7iWzrKoI&ab_channel=TED-Ed
Science Links:
https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/sociology/the-mum-effect
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2786156
https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/social-cognition/mum-effect/
Exercising, making wise financial decisions, and public speaking, will each improve your overall quality of life. But only public speaking is listed as a Top Fear across demographics. Why is that?
Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking, and it affects up to 75% of the population. Which is odd when you think about it, because it’s one of the few skills you’re guaranteed to need at some point. On this episode we talk about how much speaking skills play into your success and financial wellbeing (think: job and college interviews) and we share our painful public speaking pitfalls and experiences. Then we talk about real, actionable techniques to help improve your skills, and where to go to put in those crucial public speaking hours. Lastly, we explore the workplace phenomenon where nobody wants to speak up to improve things, even though there’s a suggestion box...and an email...and an official go-between.
History Links:
https://visme.co/blog/amazing-leaders-who-once-had-crippling-stage-fright-and-how-they-overcame-
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/famous-celebrities-who-overcame-fear-speaking-dave-crane/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/01/03/to-communicate-well-listen-first/#4c2e532232a9
https://www.toastmasters.org/
Science Links:
https://www.psycom.net/glossophobia-fear-of-public-speaking
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smashing-the-brainblocks/201711/why-are-we-scared-public-speaking
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/enlightened-living/201412/why-we-care-about-what-other-people-think-us
https://hbr.org/2007/05/why-employees-are-afraid-to-speak https://www.powerofpositivity.com/sociologists-explain-8-ways-help-shy-person-come-shell/
America modeled itself after Rome, and now we’re driving off the same cliff. It all has to do with housing and property.
Joe has a housing story unlike any we’ve covered before. In the first half of this episode we talk about ancient Rome’s “Latifundia” or “Great Estates” and explore why Pliney the Elder blamed the destruction of Rome on senators and merchants who gobbled up all the land, turning an empire of “free peasants” or middle-class into starving renters. Late-stage Rome even had a socialist safety net that sounds eerily familiar. For workers living in the city who couldn’t afford rent, a government assistance program was started in Rome, called the Grain Dole.
After a brief primer on Roman history, we get to the meat of our episode today: the investment companies who are buying up all the starter homes in America. These aren’t the rental prope
For Biggest Losers who manage to shed the pounds, the battle should be over. But it’s not. In fact 98% of obese dieters gain the weight back, and today we’ll explain why.
Never meet your heroes…or so the old wisdom tells us. But which heroes? Celebrities? CEO’s? Mentors?
In part 2 we discuss rejection in dating. Specifically, how rejection has become a facet of the industry, and of incel culture.
In part 1 of this Rejection double-feature, we talk about Jia Jiang’s TED talk, and we ask ourselves; can we really become resilient to rejection.
Put up your dukes! Because today we’re talking about the science of fighting, how humans were evolution-built to bust heads, and a few practical time-honored tips to win a streetfight.
Cheerleaders, flight attendants, fitness instructors, models…what if we told you they’re smarter than the rest of us?
For one episode, Joe hijacks the show and tries to convince Todd to watch eagle “Nest Cams” on Youtube, and to revolt against robot pets like Pleo the Dinosaur and nursing home seals.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. But if that’s true then how do we purposely cultivate extensive, valuable connections?
They say opposites attract, but can they work together? How do you get the best results from an introvert and an extrovert? And what landmark, exactly, did Niccolò Machiavelle and Leonardo De Vinci team up to steal?
When a child or elderly patient receives a terminal diagnosis, should the family withhold it from them? Is knowledge of one’s death in advance a relief, or pure dread?
Revenge is a dish best served cold. But in today’s episode, we’ll ask if it should be served at all. How healthy are grudges? What do we risk by harboring them? And why did two Frenchmen decide to settle their grudge over Paris, in air balloons, with blunderbusses?
Whether you got it from critical parents, a lackluster salary, or a physical defect—Low Self-Esteem is a growing issue in America today, and a booming industry. But could a tiny shift in values hyper-charge your feelings of worth?
Local churches provide homeless outreach, school programs, and emergency aid. How much do Televangelists and Mega Churches give back to the public…?
Local churches provide homeless outreach, school programs, and emergency aid. How much do Televangelists and Mega Churches give back to the public…?
If you’re a tither then across denominations 10% of your annual income seems to be the standard for church donations. The Southern Baptist Convention, the Mormon Church, and the Catholic Link all say 10% off the top is just about right. Even the word ‘Tithe’ in Hebrew means 10% or “one tenth”. Baked into the word itself is the standard which churches think we should give. The tithe is also shockingly close to what Americans pay in taxes, apx 14%. So what do we get in return for our tithe? And why do the Mega Churches ask for so much more than 10%?
In our first half of the Mega Churches episode, we talk about a Washington University study that found the emotional secret sauce that kept Mega Church attendance high. Then we compare the “contagious” feeling the Mega Churchgoers experience to the slow, downhome experience of a local church. We’ll weed out the benefits of each, and put an economic value on the “peace of mind” provided by God’s house.
Does attending a Mega Church have the same psychological benefits of packing the pews at your local church? Would your 10% tithe be better spent on therapy? How much would we pay for the circus-and-concert feeling that a Sunday Mega Church gives us, if God wasn’t involved?
Links: https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comments/juqsig/i_stopped_paying_tithing_to_the_church_about_six/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/vaqtsm/to_be_on_my_church_leadership_i_am_required_to/
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/withheld-tithe-mormon-church-backlash-2022-3?op=1
https://religionnews.com/2020/12/23/why-i-stopped-tithing-to-the-lds-church/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html
https://www.christianpost.com/news/churchome-forced-employees-to-tithe-10-lawsuit.html
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/attending-religious-services-linked-to-longer-lives-study-shows
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/05/776270553/hidden-brain-does-going-to-church-improve-your-mental-health
https://medium.com/the-base-line/anxiety-among-the-church-26905d618933
Geniuses, creatives, and commoners can fall prey to alcoholism. But neuroscience may have found a uniting drive that pushes all mammals to pick up the bottle...a drive that writers have known about for decades.
Show Notes:
In 2018 The Atlantic published an article entitled A Landmark Study on the Origins of Alcoholism. For today’s episode we’ll dive into this study, and use it to start a conversation about how we perceive addiction in our society. Then we’ll use it as a lens to explore questions like; Does college drinking create alcoholics? Why are so many creative geniuses alcoholics? Why do scientists believe alcoholism has genetic links across all mammals? Am I an alcoholic? And does being an alcoholic make me fundamentally flawed?
We’ll also look at the dual image we share in America about alcoholics--the Troubled alcoholic vs the Good alcoholic--with interviews given by writer and recovered alcoholic, Stephen King.
History Links:
https://www.cracked.com/article_18786_the-5-most-inspiring-things-ever-accomplished-while-drunk.html
https://www.simplerecovery.com/stephen-kings-experience-with-alcoholism/
https://www.mamamia.com.au/stephen-king-books/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/21/stephen-king-shining-sequel-interview
Science Links:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/a-landmark-study-in-the-origins-of-alcoholism/563372/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alcoholic-cardiologist-prescribed-experimental-drug/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/21/stephen-king-shining-sequel-interview
How has subsisting on “easy meat” influenced America’s collective gut bacteria? And how do we break away from generations of bad eating habits?
On today’s episode we welcome special guest and food writer Amanda Sick, a health and wellness advocate who uses her platform to encourage healthier lifestyles. With her help we’ll dive into the history of American diets and our nation's obsession with meat. Starting off by tracking our cultural evolution from eating whatever flew past the early pioneer cabins, to eating whatever we drive past on our way home from work.
