Strangely Earnest Podcast: Recent Episodes

View Details

Today's guest is Khe Hy, owner of radreads.co and creator of the excellent Notion Course, Supercharge Your Productivity. In our chat we skip right past the talk about notion dashboards or productivity hacks and dive right into some deeper existential questions.

We discuss introspection techniques, telic vs atelic activities, the core reasons for our behaviors, and much much more.

I really enjoyed this chat with Khe, and I think you will to.

Subscribe to Khe's newsletter: https://radreads.co/

Follow Khe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/khemaridh

Subscribe to Khe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UColNfZXzL946wNgxPGWst1A

Sign up for one of Khe's excellent courses: https://10k.radreads.co/

Subscribe to my newsletter: https://jamesstuber.com/join

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Teaser - On fiction books

00:46 Introduction

01:43 What Khe would have done differently if he started all over

06:02 Authentic Networking and Duty

11:28 On Introspection and Reactivity

15:30 Why bring existential questions into a productivity class?

23:14 The existential producitivty crew

25:31 Telic vs Atelic activities (Meditating to focus better at work)

31:38 The core reasons for our behaviors

31:20 How to vet a life coach

41:15 Finding new friends on twitter

42:28 What is Khe truly scared of?

44:49 Khe's favorite fiction book

46:24 Where to find Khe online

GEAR

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

MUSIC

• Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/0tdpyy/

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

In this episode of the Strangely Earnest Podcast, we chat with Tasshin Fogleman. Tasshin has been meditating for over a decade, and has trained and taught extensively at the Monastic Academy. We talk about:

• different types of meditation you might not have heard of

• common meditation misconceptions

• recommendations for beginners

• and much more.

Subscribe to Tasshin's newsletter:

• https://tasshin.com/join/

Follow Tasshin on twitter:

• https://twitter.com/tasshinfogleman

Meditation tips from Tasshin:

• https://tasshin.com/blog/meditation-tips-for-a-lifetime-of-practice/

On Loving-Kindness (Metta) meditation:

• https://tasshin.com/blog/practicing-love/

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• https://jamesstuber.com/join

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro

00:57 Introducing Tasshin Fogleman

01:19 How Tasshin started meditating

03:44 Why join a monastery?

07:18 Vocabulary for describing different meditation practices

12:08 Style of meditation at the Monastic Academy

12:47 Common misconceptions about meditation

15:23 How would you approach meditation if you had to do it all over again

18:36 You don't have to sit still to meditate

20:55 On Loving Kindness (Metta) meditation

28:31 For beginners, Consistency matters more than technique

30:32 On standing or moving meditation

34:26 Why is most of the focus on sitting first?

36:49 Hatha yoga was prep work for sitting meditation

37:40 100 days of solitary retreat

44:19 The role of exercise in Tasshin's meditation training

46:42 On Non-Doing meditation

51:57 Final thoughts

52:21 Where to find Tasshin online

GEAR

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

MUSIC

• Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/0tdpyy/

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

In this episode of the Strangely Earnest Podcast, we chat with the one and only Marie Poulin. We talk permaculture, the creator economy, sharing revenue numbers in public, impostor complex, and more.

Marie helps business owners level up their digital systems, workflow, and product ecoystems, so they can spend more time on what matters.

Marie's Website: https://mariepoulin.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariepoulin

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/marieisanerd

Notion Mastery: https://notionmastery.com/

Marie's Imposter Complex coach: http://tanyageisler.com/

00:00 Preview

00:27 Introduction

01:14 Marie's Tower Garden

01:59 How does permaculture influence Marie's thinking?

08:56 Doubling down on notion

11:02 What if notion went out of business tomorrow?

14:21 The Creator Economy

18:02 Talking about money in public

26:09 How to grow an online course

30:28 Stacking functions

31:47 What it's like to become "well known"

33:45 The impostor syndrome is because you care

36:53 You can teach by being one step ahead

38:06 Beta test your course

41:02 The price tells a story

43:30 Next steps for Marie

45:31 Improving at YouTube

48:33 100 Ways to say the same thing

51:19 Where to find Marie online

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• https://jamesstuber.com/join

GEAR

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

MUSIC

• Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/0tdpyy/

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

A fantastic chat on public speaking, learning by doing, and vulnerability with Kyle Bowe (@kylebowe4)

Follow Kyle Bowe:

• https://twitter.com/kylebowe4

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6AQMAfs-T24uKwHbldgo6Q

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• https://jamesstuber.com/join

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

01:13 creativity requires letting go

03:29 Podcasting requires active listening

04:13 How to pick a niche

06:36 Put content out there and see what lands

07:44 How can you trust that a niche will emerge from doing?

