Aiming For The Moon: Recent Episodes
Aiming For The Moon
We interview interesting people from a teenage perspective. Join us as we have fascinating discussions with successful authors, entrepreneurs, scientists, etc. (Oh, and adventurers!)
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With the development of artificial intelligence on the rise, we are at a crossroads. How will we continue our innovations and regulations of this new technology? But, this is more than a technological question. As my guest, Verity Harding states, “AI needs you.”
In this episode, I sit down with Verity Harding to discuss her book, AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI’s Future and Save Our Own.
How we apply AI is a multi-disciplinary issue. We need everyone, from tech people to teachers, to students, to nurses and doctors, and to everyone else.
Topics:
- Why AI Needs Everyone
- Technology's Shadow Self
- The Socio-Technical Approach to AI
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?
Bio:
One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, Verity Harding is director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and founder of Formation Advisory, a consultancy firm that advises on the future of technology and society. She worked for many years as Global Head of Policy for Google DeepMind and as a political adviser to Britain’s deputy prime minister.
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What's the meaning of life? Why is there pain and suffering? How do you balance justice and love? These "accursed questions" have haunted humanity for centuries. Fyodor Dostoevsky sought to answer these questions through his characters' lives. His answers are prophetic for our time.
In this episode, I sit down with Northwestern University professor of Russian literature Gary Saul Morson. We discuss what Dostoevsky reveals about developing intellectual honesty, how to deal with suffering and brokenness, as well as his arguments for and against God.
His latest book, Wonder Confronts Certainty: Russian Writers on the Timeless Questions and Why Their Answers Matter, sets the stage for this interview sets the stage for this interview.
Topics:
- The "Accursed Questions" of Russian Literature
- Dostoevsky's Intellectual Honesty with Faith
- Battle-Testing Worldviews through Fiction
- The Dangers of Abstracting Individuals
- Notes from Underground: Human Freedom vs Determinism
- The Core of Ethics: Human Surprisingness
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?
Bio:
Gary Saul Morson is Lawrence B. Dumas Professor of the Arts and Humanities and Professor of Russian Literature at Northwestern University. His 21 authored or edited volumes and 300 shorter publications have examined major Russian writers, the philosophy of time, the role of quotations in culture, great aphorisms, and the ultimate questions about life taken seriously in Russian literature. His classes on Russian writers in translation have enrolled over 500 students, and he is the recipient of numerous teaching and research awards. Morson writes regularly for numerous national publications, including The New York Review of Books, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, First Things, Mosaic, and several others. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995
Prof. Morson on the best Dostoevsky translations:
“The best translations of Dostoevsky are by Constance Garnett or revisions of Garnett. For Notes from Underground, use Garnett revised by Ralph Matlaw; for The Brothers Karamazov, Garnett revised by Susan McReynolds; and for The Possessed (Demons)be sure to use the Modern Library version of the Garnett translation with appendixes containing versions of a chapter he was not allowed to publish.”
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As we enter a world of artificial intelligence, the question of what should be automated looms before us. Models need clear, objective metrics to train on. But, can jobs really be distilled to data points? In her book, The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World, Prof. Allison Pugh asserts many jobs have a relational component that can’t be caught in the metrics. In this episode, Prof. Pugh warns that devaluing connective labor leads to automation that overlooks the core issues and leaves us more isolated.
Topics:
- Connective Labor
- Undervaluation of Connective Labor
- Automation of Connective Labor
- Role of Data in Education
- Educational Inequality and Standardized Testing
- Artificial Intelligence and Relationships
- Growing Demand for Connection
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?
Bio:
Allison Pugh is a Research Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University, and the author of four books, most recently The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World (Princeton 2024). The 2024-5 Vice President of the American Sociological Association, Pugh was faculty at the University of Virginia for 17 years before moving to Hopkins this summer. She is a former journalist, and her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New Republic, and other outlets. She served as a US diplomat in Honduras, cofounded a charter school in Oakland, waited on tables at the US Tennis Open, packed salmon roe in Alaska, and was an intern at Ms. Magazine.
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When we think of history of books, we often neglect the people who created them. We think of history as a figment of facts, connected together by time and advances in technology. But sometimes we overlook the humanity, the souls, the fingerprints in the ink-stained margins of long-forgotten tomes. In this episode, I sit down with Oxford's Prof. Adam Smyth to discuss his The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives. How a book was made tells us about the people who created it, as well as what the culture valued about books. The way a book was formed changes how we interact with it.
Topics:
- Humanizing the history of the book - the forgotten lives of the book-makers
- The book - a blend of prose and production
- How culture influenced the design of books
- How hand-printing influences your view of writing
- Do you think the abstract nature and accessibility of text have changed how we view it?
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?
Bio:
Adam Smyth is professor of English literature and the history of the book at Balliol College, University of Oxford. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and the TLS. He also runs the 39 Steps Press, a small printing press, which he keeps in a barn in Oxfordshire, England.
Affiliate book links: (Support the show by buying through these links :D)
- The Book-Maker: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives
- Books of impact: Short stories of Borges
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For the past few centuries, we have philosophically operated under Newtonian physics where questions of experience and of the soul were seen as subjective, with no connection to the numerical certainty of science. However, then came quantum physics.
In his new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science Through Faith, classicist Dr. Spencer Klavan retells the history of science and highlights the philosophical implications of each era. He argues that quantum mechanics, with its exploration of uncertainty and consciousness, has not only returned physics to the question of the soul. But, also, has provided an incredible argument for the Genesis account of creation.You may recognize Dr. Klavan from his appearance in episode 104 - Modern Problems, Ancient Solutions - Applying the Wisdom of the Classics to the Cultural Conflicts of Today
Topics:
- The purpose of this book
- Music ofthe Spheres & the Medieval View ofthe world - the World as Beauty + Order
- Philosophical implications of "ghost in the machine" philosophy
- AI and the mechanical view of the universe
- Genesis, Consciousness, and Quantum Mechanics
- Worldviews and Science
- A clash of cultures: Scientism and Skepticism in America
- Confusing spiritual truths and scientific truths
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Dr. Spencer Klavan is an associate editor at the Claremont Review of Books and a podcaster on the great works of the West. Dr. Klavan is a scholar, writer, and podcast host of Young Heretics, with a lifelong devotion to the great works and principles of the West. After studying Greek and Latin at Yale University as an undergrad, he spent five years at Oxford University completing his doctorate in ancient Greek literature. Check out his latest book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science Through Faith.
Resources mentioned:
- Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science Through Faith
- Books of impact:
- In high school: Bible
- During grad school: Owen Barfield'sPoetic Diction and Saving Appearances
- Since his last appearance: Thomas Traherne's Centuries of Meditations
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A multifaceted understanding of wisdom is essential for a functioning society. Only with this broad understanding can we humbly dialogue with those who disagree with us and piece by piece build a culture of conversation. In this episode, I sit down with geneticist and physician Dr. Francis Collins to discuss his latest book, The Road to Wisdom. Dr. Collins argues that we must return to the four core sources of judgment and clear thinking: truth, science, faith, and trust.
A Quick Note:
Aiming for the Moon has a diverse audience. I strongly believe that developing your perspective comes from speaking with people who you both agree with and disagree with. Iron sharpens iron. That’s why this podcast is a platform that hosts interesting and successful people from a variety of worldviews. Gen. Z has the opportunity to trailblaze a culture of conversation. So, **let’s go.
Topic:**
- Four Anchors of Knowledge: Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust
- Cynicism and Nihilism in Public Discourse
- The Importance of Humility in Dialogue
- "How has being attacked by those 'on your side?' changed how you communicate?"
- Harmonizing Faith and Science
- Iron sharpens Iron: How going outside your bubble helps expand your perspective
- Navigating Polarized Issues in a Multicultural Society
- Practical Steps: So, how should we then live?
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Dr. Francis S. Collins is a physician and geneticist. His groundbreaking work has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis, among other diseases. In 1993 he was appointed director of the international Human Genome Project, which successfully sequenced all 3 billion letters of our DNA. He went on to serve three Presidents as the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
Resources mentioned:
- The Road to Wisdom
- Taylor's Substack: The Dangers of Abstracting Individuals in a Divided Society
- Ep. 80. The Perception of Political Polarization and How to Fix It: Dr. Chris Bail
- The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt
- Books of impact:
- Bible
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- The Constitution of Knowledgeby Jonathan Rauch
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
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In his book, The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers, award-winning journalist Eric Weiner describes how to live well. He argues that our technologically advanced societies have mistaken knowledge for wisdom. In this episode, we discuss how philosophy affects our every action, whether we recognize it or not. Philosophy allows us to make sense of our lives, to find our place in world, and to see the beauty within it. Listen in to this wonderful conversation about this overlooked art.
Topics:
- Our Wisdom-hungry Society - Mistaking Knowledge for Wisdom.
- How Philosophy Teaches Us How to Live
- The Philosophy of the Modern World
- The Metaverse and Plato
- The Hidden Influence of Philosophy on Our Daily Lives
- Happiness - Ancient Greeks vs Us
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Eric Weiner is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. His books include The Geography of Bliss, The Geography of Genius, Man Seeks God,and The Socrates Express. His latest book, Ben & Me, will be published by Avid Reader Press in June 2024. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Eric is a former foreign correspondent for NPR, and reporter for The New York Times. He is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, BBC Travel, and AFAR, among other publications. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area.
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Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
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The Internet has become an integral part of our world. It connects all kinds of technologies from sports streaming to stock trading to selfie posting. But, in the grand history of technology, it’s not all that old.
How did the Internet become so expansive in so little time? There are two major components in the rise of the Internet. 1) The creation of modular networking that allowed for fast growth. 2) The culture of self-governance and collaboration that fueled the early innovators. In this episode, Harvard's Prof. Jonathan Zittrain explains the impact of these two components as well as the shifting future of Internet governance.
Topics:
- Origins of the Internet - How the Internet Expanded so Rapidly
- The Early Internet
- Generative Technology - What is it?
- Early Regulation and Innovation - the Internet Wild West
- "Is this lack of regulation the current model of the Internet? Should it be?"
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Jonathan Zittrain is the George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He directs the Harvard Law School Library and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
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A rich understanding of history allows us to recognize patterns and the possible trajectory of the present. But sometimes, this analysis provides sobering prophecies. In this episode, renowned classicist and military historian, Dr. Victor Davis Hanson discusses his 2024 book, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation. In it, he outlines the common factors in the downfalls of great civilizations. And soberingly, he proposes that America aligns with many of these patterns.
A Quick Note as this episode deals with contemporary politics:
Aiming for the Moon has a diverse audience. I strongly believe that developing your own perspective comes from speaking with people who you both agree with and disagree with. Iron sharpens iron. That’s why this podcast is a platform that hosts interesting and successful people from a variety of worldviews. Gen. Z has the opportunity to trailblaze a culture of conversation. So, let’s go.
Topics:
- Patterns of Civilization Decline and Why We Should Care
- Human Nature and Historical Progress - Why aren't we getting better?
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and chairs the Working Group on the Role of Military History in Contemporary Conflict. He is an American scholar of ancient and modern warfare and has been a commentator on contemporary politics for various media outlets. He is a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno, and the annual Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Visiting Fellow in History at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush and was a recipient of the Bradley Prize in 2008. Hanson is also a farmer and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. The author of numerous books, his most recent are The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won (2017), The Case for Trump(2019), and The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America (2021). His latest book, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, was published in May 2024.
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“Authenticity” has become an economic token on social media. And, not in a metaphorical way. This has led to people becoming brands. The so-called “influencer” is an icon of an industry not yet recognized or respected by society at large.
This new industry is composed of a digital labor force whose livelihoods are at the whims of all-powerful, ever-changing algorithms. In this episode, Dr. Emily Hund, the author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media(Princeton University Press, 2023**), explains the rise of this new economy and why it should be recognized and legitimized by the public.
Topics:
* How didthis “branded” culture develop?
* What is an “influencer?”
* The Narrative of Self-sufficiency: Are you really self-sufficient if you are an influencer?
* "Authenticity" on Social Media - is it really authentic?
* Legitimizing the "Influencer Industry"
* "What books have had an impact on you?"
* "What advice do you have for teenagers**?"