And if you think you’re guiltless when it comes to fast food, ask your kids, because we also talk about TikTok and its highly questionable relationship with Dunkin Donuts. Specifically highlighting how advertisers have shifted away from adult consumers to promoting directly to young people. Why have fast-food companies moved their ad dollars to social media platforms? Why are influencers accepting their money? And are teens actually listening to attractive peers telling them to eat doritos and donuts?
Finally, we’ll get into the fascinating connection between gut bacteria and the brain, and how our microbiome can influence our food cravings and mood. In doing so we’ll find the answer why America has never truly outgrown the "easy-mode" lifestyle. (Hint: it isn’t because we’re all fat and indulgent. The answer is more ‘weird-science’ than ‘willpower.’)
Follow Amanda Sick:
https://www.instagram.com/plant__creations/
https://www.instagram.com/amanda.sick/
https://tlavagabond.substack.com/p/from-junk-food-to-whole-food
Buy Amanda’s Ebook:
https://myplantcreations.com/e-book
Show Links:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230120-how-gut-bacteria-are-controlling-your-brain
https://www.fws.gov/story/whither-went-eskimo-curlew
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/meat-consumption-in-america.html
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-americanitis-180954739/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/how-americans-used-to-eat/371895/
https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Meat-American-Table-Transformation/dp/0801882419
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db322.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/digestive-diseases.htm
https://www.healthline.com/health/gerd/facts-statistics-infographic#Who-gets-GERD
https://www.science.org/content/article/meet-psychobiome-gut-bac
Has someone ever addressed a letter to you by accident? Todd experienced this when he opened a mysterious letter and found himself reading a heartfelt plea from a prisoner, asking his lady to forgive his long silence, and to take him back when he gets released. This letter spawned our topic today, about prison letters, forbidden love, and the disorder known as Hybristophilia.
Show Notes:
A few months back our show host, Todd, received a mysterious letter. A prisoner had accidentally used his address while trying to convince a woman on the outside to take him back after a long silence ‘in the hole’...and to accept him into her home when he gets released. Of course, this inspired us to make an entire episode about Prison Letters. We discuss why prisoners write the best love letters. How some prison letters are actually money-making scams in disguise. Why it can be a community service to write to prisoners. How prison love can turn deadly. How you can tell if you have Hybristophilia (love for someone who has done heinous crimes) and why it’s more common among women.
History Links:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/married-convicted-killer-death-row/story?id=33181075
https://thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2015/07/13-couples-who-fell-in-love-and-then-started-killing-people/
https://thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2018/05/richard-ramirez-the-night-stalker-serial-killer/
Science Links:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201310/passion-victim
https://www.businessinsider.com/a-surprising-look-at-the-average-serial-killer-2015-5
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/10/writing-to-prisoners-unlocks-more-than-you-would-think
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-18-mn-484-story.html
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2006/jun/15/love-letter-mail-scam-nets-ten-prisoners-221000-and-fed-time/
There is no Wizard of Oz we can petition to solve our woes. So why do we keep asking genius entrepreneurs to jury-rig our economy, healthcare, and travel?
Steve Jobs tried to cure his own cancer with fruit juice. Elon Musk lost more money than any human in history. Jeff Bezos is building a giant clock inside a hollowed-out mountain. Einstein slandered his wife in letters, Curie kept a vial of poisonous radium in her pocket, and Tesla talked to pigeons.
Geniuses are, by and large, genius at one very specific task, and pretty much “Meh” at everything else. In the old Greek there was no such thing as being a genius, instead you had a genius. It followed you around like an invisible guardian angel, a muse, or a devil. It helped you become great at your specialty and kind of left you alone in all other areas.
Our geniuses today are functionally no different than the old Greek artists, philosophers, and mathematicians. So why do we keep asking them to solve problems far outside their area of expertise? On today’s episode we discuss our cultural worship of genius CEOs and entrepreneurs, as well as a few science wizards from history. Then we hold them up to the candlelight, turn them around, examine their flaws, and ask ourselves: “Would you trust this man to solve world hunger?”
Links:
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/10-000-year-clock-being-built-under-mountain-owned-jeff-ncna851276
https://www.kpbs.org/news/news/economy/2023/01/12/elon-musk-has-lost-more-money-than-anyone-in-history-guinness-world-records-says
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-13015210
https://www.radiolab.org/podcast/180132-how-do-you-solve-problem-fritz-haber
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-educated-countries
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2021/10/05/the-forbes-philanthropy-score-2021-how-we-ranked-each-forbes-400-billionaire-based-on-their-giving/?sh=22a4c9d9457b
Ego can look like the solution to low self-esteem, but it’s a slippery slope that will leave you vulnerable in the long term. In this episode, science is providing us the climbing shoes to come back from the ego trap, and we’ll look at how the disgraced leader of a mega-church might have escaped his downward slide.
Show Notes:
In our era of Twitter influencers, news commentators, and Hollywood stars, it seems like ego is a hack to get ahead in life. Ego can get us the attention we want, and it can get us the money we need. And, if we’ve earned our position at work, having a big ego can feel completely justified.
In today’s episode we explore the difference between true self-esteem and ego. And we start by busting the myths that ego can get you whatever you want, that our ego can be reigned in when it gets out of hand, and that our friends will keep us humble when our ego starts to swell. We also look into the fiasco of the Mark Hill Church; a perfect example of what happens when one man’s ego dominates a community, and how that community conspired to deflate his ballooning ego, and expel him from his own congregation.
History Links:
The rise and fall of Mars Hill Church | The Seattle Times
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/11/houston-mark-driscoll-megachurch-meltdown/382487/
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/february/wounded-church-harvest-bible-chapel-elders-resign-mars-hill.html
https://www.wthrockmorton.com/2014/07/29/mark-driscoll-year-2000-we-live-in-a-completely-pussified-nation/
Science Links:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/07/07/the-bigger-the-ego-the-harder-the-fall-how-self-awareness-buffers-against-social-rejection/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/07/980720081130.htm
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ambigamy/201402/ego-ten-myths-you-ll-be-relieved-debunk
Why do immigrants start businesses at twice the rate of everyone else? What’s holding US-born citizens back? Well, a lot of things, it turns out…
13% of Americans owe crippling student loans. A third of us owe month-to-month credit card debt. 1 in 10 owe unpayable medical debt. In states willing to divulge arrest statistics, like Michigan, 1 in 10 have bench warrants out for minor offenses like traffic tickets. As a culture we’ve become so comfortable blaming debt on the individual, we overlook companies that are so predatory they’ll sue their own staff as a course of day-to-day business. Or lending institutions that target highschool graduates who haven’t had a chance to take college econ yet. In short, if you’re an American, you’ll have debt baggage at some point in your life.
Meanwhile, those immigrating to the US are twice as likely to start new businesses. They’re willing to start small with garage shops, mobile services like van-based construction, and online commerce, selling out of spare bedrooms. And they’re more likely to take a loan from their family rather than seek credit from a bank.
Today is about answering one question: who has the advantage when starting a new business? An American who speaks the language, knows how to deal with the banks, and understands the red tape in front of them? Or someone who arrives overseas with a suitcase, a blank financial slate, and a dream? The answer may not surprise you, but the reasons will make your jaw drop.
