My guest is Indian entrepreneur and venture capitalist Kunal Shah who calls on his decades of entrepreneurial experience to discuss what he’s learned about what motivates people, and how observing trends hiding in plain sight has made him a runaway success in business. We also discuss the many cultural differences between India and the West, what he learned growing up in the family business and how he applies it today, observing reality, why he dropped out of an MBA program, strategies for decis...
Jun 28, 2022•2 hr 24 min
In the first of a new series of themed episodes of the podcast, The Knowledge Project curates essential segments from five different past episodes all revolving around one theme: sex and relationships. Combining some of the most illuminating insights from the leading minds in the fields of psychology and sex therapy, this episode breaks down how we first find our mate, the important conversations to have early in a relationship, the different kinds of sex we have, the differences and connections...
Jun 21, 2022•57 min
Can you accurately identify what aspects of life make you happy? Would you even know if you found true happiness? Leading psychology professor and happiness expert Laurie Santos dives deep on all the factors that contribute to our happiness, why we spend so much energy pursuing it, some evidence-based methods to boost your happiness, why it’s crucial to protect yourself from unhappy people, and so much more. Santos is a Professor of Psychology and the Head of Silliman College at Yale University....
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 46 min
Is there really a straight line between you and the things you want in life? Entrepreneur and educator Luke Burgis goes deep on how understanding mimetic desire can help you better connect the dots between where you are now, and where you want to go. Burgis breaks down the theories behind mimetic desire and the teachings of René Girard, why all of our behaviors are imative, why we desire things we don’t need, and why this all leads to missing out on aspects of life that are far more meaningful a...
May 31, 2022•2 hr 18 min
Justin Su'a calls on more than a decade of working with the world’s top athletes to discuss how to improve your mental performance. Su’a explores the strategies you need to be your best mentally with lessons that resonate well beyond the world of sports — including how to connect and build trust, the relationship between consistency and intensity, the fragility of confidence, the difference between success and talent, how to raise the bar of your own performance, and so much more. Su'a has spent...
May 17, 2022•1 hr 31 min
Biologist and genetics expert Dr. David Sinclair is out to prove he can live past 100 years old, and he thinks you can too. On this episode Sinclair goes in-depth on the process of aging and the techniques you can incorporate into your life that help you live a longer, healthier life, including optimizing your diet, the benefits of exercise, the role of a positive attitude, the importance of sleep, the three supplements he takes every day, why it’s never too late to slow the process of aging, an...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 38 min
Sarah Jones Simmer calls on her years of experience as an advisor, investor, and top-level executive to offer a series of crucial career tips, and discuss how work helped rehabilitate her following a frightening cancer diagnosis. Simmer goes deep on scaling a business, making the right hire for your company, female-led companies, fundraising, setting boundaries, and how she learned to re-focus on the big deals in life. Simmer is the CEO of Found, a company focused on making evidence-based, susta...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Balaji Srinivasan makes a return appearance to The Knowledge Project, this time to go in-depth on Web3, Crypto, and the state of the world today. Srinivasan offers his unfiltered thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of established democracies, the Russia-Ukraine situation, housing as an investment, education, legacy wealth, and which country he would bet on to dominate the future. Srinivasan is the former CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, and is an early investo...
