Timbo Talks...: Recent Episodes
Tim Horan
Hello, I'm Timbo... a writer, photographer and podcaster from Sydney, Australia. This is my podcast where I talk about anything to do with work and play – nature, travel, politics, philosophy, social media, technology and psychology.
I love fungus. What other organism enables you to be a farmer with only a plastic bucket, spent coffee grounds, and leftover Weet-Bix? In this episode of 'Timbo Talks' I discuss why I have embraced the tasty fungal kingdom.
REFERENCES:
– Beyond the button: Exotic mushroom growing takes off in Australian sheds and suburbs
– Urban Kulture: The School of Fungal Wizardry (I recommend this workshop!)
– Photo of one of my recent mushroom kits
I recorded this episode of 'Timbo Talks' after I finished curating my 45-hour long 1990s Spotify playlist. The experience of carefully selecting 600+ songs impressed on me why I should not let algorithms curate my life.
SHOW NOTES:
— Timbo's 1990s Spotify Playlist (curated by me from the last great decade for music)
— Modern Media Is a DoS Attack on Your Free Will (interview with James Williams)
— App 'Happiness' Ratings from the Center for Human Technology
— Why the modern world is bad for your brain (includes marijuana reference)
Who is better placed to make an emotional connection with a human being – a logo or a person?
My vote is for person. Therefore, Thought Leadership – placing a human face on your business – makes sense to me. People want to connect with people!
Unfortunately, most Thought Leadership in business-to-business (B2B) marketing sounds like it comes from pushy robots. In my latest podcast episode, I share the ingredients of effective B2B Thought Leadership (and help you avoid the robot curse!)*
SHOW NOTES:
— The importance of emotion in B2B marketing (includes reference to research from Les Binet and Peter Field)
— 2020 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study
*This podcast episode was inspired by a talk I gave on Tuesday, 16 March 2021, entitled 'How thought leadership influences your customer ecosystem' as part of Digivizer's 'Building B2B Sales Pipeline Through Digital' webinar.
Lone wolves – people who prefer to act alone – are often accused of selfishness and self-promotion. I wolfsplain in my new podcast episode why this is plain wrong.
SHOW NOTES
— The serial killer tree I refer to at the start of my episode
— The beneficial effect wolves have on their environment
Motivation is not what it's cracked up to be. Especially for a self-confessed lazy person like myself. Curiosity is a lot more potent and it will take you much further. More in my new podcast episode.
SHOW NOTES
— My detailed account of my long-ass walk along Stockton Beach
— Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
“When you have a creative mind, you are never bored.” My podcast guest, Oscar Venhuis dropped that gem in our conversation. Oscar is the CEO of EQ Lab in Hong Kong and he is deeply interested in “extending the intelligence” of organizations. Oscar and I talk about the great mystery that is creativity. We also discuss how organizations fool themselves when they claim to build diversity while pursuing consensus above all else.
Show Notes
– Arne Dietrich, the Professor of Psychology at the American University of Beirut (referenced by Oscar during our discussion)
– Oscar Venhuis on LinkedIn
– EQ Lab (one of Oscar’s many interesting pursuits)
– My previous podcast episode about why it is difficult to hire creative people
Creative people are hard to hire because the hiring process struggles to identify them. If your responsibility is to hire creative people, you are probably excluding imaginative individuals from the interview process. You likely do so unconsciously. If you are conscious of what you do, please click away now. For those who have not fled in disgust, this podcast episode is just for you! It's time to get honest about the challenge of recruiting talent.
I would love to live in a world where we retire the whole idea of Blue vs Red. The eternal battle between primary colors is a tired concept that’s as dull and unhealthy as the Cola Wars of the 1980s. Fortunately, I have a new idea which I generously share with listeners of my new podcast episode.
SHOW NOTES
The green cicada I photographed on the day of this episode:
https://twitter.com/TimboHoran/status/1324902019426000896
Press release for the study that finds over 80 percent of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency:
https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2020/study-finds-over-80-percent-of-covid19-patients-have-vitamin-d-deficiency
Can you manage your life to be risk free? The narrative around coronavirus has convinced many of us we can.
In my new podcast episode, I question whether that is a mentally healthy belief to hold onto. No matter how careful we are, sometimes shit happens.
I fly solo in this week's episode to share my feelings about the 'experts' in the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. I also discuss the much better doco, My Octopus Teacher and recollect my own memorable encounter with an octopus.
SHOW NOTES
— The Social Dilemma, the Netflix documentary about the impact of social networking:
https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81254224
— An introduction to B.F. Skinner's 'Operant Conditioning' work:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
— Douglas Rushkoff, author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age:
https://rushkoff.com/
— My Octopus Teacher, the Netflix documentary about the unusual friendship between a filmmaker and an octopus:
https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81045007
— A written account of my teachable moment with an octopus:
https://timhoran.com/2018/02/20/a-cure-for-boredom/
Kayleigh Nicole Grant joins me in this week's episode to discuss what creating her dream life means and the healing power of the ocean.