Links:
https://mlk50.com/2019/06/28/low-wage-workers-sued-for-unpaid-medical-bills-by-a-nonprofit-christian-hospital-that-employs-them/ ans-two-key-measures-financial-success-n1020291
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/two-great-financial-habits-we-can-learn-from-immigrants.html
https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/16/pf/college/arrested-student-loan-marshals/
https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/3uul1o0x/release/1
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/police-are-not-primarily-crime-fighters-according-data-2022-11-02/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/upshot/unrest-police-time-violent-crime.html
https://www.ktvu.com/news/tiburon-police-accused-of-racial-profiling-towns-black-owned-business-owners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQS3rycf8ow&ab_channel=KRON4
Vulnerability, anxiety, and depression. They can feel like flaws in your character, but they might secretly be your greatest evolutionary gift. And, if you’re Lincoln, they’re the master key for unlocking life’s problems.
Show Notes:
Is it really okay for men to cry? And if depression is so dangerous to our mental health, why does it occur in every human culture throughout history? Today’s episode is all about vulnerability and mental health. Specifically depression, anxiety, and vulnerability in leaders, and how great leaders use openness to inspire loyalty in the people around them.
We start the show by exploring Abraham Lincoln’s clinical depression, and we share his infamous Suicide Soliloque. Then we talk about the myths that pervade our culture about vulnerability. Myths like; vulnerability equals weakness, men shouldn’t show vulnerability, and depressed people should seek help while they’re depressed. (Spoiler: you should seek help when you’re still mentally strong enough to begin the process!)
We also touch on facts about depression as a function of the brain, and why depression may have given Lincoln a secret edge in his presidency.
History Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suicide%27s_Soliloquy
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/10/lincolns-great-depression/304247/
https://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln84.html
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4976127
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_sickness
http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/the-women/anne-rutledge/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/willie-and-tad-lincoln-get-the-measles
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/williedeath.htm
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4976127
Science Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0
https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-bosses-gain-by-being-vulnerable
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/depressions-evolutionary/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201206/depressive-realism
https://www.livescience.com/53269-science-of-manly-tears.html
https://www.goodtherapy.org/
https://adaa.org/
Crossing off goals and leaving old crappy jobs in the dust is so satisfying. So why do brilliant Connectors avoid that kind of reductive thinking?
The most “wait, what?” moment in history has to be when the battleship USS Texas flooded her own torpedo tubes to sink herself…partially. The ship’s captain purposely slanted the deck of the ship so the 14-inch guns could fire just a little bit farther, allowing them to shoot at the fleeing Nazis in occupied France for one more day. Inspired by this feat of creating options out of thin air, Todd and Joe started a discussion about reductive thinkers. While the rest of us find inner peace in paying off old debts, deleting old job numbers, and whittling our contact list down to our most supportive friends, there are extroverts out there who actually enjoy leaving doors open behind them. We call these people Connectors.
We also touch on all the reasons why being a good connector can be exhausting if you aren’t used to the cognitive load. And how Robin Dunbar’s Number - the primitive limitation built into our brains for how many people we can keep track of - might be holding us back from being the best connector we can be. We also talk about Errand Fatigue, Behavioral Autopilot, and why ‘Construal’ (looking at your role in the bigger life picture) might be the best professional motivator for creating more options than you close. It’s also easier to practice, professionally, than mastering Buddhism overnight.
History Links:
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/uss-texas-flooded-on-purpose/
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/uss-texas-d-day.html?firefox=1
https://www.history.com/news/d-day-hitler-germany-defenses-miscalculations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKklyvxw8QU&ab_channel=TheHistoryGuy%3AHistoryDeservestoBeRemembered
https://tinybuddha.com/blog/50-ways-to-open-your-world-to-new-possibilities/
Science Links:
https://www.livescience.com/2493-mind-limit-4.html
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/keeping-options-open_b_867907
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11370759_Decisions_and_revisions_The_affective_forecasting_of_changeable_outcomes
https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2003-05781-002
Who knew that stress could set the absolute limit on your leadership and earning potential? Well, Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew. And so do the researchers we’re discussing today.
Show Notes
Every image we have of the brave leader is of a leader under fire. We love movies like Patton and Independence Day and 12 Angry Men. We gravitate toward portrayals of hard-as-nails generals who lead from the front, and businessmen who refuse to blink in the face of financial ruin.
But what if I told you that your cortisol level, also known as stress level, determines your upward limit as a leader? What if I told you that training new leaders under fire actually makes them risk-averse? And what if I told you that, as a leader, you’re less able to empathize with your subordinates, according to science?
Join us in this episode as we explore the fundamental connection between stress management, leadership, and the most chill president who ever opened a day-spa...when he wasn’t winning wars or dodging torpedoes; Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
History Links:
https://www.soundingsonline.com/features/fdr-and-his-houseboat-the-log-of-the-larooco-1924-1926
https://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/miracles/gods-grace/franklin-d-roosevelts-healing-waters
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/curious-tale-extremely-jinxed-ship-uss-william-d-porter-dd-579.html
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/fdr-biography
https://www.history.com/topics/first-ladies/eleanor-roosevelt
https://fdr.blogs.archives.gov/2016/10/04/marguerite-missy-lehand-fdrs-right-hand-woman/
https://millercenter.org/president/fdroosevelt/life-before-the-presidency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt#Early_political_career_(1910%E2%80%931920)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Howe#Assistant_to_Roosevelt
Science Links
https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/08/26/do-your-testosterone-and-cortisol-levels-dictate-your-leadership-ability/#76a774657dbb
In an era of shameless self-promoting, how can practicing humility put us ahead of the narcissists at work?
After two humiliating and deadly bridge collapses, the engineers’ guild of Canada sought to rebuild their reputation and remind members to have some professional humility. Thus the Ritual Calling Of The Engineer was born - an indoctrination ceremony so steeped in symbolism and Illuminati vibes it feels like it was designed by a fantasy writer…because it was. On today’s episode, Todd and Joe take a peek at The Calling, The Oath, and The Iron Ring, and we judge for ourselves: is it worth wearing your humility on your hand if everyone else in the world is getting paid for narcissism and self-promotion?
We also look at the many gifts that come with having a healthy sense of humility. Why does having a “quiet ego” boost our self awareness so sharply? Why do humble people have better health in general? Can true humility take away our existential anxiety? And why do some psychologists refer to humility as “the soil in which happiness grows?”
Then, finally, we’ll define Master Behaviors (as identified by University of California, Davis) and talk about why humility in your school and job can boost mastery levels twice as fast as being merely diligent or curious.
History Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMQa5DAeEls&ab_channel=TodayIFoundOut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4DTMe0huXM&t=43s&ab_channel=BrickImmortar
https://www.structuremag.org/?p=19324
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_the_Calling_of_an_Engineer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4DTMe0huXM&ab_channel=BrickImmortar
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-bridge-disaster-feature
https://www.edn.com/1st-ritual-of-the-calling-of-an-engineer-is-held-may-1-1925/
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/rudyard-kipling-facts
Science Links:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261066206_A_Quiet_Ego_Quiets_Death_Anxiety_Humility_as_an_Existential_Anxiety_Buffer
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1041608020300686?via%3Dihub
https://academic.oup.com/book/34937/chapter-abstract/298548687?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Human beings will do literally anything for approval. In today’s episode, we explore the science of why, and we answer the biggest question about approval; would we join an evil organization to get it?
Show Notes:
We’re born seeking approval from our parents. We go through elementary school trying to get approval from our peers. And as teens we play stupid, dangerous games to win our friend’s approval.
Why do we need it? Where does the drive for approval come from? Are we hard-wired by evolution to impress our friends when we’re teenagers? On today’s episode we’ll answer these questions by exploring the behavioral science of approval, and we’ll talk about how far some people will go to get that all-important ‘upvote’ or ‘like’.