09:11 First and foremost, create what you want

10:17 Learning in public requires psychological safety

11:35 Learning in public helps the hive mind

12:03 How to find uplifting communities

15:19 What would you tell a student who’s not participating?

16:26 Kyle’s Journey from the back of the classroom to the front

17:33 How Kyle takes online courses

22:04 Blacking out during a presentation

23:14 Become a leader by being vulnerable

24:02 How Kyle became a professor

27:13 Teaching isn’t about you, it’s about the discussion you generate

28:56 Get comfortable being uncomfortable

30:42 Shifting from teaching in person to teaching online

34:55 How to avoid the gear trap

36:09 Learning must be fun

37:46 You cannot design the perfect system up front

40:13 Time spent researching gear is better spent doing

43:11 Why we fixate on gear instead of creating

45:57 Watching a journey is more interesting than a perfectly polished ideal

47:35 Make friends by looking foolish in public

52:24 Where to find Kyle online

GEAR

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

A fun playful chat with Reddy aka @reddy2go

Timestamps below.

Follow Reddy:

• https://twitter.com/reddy2go

• https://reddy2go.substack.com/

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• http://jamesstuber.com/join

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

01:27 What does play mean to you?

04:34 Can we play and be serious at the same time?

04:44 You never say you're 'playing' towards your goals

06:24 Children and animals are the true experts at play

08:36 Why do we lose the ability to play?

11:51 Play is the beginning of our lives and play is the end of our lives

12:09 Learning the drums through play

13:32 Play helps with adherence

14:46 Play - Serious - Play Circle

17:34 How to play for people who are too serious

19:41 Meditate on your death

20:30 Rewind to your childhood

22:39 Play with the constraints around you

23:14 The moment you do something silly or irreverent, you're playing

26:39 3 Pillars of Play

28:17 Why does play involve a rulebook?

28:30 The Rules of Play

32:07 An Artist is someone who cares

35:02 If you love something, let the creator know!

37:42 Remixing Austin Kleon's 'Keep Going'

40:37 Play and emotion

42:44 The moment a child can fake a smile, they're an adult

45:00 Find Reddy online

Gear:

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

A fantastic chat with Alysson Costa from the University of Melbourne. Timestamps below.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgrnlGt7v8Y&

Follow Alysson:

• https://twitter.com/alycosta

• https://scholar.google.com/citations?...

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:23 Alysson's Background

04:16 Childhood traits stick with you

06:09 Clifton's Strengths

07:51 Knowing what makes you happy is like another level of happiness

10:09 Pandemic has accelerated Alysson's understanding of himself

13:07 Working and resting based on mood, not time of day

16:03 Pomodoro technique feels too artificial

18:27 It's part of the deal to get bored

19:45 If you realize you don't want to do a masters before you do a masters, you already did a masters

20:11 The need for context when giving advice

23:44 Taking Building a Second Brain again, not about the apps, but how someone with the same tools as you can do something completely different

25:14 Sharing workflows online

26:11 Building an amazing twitter experience

28:09 You're the sum of 500 people you follow https://gregfrontiero.com/2020/11/20/...

28:46 Possible solution to algorithms: make them transparent?

31:28 "Everybody needs to quit social media" is not a good solution

32:50 Over-focus on measurable metrics

33:38 Student's obsession with marks/grades is systemic

39:06 The one thing marks/grades don't measure

41:47 Looking for lost keys under the lamppost

43:13 Questioning whether or not to stay in academia

44:33 The spirit of engineering

45:40 Using multiple metrics rather than one

47:11 Where to find Alysson online

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• http://jamesstuber.com/join

Gear:

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

We talk with Ben Ford about the his course, Communicate to Operate. Timestamps below:

Apologies for the audio quality on my end.

Follow Ben:

• https://twitter.com/commandodev

• https://commando.dev

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2u...

Timestamps:

00:27 Ben's Commando Background

02:43 3 Principles of Communicate to Operate

04:02 OODA loop is a hierarchy, not a loop

04:22 Full OODA loop diagram

05:59 How can companies stay in touch with reality?

