Hamza is a personal development coach and a YouTuber. Many young guys would rather watch porn and play video games than connect with the real world. This creates swathes of lonely, disconnected men and leaves women with fewer and fewer good options in the dating market. Meanwhile, Red Pill YouTube and the Manosphere can be a negative influence which keeps men stuck and demonises women, rather than helping everyone become better, happier, more attractive people. Expect to learn the biggest mistak...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 421
Charlie Houpert is the Founder of Charisma on Command, a podcaster and a YouTuber. Most people wish that they were better communicators. More engaging, more confident, and more charming. Charlie runs the biggest charisma channel on YouTube, Charisma on Command, with more than 5 million subscribers and has taught thousands of people how to be more attractive and compelling in their communication. Expect to learn the 5 archetypes of charismatic communication, how to greet someone with genuine ener...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 420
Meghan Sullivan & Paul Blaschko are Philosophy Professors at the University of Notre Dame and authors. How to lead a good life is one of the biggest quandaries that humans struggle with. How to think about status and money and love and death are huge challenges. Today we get to find out some of philosophy's answers to life's most fundamental questions. Expect to learn the role of truth in leading a good life, what history has to teach us about responsibility and agency, why Socrates was the ...
Jan 08, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 419
Johann Hari is a writer & a journalist. You probably struggle to focus on the task you're doing. You probably wish that you could pay attention for longer and that you were less easily distracted. Why is this such a common problem? Is this a byproduct of the modern era? Technology? Social Media? Johann has travelled the world trying to work out what is going on. Expect to learn how your attention system works, whether attention loss is reversible, whether modern life is going to further decr...
Jan 06, 2022•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 418
I hit 250k Subscribers on YouTube!! To celebrate I asked for questions. Yet again I was blown away by how good the questions were so I tried to fit as many in as I could. This cult really is very insightful. Expect to learn which 5 guests from the podcast I'd start a business with, my opinion on blending a desire for improvement with happiness, what belief I hold that most people disagree with, why thots are selling Bitcoin, my thoughts on the manosphere, how I limit phone use, why I'm ethically...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 417
Jonny & Yusef join me to recap our favourite lessons, hacks and stories from 2021. Expect to learn why Yusef spent Christmas praying to Hasbullah, Jonny's strategy for becoming more productive by taking things out of your life, the ultimate reason to do simple tasks as soon as they appear, why moral tastes explain the explosive reactions we've seen this year, how extracting yourself from your business might make it more effective and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to...
Dec 30, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 416
Leo Kearse is a comedian, writer and a YouTuber. I brought Leo on to discuss the most important news stories of the last few weeks. Real hard hitting stuff today like why JK Rowling has been written out of the new Fantastic Beasts trailer, how Sainsbury's are signalling their virtue by telling shoppers that they're racist on Twitter, why Jessie from Little Mix has been accused of appropriating black culture because she has ginger curly hair, how Nicki Minaj is rehabilitating people's personal br...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 415
Aaron Alexander is a manual therapist and movement coach, founder of the Align Method and an author. Health & fitness has been broken down into a very compartmentalised, reductionist view. Muscles are trained in isolation, mindfulness practise doesn't occur in the gym, physicality isn't thought of when you sit down at your desk. I wanted to speak to Aaron to explain how we can take a global, aligned, macro-view of our body's wellness to impact more than just how we look but how we feel, thin...
Dec 23, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 414
Cory Allen is an audio engineer, meditation coach and author. Mindfulness meditation is great. But it is supposed to be in service of a mindful life, rather than simply a way to spend 15 minutes of your day. I wanted to ask Cory about how he advises people to take their practise off the meditation cushion and into their daily life. Expect to learn how to use touch to bring yourself back to the present moment, Cory's favourite cues for reinforcing daily mindfulness, why the clothes you're wearing...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 413
Zack Telander is a weightlifter, coach & YouTuber. ZT joins me to discuss my recent trip to Nashville to see Mikhaila & Jordan Peterson, why I think Canada has committed an act of international sabotage by poisoning me, the International Olympic Committee's newest bombshell threat to the entire weightlifting world, why corruption is so rampant in weightlifting, what Zack thinks can be done about drugs in sports and much more... Sponsors: Join the Modern Wisdom Community to connect with m...