Bio:
Emily Hund, PhD, is the author of the book, The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media (Princeton University Press, 2023). She writes, speaks, and consults on topics related to influencers, the reshaping of cultural industries, and the digital labor force. Early in her career, she worked as a magazine writer and social media editor, and earned degrees in journalism and sociology from Penn State University.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
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Throughout the 21st century, mistrust in our societal institutions has become commonplace. Regardless of your political leanings, we’ve become skeptical and suspicious of the governmental, educational, and religious institutions meant to support and protect us. How did this happen? What should we do about it? Perhaps, this mistrust is the very catalyst for reform? In today's episode, Prof. Ethan Zuckerman dissects this phenomena.
Topics:
- The rise of institutional mistrust
- Is influencer culture a response to mistrusting institutions?
- How to transform institutions
- Social media and worldview differences
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Prof. Ethan Zuckerman is an associate professor of public policy, communication and information at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, a research group that is studying and building alternatives to the existing commercial internet. Prof. Zuckerman is the author of two books: Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them and Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection, both published through W.W. Norton. He is also the co-founder of global blogging community Global Voices and works with social change nonprofit organizations around the world. He is an alumnus of the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, the MIT Media Lab and Comparative Media Studies at MIT, Geekcorps, and Tripod.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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University of San Diego Fletcher Jones professor of applied mathematics, Dr. Satyan Devadoss, questions whether mathematics should be learned merely for the sake of utility and efficiency. Throughout high school, we are taught mathematics because it is useful in STEM fields. It is for the sake of new technologies that you learn about percentages, Pythagoras, and polynomials. But perhaps, by turning math into merely a science, we have missed its poetry. As Dr. Devadoss discusses in his book, Mage Merlin’s Unsolved Math Mysteries, the beauty of mathematics is not its technological use, but its ability to expand our imaginations and discover the world beyond the limits of the material.
Topics:
- Modern Math Education - Skill over Discovery
- The Loss of Wonder in Modern Math Education
- Joy in Solving Unsolved Math Problems
- Rediscovering the Beauty of Mathematics
- How STEM studies Became Separated from the Humanities and why it matters
- Exploring Education and Interconnectiveness
- Complexity and Value of Different Disciplines
- The Value of Analog vs Digital - "Learning to be Human again"
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Dr. Satyan Devadoss is the Fletcher Jones professor of applied mathematics at the University of San Diego. Before this, he was professor at Williams for nearly 15 years, and has held visiting positions at Ohio State, Harvey Mudd, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. He is a fellow of the American Mathematical Society, and recipient of two national teaching awards, with his thoughts appearing in venues such as NPR, the Times of London, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. His most recent book is Mage Merlin’s Unsolved Math Mysteries (MIT/Penguin), and his other adventures can be explored here: https://satyandevadoss.org/
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
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Dr. Annie Duke is a former professional poker player, an author, speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space. She is the author of the national bestseller, Thinking in Bets, and, the topic of today’s interview, 2022’s Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away. “Quitting’s for the weak” reverberates through today’s culture. Of course, quitting just because something is hard is not a good idea. However, we don’t tend to evaluate whether what we spend our time on is worth “buckling down” for. We highlight the journey, not the destination when it’s really the destination that we should be focused on.
In our last episode (116), with Dr. Adam Alter, we mentioned Dr. Angela Duckworth’s Grit and Dr. Annie Duke’s Quit. Having already dived into Dr. Duckworth’s work with her in episode 21, I wanted to hear what might initially seem like a conflicting view.
Topics:
- Is quitting a counterargument ora compliment to grit?
- Strategies for assessing when to quit
- "Explore and exploit" mindset: how does that connect to quit and grit?
- How to apply exploring/exploiting seasons in life
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:Annie loves to dive deep into decision-making under uncertainty. Her latest obsession is on the topic of quitting. In particular, she is on a mission to rehabilitate the term and get people to be proud of walking away from things.
Annie is an author, speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space, as well as Special Partner focused on Decision Science at First Round Capital Partners, a seed stage venture fund. Annie’s latest book, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, was released in 2022 from Portfolio, a Penguin Random House imprint. Her previous book, Thinking in Bets, is a national bestseller. As a former professional poker player, she has won more than $4 million in tournament poker. During her career, Annie won a World Series of Poker bracelet and is the only woman to have won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the NBC National Poker Heads-Up Championship. She retired from the game in 2012. Prior to becoming a professional poker player, Annie was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship to study Cognitive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2023 Annie completed her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at UPenn.
Annie is the co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a non-profit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education. She is a member of the National Board of After-School All-Stars and the Board of Directors of the Franklin Institute.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
In this episode, professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the Robert Stansky Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellow, Dr. Adam Alter, returns to the podcast. Today, we’ll discuss his new book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most.
Whether you’ve had a great year, a downright awful year or a lukewarm, we’re-making-it year, the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 bring a mental fresh start. And, with it, new resolutions and the bitter memory of some of last year’s failed resolutions.
Rather than avoiding these memories of stuckness, I want to confront this universal experience.
Last time we heard from Dr. Alter in episode 18, he discussed his New York Times bestselling book, Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.
Topics:
- Feeling stuck is universal. But, why do we not talk about it?
- Consequences of avoiding discussing stuckness
- Time is linear; life is not: breaking out of your constant progress expectations
- Becoming unstuck
- The Explore v.s. Exploit mindset - what are they?
- Deciding when to explore and when to exploit
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Bio:
Adam Alter is a Professor of Marketing and Psychology at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the New York Times bestselling author of Drunk Tank Pink, a book about the forces that shape how we think, feel, and behave, Irresistible, a book about the rise of tech addiction and what we should do about it, and Anatomy of a Breakthrough, a book that presents a roadmap for getting unstuck on the path to breakthroughs.
Alter was recently included in the Poets and Quants “40 Most Outstanding Business School Professors under 40 in the World,” and has written for the New York Times, New Yorker, Wired, Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among other publications. He has shared his ideas at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and with dozens of companies around the world.
Alter received his Bachelor of Science (Honors Class 1, University Medal) in Psychology from the University of New South Wales and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton University, where he held the Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Honorific Dissertation Fellowship and a Fellowship in the Woodrow Wilson Society of Scholars.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
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In this episode, USA Today bestselling author, Noelle Salazar, returns to the pod to discuss her second book, Angels of the Resistance. Longtime listeners might recall our previous chat with Ms. Salazar in episode 24 way back in 2020.
In today’s conversation, Ms. Salazar recounts the inspiration for her Angels of the Resistance as well as how her writing process has evolved and matured since her first book, Flight Girls. She also offers advice to aspiring writers before we jump into the purpose of fiction and its impact on us. How does writing and reading about perspectives other than our own change our view of the world around us?
For those interested in checking out Ms. Salazar’s book:
Angles of the Resistance depicts a fascinating but hard part of women’s roles in the resistance against the German occupation of Europe during WWII. It contains some sensitive scenes that might be triggering to some members of the audience. It is a read recommended for a more mature readership.
Topics:
- Inspiration forAngels of the Resistance
- Balance of fact and fiction in Angels of the Resistance
- Plot process: pantser (no outline) or plotter (extensive outlining)?
- Evolution of Ms. Salazar's writing process
- Balance of storytelling and research in realistic fiction
- The importance of fiction--How fiction inspires and encourages and stretches us
- Writing advice to aspiring authors
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Noelle Salazar was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where she's been a Navy recruit, a medical assistant, an NFL cheerleader, and always a storyteller. As a novelist, she has done extensive research into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, interviewing vets and visiting the training facility—now a museum dedicated to the WASP—in Sweetwater, Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found dodging raindrops and daydreaming of her next book. Noelle lives in Bothell, Washington with her family.
Her debut, The Flight Girls, was a USA Today and international bestseller. Angels of the Resistanceis her second novel. Her third book, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily, is now on sale.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
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In our culture, perfectionism is considered a valiant weakness. And, it is worn as a badge of honor. Saying that you are a perfectionist implies that you are constantly working to better yourself and your project. You unrelentingly strive for the best possible result. You work so hard that it might require others to step in and say, “This is good enough.” It’s a valuable vice in the workspace.
Or…so we thought.
According to psychologist and leading expert on perfectionism, Dr. Thomas Curran, perfectionism is more a culturally accelerated poison than its shiny exterior lets on. Whether we like it or not, we will all stumble, fall, and fail at some point in our lives. To deal with this reality **requires breaking out of the “perfection trap.”
Topics:**
- Defining "perfectionism" and its poisonous nature
- How Western cultures amplify perfectionism
- Origins of perfectionism
- Perfectionism as a worldview
- Dealing with questions of worth and identity as a perfectionist
- How to escape the "perfection trap"
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Dr. Thomas Curran is a professor of psychology at the London School of Economics and author of a landmark study that the BBC hailed as “the first to compare perfectionism across generations.” His TED talk on perfectionism has received more than three million views. His research has been featured in media ranging from the Harvard Business Review to New Scientist to CNN and he has appeared on numerous television and radio programs. He is the author of The Perfection Trap.Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
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Have you ever wondered if the ancient tales of legendary creatures might have a hint of scientific truth? Professor Adrienne Mayor, a renowned historian and folklorist, takes us on a riveting journey to uncover the possible inspirations for these mythical beasts.
But the adventure doesn't stop there. We venture further down the rabbit hole, examining how the tales we tell today predict the future we create tomorrow.
Topics:
- The scientific basis of legendary creatures
- Repeating motifs in folklore beasts
- How fiction influences future technologies
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Adrienne Mayor’s books include The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology, and The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities (all Princeton). She is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University.
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Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
What if the very structure of American politics is threatening democracy itself? Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Dr. Jake Grumbach, author of "Laboratories Against Democracy", as we uncover the collision between national political parties and state-level governments in the United States. Learn how technology, changes in media, and fundraising have contributed to this unique situation, and understand the increasing importance of state governments in shaping the policies that affect our lives.
We'll also dive into the impact of nationalization on states like Wisconsin and Michigan, and explore the relationship between ordinary citizens and their local governments. Dr. Grumbach shares insights on the role of technology and media in transforming the political landscape, and the emergence of labor unions as a platform for collaboration across demographic lines. Furthermore, we discuss valuable advice for Gen Z on how to navigate this complex world of politics, emphasizing the importance of focusing on policy change over individual successes, and understanding the long-term nature of political involvement. Don't miss this enlightening episode that will leave you with a deeper understanding of the current state of American democracy.
Topics:
- National vs state politics in America
- The nationalization of state politics and why this is a problem
- Creating political change as a young person
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Professor Grumbach's research focuses on the political economy of the United States. He is particularly interested in public policy, American federalism, racial and economic inequality, campaign finance, and statistical methods. His book, Laboratories against Democracy, investigates the causes and consequences of the nationalization of state politics since the 1970s. Additional recent projects investigate labor unions, election law, and money in politics. Professor Grumbach teaches courses in statistics for the social sciences and in state and local politics.
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
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How do we truly know what we know? Are we relying on the right sources of knowledge in our lives? Join us in this thought-provoking episode with our special guest, philosopher, and author, Dr. Esther Lightcap Meek, as we tackle these fascinating questions and unravel the complex nature of knowing.
Together, we'll explore the concept of subsidiary-focal integration, which proposes that our understanding of reality hinges on our ability to interpret clues and make meaningful connections. Dr. Meek walks us through real-life examples from sports, music, and reading to demonstrate how this approach can expand our perception of the world around us. We'll also discuss the impact of social media on mental health, particularly among teenage girls, and delve into the idea of the 'loving gaze of the other' as a tool for self-discovery.
Tune in for this enlightening conversation and walk away with valuable insights that could change the way you view yourself and your relationship with knowledge. We'll also share practical advice for teenagers on exploring their philosophical questions and navigating the complex world of college life. Don't miss this opportunity to challenge your understanding of reality and transform your perspective on what it means to truly know something!
Topics:
- Philosophical Questions and Knowing
- The Importance of Indwelling Knowledge
- Philosophy, Mental Health, and Social Media
- Philosophy for Teenagers
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Esther Lightcap Meek (BA Cedarville College; MA Western Kentucky University; PhD Temple University) is Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Geneva College, in Western Pennsylvania. She is also Senior Scholar with the Seattle School for Theology and Psychology, a Fujimura Institute Scholar, an Associate Fellow with the Kirby Laing Center for Public Theology, and a member of the Polanyi Society. Meek’s books include Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (Brazos, 2003); Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology (Cascade, 2011); A Little Manual for Knowing (Cascade, 2014); and Contact With Reality: Michael Polanyi’s Realism and Why It Matters (Cascade, 2017). Her forthcoming book is Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity (Cascade, 2023).