We’ll also look at the indoctrination system of a youth organization that weaponized peer approval; The Hitler Youth. And we’ll ask ourselves; how could anyone join an obviously evil organization?
History Links:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9bFYBQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA76&dq=hitler%2520youth%2520denouncing%2520parents&pg=PA76#v=onepage&q=hitler%2520youth%2520denouncing%2520parents&f=false
https://www.history.com/news/how-the-hitler-youth-turned-a-generation-of-kids-into-nazis
https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-6/joining-hitler-youth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfons_Heck
Science Links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5383211/
http://healthland.time.com/2010/06/17/the-brain-science-behind-why-we-care-what-others-think/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276317/
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/The-Science-of-Neglect-The-Persistent-Absence-of-Responsive-Care-Disrupts-the-Developing-Brain.pdf
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/1998/04/children-need-touching-and-attention-harvard-researchers-say/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/parenting/how-children-evolved-to-whine.html
Procrastination can cost you your job and your grades. But with our help, and a little help from science, we can show you how to beat procrastination...or utilize it as a secret weapon.
Show Notes:
Being a chronic procrastinator is like being bad at math. If you know it’s an issue, you tell yourself it’s just part of your personality, and you accept it. But today that all changes!
In this episode we expose the fundamental truth behind procrastination, and we explain how your brain goes to war with itself whenever you’re faced with a boring task. We also dig into Martin Luther King Jr’s speech to discuss the potential benefits of procrastination. And we offer you scientifically proven techniques to beat procrastination, fool your brain into enjoying tedious tasks, or even turn procrastination into a secret weapon.
How much of MLK’s famous speech was improvised? And how can you procrastinate your way into greatness? Listen to this episode to find out!
History Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/08/27/public-speaking-how-mlk-improvised-second-half-of-dream-speech/#4f4f0bcb5c5b
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/did-mlk-improvise-in-the-dream-speech/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ5sm7sWBOk
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/28/fifty-years-ago-a-day-to-remember-the-weather-on-the-day-of-the-mlk-dream-speech/
Science Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink:_The_Power_of_Thinking_Without_Thinking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxKhzgab2jw
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-wait-the-science-behind-procrastination
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html
Are ‘Reality Shifters’ secretly tapping into meditation? Lucid Dreaming? Physics? Or is this just a way for young girls to legitimize their sexy daydreams?
With hundreds of millions of views #realityshifting has started raising alarms in the psychology community. Insider, Washington Post, and Pub Med have been publishing articles about the booming TikTok trend of meditating your way into another reality. Or, as some posters claim, literally leaving this shitshow of a world, mentally, to inhabit the body of another person in another alternate universe. Usually involving cute boys, hot anime characters, or dating Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts.
With Todd’s extensive meditation experience and Joe’s background as a short fiction writer, hopefully we can untangle how much of this internet phenomenon is based on daydreaming, meditation, physics, or old-fashioned wishful thinking. Then we discuss the potential harm of having millions of young girls simultaneously “checking out” on reality, especially when there’s a world full of economic strife and political upheaval demanding our attention. Which, come to think of it, might be a better reason to mentally project ourselves into another universe…
Links:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34744401/
https://www.luciddreamsnews.com/intermediate/lucid-dreaming-vs-shifting
https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Jumping-Burt-Goldman-ebook/dp/B00CGLWRVG/ref=sr_1_1?camp=1789&creative=9325&keywords=quantum+jumping+burt+goldman&linkCode=ur2&linkId=588093915db68096191d1df39c8029df&qid=1676646943&sr=8-1
https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/y3z8vm/what-is-reality-shifting-and-why-is-it-taking-over-tiktok
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/shifting-draco-malfoy?lang=en
How much criticism should we accept from our partner? When do we really know the relationship is unsalvageable? And what gross stalker momento did Lady Caroline mail to Lord Byron?
Show Notes:
We’re all confident in our ability to spot dysfunction in relationships. That is, until we find ourselves pouring gasoline on our partner’s clothes on the front lawn. Maybe we’ve gotten too comfortable, and the ‘spark’ has gone out. Maybe our witty observations have strayed too far into criticism. Maybe we just want to fix the dysfunction before it gets out of hand.
In today’s episode we talk about dysfunctional relationships, and we bust the three myths that surround the subject; Dysfunctional people are easy to avoid. Dysfunctional relationships are easy to spot and get out of. And all dysfunctional relationships are doomed.
To ground us in the reality of dysfunction, we also take a look at a historic example of a world-class dysfunctional partnership; the explosive fling between the poet Lord Byron and his lover Lady Caroline Lamb. Then we explore the behavior science and family patterns that set us up for dysfunctional behavior, and we talk about the work and self-awareness involved in making a failing partnership work again.
History Links:
https://englishhistory.net/byron/lady-caroline-lamb/
Science Links:
https://brainfodder.org/facial-expression-contempt/
https://www.gottman.com/about/research/faq/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-a-biological-basis-for-the-7-year-itch/
https://online.king.edu/news/dysfunctional-families/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201302/the-familiarity-principle-attraction
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170518104015.htm
https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-magic-relationship-ratio-according-science/
Why do humans toss money at pets? Cavemen fed bones to wolf pups in exchange for protection. Whereas Gunther the dog was given Madonna’s mansion
The median American household spends over $1,400 per dog dog annually, and $900 on their cats. The median American income is $54,000 a year according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Which means for many pet owners, 2% of all earnings go back to their animals. …a number that’s closer to 50% if your name is Todd or Joe.
In this episode we’ll weigh the health benefits of pet ownership against the costs, and we’ll call into question the bargain that’s existed between dog and man for thousands of years. Are we getting our money’s worth? We’ll take cardiac health, emotional wellbeing, and daily hormone boosts into account. Then we’ll compare it to mega-wealthy animals like Taylor Swift’s influencer pets, Betty White’s pampered pooch Pontiac, and the wealthiest canine heir of all Gunther. A German Shepherd who’s inherited net worth is over $500 Million. Except there’s one catch to the Gunther story. The dog that every news station has agreed is the “Wealthiest Dog In The World” might be an elaborate fraud by an eccentric pharma tycoon. A fraud that involves bankrupted football teams, pornstars, truffle auctions, and rap albums featuring barking dogs.
What won’t we do for our pets?
History Links:
DUPES:
https://www.today.com/pets/dog-500-million-trust-sells-villa-once-owned-madonna-t239420
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1KEod5FLr4&ab_channel=CBSMiami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2ZOzR-_WBk&ab_channel=ABC7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FJtVlGZKqs&ab_channel=mashhouse
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/18/1056805293/dog-miami-mansion-madonna-real-estate
https://people.com/home/the-worlds-wealthiest-dog-gunther-vi-lists-his-miami-vacation-home-that-once-belonged-to-madonna-for-31-75-million/
REALITY:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmareynolds/2021/11/17/worlds-wealthiest-dog-is-selling-miami-estate-for-32-million/?sh=1181d3406356
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1999/01/13/rich-dog-s-tale-just-doesn-t-wag-true/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Mian
Science Links:
https://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/26/773531999/dog-people-live-longer-but-why
https://www.wired.com/2015/04/people-care-pets-humans/
The promise of artificial intelligence that can do all our menial paperwork has finally arrived. Is it worth the hype?
If you search for videos about ChatGPT on Youtube, you’ll get pages and pages of astonished-looking influencers with wide eyes, and bold headlines claiming that ChatGPT can make you a millionaire overnight. They also claim ChatGPT can diagnose your illnesses, answer your deepest life questions, and defend you in court. Pretty big claims for an artificial intelligence that was just released 6 weeks ago.