06:35 Getting inside the ooda loop is more than just going faster

08:45 Why a course?

10:14 3 fundamental concepts

10:37 Challenges when building this course?

12:21 More participation in online courses

13:31 Company inflection points

15:39 OODA Loop as a meta-process

15:50 Shifts in military and industry thinking

17:04 Team of Teams

20:49 In a complex world you need to use emergent behavior

20:59 Applying these principles as a 'low level' developer

21:18 There's always a locus of control

22:51 Agile vs Shape Up

23:06 Context and Boundaries

24:20 Ben's newest thinking on dev/biz separation

27:07 Can you skip the siloing stage?

29:55 Avoid siloing with a clear roadmap

31:13 Mission Command

31:34 Three building blocks of blitzkrieg

31:41 Don Vandergriff

33:59 3 aspects of Mission Command

34:58 The Doctrine of Empowerment

35:28 Group flow as a security team

37:16 Can't get to emergence by only thinking about individuals

39:16 Psychological safety

41:21 Where to find Ben

41:44 Twitter serendipity

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• http://jamesstuber.com/join

Gear:

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

We talk with Michael Ashcroft about the development of his course, Fundamentals of Alexander Technique. Timestamps below:

Watch this chat on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n09tGb6mJKI

Follow Michael:

• https://twitter.com/m_ashcroft

• https://expandingawareness.substack.com/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdgbX...

Timestamps:

0:25 What is Alexander Technique?

3:22 Shifting in-person teaching to online courses

5:18 Michael's Energy Sector background

8:46 Where are the double-blind studies??

9:45 Michael's iterative approach to course building

13:37 First lesson anxiety and getting buy-in

16:52 The structure of Michael's AT course

19:04 What do you wish you would have known before making the course?

22:40 What's coming in the next iteration?

24:18 Building slower, peaceful learning communities

25:13 No deadlines for students?

27:05 How building this course transformed Michael

29:32 Meta-skills gained from course building

30:41 Figure out who you are, then make a course

34:38 The creation of the Digital Productivity Course

37:33 Scene building and filling the gaps in the eco-system

39:06 Becoming an on-ramp and breaking into new markets

40:22 Using twitter to make friends

46:17 Coercion

49:16 Music Recommendations: https://open.spotify.com/album/7pmQoB...

50:23 Where to find Michael

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• http://jamesstuber.com/join

Gear:

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support

View Details

We chat with Wendell Britt about his course, Mastering the Game of Allyship. Timestamps below.

Watch this chat on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II3yaF-0XSw

Follow Wendell:

• https://www.instagram.com/wendell_britt

• https://twitter.com/wendell_britt

Check out Mastering the Game of Allyship:

• https://integralemergence.xperiencify...

Timestamps:

0:30 Michael Ashcroft's Alexander Technique Course

4:08 Wendell's Allyship Course

6:53 Embodying a desire to learn

8:12 Pokemon card packs and personal development

10:26 Make it fun

11:33 It's okay to take shortcuts

14:19 Convincing students that it doesn't need to be difficult

18:59 Too much self-consciousness at once can lead to self-sabotage

23:38 Give students easy quests

25:11 People who need allyship need to be good allies to their allies

26:29 Taking world-building to the realm of personal development

27:31 Pivoting to larger organizations

29:40 On course pricing

30:21 Students need to feel a buy-in cost

32:54 Can gain buy-in from students with low-cost info or products

33:58 Marketing is Education

37:20 Marketing as the final boss

38:03 Using Worldbuilding in an online course

39:52 For inner work to be effective, your inner world needs to feel like a real place

42:02 What style of game did you enjoy as a child? Hide & Seek? Tag?

42:39 Figuring out your core games frames your progress

44:48 Figuring out your superpower

45:51 Building your team of allies

49:57 Internal resistance to change

50:58 Courses as a peer creation engine

52:48 Everyone should build a course as a learning experience

56:52 Allyship "gym leaders"

59:34 What kind of course is James going to make?

1:01:50 Sharing your own personal shifts

1:03:49 How can we scale deep personal change?

Subscribe to my newsletter:

• http://jamesstuber.com/join

Gear

• Camera: https://amzn.to/2H6zlB6

• Microphone: https://amzn.to/37dWz2T

---

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/james-stuber/support