An author and public speaker, Meek develops and offers everyday philosophizing that matters to all of us. Her website is www.estherlightcapmeek.com. Follow her on Facebook (estherlightcapmeek), Instagram (estherlightcapmeek), and Twitter (esther_l_meek). Esther lives in Steubenville, Ohio.
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
What hidden truths can an artist's perspective reveal about our world? And how can beauty often emerge from the depths of brokenness? Join us as we dive into a captivating conversation with renowned artist Makoto Fujimura, delving into the significance of art in capturing the essence of who we are.
We also ponder the role of art in providing hope during bleak and uncertain times, drawing inspiration from artists like Frangelico, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis who created masterpieces amid darkness. Makoto shares his insights on the concept of Kintsugi, a powerful reminder brokenness often proceeds beauty. Together, we examine how cultivating creativity and remaining fully present in the moment roots us to our true purpose. Don't miss this fascinating episode that will challenge your perceptions and uncover the deeper magic surrounding us in art and faith.
Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist whose work has been featured in galleries and museums around the world, including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library in California, the Tikotin Museum in Israel, the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and the C3M North Bund Art Museum in Shanghai, China. His process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of the New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” Fujimura is the author of 4 books, Refractions, Culture Care, Silence and Beauty, and Art+Faith: A Theology of Making. Fujimura is the recipient of the 2023 Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life as well as the American Academy of Religion’s 2014 “Religion and the Arts” award. From 2003 to 2009, Fujimura served as a Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts. He has also received notable recognition as a speaker, with one address selected by NPR as among the 200 “Best Commencement Addresses Ever” and by CNN as one of the top 16 “Greatest commencement speeches of all time” and is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees from Belhaven University, Biola University, Cairn University, and Roanoke College.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
On this podcast, we strive to connect fascinating and successful people to the next generation. But today, I’d like to change it up a bit and, in partnership with the Rise initiative, highlight some of the fascinating and successful people of my generation.
Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve been talking with winners of the Rise Challenge from various years. For the finale of this trilogy, I’ll be speaking with Tony Wang. For his Rise project, Tony developed an AI tool to address pharmaceutical monopolization.
Rise is a program that finds promising young people and provides "opportunity for life as they work to serve others." An initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Rise is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent.
Topics:
- How Tony tackled the monopolization of healthcare research by addressing anti-biotic resistance
- The process: How did you build this?
- How to break down large projects into manageable pieces
- What is the future of this project?
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for other young people?"
Tony Wang is a Chinese-American advocate living in the United States. Tony hopes to democratize medical research and create equality in healthcare, especially by addressing AI bias. For his Rise project, Tony developed an AI tool to address pharmaceutical monopolization, for which he was named an International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) Finalist. Tony hopes to create sustainable, ethical AI systems to fight for marginalized groups, especially racial minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
On this podcast, we strive to connect fascinating and successful people to the next generation. But today and throughout March, I’d like to change it up a bit and, in partnership with the Rise initiative, highlight some of the fascinating and successful people of my generation.
Throughout this month, I’ll be talking with three of the winners of the Rise Challenge from various years. For part two of this trilogy, I’ll be speaking with Rishabh "Rishi" Ambavanekar. For his Rise project, he built a low-cost, brain-computer interface (BCI) to help stroke victims communicate via translation of their inner dialogue.
Rise is a program that finds promising young people and provides "opportunity for life as they work to serve others." An initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Rise is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent.
Topics:
- How overcoming OCD and dad's TIA inspired Rishi to build an inner speech translator for stroke victims
- How to research and learn material outside your comfort zone
- How to deal with the "dauntingness" of new topics
- Utilizing “inner speech” to build brain-computer interface (BCI)
- The future of his project
- Advice to other young innovators tackling intimidating projects
- "What books and media have inspired you?"
- "What advice do you have for other young people?"
Rishi Ambavanekar is an inventor and scientist from the US. After overcoming OCD, he grew passionate about neuroscience. Upon learning about his father’s transient ischemic attack (TIA), he decided to focus on supporting stroke recovery. For his Rise project, he built a low-cost, brain-computer interface (BCI) to help stroke victims communicate via translation of their inner dialogue. Rishi is also proud to be named a 2022 ISEF finalist, FTC innovation award semifinalist, and an avid app developer. In the future, he plans to pursue a PH.D. and start a business.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
On this podcast, we strive to connect fascinating and successful people to the next generation. But today and throughout March, I’d like to change it up a bit and, in partnership with the Rise initiative, highlight some of the fascinating and successful people of my generation. Throughout this month, I’ll be talking with three of the winners of the Rise Challenge from various years. To begin this trilogy, I’ll be speaking with Hawi ‘Annette’ Odhiamno in honor of international women’s day. For her Rise project, she built on an existing project, designing a prototype for a water system to support farming in Kenya.
Rise is a program that finds promising young people and provides opportunity for life as they work to serve others. An initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Rise is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent.
Topics:
- Hawi’s project: creating sustainable agriculture for farmers in Kenya
- How to learn material outside of your comfort zone
- How Hawi created an instruction manual in both English and Swahili
- The future of her project
- "What skills did you gain?"
- How to balance projects and high school
- Hawi's advice to other young innovators
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
From Kenya, Hawi works at the intersection of technology and agriculture. For her Rise project, she built on an existing project, designing a prototype for a water system to support farming in Kenya. Her model uses only recycled materials, and she has involved farmers themselves in its design. She also created instruction booklets for the rural farmers in both English and Swahili (for accessibility). In the future, she hopes to study International Relations and Chinese to create sustainable relations within countries in East Africa.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
In this interview, I’ll be talking with Prof. Andrew Pettegree who co-authored The Library: A Fragile History with Arthur Der Weduwen.
What I first thought was a self-explanatory symbol of scholarly righteousness I soon learned was an icon of the individual against the institution, a battleground of the “enlightened” elite and the “plebian” people, and a habitual testament of man’s inborn desire to affect the world. And, these are just a few of the themes. Like all histories, the story of the library reveals not only the technologies and techniques that have brought us to our modern understanding of book collecting but also the human vices and virtues that have powered this progression.
But, one question looms - do we still need public libraries in a digital world?
Topics:
- Origin of public libraries
- Preservation of classics
- History of censorship in the library
- Havepublic libraries really affected society?
- The future of libraries in an online world
- A bibliophile's guide to organizing a library
- What books have had an impact on you?
- What advice do you have for teenagers?
Andrew Pettegree, FBA is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews and Director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue (an online bibliography of all books published in the first two centuries after the invention of print). He is the author of fifteen books in the fields of Reformation history and the history of communication including Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion (Cambridge University Press, 2005), The Book in the Renaissance (Yale University Press, 2010), The Invention of News (Yale University Press, 2014), Brand Luther (Penguin, 2015), The Bookshop of the World. Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age (Yale University Press, 2019) and The Library: A Fragile History, co-authored with Arthur der Weduwen, was published by Profile in 2021.
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Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
As a high school student, in the next few years, I’ll make some major life decisions about where I’ll go to college and whether I’ll riddle myself with decades of student debt. How will I make the best decision? My guest today, Dr. Maria Konnikova, had a similar question about her own life. How do you assess a situation and decide the best option for yourself? And, if Fate pulls a fast one on you, how do you react accordingly? In search of answers to these questions, Dr. Konnikova, a journalist and Ph.D. in psychology, tackled the game that best simulates our constant decision-making in life. And what is that game? It might surprise you. It’s poker. For her NYT bestselling 2020 book, The Biggest Bluff, Dr. Konnikova took a deep dive into poker and ended up becoming an international poker champion and winner of over $300,000 in tournament earnings. In this episode of Aiming for the Moon, we’ll discuss what this taught her about decision-making and how we can apply these skills to our own lives.
Topics -
- Why poker?
- Games of complete information vs games of incomplete information and how they simulate life
- Life skills gleaned from poker
- The process of decision-making vs the result of the decision
- What is the biggest bluff?
- What books have had an impact on you?
- What advice do you have for teenagers?
Dr. Maria Konnikova is the author of Mastermind and The Confidence Game. She is a regular contributing writer for The New Yorker, and has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, Slate, The New Republic, The Paris Review, The Wall Street Journal, Salon, The Boston Globe, Scientific American, Wired,and Smithsonian, among many other publications. Her writing has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Excellence in Science Journalism Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. While researching The Biggest Bluff, Maria became an international poker champion and the winner of over $300,000 in tournament earnings. Maria also hosts the podcast The Grift from Panoply Media and is currently a visiting fellow at NYU’s School of Journalism. Her podcasting work earned her a National Magazine Award nomination in 2019. Maria graduated from Harvard University and received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University.
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Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
Having developed the Internet and connected the world to our fingertips, we tend to think of ourselves as enlightened beings very different from our medieval or ancient counterparts and with very separate problems. Are our modern problems really just modern problems? Or, are they just prevailing issues repackaged for our modern sensibilities? And, if so, how can classics help us address these “modern" problems? And, why are these issues so superficially discussed throughout the culture and Western church? What can we do to deepen these conversations? Dr. Spencer Klavan and I tackle these and other questions in this first episode of 2023 and the first episode of season 4 of the podcast.
Topics:
- The lack of depth in Western culture
- The trickling down of philosophy
- How classics are relevant to today
- Why haven't we fixed anything yet?
- Shallowness in Western Church
- Dr. Spencer Klavan's recommended reading list
- "What books have had an impact on you?"
- "What advice do you have for teenagers?"
Dr. Spencer Klavan is an associate editor at the Claremont Review of Books and a podcaster on the great works of the West. You can check out his book, How to Save the West, which is available to pre-order now, and his podcast, Young Heretics.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
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In this episode, I sit down with teenage author, Suzette Sheft (full bio below). We discuss the story behind her debut book, Running for Shelter: A True Story, which is a novelization of her grandmother's survival in a Nazi-conquered Europe. We also cover how her father's passing motivated her to finish her story and catalog her family history as well as her advice to other young authors.
Topics -
- What is the book about?
- How did not knowing that she was Jewish affect your grandmother's experience of the Holocaust?
- How her father's passing motivated her to finish her book
- Balancing high school and other projects- using breaks and the school schedule to your advantage
- Getting published - the process
- What books have had an impact on you?
- What advice do you have for other teenagers and young people?
Suzette Sheft is a 16-year-old student at the Horace Mann School in New York City. She lives in Manhattan with her mother, twin brother, and two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys writing, reading, running, volunteering, and spending time with her family. She won a Scholastic Silver Key for an excerpt of Running for Shelter, her debut novel. The book is dedicated to her late father who inspired her to write and share her family’s story.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
Two decades ago, Dr. Richard Florida (full bio below) coined the term "Creative Class" when he identified a unique group of people who used their knowledge and expertise and creativity to generate income (i.e. tech innovators, musicians, bloggers, etc.). His work has shaped the thinking of modern economics and social sciences. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Florida to discuss who this class is as well as how the pandemic shifted the world even more into the creative economy.
Topics-
- The Creative Class
- Who are they?
- What do they do?
- Where do they live?
- Hubs of the creative class
- Did the pandemic flatten the world by increasing the normalcy of online interaction?
- What books have had an impact on you?
- What advice do you have for teenagers?
Dr. Richard Florida is a researcher and professor, serving as University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Schack School of Real Estate
He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global best sellers, including the award-winning The Rise of the Creative Class and his most recent book, The New Urban Crisis. He is co-founder of CityLab, the leading publication devoted to cities and urbanism.
He is an entrepreneur, as founder of the Creative Class Group which works closely with companies and governments worldwide.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6
One of the most anticipated technologies of the future is AI. What will it be? What will it do? How will we react? But, before we can anticipate sentiency, which we will discuss in this episode, we must train AI to do its jobs. However, that requires properly organized data sets, a new topic in the town square. If AI is to imitate the data it is given, how do we determine what data to give it? This is a looming question in the fog of the future as the data we train AI with today creates our relationship with this unknown tech tomorrow and, in many ways, shapes the future we will soon inherit. Join me as I examine this with my friend, Sarah Newman (Full bio below). (Check out my 100th episode special with Sarah Newman here)
Topics-
- Data Sets and Data Nutrition - Why and How the data of today shapes the future of AI tomorrow
- AI and Sentiencey- Will it happen?