The reason why all these videos look the same, by the way, is because the Youtube algorithm favors videos with this exact template: a young(ish) human face looking wide-eyed and baffled expression, bold white or yellow titles, and a catchy headline. It took years for influencers to fine-tune this formula for a click-baity video. Whereas ChatGPT is already flooding Google with buzzy search-worthy articles, twitter blurbs, blogs, and ad copy, which is totally indistinguishable from a human writer. What an army of influencers cracked in five years, ChatGPT has cracked in a few weeks.
In short - ChatGPT is about to replace some jobs. On today’s episode Joe and Todd test the AI to its limits, and answer the big question: Which of our livelihoods are up on the digital chopping block?
Links:
https://beta.openai.com/overview
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/chatgpt-openai-artificial-intelligence-writing-ethics/672386/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHoWGNQRXb0&t=1611s&ab_channel=Greylock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr4yi9onykg&ab_channel=ABCNews
Criminals raising service dogs for war veterans - it’s a story of redemption on all sides. But is it a moral story?
The incarceration rates of people in poverty far exceed that of middle or high income earners. Both prison population statistics and outside studies support this. Meanwhile, the men and women who choose to serve in the military have historically come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This was never more evident than when the Vietnam draft was enacted, and young men in college were allowed to stay in school while poor teens were forced to the front lines.
On today’s episode we pose the following question: Is it fair of America to ask its impoverished citizens in prison to comfort its impoverished citizens returning from war, by raising PTSD dogs for them?
odd and Joe also talk about the severity of prisoner crimes, and who should be allowed to raise puppies instead of doing hard labor. Joe shares stories of volunteering at the local women’s prison, where the vast majority of incarcerations were for drug crimes. Drug crimes involving substances that were either legalized during their lockup (weed) or for drugs that were given to them by doctors during the opioid free-for-all that plagued Oregon.
Finally, we get into the nitty-gritty of service dog raising. What happens to the dogs who can’t make the cut and wash out of training? How much would it cost to buy a service dog without insurance? And how long does it take to turn one of these ‘good boys’ into a great companion?
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRu-8XC5VUE&ab_channel=RealStories
https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2022/06/29/43674879/oregon-needs-to-make-legislative-changes-to-tackle-its-opioid-misuse-audit-finds
https://www.boston.com/culture/animals/2014/11/15/what-happens-to-service-dogs-that-dont-complete-their-training/
https://www.integrityinc.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-get-a-service-dog/
https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=soc
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/military-enlistment.html
New studies show that meditation doesn’t always lead to self awareness. So what does?
Todd and Joe are hard at work writing the book for The Re-Engineered You. But during the research phase, Joe uncovered some interesting tidbits about self-awareness. Specifically research from PlosOne and BBC that regular meditation doesn’t guarantee self-awareness. In fact, too much “mindfulness exercise” can lead to negative ideation, dwelling, and depression. Meaning all that time on the yoga mat may be opening more than your third eye. You might be opening yourself up to extra stress…if you're not asking the right questions of yourself.
Furthermore, the true keys to self awareness aren’t necessarily found in being hyper-intelligent, either. Joe and Todd refer back to one of their earliest podcast subjects, William James Sidis, the smartest man in history. With a little extra digging into history, they compare his health condition (high blood pressure) to the medicine available within his lifetime to ask a very important question: Could hyper-intelligence save William? Or would a smidgeon of self-awareness have been enough to keep him alive past 40?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/mirror-test
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210202-how-mindfulness-can-blunt-your-feelings-and-spike-anxiety
https://www.amazon.com/Prodigy-Biography-William-Americas-Greatest/dp/0525244042
What is Helper’s High? And how did Goodwill use “Helper’s High” to get away with paying disabled workers 22 cents an hour in 2011?
What do moral panics, corrupt charities, and false sex-abuse accusations all have in common? They are all rooted in our fundamental human need to help each other. On this episode of The Re-Engineered You, Todd and Joe discuss all things charitable. We break down the science of why we get “high” from helping each other, and why it’s beneficial in the big picture of our species’ survival.
Then we get into our experiences with various charities, and discuss the types of high the volunteers get from the process of helping. We’ll talk about the cancer researchers that get a tiny fraction of the funding compared to “marketable cancers” like breast cancer and leukemia. And we’ll dive into the taxes of the Top 5 biggest charity organizations, and reveal the incomes of the CEOs. Which thrift store charities are secretly corrupt clothing companies? What 75-year-old law did Goodwill dig up to pay disabled workers “subminimum wages”? Tune in and find out.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/sep/17/blog-posting/dont-be-duped-bogus-audit-charitable-groups/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-advocacy-funding/many-deadly-common-cancers-get-little-charity-funding-idUSKCN1UJ2YB
https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror#:~:text=Mirror%20neurons%20are%20a%20type,else%20perform%20the%20same%20action
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/science-of-kindness.html
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/false-memory-syndrome-false-confessions-memories
Between human rights violations, economic damage, and displacement…is it worth it for any city to host a major event like the Olympics of FIFA?
In Part 2 of our examination of international sports, we’ll bust the old myth about why Salt Lake and Sochi bent over backwards to host the Olympics. Ideally, the host city gets a tourism boost that’ll make the economy flusher than a smart-toilet. Unfortunately, there’s a reason we use the term “myth” to describe this tourism boost. We also wrap up our discussion about the Qatar FIFA scandal, and speculate about the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing - which may turn out to be a human rights violation on just as incredible a scale, with the imprisoned Muslim Uighur population already being used for cheap labor in detention centers.
Finally, we wrap up this two-parter by revealing what you can do to make a difference in how FIFA and the International Olympic Committee select its host countries. Namely, how you can avoid buying their branded material, and instead support the athletes directly. In a way that will actually improve their lives.
History:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022?CMP=share_btn_tw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_controversies#:~:text=of%202%2C000%20buses%22.-,Cost,billion%20(US%24220%20billion).
https://www.cracked.com/article_24242_6-reasons-being-olympic-athlete-goddamn-nightmare.html
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1793593-how-qatar-won-the-right-to-host-the-2022-fifa-world-cup
https://people.howstuffworks.com/bread-circuses.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/politicspast/page/0,9067,892902,00.html
https://time.com/5764614/political-protests-olympics-ioc-ban/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/04/25/ioc-rule-50-olympics/
https://www.yahoo.com/now/once-again-the-olympics-are-being-used-to-obscure-human-rights-violations-will-the-ioc-finally-take-a-stand-194506078.html
https://www.cracked.com/article_19733_5-things-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about-olympics.html
https://www.cracked.com/article_19733_5-things-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about-olympics.html
Science:
https://www.vox.com/2015/1/30/7951103/sports-fan-psychology
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/how-much-do-olympians-make#:~:text=Based%20on%202018%20data%2C%20U.S.,and%20bronze%20medalists%20earned%20%2415%2C000.
The World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi admitted to hundreds of migrant deaths, building the Qatar Fifa stadiums. Is the thrill of a game worth their sacrifice?
The ‘Value Change’ is used in the best speeches in history, the best jokes in standup, and the best persuasive arguments. So…how do we steal it?
If you’re forced to fight for every penny it’s hard to feel grateful - even for your health. So today we’ll train ourselves to practice gratitude step-by-step, like it’s an olympic sport.
Pirates had health coverage, wage transparency, and fair voting within the company. What about your job?