If you are frustrated with your career, do not lose heart – dream big like Kayleigh, get frothy and tune into our discussion.
SHOW NOTES
– Kayleigh Nicole Grant (@mermaid_kayleigh) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mermaid_kayleigh
– Kaimana Ocean Safari:
https://www.kaimanaoceansafari.com
– Kaimana Ocean Safari (@kaimanaoceansafari) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaimanaoceansafari
– The great white shark encounter Kayleigh had with her friend Ocean Ramsey and their colleagues: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46909353
– Seafood Watch (if you live in the U.S.): https://www.seafoodwatch.org
– Sustainable Seafood Guide (if you live in Australia): https://goodfish.org.au
KAYLEIGH'S HUSBAND and ACCOMPLISHED PHOTOGRAPHER
– Cam Grant (@camgrantphotography) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camgrantphotography/
– Cam Grant Photography:
https://www.camgrantphoto.com
This is a fun discussion. I relive the better parts of my childhood with my friend and colleague, Phid McAwesome. We go deep on the alluring power of nostalgia and classic video games. Also, Phid makes a shock confession about the 90s sitcom, 'Friends.'
SHOW NOTES
— High Score, the Netflix docuseries on the history of classic video games: https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81019087
— Mark Schaefer's article on nostalgia marketing: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-nostalgia-marketing-next-big-idea-your-company-mark-schaefer/
— The character from Street Fighter II that I refer to as that "green monster" is called Blanka. Apologies to fight game fans and sensitive monsters everywhere: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanka
— Phid McAwesome on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhidMcAwesome
— Phid McAwesome on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/phidmcawesome
— The goto.game weekly show Phid co-hosts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJS4q9ci0OCJ0kmomYI9_kw
— goto.game, Phid's day (and night-time) gig: https://goto.game/
— Phid's food adventure Instagram account he runs with Charis, his partner: https://www.instagram.com/mcawesomekai/
Why do we find it so hard to say what we mean? My work colleague, Ryan Stott and I try to get to the bottom of why we struggle to communicate.
Have you ever had an argument with someone, and they randomly say, "I think you're about to say something really important, you should turn the microphone on"? Well that is exactly what Anita did during our disagreement about power. I complied with her wish. So, here is my latest, impromptu podcast that asks the question, “Is it okay to exercise power over others?”
It is a terrible crime to keep a podcast microphone confined in a box and locked up in the garage. So, today I renounce my criminal ways and restart my podcast on what I intend to be a weekly schedule. I fly solo in this episode and talk about where I think ideas can be found. Hint: not on a Zoom call.
I’m back with a fresh podcast! This year is almost over, so I wanted to talk with Anita about how 2019 felt and if 2020 will be better.
Well… we ended up in a completely different place. Anita quickly brushed aside the year in review, and she interviewed me about my day job in social media.
Discover why I think there is a better term than ‘ghost-writer’ (essentially my job). Plus, if you’re a high-flying executive, I give away some ‘magic dust’ to lift your executive social media game.
Show Notes * My rules to create good social media posts * The 'real' Tim Horan on LinkedIn (not the footballer) * Anita on Instagram * Anita on Facebook
Anita and I chat about her recent solo trip to Sri Lanka. Her laid-back travelogue slowly becomes a horror story about dodgy holiday destinations promoted by Booking.com and TripAdvisor.
Show Notes
- Anita on Facebook
- Anita on Instagram
- Anita's eBooks – Plastic Girl and Is This Me?
Anita and I stay light and fluffy for our second conversation. We discuss swimming alongside giant sharks, battling with digital arseholes, and we ask the question – are people the mere playthings of enormous super organisms?
Show Notes
- With my daughter at a pro shark rally (you can see us in the middle of this pic with her home-made banner SAVE THE SHARK, STOP THE CULL)
- Divers swim with a big beautiful shark off Hawaii
- A creative and admirable approach to helping sharks and people
- Anita's popular response to the criticism she received from vegans
- That book – The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History
- Anita on Facebook
- Anita on Instagram
- Anita's eBooks – Plastic Girl and Is This Me?
And because we make mistakes
- At 40:15, when Anita referenced the Bondi riots, she meant to say Cronulla riots.
Some of my best conversations are with my wife, Anita AKA Plastic Girl, in our kitchen… so we’ve turned one of our little chats into a podcast. We talk about social media, dead whales, plastic pollution, supermarkets possibly crushed by Amazon, and why I think climate change is overrated. More fun than it sounds!
Show Notes
- Anita's viral image of her plastic waste.
- Anita's undercover mission to the recycling plant.
- Anita on Facebook.
- Anita on Instagram.
- Anita's Blog.
- Anita's eBooks – Plastic Girl and Is This Me?
Bonus Content
- Werner Herzog's Internet Doco (referenced by Anita).
- Some sobering facts on the proliferation of plastic.