- Artificial General Intelligence
- What is it?
- The current state of AGI
- The future of AGI
- Value Alignment - Before we give AI our values, we must determine what our values are
- Universal values - Are there such things?
- Ultimate purpose - Does man have an ultimate purpose?
- What books have had an impact on you?
- What advice do you have for teenagers?
Sarah Newman is Director of Art & Education at metaLAB at Harvard, at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Working at the intersection of research and art, her work engages with technology’s role in human experience, and interrelations between complex systems. In addition to her art practice, she is also an educator, and leads creative workshops to address interdisciplinary research problems. Her research in artificial intelligence and related technologies investigates how emerging technologies embed and mirror historical social and ethical challenges. Newman is Co-Founder of the Data Nutrition Project, which designs tools and practices for responsible AI development. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Newman's work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Rome, and London, and she has held artist residencies in Germany, Sweden, and Italy. Newman has previously been an AI Grant Fellow, a Harvard Assembly Fellow, a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, a Fellow at the Royal Society of Art, a Rockefeller AI Bellagio Resident, an artist-in-residence at Northeastern School of Law, and a grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts; with the Data Nutrition Project, she was awarded the 2022 Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanity.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
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In honor of the 100th episode, I am interviewed by guest host, Sarah Newman (full bio below)!
Sarah Newman is Director of Art & Education at metaLAB at Harvard, at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Working at the intersection of research and art, her work engages with technology’s role in human experience, and interrelations between complex systems. In addition to her art practice, she is also an educator, and leads creative workshops to address interdisciplinary research problems. Her research in artificial intelligence and related technologies investigates how emerging technologies embed and mirror historical social and ethical challenges. Newman is Co-Founder of the Data Nutrition Project, which designs tools and practices for responsible AI development. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Imaging Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Newman's work has been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Rome, and London, and she has held artist residencies in Germany, Sweden, and Italy. Newman has previously been an AI Grant Fellow, a Harvard Assembly Fellow, a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, a Fellow at the Royal Society of Art, a Rockefeller AI Bellagio Resident, an artist-in-residence at Northeastern School of Law, and a grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts; with the Data Nutrition Project, she was awarded the 2022 Ars Electronica Award for Digital Humanity.
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Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
For centuries, we have been stuck in the matrix of "The Mindest," the need for ever-exponential, economic growth. Sucked into the "game" of capitalism, we have toiled for monetary benefits always searching to double, triple, and quadruple the GDP. But, beneath every socio-economic structure is our perception of human nature. For us to understand the world and escape "The Mindset," we must know what human nature really is. These questions and many more are discussed in this interview with Dr. Douglas Rushkoff (full bio below). The basis of this interview, Dr. Rushkoff's latest book, Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires,released September 9th, 2022.
Topics:
- What is "The Mindset?"
- What is human nature and how does wealth change us?
- The origins of "The Mindset"
- The mythologies of America and their effect on our perspective
- How to fight "The Mindset" and make the world a better place
- Transitioning from an "exponential" economy to a "regenerative" economy
- Promoting freedom in our products
- What books have had an impact on Dr. Rushkoff?
- What advice does Dr. Rushkoff have for teenagers?
Dr. Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include the brand-new Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks and the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool. His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.
Socials! -
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube:
In this episode, I talk to NYT bestselling author, Ryan Holiday (full bio below), about the disciplined life. His latest book, Discipline is Destiny, comes out September 27 (2022).
Topics:
- The Three Types of Discipline
- The Purpose of Discipline
- Why should we have self-control?
- Why to define a Primary Focus
- How to structure skill-building around assignments
- Practical habits for a disciplined day
- What books have had an impact on Ryan Holiday
- Ryan Holiday's advice for teenagers
When Ryan Holiday was 19 years old, he dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power. Mr. Holiday had a successful marketing career at American Apparel and went on to found a creative agency called Brass Check, which has advised clients like Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as many prominent bestselling authors, including Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins and Tim Ferriss. He is the author of ten books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Conspiracy and Stillness is the Key which have sold more than 2 million copies in thirty languages and has a following among NFL coaches, world-class athletes, TV personalities, political leaders, and others around the world. Mr. Holiday spends much of his time on a ranch outside Austin, Texas where he does his writing and work in between raising cattle, donkeys, and goats.
Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
Ethical hacking is essential in the tech world as it exposes the holes and bugs in systems before bad people can exploit them. This same mindset can be applied to the legal system in order to prevent "black hat" hackers from exploiting loopholes. In this episode, Dr. Bruce Schneier (full bio below) explains this philosophy and the steps to apply it.
Topics:
- What are public-interest technologists?
- Hacking the legal system
- Practical hacking
- The Big Tech monopoly
- Survialence Capitalism
- What can the next generation do?
- What books have had an impact on Dr. Schneier
- What advice Dr. Schneier has for teenagers
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security
technologist, called a "security guru" by the Economist. He is the
New York Times best-selling author of 14 books -- including Click
Here to Kill Everybody -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays,
and academic papers. His influential newsletter Crypto-Gram and blog
Schneier on Security are read by over 250,000 people. Schneier is a
fellow at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society at
Harvard University, a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard
Kennedy School, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
and AccessNow, and an advisory board member of EPIC and
VerifiedVoting.org. He is the Chief of Security Architecture at Inrupt, Inc.
Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Carolyn Chen, author of Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley and associate professor of ethics at the University of California, Berkeley, (scroll down for full bio), **about the “religion of work” in “techtopias.”
Topics:**
- Work as religion
- Tech workers as believers
- The cult of productivity
- Should we let this happen?
- The sacraments and saints of Work
- The monkish lifestyle of workers
- What books have had an impact on Dr. Chen
- What advice Dr. Chen has for teenagers
Books Mentioned: (I get a cut)
- Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley - https://amzn.to/3pLH5Lx
- Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion - https://amzn.to/3ccvC4H
- The Hidden Lives of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discovers from a Secret World - https://amzn.to/3Cno8qk
- Justice: What's the Right Things to Do? - https://amzn.to/3AdgCeG
Dr. Carolyn Chen, a sociologist, is an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Getting Saved in America (Princeton) and the co-editor of Sustaining Faith Traditions. She lives in Kensington, California.
Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Margaret E. Roberts (scroll down for full bio) about China and the new age of censorship.
Topics:
- Methods of modern censorship
- Why free speech is bad for regimes
- How much does the average Chinese Citizen know?
- How censorship creates factions in China
- Should the West intervene?
- The global impact of censorship
- Democracies and censorship
- Censorship and Covid-19 in China
Books Mentioned: (I get a cut)
- Censored: Distraction and Diversion inside China's Great Firewall by Margaret E. Roberts - https://amzn.to/3QJODtE
- Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - https://amzn.to/3QKcnOD
Margaret Roberts is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at the University of California, San Diego. She co-directs the China Data Lab at the 21st Century China Center. Her research interests lie in the intersection of political methodology and the politics of information, with a specific focus on methods of automated content analysis and the politics of censorship and propaganda in China. She received a PhD from Harvard in Government (2014), MS from Stanford in Statistics (2009) and BA from Stanford in International Relations and Economics (2009). Her book, Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall, published by Princeton University Press in 2018, was listed as one of the Foreign Affairs Best Books of 2018, was honored with the Goldsmith Book Award, and has been awarded the Best Book Award in the Human Rights Section and Information Technology and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. She holds a Chancellor's Associates Endowed Chair at UCSD.
Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
In this episode, I sit down with Alex Kaschuta, writer and host of the Subversive Podcast. We discussed the importance of subversive ideas, how to become a free thinker as a young person, and how to create a career where you get paid to think.
Topics:
- Why Alex Kaschuta's podcast focuses on subversive ideas
- Should offensive ideas be censored?
- How to become a free thinker as a young person
- College and censored ideas
- Creating a career to get paid to think
- What books have had an impact on Ms. Kaschuta
- What advice Ms. Kaschuta has for teenagers
Resources:
- The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature - https://amzn.to/3p8dpbv
- The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life - https://amzn.to/3PX6jSH
Alex Kaschuta is a writer, cultural critic, and podcast host from Transylvania, Romania. Her areas of interest are technology, immigration, religion, gender relations, and the broader emergence of postliberal politics in Europe and the United States. Her background is in economics, having earned a BSc. in Economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and an MSc. at ESADE Barcelona. She has been active as an opinion writer for the better part of a decade and has been featured in the New York Post, the American Mind, IM1776, and other outlets. Currently, she is the host of the Subversive Podcast and writes for her Substack audience and various other publications.
Socials! -
Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Sergei Guriev (click here for full bio). Dr. Guriev is the professor of economics and director of graduate programs in economics at Sciences Po, Paris as well as the Former Chief Economist and the Member of the Executive Committee of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He also served as the former Rector of the New Economic School in Moscow. Most recently, he is the co-author of "Spin Dictators." We discussed the next phase of Putin’s authoritarianism, the rise and current political environment of China, and what the West and the next generation can do to fight tyranny and despotism!
Topics:
- What are "spin dictators?"
- How Putin used white-collar crime charges to imprison political opponents
- From spin to fear - the next phase of Putin's authoritarianism
- What do Russians think of Putin?
- The rise of spin dictators
- The rise and current political state of China
- What should the West do?
Resources:
- Spin Dictators - https://amzn.to/3OGPUAp
- Master and Margarita (English) - https://amzn.to/3JhbhY2
- The Gentleman in Moscow - https://amzn.to/3cRm7YL
Socials! -
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product
Dr. Justin Grimmer, Professor in Stanford University's Department of Political Science and co-author of Text as Data, and I discuss how and why turning text into data will be the future of the social sciences.
Topics:
- Researching in the social sciences now
- How machine learning turns text into data
- Privacy and data
- Examples and impact
- How to develop a career in this intersection of machine learning and social science
Resources:
- Home Style - https://amzn.to/3uzqWeY
- Cat's Cradle - https://amzn.to/3AIh9aF
Dr. Justin Grimmer is a Professor in Stanford University's Department of Political Science, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Co-Director of the Democracy and Polarization Lab. His research focuses on Congress, elections, social media, and data science.
Socials! -
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product
Dr. Kate Darling,a Research Specialist at the MIT Media Lab and author of The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots, and I sit down to discuss the future of robots and the world. Are they replacements or are they a breed of their own?
Topics:
- Thesis of the New Breed
- What is a robot?
- Do robots think?
- How does this "new breed" fit into society?
- Rights and robots
- The origin of rights and how that relates to robots
- When will AI and robots emerge into society?
- What books have had an impact on Dr. Darling
- What advice Dr. Darling has for teenagers
Resources:
- The Dispossessed - https://amzn.to/3R87nEb
- Girl Goddess #9 - https://amzn.to/3nBDO0k
Dr. Kate Darling is a Research Specialist at the MIT Media Lab and author of The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots. Kate’s work looks at the near-term effects of robotic technology, with a particular interest in law, social, and ethical issues. She runs experiments, holds workshops, writes, and speaks about some of the more interesting developments in the world of human-robot interaction, and where we might find ourselves in the future.
Socials! -
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product
I sit down with Solomon Burchfield, Program Director atNew Beginnings NWA. New Beginnings is a rehabilitation community for people with a history of homelessness. For more on their mission and ways to help, visit: https://newbeginningsnwa.org/about/
Connect with New Beginnings:
Website: https://newbeginningsnwa.org/about/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newbeginningsnwa/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewBeginningsNWA/?ref=bookmarks
Topics:
- We discuss the mission and history of New Beginnings.
- The general cause of homelessness in the U.S.
- What we can do.
References:
- The Naked Now by Richard Rohr - https://amzn.to/3ymOarm
- Jesus' Plan for a New World by Richard Rohr - https://amzn.to/3HW4K4f
Socials! -
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
Zarah Hussain and I sit down to discuss the intersection of tradition and tech in her field of art.