Is it healthy to want to prank our kids? Our bosses? Or is there something fundamentally flawed with the brain of a serial prankster?
What forms of government-approved humiliation have actually changed people for the better? Have any? What about the war on drugs? Or making CEOs testify before congress?
How is it some people are utterly crushed by humiliation, whereas others use it like Miracle Growth for personal development?
Want to hear two self-made assholes heckle a union-busting video? Produced by the wealthiest store in the world, and shot by exhausted employees?
Successful millionaires keep a tight grip on their money, but an even tighter grip on their people.
Poor people fight over money, while successful people fight over talent. Who really wins in the end?
Parents are paying historic tuition rates, only to have their kids seduced by over-the-hill professors at rates that would make the dean blush.
CEOs make all the money in the world. Literally. So why can’t they pay employees a living wage? Or maybe even the Happiness Index…?
What golden ingredients go into making a high-power CEO? And how do we engineer that into ourselves and our children?
Armie Hammer was exposed as a manipulator of women, allegedly. But if he’d followed his family’s twisted example, he would have never gotten caught.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt put a stop to Corporate Stock Buybacks - believing it shameful for CEOs to cash-in while their companies shrank. So why allow them now?
Self-help books claim we can all become successful business owners. Could the world support that? Can we even support the CEOs we have now?
Our countdown of misconceptions concludes with Todd and Joe’s Top 10! AKA the cream of the misconception crop.
Knowledge doesn’t come from being right - it comes from being wrong and correcting it. And oh boy, were we wrong about these “facts”...
College doesn’t allow for Wikipedia to be used as an academic source. But anyone who edits Wiki (especially in the history or science pages) knows how exhaustively thorough their sources are checked. So on this episode of The Re-Engineered You, Joe and Todd skim Wikipedia’s List Of Common Misconceptions. Do twinkies really last forever? Was Napoleon Bonapart really so short? And how do black holes work if they don’t “suck” in matter?
Misconceptions are the lemons of worldly understanding. They don’t just leave a blank spot in your knowledge - they fill it with something wrong, so you don’t bother looking for the answer. Well, this week we’ll add some sugar and make lemonade.
History Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions
Susan Ahn Cuddy was the first Asian American woman in the Navy…then the first Gunnery Officer…then Codebreaker. If anyone epitomizes racial barrier-busting, it’s Susan.
What is “Doomer Culture”? Why do so many shooters visit Doomer websites? And could “Doomerism” explain why the vast majority of mass shooters are under 21?
Another protester was shot dead in Portland. This time, by someone who fits the textbook definition of Radicalized. When does it end?
Tucker Carlson and Bill Maher both argue that the other party is immoral. But what if the parties don’t share the same fundamental morals…?
The political killings have started in Portland. So maybe it’s time we ask if it’s really good for our personal wellbeing to align ourselves with Red or Blue.
Chess geniuses don’t sit at home reading about game theory. They immerse themselves in the culture. So why should we assume any sort of mastery would work differently?
It’s the wild-west of online learning! So why can’t Masterclass earn us academic credits? And why hasn’t the internet replaced traditional colleges yet?
History is full of couples who started out powerful and joined forces later. But what about couples who start humble then go on to conquer the world? Or, if not the world, maybe just their sphere of business?
Last year California expanded their Accessory Dwelling law, rewarding homeowners who build extra housing on-property. Meanwhile, Shawnee Kansas has banned roommates…
The Harlan coal strike of the 1930’s became the model for company oppression and American labor uprising. Except it keeps happening…and not all the miners were American.
Addiction affects the old and the young, the poor and wealthy. But why the smart? Why can’t creative people just…out-think their addiction?
Is there any psychological benefit to reading about assholes online and how they’ve ruined their relationships? Or is it just harmless amusement?
Covid has killed businesses, downtown areas are being abandoned, and shops are shutting their doors. So why is Todd starting a small business now? What does he know?
Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. But what if employers know you’re willing to work for cheap (or free) when it’s something you love?
Joe, a recently licensed Private Investigator, lost his father last month. So when the official cause of death came back purposely vague, he started asking questions.
Joe, a recently licensed Private Investigator, lost his father last month. So when the official cause of death came back purposely vague, he started asking questions.
America is called the hotbed of inventors and trailblazers. But even if you invent the next lightbulb, how likely is it to make you rich?
Is it ethical to train your husband like a puppy? To use treats and stimuli? Or to enter a new relationship with plans to fix the other person?
What if we haven’t found our purpose by 30? Or 50? What if we’re missing something fundamental about life’s purpose? Well, we have some fascinating stats about that…
Surely Netflix wouldn’t reduce the real Anna Delvey down to a “lazy girlboss revenge fantasy” - would they?
Scandalized sprinters, aging bicyclists, and Russian cheaters. What can we learn from Athletes who can’t let go of being seen as exceptional?
While news focuses on the next five minutes of the Russia-Ukraine war, we take a look at the total expected lifespan of an empire, and how Russia and America are already teetering.
The bombs are dropping and Joe has a bone to pick with Russia. Or, more accurately, he has insights about modern-day empires that are showing signs of collapse. Russia and its attempts to “cling to its children.” America and its love of celebrity chefs. The US prioritization of corporations owning land over its citizens owning land. All of these are pretty solid signs that an empire has overstayed its welcome and is ready to shrink or go bust. This, according to a very old book written by an award-winning imperialist during the collapse of an older, more successful empire. Great Britain.
Todd and Joe also talk about the human cost of the upcoming Ukraine invasion, and share their reactions to seeing the news on the 24th of February.
History Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6177860-the-fate-of-empires-and-search-for-survival
https://www.academia.edu/8413567/THE_FATE_OF_EMPIRES_and_SEARCH_FOR_SURVIVAL
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/world-reaction-invasion-ukraine
Healthy skepticism of authority is a good thing…until it’s not. So what makes this year different? Why should anti-vaxxers take a break from their Devil’s Advocate lifestyle now?
Is there something wrong with us for liking our stuff a little too much? And if we’re feeling cluttered, is there a painless way to part with our old junk?
What do nightmare dance moms, screaming soccer dads, and gossipy Hollywood parents all have in common? A chance to produce well-rounded, humble children…?
Why do we let bosses use stress as a motivational tool, and how do we stop them? France found the answer, and it isn’t pretty.
Managers are raising their rates, but how much money would it take to keep you locked into an abusive job? For 100k a year, would you be a Powerpoint punching bag?
Dreams of stardom, fame, wealth, and success...how do we know when we’re dreaming too big? Wouldn’t we be better off taking nice, safe jobs and keeping our dreams realistic?
Every year articles emerge touting one virtue as the pinnacle of all business virtues - trustworthiness. How do we square this with the success of shady companies like Facebook?
Did you know the movie Liar Liar was based on a real movement in Psychotherapy? Make a wish! Because today we want to know - what would happen if we never lied?
Every year articles emerge touting one virtue as the pinnacle of all business virtues - trustworthiness. How do we square this with the success of shady companies like Facebook?
Millennials have a median net worth of $15K, but the median price for a house has skyrocketed to $375k. But you know what’s free? Trash.
Our mothers told us generosity wins in the end. But mom didn’t have an entire internet’s worth of statistics, economics, and science to prove it, did she?
What is Charisma? A charming smile? A warm handshake? Being tall? Maybe functional charisma is more practical. Maybe it’s something we can master and use tactically.
What is Charisma? A charming smile? A warm handshake? Being tall? Maybe functional charisma is more practical. Maybe it’s something we can master and use tactically.
This week we bring you news on all your favorite past Re-Engineered episodes, including Granularity, Compassion Fatigue, and Love. You’re welcome!