Dec 18, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 412
Eddie Jones is the Head Coach of England Rugby Union Team. Eddie has played for Australia and coached the South Africa, Australia, Japan and England national teams. And after decades at the peak of elite sport, he's picked up a tip or two about how to lead a team and deal with setbacks. Expect to learn the 5 values that every leader needs to have, Eddie's non-negotiables for making him the best leader he can be, why he bought a samurai sword to attack some fruit with, his tips on how to make a g...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 411
Vincent Harinam is a data scientist, law enforcement consultant and writer on social phenomenon and the dating market. Between Tinder and OnlyFans, polyamory and Red Pill, incels, simps, sugar daddies and gold diggers, it's difficult to say that romance is alive and well in modern culture. Vincent has written some of the best articles and done huge deep data dives to uncover why the modern dating market is such a mess. Expect to learn why smart women are less likely to get married, why simping i...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 410
Andrew Chen is a General Partner at Venture Capital Firm Andreessen Horowitz, an author and Board Member at Maven, Substack and Clubhouse. Andrew has worked with some of the fastest growing companies on the planet. He was head of Global Driver Acquisitions at Uber and an early investor in Clubhouse, plus he's spent 3 years researching companies like Tinder and Substack to deconstruct how they use network effects to supercharge their growth. Expect to learn how running college parties can help la...
Dec 11, 2021•58 min•Ep. 409
Jake Humphrey is a television presenter, journalist and host of the High Performance Podcast. Jake has spent a career talking to some of the highest performing humans on the planet, but it wasn't until he began his podcast that he really started to unpack their tools, tactics and mindsets. Today we get to hear some of the most important lessons he's uncovered. Expect to learn why holistic high performance is so important, who Jake was most shocked by on the podcast, the most important insights J...
Dec 09, 2021•51 min•Ep. 408
Jamie Metzl is a futurist, geopolitical expert and Founder and Chair of the global social movement OneSharedWorld. The war between East and West is unfolding in front of our eyes. From Chinese land grabs in the South China Sea to bugged electronics and squeezed trade sanctions, tensions seem to be rising below the surface. Expect to learn what China's anti-US propaganda looks like, why tennis star Peng Shuai's disappearance is so disturbing, why the CCP has stopped children from playing computer...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 407
Rob Pope is an ultra endurance runner and an author. For 20 years, Forrest Gump's famous route across America 5 times has stood as pure fiction. Not only had no one completed it, but many runners claimed it would be physically impossible and that the punishing 15,000 miles would claim any athlete who attempted it. Then Rob came along. Expect to learn why Rob committed to one of the toughest races of all time, how Twixes and Gas Station Sandwiches fuelled his performance, why he got chased down b...
Dec 04, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 406
Scott Capurro is a comedian, writer and an actor. I needed some advice for how to survive my first thanksgiving in America and also to try and make sense of what I've been seeing since I've been out here. Scott started shouting about the British but I think he tried his best to help. Expect to learn why Scott got banned from Australian TV, why the Women's March sent out a problematic email, how the internal politics of the LGBT community are messed up, why a focus on race is causing people to ig...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 405
Adam Lane Smith is a psychotherapist and an author. Adam wrote one of the best threads on Twitter which I've seen this year, our first episode on this ended up being an absolute favourite so here we go again with some more uncomfortable psychology insights. Expect to learn why RedPill alpha gurus are taking advantage of you, why "I love you but I'm not in love with you" is a red flag, how men & women bond differently during sex, why needing to be right will keep you friendless and stupid, wh...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 404
Richard Betts MBE is Head of the Climate Impacts strategic area at the MET Office, the lead author on several reports from the IPCC and a Professor at the University of Exeter. There are few areas of science as contested as the climate. I wanted to speak to someone who has been researching this area for more than 3 decades to discover out why there is so much disagreement over fundamental questions like whether the earth's warming is actually caused by humans? Can we stop it? How accurate are cl...