Topics:
- Islamic art v.s. Western art
- How geometry was used to represent divinity in Islamic culture
- Zarah Hussain's art and the intersection of tradition and tech
- Geometry as the rules of nature
- How the "rules of nature" point to intelligent design
- The books that had an impact on Zarah Hussain
- Zarah Hussain's advice for teenagers
- The negatives of a future-only mindset
Full bio on website - https://www.zarahhussain.co.uk/about
Socials! -
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
I discuss the two-year birthday of AFTM and announce my new, behind-the-scenes substack! Thank you, everyone, for listening!
Why join the substack?
I discuss how Mattie and I built AFTM up to this point. All of the stories and skills gathered along the way! Some of the topics will include how we set up interviews through elevator-pitch-style emails, network with guests, and prepare for interviews.
Substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
Jenny Odell, New York Times bestselling author of How to Do Nothing, and I sit down to discuss the importance of unproductive activities for personal growth.
Topics:
- Managing stress and creative pursuits in the midst of busyness
- The prism of personality
- How and why to do nothing
- The books that had an impact on Jenny Odell
- Jenny Odell's advice for teenagers
- The importance of journals
Resources:
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants - https://amzn.to/3aHXtbK
- Letters to a Young Poet - https://amzn.to/3O6m6NH
Full bio on website - https://www.jennyodell.com/about-news.html
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
I sit down with Bryan Fogel, Oscar-winning director of Icarus and The Dissident. We discuss the creative processes behind his films as well as the political corruption exposed in them.
Topics:
- The creative processes behind his films
- How to build trust with film subjects
- Is there anything to do about political corruption?
- The books that had an impact on Bryan Fogel
- Bryan Fogel's advice for teenagers
Resources:
- 1984 - https://amzn.to/3N4MVli
- A Very Expensive Poison (Luke Harding's book about Alexander Litvinenko's murder) - https://amzn.to/3NiX3a4
Bryan Fogel is the Award-winning Academy director of ICARUS, a documentary film about the whistleblower at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program. The film won the 2018 Oscar for Best Documentary and the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize. He was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalism, nominated for the BAFTA Award, three Emmys and the DGA Award for Best Direction. ICARUS contributed to Russia’s ban from the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2020’s Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. Most recently, Bryan directed The Dissident, a documentary feature about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, which was nominated for a BAFTA award, and the winner of the WGA award.
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
I sit down with Dr. Nina Kraus to discuss her book, Of Sound Mind: How our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World.
Topics:
- The importance of sound
- What is the sound mind?
- How sound shapes our brains
- How the mind replays sound in our heads
- How the mind adapts in musicians
- The deaf vs hearing brain
Resources:
- Of Sound Mind - https://amzn.to/3PD6x1A
- On Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World - https://amzn.to/3wL8xxn
- The Songs of Trees - https://amzn.to/3NExxvO
Dr. Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health. Her research has found that our lives in sound, for better (musicians, bilinguals) and for worse (concussion, hearing loss, language disorders, noise), shape how our brain makes sense of the sounds we hear. Her book, Of Sound Mind - How our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, was written for the intellectually curious.
Kraus advocates for biologically informed choices in education, health, and society. See
www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
After a long sabbatical of procrastination, I have returned to finish our trilogy on creativity. In today’s episode, I sit down with Mason Currey, the author of Daily Rituals and Daily Rituals: Women at Work. We tackle one of my leading questions about creativity - how to create when it feels like the world is swallowing you!
Topics-
- Why and how Mason Currey wrote Daily Rituals
- Getting addicted to art
- How to maximize creative energy
- Habits - the key to creativity
- What we can learn from great artists' creative process
- How creators balance life and art
- Has the creative process changed over the centuries?
- The importance of ruthless routines
- How tiny increments build great works (even when life is busy)
- What books have had an impact on Mr. Currey
- What advice Mr. Currey has for teenagers
- The Writer's high
Resources-
- Daily Rituals - https://amzn.to/3KtQmQl
- Daily Rituals: Women at Work - https://amzn.to/3s5Zx34
- The Diaries of Franz Kafka, 1910-1923 (The Schocken Kafka Library) - https://amzn.to/3vTDWw8
- The Metamorphosis - https://amzn.to/3LCq006
Mason Currey is the author of the Daily Rituals books, featuring brief profiles of the day-to-day working lives of more than 300 great creative minds. He's currently working on a new book and writing Subtle Maneuvers, a newsletter about the ups and downs of the creative process. He lives in Los Angeles.
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
Living a life fueled by your own creativity is my dream as well as many others. The question always is, “How do you do that?” In this episode, I’ll be talking to designer Kevin Bethune about this and his new book, “Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation."
Topics -
- How did you go from nuclear engineering to design?
- Why should designers be in the room when creating new products?
- How multi-discipline teams develop well-rounded products
- How the Socratic method can be used when creating new products
- How depth and breadth form unique perspectives
- Curiosity - the maker of innovators
- What books have had an impact on Mr. Bethune
- What advice Mr. Bethune has for teenagers
- How students can manage their passions and workloads
Kevin G. Bethune is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams • design + life, a think tank for design and innovation. Over a career that spans more than twenty years, he has worked in engineering, business, and design.
Resources -
- Reimagining Design - https://amzn.to/36bkYIn
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
“When am I going to use this in my life?” is probably the most common question in math class right behind “when does class end?” This subject is notorious for being, we can say, less than loved by students. However, today, we’re applying math to an unexpected and interesting area. I'll be talking to mathematician Dr. Sarah Hart on how math is the structure of beauty as well as how math is interwoven with art and writing.
Topics -
- How beauty can be replicated and described through math
- In light of math's relation to art, is beauty relative?
- How our perception of beauty has changed over the centuries
- Math in music and literature
- How authors have used math in writing
- Modern art and math
- Why we should teach math like music
- What books have had an impact on Dr. Hart
- What advice Dr. Hart has for teenagers
Dr. Sarah Hart is a respected pure mathematician and a gifted expositor of mathematics, as evidenced by her 2021 profile in the New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/3urd7pxk). Dr Hart was the youngest STEM professor appointed at Birkbeck College (University of London) and its first woman Mathematics Professor. Educated at Oxford and Manchester, she gained her PhD in Mathematics in 2000 at the age of 25, moving to Birkbeck as a lecturer in 2004. As a hugely popular lecturer with over 20 years teaching experience, she is a regular speaker at public events. In 2020 she was appointed the 33rd Gresham Professorship of Geometry, the oldest mathematics chair in the UK dating back to 1597. She is the first woman ever to hold the position.
Dr. Hart's lively Gresham lectures can be found here:
- https://www.gresham.ac.uk/search/?terms=sarah+hart
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1t6kKXoBvjdr8m9KJ2Fx7A
She is also President of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, the oldest such society in Europe. As well as promoting academic research into the history of mathematics, a key aim of the society is to emphasize the cultural importance of mathematics by incorporating the history of mathematics into mathematics education.
Resources -
- The Luminaries - https://amzn.to/3HXNycW
- Gulliver's Travels - https://amzn.to/362XDbi
- Moby Dick - https://amzn.to/3tJEuDG
- The Movie Maniacs Podcast- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-movie-maniacs-podcast/id1527652674
Socials! -
Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4Moon
Taylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-TwYdfPcWV-V1JvjBXk
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Johann Hari and I explore why and how our attention spans are getting systematically destroyed by the modern world as we investigate his new book, "Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again." The reasons span from reading time to social media.
Topics discussed:
- How did our attention spans get this bad?
- How the system is rigged against our focus
- Why multitasking fails
- How the business models of Big Tech destroy our focus
- How promoting regulation could stop the demolition of our attention
- Flow - what is it and how can we harness it to empower our focus
- Easy steps to flow
- Why systemic changes are needed, not Self-Help
- Practical tools for focus
- How students can improve focus
- How the modern education system is ruining students' attention spans
- What books have had an impact on Johann Hari
- What advice Johann Hari has for teenagers
Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, and other newspapers. His TED talks and NowThis viral video have been viewed almost 100 million times, and his work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah Winfrey to Noam Chomsky to Joe Rogan. He was the Executive Producer of the Oscar-nominated film “The United States vs Billie Holiday” and of a forthcoming eight-part TV series starring Samuel L Jackson
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All Amazon Affiliate links help financially support "Aiming for the Moon" while you get a great read or product.
In this episode, Dan Pink and I dive into the foreboding pool of regrets as we examine his newly released book, "The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward." Surprisingly, having regrets can bring about good.
Topics discussed -
- Why Dan Pink wrote about regrets
- The four main regrets found across all cultures
- The four ways we deal with regrets
- How regrets provide a "photographic negative" and point us toward the good life.
- How age shapes our perception of regrets
- How long does it take for us to recognize a regret?
- What books have been most impactful on Mr. Pink?
- What advice does Mr. Pink have for teenagers?
Daniel H. Pink is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, "The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward," published in February. His other books include the New York Times bestsellers "When" and "A Whole New Mind" — as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers "Drive" and "To Sell is Human." Dan’s books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 42 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world. He lives in Washington, DC, with his family.
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We tackle social media's effect on political polarization with Dr. Chris Bail, author of Breaking the Social Media Prism, Duke professor, and director of the Polarization Lab. According to Dr. Bail, most of the population of America isn't actually polarized; social media only gives us that perception.
Topics Discussed-
- The myth of echo chambers
- How vocal and extreme, social media users influence our view of political polarization
- What do you mean by "the social media prism?"
- Breaking the social media prism
- How to bring the moderates back to social media
- How future tech will shape our perception of politics
- Fake news - who shares it
- How do we fix tech in order to crack this perception?
Chris Bail is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke University, where he directs the Polarization Lab. He studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and tools from the emerging field of computational social science. His widely acclaimed 2021 book, Breaking the Social Media Prism, was featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and described as “masterful,” and "immediately relevant" by Science Magazine.
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This week, we are looking back on our conversation with Stuart Gibbs from episode 35!
We often wonder what it's like to be a fiction author. How do they come up with their original ideas? What is their daily routine like? Does word count even matter? In this episode, we sit down with Stuart Gibbs, bestselling author of five children's series including "Spy School," "Moon Base Alpha," "FunJungle," and more, and discuss these fascinating topics and his advice for aspiring writers.
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In this episode, we talk to Oliver Burkeman,New York Times and Sunday Timesbestselling author of 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, about why and how to balance productivity and the present.
Topics Discussed-
- Ancient philosophy's perspective on work and productivity vs now
- How our mindset towards work changed
- Is living forever bad?
- The balance between productivity and the present
- Why and how being highly productive leads to more work
- Strategies to prioritize time and life
- Time management for students
- The most impactful books of Mr. Burkeman's life
- Mr. Burkeman's advice for teens
Oliver Burkeman is the author of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks, about embracing limitation and finally getting round to what counts, along with The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. For many years he wrote a popular column for the Guardian, "This Column Will Change Your Life." In his email newsletter The Imperfectionist, he writes about productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of distraction. He lives in the North York Moors.
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In this episode, Professor James Salzman explains how ownership is the secret root of civilizations. From the time they can say "Mine!", people bump into ownership arguments. From traffic laws, to grocery store shopping, to whether or not you can lean your chair back on airplanes, ownership design confronts all of us throughout our lives.
Here are a few topics Prof. Salzman discusses-
- What are common instances of ownership design?
- What are the six stories of ownership?
- What are examples of cultural ownership customs?
- How do laws form to support ownership customs?
- What are ancient creation stories that involve ownership?
- Can big tech companies really use our data for free?
James Salzman is the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at the UCLA School of Law and at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. He is the co-author of the bestselling book, "Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control our Lives," and author of "Drinking Water: A History." In twelve books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics spanning drinking water, trade and environment conflicts, ownership engineering, and creating markets for ecosystem services. There have been over 100,000 downloads of his articles. He frequently appears as a media commentator and has lectured on environmental policy on every continent.
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Welcome to 2022! For the start of this hopefully amazing year, Dr. David Melnikoff joins us to describe how goals reshape our brains. Whenever you begin a New Year's resolution or another goal, your mind changes its operation in order to align itself best for that new task. Dr. Melnikoff also defines the psychological theory of "flow," a cited creativity and productivity booster, and explains his work to create a computational model of it.
Here are a few questions Dr. Melnikoff discusses-
- How do goals reconfigure our brains?
- Do goals that we don't often enjoy doing (like exercising) still shape our minds?
- How do our motives affect our interpretation of events and stimuli?
- What is "flow?"
- How will your computational model of flow help us in the future?