News from the field of emotional intelligence keeps coming, along with more science and history to add to our favorite classic episodes.
The best thing about self-awareness, science, and history? It keeps growing! On this episode we revisit show classics, and top them off with bonus brain-stretching facts and news!
The Great Job Resignation is upon us! If you’re planning to take career risks, now might be the time. When everyone’s hiring, and gaps in employment history are par for the course.
Are long distance relationships a fool’s gamble? Are they for the desperate, or the unlucky in love? The statistics of how often they work and why, will shock you.
Humans can be cruel for practical reasons. Power. Money. Pecking-order. But how do we justify malicious acts when there’s no tangible reward? What if it’s just malice for malice’s sake.
If wealth is sexy, then why is it such a turn-off to date a penny-pincher? And how much money can coupon-cutting and leftovers really save in the end?
Life Coach. Spiritual Advisor. Financial Planner. These are very different professions, but unscrupulous Gurus pretend to be all three. So...how do we become Gurus?
How dangerous is it to follow a sage? Or a self-help guru? And did James Arthur Ray actually help his followers find inner power, right before he steamed them to death?
Riots are overtaking the streets, murderers are running unchecked, and gunshots are as common as fireworks...if you believe the evening news. So statistically, how bad is America, really?
Riots are overtaking the streets, murderers are running unchecked, and gunshots are as common as fireworks...if you believe the evening news. So statistically, how bad is America, really?
Both Monster and Indeed have career advice articles on how to separate Arrogance from Confidence. So today we ask, why not master both?
The cornerstone of stoicism is the reminder that we’re all mortal, and our time is limited. So how do we draw an optimistic lesson from ‘Memento Mori’?
Why are we evolved to be brave, especially if being too brave could get you pruned from the evolutionary tree? And who was the gritty ‘Mulan’ of the Revolutionary War?
Sherlock has his ‘Memory Palace’ and Mike Ross from Suits has his photographic memory. But what’s the real-life equivalent to these skills, and how do we get them?
As humans we need each other...desperately. Yet we can’t help rank each other, measure each other, and compare each other. Today we’ll dig into that instinct.
Last week a Burger King in Lincoln Nebraska became internet-famous when the entire staff walked out. Then it happened again, at a Hardees. And again at Wendys. What gives?
Are human minds capable of coping with social media? Political polarization, teen bullying, rising depression...no wonder our ability to ‘social network’ responsibly has come under question.
Are human minds capable of coping with social media? Political polarization, teen bullying, rising depression...no wonder our ability to ‘social network’ responsibly has come under question.
What can we pass on to our kids? What leaves a lasting effect, statistically? Money? Reputation? Reasoning skills…?
What can we pass on to our kids? What leaves a lasting effect, statistically? Money? Reputation? Reasoning skills…?
Did you grow up with a gaming console and a ton of games? A cellphone? Ever borrow your folks’ car? Well, so did Affluenza Kid. So what’s the difference between his entitlement and ours?
Is being “street smart” enough to earn a living these days? Or do you need a bachelor’s degree to not end up in an Amazon warehouse?
Migrant workers are dying by the thousands in Qatar to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. Is the thrill of a game worth their sacrifice? Are international sports in general?
Migrant workers are dying by the thousands in Qatar to prepare for the FIFA World Cup. Is the thrill of a game worth their sacrifice? Are international sports in general?
At best mentors get footnoted during award speeches. At worst they get forgotten. Yet 76% of professionals claim mentorship is vital to success.
We have self-driving cars and AI assistants smart enough to manage our schedules. So why is Errand Paralysis so persistent? Because businesses need you to feel fatigued, that’s why.
Are moral values given to us by our parents? Are they just arbitrary rules put on us by society? Or have morals “evolved” with us?
What type of encouragement really motivates us, negative encouragement or positive? And which political figure was so good at encouragement he was said to have “mobilized the english language and sent it into battle...”?
Studies consistently list humor as the number one trait for desirability and attractiveness, regardless of gender. So...how do we get funny?
Numbers make us numb. But how big does a death count have to get before our eyes glaze over? What’s the optimum number of victims to make us care?
Is it love we’re feeling, or is it lust? What’s the difference, chemically? More importantly, how long can love really last, and how do we keep it going into old age?
How do we push ourselves to start hustling? Vision boards? Goals? Motivational videos every morning? Well, we have some stats
What does the perfect corporate team look like? Is it all introverts? All Extroverts? Is it a team full of all-stars? Google found the answer...and it’s surprising.
When is the prime of our life? Is it when we’re our healthiest? Our strongest? Our best-looking? Is it when we’re financially secure?
We talk a lot about mega-success stories like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, but what about winners who measure success without using money as their yardstick?
Jim Rohn famously said “We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” - So how do we find the highest caliber people to fill those spots in our entourage?
Guilt, fear, and social obligation...these are the tools of the manipulator. So how do we spot skilled manipulators, and where do they hone their skills in the first place?
Jeff Bezos has stepped down as the CEO of Amazon! But what legacy will he leave behind? Or, more importantly, what precedence has his company set for wages in America?
Jeff Bezos has stepped down as the CEO of Amazon! But what legacy will he leave behind? Or, more importantly, what precedence has his company set for wages in America?
Todd and Joe have both stumbled through publishing in very different ways. Today they share horror stories about writing, and talk about the current state of publishing.
Precisely identifying our emotions can save our sanity and lessen heartbreak. So why, as adults, do we limit our emotional vocabulary to ‘fine’ or ‘meh’?
There’s a fine line between bragging and self-promoting. So how do we find that line? And how do we put it on our job resume’?
When is a relationship unsalvageable? When is it too toxic to survive? And how do you pull a dysfunctional relationship out of a nosedive?
We read celebrity tweets, watch celebrity interviews, and listen to celebrity podcasts. They’re our entertainment and our royalty. But should we look to them for our morals? Our politics?
Not everything has to be a competition...but maybe it should be. When creative people compete, everyone can win, and we’re going to explore how.
What’s the most important ingredient for making a good first impression? Is it body language? Is it the value you project? And will someone please tell us what to do with our hands?!
We all need to be tough in life. But how far can we take ‘tough’ before we’re just being mean? What about tough CEO’s? When do we get to blame them for bullying?
We can never really know how others see us. But with some awareness and the right tools, we can get pretty darn close. Today’s episode; Self Perception!
All great artists, creators, composers, and inventors have their obsession. But how far is too far? And how do we channel obsession into rewarding passion?
If you’re truly nice, then you’re treated like a doormat. And if you’re fake-nice, then it means you want something. So, are there any benefits at all to being nice in this life?
Making friends in college was easy. Lend someone your lecture notes, and you have an ally for life. So why is it so hard to make friends as adults? And how do we keep them?
What are people attracted to? What is ‘chemistry’ in attraction? Is it pheremonse? Is it fate? Is it magic? We’ll also cover studies that explore whether attractive people are naturally meaner than the rest of us.
Did you know that the quickest indicator of your socioeconomic class is in the way you speak? And that hiring managers will base your salary on your class? Yay classism!
Love makes us do crazy things. But exactly how far should we let our crush get out of hand? Sending chocolates and flowers? Unsolicited genital pictures? Trenchcoat, wig, and duct-tape...?
Quitting should be the easiest thing in the world. So why does it take us so long to throw in the towel? And is there an obvious sign when it’s time to bail?
It’s the final straw that breaks the camel’s back...but how many straws can we take? How bad is day-to-day stress for us, really, compared to the big life events?