Nov 27, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 403
Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University and an author. People do strange things to feel pleasure. Eating spicy food, having rough sex, watching scary movies. On top of that, they make huge sacrifices to find meaning, like having children or starting a business or training for a marathon. This suggests that perhaps there is more to living a good life than simple hedonistic pleasure. Expect to learn the four ways that ...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 402
Rory Sutherland is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Advertising and an author. Transportation is getting quicker. As we reach close to terminal velocity for getting from A to B, behavioural scientists should be looking at how journeys can be made more enjoyable, not quicker. Yet Google Maps and public transport never takes this into account. Expect to learn why all Indian restaurants deserve a Michelin Star, why the crema on your coffee was a branding stunt, why Rory is in love with his new Ford Must...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr 30 min
To celebrate 400 episodes on Modern Wisdom, I broke down some of my favourite lessons, insights and quotes from the last 3 and a half years. Expect to learn why perfectionism is procrastination masquerading as quality control, Seth Godin's best advice for beating imposter syndrome, the biggest lessons I took from Jordan Peterson, how Ryan Long can predict the future of the internet, why framing is everything, Morgan Housel's best investment advice, why I'm adamant that Jonny Wilkinson has taken ...
Nov 20, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 400
Rob Orchard is a journalist and the co-founder and editor of Delayed Gratification Magazine. Journalism isn't working. Media outlets are more concerned with being first than being right and stories are built to create outrage rather than insight. Customers aren't happy with this setup, so Rob and his team began a Slow Journalism project which focuses on finding signal from the noise, rather than speedy delivery. Then he found a ton of fascinating statistics about the world. Expect to learn what ...
Nov 18, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 399
Jonny & Yusef from Propane Fitness join me for another Life Hacks episode. Sit back & enjoy as we run through our favourite tools, apps, websites, strategies & resources for a productive and efficient life. Expect to learn why I'm moving to Texas, how to track your barbell speed, how to get free golf club trackers, why Yusef thinks that snidely charging VAT is reprehensible, how to hack ASOS sizing, how to stop yourself from buying junk in the supermarket, why you only need one forei...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 398
Dr Benjamin Hardy is an organisational psychologist and an author. Many high achievers are unhappy because the same motivation which drives exceptional performance often also leads to feelings of insufficiency, jealousy and comparison. So how can driven people reframe their worldview to come from a place of gratitude and happiness, whilst still keeping that competitive edge? Expect to learn how comparing your performance to your potential is a recipe for disaster, why success without happiness i...
Nov 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 397
Sebastian Junger is a journalist, author and filmmaker. Throughout history, humans have been driven by the quest for two cherished ideals: community and freedom. The two don’t coexist easily: we value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community for our most basic needs. Expect to learn how having kids in your 50's can give you more freedom than you might think, what happens when you lose 10 pints of blood and have a near death experience, why fighting to the death was...
Nov 11, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 396
Alfie Brown is a comedian and a podcaster. Adulting is hard. I had hoped to discover that Alfie, a dad of 3, would have worked out how to do it properly. But alas, no, it seems we are both condemned to flail around in the liminal purgatory of "just about getting by" for at least another few years. Expect to learn why being a comedian doesn't mean that you can perform effectively as a compere for a 7 year old's birthday party, what it's like entering the world of fitness at 34, why my obsession w...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 395
Carl Zimmer is a science writer, journalist and an author who specialises in evolution, parasites, and heredity. Life is the thing which illuminates our corner of the universe. It gives colour to an otherwise cold, brutal void. But what is life? How is it defined? Despite seeming obvious at first glance, this question is one of the most contested in science. Expect to learn what are the most extreme forms of life which can live in the vacuum of space, how life might have begun in rock pools, why...
Nov 06, 2021•58 min•Ep. 394
Ali Abdaal is a Doctor and a YouTuber. Money makes the world go round. After the last 12 months, everyone should have realised that relying on a single source of income is not a very antifragile way to construct a financial set up. Creating multiple revenue streams is a great way to de-risk yourself, and today we get to find out 12 of Ali's favourites. Expect to learn why the S&P500 almost always beats expert hedge fund managers, how Ali makes his money on YouTube, why Coinbase is great for ...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 393
Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist who is Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University and an author. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter in our reward pathway. It tells us when to feel pleasure and pain, it can cause depression and anxiety, and it's being hijacked by the modern world. Phones, video games, porn, food, our world is filled with cheap dopamine, which in turn is making us miserable. Expect to learn how dopamine creates a see-saw balance of pleasure...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 392