Dr. David Melnikoff is a social psychologist studying how goals shape the human mind. He earned his PhD in 2019 from Yale University where he worked with John Bargh. Currently, Dr. Melnikoff is a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University working with Lisa Feldman Barrett.
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For our last episode of the year, we follow up on our dive into psychology with Dr. Brad Bushman joining us to discuss video games and violence as well as other areas of aggression!
Here are a few questions Dr. Bushman answers -
- Do video games make us more aggressive and violent?
- How is aggression measured in the lab?
- Can video games be used as cathartic releases of aggression?
- What is the scientific difference between violence and aggression?
- How does cartoon and fantasy violence affect children?
- Does literature make us more violent and aggressive?
Dr. Brad J. Bushman is a Professor of Communication at The Ohio State University. For over 30 years he has studied the causes, consequences, and cures to the problem of human aggression and violence. He was a member of President Obama’s committee on gun violence, and he has testified before the U.S. Congress about youth violence. He has over 200 peer-reviewed articles that have been cited over 55,000 times.
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Mattie and Taylor discuss cognitive science with Dr. John Bargh, Yale professor and author of “Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do” (2017). We discuss free will, the hidden cues that manipulate us, and how to take control of our lives.
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In Sam Kean's bestselling book, "The Disappearing Spoon," he dives deep into the periodic table, but not the way most people would think. In each chapter, he relates stories about each element on the table. Join us as we discuss some of chemistry's impacts on the world as well as how chemistry should be taught in schools. Should we focus on the technical know-how or the entertaining tales?
Sam Kean is the New York Times bestselling author of six books,
including “The Icepick Surgeon,” “The Bastard Brigade,” “The Dueling
Neurosurgeons,” and “The Disappearing Spoon.”
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Dr. George Church, a leading genetics engineer, professor at Harvard and MIT, and the co-founder of Colossal, is taking on an ambitious mission. His goal: to upgrade our current elephants with woolly mammoth genes to make them suitable for the Arctic circle. Sound crazy? Listen in to find out his plan!
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In honor of Veterans’ day, we decided to release a re-run of our interview from episode six with distinguished military historian, Dr. John McManus. To all of the veterans, thank you for your service. We wouldn’t be able to aim for the moon without your sacrifice.
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In this episode, we discuss the ancient Chachapoya civilization, also known as the cloud warriors of Peru.
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Dr. Tara Johnson is a pediatric neurologist and inventor who studies and helps identify children with neuro-developmental disabilities. She also helps invent modified daily-use items.
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Today, "Aiming for the Moon" is collaborating with Joanna from Thumbs Up Concepts (as seen in Ep 56 & 57) to interview Benedict Carey. Carey, long-time science journalist and author of "How We Learn - The aspiring slacker’s guide to learning," shares a taste of the fascinating science of learning!
If you like this collaboration and want to see more, message us! We love feedback.
Also, if you want us to interview another teen or kid running interesting projects for our bonus series, please message us on Instagram, Twitter, or our email.
Thumbs Up Concepts: https://www.thumbsupconcepts.com/
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Listen in to our conversation with Dr. Steven Levitt, professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Levitt is best known for co-authoring the #1 NYT best-seller, "Freakonomics."
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Join us as we interview George "Curious George" Basch, founder of the Himalayan Stove Project and entrepreneurial businessman. He discusses, among other topics, why traveling matters.
As per Mr. Basch's request, here is his email if you are interested in contacting him:
george@championsoftheplanet.org
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Jim Clash writes about extreme sports and those who do them at Forbes. However, he doesn't just write about them. He does them! Listen in to some of his adventures along with his advice on how to get the best job ever!
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Today, Lucas Caneda discusses what rugby taught him about life along with some interesting tips on investing in businesses. Caneda is a professional rugby player and director at Uniquorn.
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In this episode, we discuss David Ishee's mission to cure the genetic diseases of dogs through biohacking.
Impact Books:
1. "Dune" series
2. "Fahrenheit 451"
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In this episode, we interview Vanessa O'Brien, the first woman to both summit Everest and dive to the bottom of the deepest sea on Earth, about the art of mountaineering.
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Today, "Aiming for the Moon" is collaborating with Joanna from Thumbs Up Concepts (as seen in Ep 56 & 57) to interview Colonel Kim "Killer Chick" Campbell! We discuss what it takes to become a fighter pilot and how the fighter pilot mindset applies to civilian life.
If you like this collaboration and want to see more, message us! We love feedback.
Also, if you want us to interview another teen or kid running interesting projects for our bonus series, please message us on Instagram, Twitter, or our email.
Thumbs Up Concepts: https://www.thumbsupconcepts.com/
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Tune in to our conversation with the award-winning, kid-hosted podcast, "The Interview Dudes!" With guests such as Ryan Reynolds, Steve Martin, and Jim Gaffigan, their list is quite spectacular.
The Interview Dudes: https://soundcloud.com/user-654109302
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Ignorance is usually viewed as a bad thing. However, Prof. Stuart Firestein, former chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University and author of "Ignorance: How It Drives Science" and "Failure: Why Science Is So Successful," views ignorance as a stepping stone to knowledge. Tune in to learn how tackling ignorance is the next frontier for you.
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Essentialism is more than just a productivity method. It is a way of life. In this episode, the New York Times bestselling author of "Essentialism" and "Effortless," Greg Mckeown, explains how to focus on the essentials while still keeping up with homework and classes.
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Listen in to our conversation with Bill and Steve about their podcast, The Field Guides. We discuss their unique method of recording while on hikes and how they started. Stick around for the comedic bobcat story as well!
The Field Guides: http://www.thefieldguidespodcast.com/new-blog
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We finished up our conversation with rethinking questions such as "Is a hotdog a sandwich?" and "is cereal soup?" Joanna and Dr. Grant also give their advice to teenagers and list the books that have impacted them.
Dr. Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist, TED speaker, and #1 NYT bestselling author who "helps people find meaning and motivation at work." Dr. Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years.
Joanna Grant is the teenage creator of "Thumbs Up Concepts." She designs covers and creates trailers for authors.
Thumbs Up Concepts: https://www.thumbsupconcepts.com/
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It seems like kids always ask the silliest questions! Why don't humans breathe fire like dragons? Do dinosaurs have jet packs? Parents usually just brush them off and never give the curious kid the answer. However, Tai Poole gathers up all of his questions (no matter how silly) and seeks to find the answers on his teenage-hosted podcast, "Tai Asks Why." His episodes discuss the questions that most of us have probably wondered about but were never brave enough to ask. Listen in as we talk to Tai about his podcast, juggling school, and following your curiosity.
Tai Asks Why: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tai-asks-why/id1434443225
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Today, we will be interviewing the fascinating father-daughter team, Dr. Adam Grant and Joanna Grant.
Dr. Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist, TED speaker, and #1 NYT bestselling author who "helps people find meaning and motivation at work." Dr. Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. In this episode, we will be discussing his latest book, "Think Again."
Joanna Grant is the teenage creator of "Thumbs Up Concepts." She designs covers and creates trailers for authors. In her segment, Joanna will tell how she came up with "Thumbs Up Concepts" and the future of her venture!
Don't forget to come back next week to hear the team give their advice to young people in part two of this series.
Thumbs Up Concepts: https://www.thumbsupconcepts.com/
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Everyone has heard the phrase, "that's gross!" People look at certain things (bugs, bodily functions, etc.) and try to avoid them at all costs. However, Erika Engelhaupt, author of the book, “Gory Details: Adventures From the Dark Side of Science,” is trying to help people talk about the strange and, frankly, absurd parts of our universe. She is encouraging people to not write off the icky and sticky aspects of our world. Listen in as we discuss the gory details that surround us!
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Data and statistics are regularly trotted out by people trying to persuade reluctant audiences. However, sometimes, this data can be misleading depending on the context of its use. On the other hand, we frequently misinterpret data and statistics depending on our past beliefs on a topic. Tim Harford, known as the "Undercover Economist," is a Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, and the author of nine books (most recently “How To Make The World Add Up” / “The Data Detective”) and the host of the podcast “Cautionary Tales.” Today, he discusses how to read statics and data with a critical eye. He explains how to examine the numbers and the intent behind them in order to observe a full picture of the world.
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Have you ever dreamed of becoming a spy? Most people think of spies as people covered in all black lurking around in the shadows helping justice prevail. Well… they’re good most of the time, but the NYT bestselling author, Ally Carter, has taken her love for spies and written multiple, success series centered around espionage and mysteries with unique twists. For example, her popular series, Gallagher Girls, takes place at a secret, spy school for teenage girls! Take a listen as we discuss tips for young writers, her many smashing series, and what it’s like writing adult and juvenile realistic fiction.
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There are millions of books out there, which means that there are many, many people reviewing and talking about those books on lots of different outlets. However, Jack W. hosts a podcast called Chattin' About Chapters and puts a unique spin on discussing books with his perspective as a kid! Join us as Jack tells us about his process for preparing before one of his episodes and, of course, books!
Chattin' About Chapters: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chattin-about-chapters/id1513764832
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Anney Reese was a producer and editor at HowStuffWorks.com. She worked in the shadows making decisions for podcasts. She never expected to be on the other side of the mic hosting the shows. Join us as we discuss her journey to find her voice as the co-host of the "Savor" and "Stuff Mom Never Told You" podcasts.
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We were all taught in school not to plagiarize or steal other peoples' ideas. However, according to Austin Kleon (NYT bestselling author of the "Steal Like an Artist Trilogy"), all great artists steal. And, if you wish to be creative, you should steal too. When we first heard this thesis, we were skeptical. Join us as Austin Kleon explains his fascinating theory.
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Have you ever wondered about that one zombie movie and if it is actually possible to have an entire race taken over by a certain disease? Maybe you learned about a new disease or plague in school, but still don't really understand what it is? Well, today we are talking to disease ecologists and epidemiologists, Dr. Erin Welsh and Dr. Erin Allmann Updyke. They run a podcast called, "This Podcast Will Kill You," which is all about the biology and history of various diseases! Tune in as we explore the behind-the-scenes of TPWKY, zombie movies, and of course diseases! (Also, this is AFTM's 50th episode and one-year anniversary!)
This Podcast Will Kill You: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-podcast-will-kill-you/id1299915173?mt=2
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Some people out there may think that history is boring. It's just a bunch of names and dates that you have to memorize to pass that exam you have at the end of the week. Holly Frey, co-host on the podcast, Stuff You Missed in History Class, wasn't interested in history either! In fact, it took someone telling her that she liked history to finally realize how much she enjoyed the subject. Now she's a co-host of one of the largest history podcasts in the podcasting industry! Even if you're not a history buff, listen in as we discuss podcasting, karaoke, and, most importantly, history! Who knows? You might just find out that history is your new favorite subject.
Stuff You Missed in History Class: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-class/id283605519
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Throughout time, humans have been awed by magic and myths. There are whole book series and movies creatively showing fantasy magic. Rob Lake, a quarterfinalist on "America's Got Talent," is a modern Merlin. His large-scale illusions are truly amazing. Check out a few of them through the link below. In this week's episode, Mr. Lake discusses the process behind his fantastical tricks and what it takes to be a magician and illusionist.
Illusionist Rob Lake Performs Exclusive Magic Show for the Troops // Armed Forces Entertainment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1gkIhGefAA&t=1412s
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Many of us worry about getting into our dream colleges. We think about what classes will impress the administrators most and slave over completing them. Dr. Cal Newport, the New York Times bestselling author of "Deep Work" and "How to be a Highschool Super Star," has a different answer to this problem. Join us as Dr. Newport discusses his alternative to staying up all night and taking every class available.
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As we get older, we get "oldwashed. " In other words, we lose our sense of humor. However, contrary to popular ideas, being extra serious is not a good attribute. And no, that's not just a personal opinion. In this episode, the bestselling authors of "Humor, Seriously," Dr. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, discuss the actual research that suggests laughter may just be the secret ingredient in a successful personal and professional life. Don't get "oldwashed." Instead, join our fascinating discussion about the serious implications of humor.
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Humor Type Quiz:
https://quiz.humorseriously.com/
We all have tasks that we know we need to accomplish but hate doing. For example, exercising and studying are favorites in this group. Prof. Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist and professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, decided to study this and share her research in her book, "How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be." Today, she shares her intriguing knowledge. Learn how to make exercise fun and studying a breeze in this week's episode.