Apr 05, 2022•2 hr 58 min
Leading neuroscientist and Stanford University School of Medicine professor Dr. Andrew Huberman goes in-depth on how small behaviors can make a huge impact on your health. Dr. Huberman offers essential insights into how light affects your sleep and your energy levels, which supplements actually work, tips to control bad impulses, exercises to slow the aging process, and so much more. Dr. Huberman has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and n...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 47 min
Retired United States Army General Stanley McChrystal calls on more than three decades of military experience to discuss the fundamental tenets of leadership, and practical advice for taking calculated risks and making important decisions. This wide-ranging conversation includes insights on mitigating risk, making decisions under uncertainty, why civilian leadership is tougher than military leadership, developing mental toughness, teaching discipline, and so much more. A veteran of four U.S. war...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Renowned sleep scientist Matthew Walker discusses everything you need to know about what a better night’s sleep can do for your life, and how to prioritize and perfect the way you sleep. Walker breaks down how to identify when you need more sleep, how to deal with insomnia, the best devices to track your sleep, and some unconventional sleep hygiene tips, including why it’s never a good idea to count sheep. Walker is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California-Berke...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 57 min
Acclaimed leadership advisor Diana Chapman offers a masterclass in changing the way you respond to challenges, understanding where you are in the drama triangle so you can eliminate drama, and the power of the whole body yes. You’ll walk away from this episode a better leader, partner, and parent. Chapman is a co-founder of The Conscious Leadership Group and has served as an advisor to more than 1,000 exceptional leaders and their teams. She also co-authored the best-selling book The 15 Commitme...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 40 min
Silicon Valley icon Marc Andreessen explores investing, decision making, and the art of solving unsolvable problems. In this discussion, Andreessen reveals why the Internet has become the conduit for some people to disrupt traditional power structures and for others to enforce them, optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for the future of the Internet, assessing judgment, and the book he turns to for insight. Andreessen is a co-founder and general partner at the venture-capital firm Andreessen Hor...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 22 min
Stoic philosopher and author Ryan Holiday shows us how to use the ancient philosophy to calm our mind and create a foundation for lasting success. Listen as Holiday takes us behind the scenes, revealing how he not only reads books and what he looks for, but his process for writing and retaining information he can later put to use. He also discusses what he writes and reads, why he journals, and the four virtues of Stoicism. Holiday is a New York Times bestselling author. He has written a combine...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 13 min
The Knowledge Project closes 2021 with a look back at some of the best conversations of the year. Featuring interviews from 10 of the most downloaded and acclaimed episodes of 2021, this collection of conversations offers a variety of insights into how to make crucial decisions, how to spark creativity, the best ways to avoid distraction, how to deal with loneliness, what traits to look for in a leader, the value of re-thinking your position, the importance of personal relationships, and much mo...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 53 min
What can we learn from the intersection between the fundamental tenets of Stoicism and military heroism? Author and professor Nancy Sherman uses her extensive experience in both subjects to discuss why there’s much to gain from examining ancient Greek and Roman philosophies and how to use their teachings today. On this episode Sherman explores how to gain control of your emotions, Stoic techniques for decision making, building resilience, the difference between honor and virtue, and much more. S...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Paul Rabil knows what it takes to reach the top in both sports and business. In this episode, he teaches us the mindsets to succeed, where confidence comes from, and even tells us about the time Bill Belichick recruited him to play in the NFL. Rabil spent 14 years as a professional lacrosse player in the United States and in 2019 co-founded the Premier Lacrosse League, where he played for the final three seasons of his career before retiring in 2021. He was a 10-time All-Star in Major League Lac...