Does it pay, financially, to be the bad guy? Do miserable people live longer? Because in today's political and business world, it sure seems like it.
Loyalty should be simple; I show an interest in your well-being, and you reciprocate. So why is it so hard to inspire loyalty at work? And why are companies clamoring for our “customer loyalty?”
Geniuses have it made, right? With enough smarts, you can just sit back, relax, and get paid to ponder life’s big problems. Well, as our research shows, that’s not exactly the case.
Did you know that Louisville had a prank “Purge” that lasted 10 hours? Or that the Truman Show became a real psychological delusion? Today we ask; how much does Hollywood shape our expectations, really?
Exercising, making wise financial decisions, and public speaking, will each improve your overall quality of life. But only public speaking is listed as a Top Fear across demographics. Why is that?
For Biggest Losers who manage to shed the pounds, the battle should be over. But it’s not. In fact 98% of obese dieters gain the weight back, and today we’ll explain why.
In part 2 we discuss rejection in dating. Specifically, how rejection has become a facet of the industry, and of incel culture.
In part 1 of this Rejection double-feature, we talk about Jia Jiang’s TED talk, and we ask ourselves; can we really become resilient to rejection.
Put up your dukes! Because today we’re talking about the science of fighting, how humans were evolution-built to bust heads, and a few practical time-honored tips to win a streetfight.
For one episode, Joe hijacks the show and tries to convince Todd to watch eagle “Nest Cams” on Youtube, and to revolt against robot pets like Pleo the Dinosaur and nursing home seals.
They say opposites attract, but can they work together? How do you get the best results from an introvert and an extrovert? And what landmark, exactly, did Niccolò Machiavelle and Leonardo De Vinci team up to steal?
Revenge is a dish best served cold. But in today’s episode, we’ll ask if it should be served at all. How healthy are grudges? What do we risk by harboring them? And why did two Frenchmen decide to settle their grudge over Paris, in air balloons, with blunderbusses?
Whether you got it from critical parents, a lackluster salary, or a physical defect—Low Self-Esteem is a growing issue in America today, and a booming industry. But could a tiny shift in values hyper-charge your feelings of worth?
Loneliness; It plays a massive role in our physical and mental health, and it has been called the epidemic of the social media age. But unlike depression and anxiety, we don’t have a way to recognize clinical loneliness...until we see the consequences.
Geniuses, creatives, and commoners can fall prey to alcoholism. But neuroscience may have found a uniting drive that pushes all mammals to pick up the bottle...a drive that writers have known about for decades.
Has someone ever addressed a letter to you by accident? Todd experienced this when he opened a mysterious letter and found himself reading a heartfelt plea from a prisoner, asking his lady to forgive his long silence, and to take him back when he gets released. This letter spawned our topic today, about prison letters, forbidden love, and the disorder known as Hybristophilia.
Ego can look like the solution to low self-esteem, but it’s a slippery slope that will leave you vulnerable in the long term. In this episode, science is providing us the climbing shoes to come back from the ego trap, and we’ll look at how the disgraced leader of a mega-church might have escaped his downward slide.
Join us in this episode as we explore the fundamental connection between stress management, leadership, and the most chill president who ever opened a day-spa...when he wasn’t winning wars or dodging torpedoes; Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Vulnerability, anxiety, and depression. They can feel like flaws in your character, but they might secretly be your greatest evolutionary gift. And, if you’re Lincoln, they’re the master key for unlocking life’s problems.
Human beings will do literally anything for approval. In today’s episode, we explore the science of why, and we answer the biggest question about approval; would we join an evil organization to get it?
Show Notes:
We’re born seeking approval from our parents. We go through elementary school trying to get approval from our peers. And as teens we play stupid, dangerous games to win our friend’s approval.
Why do we need it? Where does the drive for approval come from? Are we hard-wired by evolution to impress our friends when we’re teenagers? On today’s episode we’ll answer these questions by exploring the behavioral science of approval, and we’ll talk about how far some people will go to get that all-important ‘upvote’ or ‘like’.
We’ll also look at the indoctrination system of a youth organization that weaponized peer approval; The Hitler Youth. And we’ll ask ourselves; how could anyone join an obviously evil organization?
History Links:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9bFYBQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA76&dq=hitler%2520youth%2520denouncing%2520parents&pg=PA76#v=onepage&q=hitler%2520youth%2520denouncing%2520parents&f=false
https://www.history.com/news/how-the-hitler-youth-turned-a-generation-of-kids-into-nazis
https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-6/joining-hitler-youth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfons_Heck
Science Links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5383211/
http://healthland.time.com/2010/06/17/the-brain-science-behind-why-we-care-what-others-think/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276317/
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/The-Science-of-Neglect-The-Persistent-Absence-of-Responsive-Care-Disrupts-the-Developing-Brain.pdf
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/1998/04/children-need-touching-and-attention-harvard-researchers-say/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/parenting/how-children-evolved-to-whine.html
Procrastination can cost you your job and your grades. But with our help, and a little help from science, we can show you how to beat procrastination...or utilize it as a secret weapon.
Show Notes:
Being a chronic procrastinator is like being bad at math. If you know it’s an issue, you tell yourself it’s just part of your personality, and you accept it. But today that all changes!
In this episode we expose the fundamental truth behind procrastination, and we explain how your brain goes to war with itself whenever you’re faced with a boring task. We also dig into Martin Luther King Jr’s speech to discuss the potential benefits of procrastination. And we offer you scientifically proven techniques to beat procrastination, fool your brain into enjoying tedious tasks, or even turn procrastination into a secret weapon.
How much of MLK’s famous speech was improvised? And how can you procrastinate your way into greatness? Listen to this episode to find out!
History Links:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/08/27/public-speaking-how-mlk-improvised-second-half-of-dream-speech/#4f4f0bcb5c5b
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/did-mlk-improvise-in-the-dream-speech/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ5sm7sWBOk
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/28/fifty-years-ago-a-day-to-remember-the-weather-on-the-day-of-the-mlk-dream-speech/
Science Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink:_The_Power_of_Thinking_Without_Thinking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_paralysis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxKhzgab2jw
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-wait-the-science-behind-procrastination
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html
How much criticism should we accept from our partner? When do we really know the relationship is unsalvageable? And what gross stalker momento did Lady Caroline mail to Lord Byron?
Show Notes:
We’re all confident in our ability to spot dysfunction in relationships. That is, until we find ourselves pouring gasoline on our partner’s clothes on the front lawn. Maybe we’ve gotten too comfortable, and the ‘spark’ has gone out. Maybe our witty observations have strayed too far into criticism. Maybe we just want to fix the dysfunction before it gets out of hand.
In today’s episode we talk about dysfunctional relationships, and we bust the three myths that surround the subject; Dysfunctional people are easy to avoid. Dysfunctional relationships are easy to spot and get out of. And all dysfunctional relationships are doomed.
To ground us in the reality of dysfunction, we also take a look at a historic example of a world-class dysfunctional partnership; the explosive fling between the poet Lord Byron and his lover Lady Caroline Lamb. Then we explore the behavior science and family patterns that set us up for dysfunctional behavior, and we talk about the work and self-awareness involved in making a failing partnership work again.
History Links:
https://englishhistory.net/byron/lady-caroline-lamb/
Science Links:
https://brainfodder.org/facial-expression-contempt/
https://www.gottman.com/about/research/faq/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-a-biological-basis-for-the-7-year-itch/
https://online.king.edu/news/dysfunctional-families/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201302/the-familiarity-principle-attraction
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170518104015.htm
https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-magic-relationship-ratio-according-science/