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Listen to Giancarlo Esposito's advice for teenagers and his list of books that impacted him most in part two of this two-part series.
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"You've seen him chill you on 'Breaking Bad,' 'The Mandalorian,' and 'The Boys' (to name a few), featured in 'The Cotton Club,' 'Desperately Seeking Susan,' 'The Usual Suspects,' 'The Maze Runner Series,' 'The Jungle Book,' and 'Okja,' and now, please put your hands together for Mr. Giancarlo Esposito!"
In this two-part series, Giancarlo Esposito, 4x Emmy Nominee and Broadway actor, discusses the culture behind the camera and the steps young creatives need to make to find their dream. In part 1, Mr. Esposito recounts some of his time with Baby Yoda on the "Mandalorian" and the general culture of working on a movie/TV set. In part 2 (coming next week), he will give his advice for teenagers and list the book and movie which have had an impact on him.
So, drumroll, please! The camera is rolling. It's time to get this show on the road!
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Prof. Joseph Loconte, Ph.D., explains why we should support his documentary, "A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War."
Support and watch the film here: http://hobbitwardrobe.com/
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Brush the dust off that book on your top shelf. The one you keep there to look extra smart. Because there's a reason that book has been around for over one hundred years. It's actually really good! Many people immediately associate the word "classics" with dull, out-of-date bores that they have to trudge through in high school and college. However, this isn't always true. Sure, some have existed merely because they are hard to read and make the reader feel smarter by finishing them, nevertheless, many still stand today because generations have found them enthralling. Join us today as we discuss classics, J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis' friendship, and why we should care about it all with Dr. Joseph Loconte. Dr. Loconte is the author of the NYT bestseller, "A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918," and director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He is also an AWC Family Foundation Fellow. Don't forget to grab a classic on your way out! May I suggest The Great Gatsby or Dracula?
Unfortunately, we forgot to ask our last two questions. Here they are and Dr. Loconte's answers:
- What books have had an impact on you and why?
After the Bible, I would say:
--"Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to 1980s," by Paul Johnson. I read it many years ago, and I think it was the first history book I read that showed how bad ideas about God and morality can lead to terrible consequences in the world. It got me excited about history.
--"Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther," by Roland Bainton. This was my introduction to the great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, and I came away deeply impressed by Luther’s courage and commitment to the Scriptures
I could add many more (Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, etc.), but I’ll leave it there.
2. What advice do you have for teenagers?Pursue the activities, books, music, hobbies, and friends that really engage you, bring out the best in you, stir up your creativity and bring you joy. Don’t worry about trying to find the “one thing” that you’re good at, because God gives all of us various gifts—not just one gift—to serve Him and others. And, with the help of family and friends and the grace of God, you’ll discover what those gifts are over time.
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Support Dr. Loconte's movie by donating here: http://hobbitwardrobe.com/
Black Widow and Peggy Carter are two spy/assassins in the Marvel universe. They're two butt-kicking heroines who show up the male villains (and often even their comrades) with their skills and smarts. Interestingly, they have real-life counterparts. One recently declassified example is the D-Day girls of WWII. Today, we talk to the journalist and bestselling author of the "D-Day Girls," Sarah Rose, about these fascinating women. Who are they? What did they do? And, why haven't we heard of them before? So, sit back and relax because fact is stranger (and often cooler) than fiction!
Stick around for our new "Quirky Quotes" section just after the discussion!
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We use a lot of stuff we don't understand. If you don't believe us, how many people do you know you can repair their car engine or fix their bike without help? We don't know many. How many people do you know who understand exactly how a ballpoint pen works? We know none. How about a zipper? To us, it's magic. These last two are examples of things that are 99% invisible. They are there of course, but we never pause to think about them or how they work. Roman Mars, the well-known host of the "99% Invisible" podcast and co-founder of Radiotopia, enjoys exploring these items and others like them. Today, we discuss some other 99% invisible examples and if we should care about missing them. Does it really affect our lives if we never know how a car engine runs, a bike gear works, a pen dispenses ink, or a zipper does its magic?
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Check out 99% Invisible here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/99-invisible/id394775318
Unlike the whip-wielding, tough-talking, cinema hero, Indiana Jones, modern archeologists don't steal from ancient tombs or punch bad guys. Instead, they use sophisticated technology to search for hidden treasures. In this episode, we uncover what the Indiana Jones' of today look like as we talk to Daniel Fernandez-Davila who is an archaeologist and anthropologist. We discuss booby-traps, drones with lasers, and the adventures of a real-life explorer. Join us this week for a fun and exciting trip through the memories of an actual archaeologist.
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When we are little, we notice the birds, the bushes, and the bugs. Nothing escapes our tiny, curious eyes. However, as we grow older, we focus on the things that mean the most to us. Our vision narrows to laser in on specific goals. We forget the fascination we once experienced when we would stare at the trains of ants marching across the sidewalk. Dr. Mark "Dr. Bugs" Moffett, world-renowned tropical biologist, author, photographer, and explorer, hasn't lost his enchantment with the creepy crawlies. In fact, as he's gotten older, he has become even more enthralled in the similarities between ant colonies and human societies. Join us today as we talk to this scientist who has appeared on shows with "National Geographic," Steven Colbert, Conan O'Brien, and others. Today's topics include the comparisons between city infrastructure and the ant hivemind, ant war tactics, and Dr. Moffett's early, biology career. Spoiler Alert: It started as soon as he was born.
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While the events of now may seem unique and brand new, for the most part, history always repeats itself. This is the case with the Covid-19 pandemic and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, also known as the Great Influenza. This dystopian setting has happened before. However, that should give us hope because it means we can overcome it. In this week's episode, Prof. John M. Barry, prize-winning and New York Times best-selling author of "The Great Influenza" and others, discusses the similarities and differences between our current predicament and the past. What can we apply from history to today? Listen in to find out!
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Often, we glance over things we are used to seeing. We miss the complexity of our phones, our pets, and our sky. And, most definitely, our gardens. In this week's episode, we discuss the surprisingly fascinating and unique world of plants with Dr. Matt Candeias, host of the "In Defense of Plants" podcast and author of "In Defense of Plants: An Exploration into the Wonder of Plants." What are some species hikers should be aware of? How do people genetically engineer plants? This seemingly alien life surrounds us every day, however, many of us simply dismiss it as part of life. Join us this episode as we take a second look at these green ETs!
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"In Defense of Plants" Website: https://www.indefenseofplants.com/
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Plants-Exploration-into-Wonder/dp/164250453X
After being diagnosed at age seven with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura, Ella Casano realized how frightening looking at an I.V. bag can be. A couple years later, Ella decided that she didn't want other kids to have to stare at the daunting medicine, so at age 10 she decided to create the non-profit Medi Teddy! This clever organization creates free teddy bear pouches that are designed to cover the IV bag, so instead of kids seeing a big bag of medicine, they instead see a friendly, furry face!
If you would like to receive a Medi Teddy visit: www.ivcomfortsolutions.com
Medi Teddy Contact Info: hello@ivcomfortsolutions.com
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We often wonder what it's like being a fiction author. How do they come up with their original ideas? What is their daily routine like? Does word count even matter? In this episode, we sit down with Stuart Gibbs, bestselling author of five children's series including "Spy School," "Moon Base Alpha," "FunJungle," and more, and discuss these fascinating topics and his advice for aspiring writers.
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Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Leonardo De Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Bill Gates all have something in common. They are all innovators. Without them, human history would be very different. Are there any traits that these creators all carry? At first glance, they appear to have very distinct niches. That is the question we asked Professor Walter Isaacson, author of many bestselling books including "Steve Jobs," "Leonardo da Vinci," "Albert Einstein: His Life and Universe," "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life," as well as "The Innovators" (to name a few). In this episode, Prof. Isaacson points out several clear components. Can we gain these characteristics? Listen in as we discuss the answers with him!
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We've talked about the theory behind filmmaking in the first part of this series. But, how do you use these ideas to create your masterpiece? That is the topic of today's episode with Olaf De Fleur. Listen in as we discuss Taylor's weird (and possibly cool?) idea for a movie.
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Free Access to Mr. Olaf De Fleur's Class "Learn Indie Filmmaking By Making a Short Film:" https://skl.sh/3a4ApAf
Often, we don't pay enough attention to our surroundings. Take a minute. Sit. Listen to the cars on the road or the birds in the trees. In some ways, movies are taking this world and looking at it from a different perspective. What makes a good movie? It depends. Mr. Olaf de Fleur has spent his life writing and creating these works of art. Now, he wants to share his knowledge with the world in this two-part series. Part one introduces us to Mr. De Fleur and the abstract philosophies and ideas behind the lens and part two will practically apply these models. So, sit back, relax, and let the action start!
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Free Access to Mr. Olaf De Fleur's Class "Learn Indie Filmmaking By Making a Short Film:" https://skl.sh/3a4ApAf
Successful and interesting people's careers may seem simple and practical when they are reverse engineered and deconstructed from hindsight. However, to the people in the driver's seat, it doesn't often feel that way. Guy Kawasaki, evangelist marketing specialist, author, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and now host and creator of "Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast," has had a long and ranging life. It is hard for one to draw a connection between counting diamonds, Mr. Kawasaki's first job, and working with Steve Jobs at Apple. The reason: there isn't a connection besides his varying interests and luck. In this episode, we dive into what it was like working with Steve Jobs as well as Mr. Kawasaki's advice for young people just starting their careers. That's not even including the fascinating subtopics that are hit in between!
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Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guy-kawasakis-remarkable-people/id1483081827
Any podcaster who is trying to grow his burgeoning show, dreams of his production hitting the top charts in Apple Podcasts and other lead platforms. Mr. Charles "Chuck" Bryant, who co-hosts the Stuff You Should Know podcast with Josh Clark, is one of those rare folks whose dream has come true. Now with around 1 billion downloads, Stuff You Should Know is one of the leading podcasts in the world. Started 13 years ago, Stuff You Should Know is a show that strives to educate the masses in a comedic and fun way. In today's episode, we sit down with Mr. Bryant as he explains his experience and advice for those hopeful souls on their journey to the top charts.
Stuff You Should Know: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stuff-you-should-know/id278981407
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Josh Sakahi, a co-founder of Ephemeral Tattoos and Thiel fellow, grew up asking why. Why is the sky blue? Why is removing tattoos so painful and expensive? After one of his friends (and one of his future partners) had a horrible experience getting a tattoo removed, Josh and other grad students began working on a tattoo that would naturally disappear. After much research and development, the team came up with Ephemeral Tattoos, the company which would sell their innovative ink. However, when customers wanted one of their tattoos, they didn't want to risk the experience being hijacked by rude, third-party artists and variables. Instead, they did the seemingly insane. Josh and the other co-founders created a retail business during the pandemic so that they could help their customers through every step of the process. Join us as we discuss the difficulties young entrepreneurs face as they lead their burgeoning businesses!
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Eric Nuzum is a successful podcast creator, author of "Make Noise," and co-founder of Magnificent Noise. Over his career, he has accumulated decades of advice for starting podcasters who are just sticking their toes in the water. Instead of focusing on the technology aspect of podcasting in his book, he centered it on the art of audio storytelling in order that it would never be out of date. Join us as we ask him about the best practices and techniques for starting and growing a podcast.
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STEM education is a great thing. It allows students to developed problem-solving skills and experiment with their own inventions. However, it is often very hard to learn alone. Educators in schools who don't have a science background often struggle to teach their students. Teens and kids who don't live in centers of innovation can have a difficult time learning about STEM without education centers. Rohit and Sidharth Srinivasan, the entrepreneurs that founded Trashbots as teens, have figured out a way to fix this. Started as a summer project, Trashbots serves as a cheap and accessible way to learn robotics. It provides instructions to teachers to help them guide their classes. It also allows students to learn remotely. Their software does not need WIFI or cell service. Join us as we talk to the founders of this inspiring company about the importance of STEM and their advice for teenage entrepreneurs!
Happy New Year! Thank goodness 2020 is over!