Nov 30, 2021•57 min
Douglas Rushkoff is obsessed with technology and how it impacts our lives. In this interview, he offers insight into how we shape and are shaped by technology, what’s happening with mainstream media, and some tips on remaining sane online. Rushkoff is an author, professor, and documentarian who focuses on the ways people, culture, and institutions create, share and influence each other's values. He is the author of 17 books including the 2019 release Team Human, and he is a Professor of Media Th...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Author and philosophy professor William Irvine goes in-depth on Stoicism, and why the fundamental tenets of this ancient philosophy can provide answers to some of the toughest problems in today’s society. On this episode Irvine offers a definition and some useful background on Stoicism and its origins, the original Stoics, their thoughts on failure, their advice on decision making, and how we can train ourselves to be more stoic. Irvine has written seven books including the wildly popular 2008 r...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 9 min
What are the best strategies to get people to say “Yes” to your requests in life? Acclaimed psychologist Robert Cialdini dives deep into the seven small things that make a huge impact in influencing others, as well as the difference between being influenced and being manipulated into making decisions. What are the tactics, how do they work, and how do we defend against them? This episode is jam-packed with practical advice that will make you more persuasive in life. Known colloquially as “The Go...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 7 min
What do Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Jennifer Doudna all have in common? Celebrated journalist and author Walter Isaacson calls upon his years of research to explain how curiosity has always fueled creativity among history’s greatest innovators, and how each of those individuals shaped the world around them. On this episode Issacson dives deep into the curious obsessions of Jobs, da Vinci’s ability to develop a brilliant mind, Ada Lovelace and how she developed the algori...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Two-time NBA champion and 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Chris Bosh goes in-depth on the skills it takes to become a winner on the basketball court and in life. On this episode Bosh discusses the rare combination of talent and hunger, emulating others before becoming your own person, individual success vs. team success, the subjective traits that set championship teams apart, what it means to lead by example, where confidence comes from, and so much more. Bosh is widely regarded as one of...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Todd Simkin calls on experiences from his lengthy career in financial services and educating traders to help Shane understand how to make better decisions. Simkin breaks down all the influences that go into how and why we make decisions, why financial decisions are different than inter-personal ones, the strategies involved with teaching other people to make better decisions, what he looks for when he’s hiring, the value of asking the right questions, and so much more. Simkin is Associate Direct...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Doug Conant breaks down how putting his employees first made him an internationally renowned business leader atop both the Nabisco Foods Company and the Campbell Soup Company. On this episode Doug discusses why you can’t win in the marketplace if you haven’t won in the workplace, his first 100 days as CEO of Campbell Soup, adjusting to shifting consumer preferences, how to know when you have the right people and the wrong people, and so much more. Conant served as the President of Nabisco from 1...
Aug 24, 2021•59 min
Kat Cole discusses how "the power of possible" guided her from a part-time job as a hostess at a Hooters restaurant to one of the most respected business leaders in America. In this wide-ranging episode Cole discusses the dark side of gratitude and how it can keep you in place, defaulting to believing in people, leading with a heavy heart while navigating through tough times, adopting new roles at work, questions to ask to uncover the truth in business and personal life, and so much more. Cole s...
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Former General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt looks back on his two decades with the company and the strategies he used to lead during three separate crises. In this episode, Immelt discusses what happened during those events and why, what it was like to take over for GM icon Jack Welch, getting the information you need to make decisions, activist investors, fighting complexity, the mismatched timelines between CEOs and shareholders, unions, and so much more. Immelt is currently a venture partner at N...
Jul 27, 2021•54 min
Celebrated restaurateur Danny Meyer discusses the intersection between hospitality and humanity, and why we are all in the hospitality business regardless of where we work. Meyer defines hospitality and how to deliver it with every interaction, how we can scale a feeling, hiring great people and when to let them go, and so much more. Meyer is the Chief Executive Officer of the Union Square Hospitality Group, which comprises some of New York's most beloved and acclaimed restaurants, including Gra...
Jul 13, 2021•59 min
Acclaimed economist and author Noreena Hertz breaks down the world’s loneliness crisis, and what it means for the well-being of our minds, bodies, economies and democratic institutions. In this episode we define loneliness and how to recognize it, its mental and physical health implications, the shame around admitting you’re lonely, what we can do to help alleviate the crisis for ourselves and our kids, and so much more. Hertz has been an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity...
Jun 29, 2021•45 min
Sarah Tavel has spent the past four years as a general partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, after previously serving in the same role with Greylock Partners and as the first-ever product manager at Pinterest. In this episode Shane and Sarah how studying philosophy helped in her career as a venture capitalist, the value of intellectual rigor, her concept of the net-present value of pain, why every strength has a corresponding weakness, where executive boards go wrong, assessing the performa...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Celebrated organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant provides compelling insight into why we should spend time not just thinking, but rethinking. In this episode we cover how to change our own views, how to change the views of others, hiring processes, psychological safety, tribes and group identity, feigned knowledge, binary bias, and so much more. Grant is a Professor of Psychology at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of five books, including his most ...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 6 min