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Ever since Dr. Ken Kamler, an orthopedic microsurgeon and Fellow in the Explorers Club, found a random book with a weird name on his dad’s bookshelf that just so happened to inspire him, his life has been the definition of adventure. From Everest to Peru, he has traveled all over the world on various expeditions. Dr. Kamler has documented many of his adventures in his books. In one of these books, he records his experience as one of the only doctors on the mountain during the 1996 Everest tragedy which was later turned into the movie, Into Thin Air. However, he never envisioned himself sitting on "The Oprah Winfrey Show "as a full hour guest talking about his adventures. Before he was well-known for research on surviving the extremes, Dr. Ken Kamler signed up for a rock climbing class. He knew that that class would be the first part of achieving his dream which had been awakened by a random book that he happened to pick up. In this week’s episode, Dr. Kamler explains his practical advice for conquering one’s goals. Even if they are the size of Everest.
Don't forget to review the podcast with a few sentences on Apple Podcasts to enter our Amazon gift card raffle! If we reach 50 reviews by the end of this year (2020), we will give one random person a gift card. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more details!
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Many people wonder how bad social media really is for us. Dr. Adam Alter, a previous guest of ours (Ep. 18), was one of those people. However, tech experts have also been asking those questions. As the engagingness of Facebook grew and its negative effects were more pronounced, people like Tim Kendall, former president of Pinterest, former director of monetization at Facebook, and current CEO of Moment, began to wonder how good of a thing it really was. In a recent Netflix documentary called, "The Social Dilemma," that brought together tech experts to give their take on the current climate, the guests stated that our situation isn't good (to put it mildly.) However, social media isn't entirely bad. It has helped us stay connected during the pandemic. Problems come when we become addicted to it. That is where Mr. Kendall's company, Moment, comes in. It tracks your time on your phone and shows you what you have been spending a lot of your time on. Join us today as we discuss social media's impact on people from an insider's perspective while also learning some new tricks to stay off your phone.
Don't forget to review the podcast with a few sentences on Apple Podcasts to enter our Amazon gift card raffle! If we reach 50 reviews by the end of this year (2020), we will give one random person a gift card. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more details!
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W.A.S.P, a U.S. military program designed for women to participate in the war effort where they perform different tasks one of which included training future male pilots, is one of the many amazing projects that women participated in during WWII that has been covered up. When Noelle Salazar uncovered these testimonies of silent bravery, she couldn't stop sharing them. She began work on her first book, "The Flight Girls," a historical fiction novel for mature audiences which is now a "USA Today"bestseller, a "Publishers Weekly" bestseller, and a "Woman's World" best new book. In it, she based her main character, Audrey Coltrane, on the real-life warriors she interviewed. Listen in as we discuss the actual people that Noelle Salazar based her extraordinary characters on!
Don't forget to rate the podcast with a few sentences on Apple Podcasts to enter our Amazon gift card raffle! If we reach 50 reviews by the end of this year (2020), we will give one random person a gift card. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more details!
Check out our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
"Try lots of things" has been the leading advice on this podcast. But, why should we listen? David Epstein, NYT bestselling author of“The Sports Gene”and “Range,” finally gives us the answer. In his research, he has uncovered that, contrary to popular opinion, we should generalize, not specialize. But why? Learn the reasons behind this seemingly illogical advice in this week's episode! Oh, and happy Thanksgiving!
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There is more going on than you realize. The man with the ladder and the woman with the clipboard aren't who you think they are. They are not supposed to be there. Jeremy N. Smith, investigative journalist, podcast host, and author of the non-fiction book Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called "Alien," learned this on his journey into the hacking community. As he followed "Alien," he discovered some very disturbing things. That man walking around the hospital with a nice salad was a hacker who had glided past security. He soon uncovered that the stereotypical hooded teenager isn't what most hackers look like. Who are these mysterious people? They are not who you think they are. Join the fascinating discussion as Mr. Jeremy reveals some deeply hidden details.
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"You are no genius" was a line often quoted to young Dr. Angela Duckworth, NYT's bestselling author of "Grit" and professor of psychology at Pennsylvania University. With this depressing phrase reverberating in her mind, Dr. Duckworth attacked her work. She knew that, if that line was true and she really wasn't the smartest kid in her class, she was going to have to get by on blood, sweat, and tears. After much exploration, Dr. Duckworth finally found her passion in studying the science behind "grit," which is passion and perseverance for long term goals. She began to investigate the very fuel that had propelled her to her current position. This work awarded her a MacArthur "genius" grant. Dr. Angela Duckworth had not only fallen in love with a fascinating field of research, but she had also proven she was truly a genius. If she had known this from the beginning, would she have worked so hard? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, there is no doubt that her determination was her engine.
Join us as we talked to Dr. Duckworth about the fuel of her fire, grit, and how to develop it.
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Need more money? Sarah Catherine Gutierrez knows where to find it. She is the owner of Aptus Planning and the author of But First, Save 10. Ms. Gutierrez is a very successful, passionate financial planner who is spreading the word on how important saving really is. She is refuting the stereotypical dull and boring financial planning business and working hard to transform lives for the better. What if saving isn’t as hard as we think? What if college students can come out of college without any debt? Ms. Gutierrez provides super practical advice for teens (and their parents) when it comes to planning for the future in this week's episode.
Check out our website for more: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Adventure races are not for the faint of heart. They are grueling, timed expeditions that involve a multitude of skills and activities from navigating, rowing, hiking, and climbing. And all without the help of technology. In order to compete, each team must have an array of skills. This week, Taylor and Mattie sit down with Nathan Fa'avae, 6x world adventure race champion and winner of the World's Toughest Race TV competition. Mr. Fa'avae explains the history of adventure racing, the skills it takes to compete in this rough sport, and his time on the Amazon Prime show, The World's Toughest Race, which his team, Team New Zealand, won. The captain of this hard-core team hands out many tips some of which include how to develop mental toughness and qualities of successful teams. Whether one is on an adventure race or he is just on the expedition of life, he's got to "trust the journey," because one never knows where it will take him.
Books that had an impact on him:
1. The Alchemist
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We all know that technology is addictive. What you might not know is that it is designed to make addicts out of us all. Behind our screens, there are many complex algorithms wrestling for our attention. When one of them wins, it tries to pin our attention to it for as long as possible. The problem is the algorithms are very successful. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Adam Alter, bestselling author of "Drunk Tank Pink" and "Irresistible" and professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He explains to us the science behind what is keeping us there, the cues these algorithms are taking advantage of, and other fascinating facts. However, Dr. Alter also highlights the double-edged sword of technology. It isn't an addictive thing set out to destroy humanity. Technology has been very important in bringing people together during the pandemic and other disasters. Dr. Alter explains how we could use the same principles that keep us rooted in our chairs, couches, and beds on social media to help kids learn on online school, help people lose weight, and keep the population exercising.
Learn more at our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
We are all superheroes. Our power is walking. Why is walking so good for us? In this episode, Dr. Shane O'Mara, the author of "In Praise of Walking" and professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin, explains its benefits and what differentiates it from normal exercises.
Check out our website for more info on Dr. O'Mara: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Amy Hopper is the program officer of the Winrock International's I-Fund, which strives to "provide a platform for the creation and launch of high-growth companies, spurring economic development and job creation (https://www.ifundatwinrock.com/)" in Arkansas. She teaches us what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. (Spoiler Alert: It involves having grit.)
Check out our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Even while young, Mrs. Anna Beth Gorman talked of empowering women. Now, she is fulfilling that dream. Mrs. Gorman has led the Women's Foundation of Arkansas (WFA) to promote STEAM and other useful skills for women to learn. She believes that the best way to change society is by empowering women through marketable skills. Along with explaining her interesting career, Mrs. Gorman also informs us about the growing opportunities in Arkansas. One being, the Girls of Promise conferences hosted yearly. According to Mrs. Gorman, she hasn't changed much since her teenage days of striving to empower other girls.
Check out our website for more info: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Leave room for life! Mr. Paul Jarvis's message is clear. How can one run a business like that? Well, that's what Mr. Paul explains in his book, Company of One, which has been translated into 18 different languages and continues to disrupt the business world. While money is great and can get you far in life, it isn't the point. "It comes down to your ego," argues Mr. Paul. In his perspective, it sounds better if one can say he has offices in five different countries and one-thousand employees. However, in reality, one doesn't need that money to be happy. He is a living testament to this. Mr. Paul runs a successful software business that has been completely (and purposely) devoid of venture capitalist money. Earn enough money to do what you find fun and can pay the bills. Growth for Growth's sake isn't the point.
Check out our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Mr. Tyler Kluver is a former, Hawkeye long snapper and the host of the Washed Up Walkons podcast. Back in high school, Mr. Kluver realized that the only way he could make it onto a college football team was by becoming a long snapper. So, he spent hours snapping footballs in his front yard. Finally, after tons of hard work and his graduation, his goal was reached. After walking on to the Hawkeyes, he became the starting long snapper. His story of inspiration doesn't stop there. More recently, during the pandemic, Mr. Kluver was laid off. However, he leveraged the fan support he had earned from becoming a college football player and started his own fitness business, which has turned out to be pretty successful.
Along with his story, Mr. Kluver provides us with some "tricks of the trade" for becoming a college football player and dealing with depression after transitioning from the hyped, college football life to a slower-paced, "real" life.
Check out his full bio on our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Washed Up Walkons: https://www.thewashedupwalkons.com/
Max Mirho has spent his life developing companies and teaching others to do the same! He is currently the host of EntrepreNerd, an online live-stream that builds businesses on the go, and the co-founder of Moss Generation. Ever since high school, Mr. Mirho has been chasing (and catching) his dream to be an entrepreneur. Listen to his interesting advice on how to start your very own business. (Surprise! You don't have to be a genius.)
Check out our website for more info: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
While we worry about losing our social media accounts to hackers, Mr. Zaid Sabih is worried about increasing the security of companies. He protects the digital companies from creepy men in their mothers' basements. Listen to the interesting discussion on cybersecurity and ethical hacking where Mr. Sabih reveals what it's like being a computer superhero.
Our Actual Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Dr. Fitz Hill has spent his life coaching young people through life and sports. After serving in both the former football coach at San Jose State University and former President of Arkansas Baptist, he has a lot of experience in giving teenagers and young adults advice! Join us as we talk to Dr. Hill about his work in the community along with the rest of his exciting career.
Check out our merch at our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Art By Harp: https://www.artbyharp.com/
Mr. Steve Rice is dedicated to making an impact on Arkansas! With his podcast, the Landing Pad, he is showing the Natural State in a new light. Along with his podcast, he currently teaches entrepreneurship at ASMSA, a local, boarding school.
Our Actual Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Investigative journalism is definitely the detective side of the news. Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Gary Rivlin, agreed to explain the interworkings of it to us while also giving an insight into what it takes to become a successful author!
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Zach Johnson has persevered through his career to reach top performance on the PGA golf tour. He has won the Masters (2007), British Open (2015), and 12 PGA tours. However, he still keeps a down to earth perspective on life, which may be the most amazing part!
Dr. John McManus, a very distinguished military professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, strives to make history interesting and accurate. We are so happy to say that we were able to spend time talking to him!
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Aiming For The Moon interviewed Beckie Manley, the founder and CEO of Fierce Strategy + Creative. Mrs. Manley's career proves all the myths wrong that women can't be impactful in the business world. Through hard work and with the help of her life "roadmap," she has started three different successful, marketing agencies.
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
After serving as a foster parent and seeing firsthand the hardships of aging out of foster care, Mr. Eric Gilmore took the initiative and started Immerse Arkansas, a non-profit that helps teens who are aging out of foster care. Aiming For The Moon is happy to say, they got to interview him! Don't forget to check out our website! More Immerse Arkansas contact info listed below.
Immerse Website for donations and other info: https://immersearkansas.org/
Contact Number: 501-404-9890
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
With five degrees, three from MIT, Dr. Chris Jones is a genius. Aiming For The Moon is excited to interview a former worker of NASA and the leader of several multimillion-dollar projects!
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
Who are the people behind the podium of the Arkansas Department of Health during the pandemic? Well, one of them is Dr. Nate Smith!
Aiming For The Moon interviewed the Secretary of Health for the Arkansas Department of Health, Dr. Nate Smith, during the 2020 global Coronavirus pandemic.
Our Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/
From the dance floor to the battlefield, Mr. Porter Briggs's life is truly spectacular! Join Aiming For The Moon in their first episode of interviewing interesting people from a teenage perspective.
Come check out our website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/ !
Feel free to recommend other people we should talk to there!