Marked by endless scandal and rampant corruption, the Olympics are in free fall. Today we explore how the world's most highly acclaimed brand has become corrosive, and what can be done to repair it. But fear not, we also celebrate a selection of inspiring athletic highlights from Beijing to Oahu, answer listener questions, share a few products that have caught our fancy, and more. As always, my co-host for today's rendition of 'Roll On' is ‘His Semi Deepness’ Mr. Adam Skolnick, an activist and v...
Feb 17, 2022•2 hr 11 min•Ep 662•Transcript available on Metacast We are living in a time of upgraded technology and downgraded humans. Our collective ability to resist distraction and sustain attention is in decline. Although will power plays a role, this problem is not entirely our fault—it’s the by-product of powerful forces incident to modern life. Disconnection from nature. Disrupted sleep. Toxic environments. Predatory tech. What exactly does a focus-less future augur? And what can be done to reclaim our ability to truly concentrate? Back for his second ...
Feb 14, 2022•2 hr 21 min•Ep 661•Transcript available on Metacast In the words of today’s guest, treat the natural world as if your life depends on it—because it truly does. Meet absolute living legend Sylvia Earle, Ph.D. A marine botanist, oceanographer, writer, lecturer, and one of the world’s top experts on ocean science and conservation, Sylvia is affectionately called “Her Deepness” by The New Yorker and the New York Times, and the “First Hero for the Planet” by Time magazine. Over the course of her 85 years, Sylvia has logged over 7,000 hours underwater,...
Feb 07, 2022•2 hr 9 min•Ep 660•Transcript available on Metacast After a seasonal sabbatical, ‘Roll On’ is back. And it’s time to hash out a bit of drama. After a two-month respite, Roll On returns with a discussion on ‘Moneyball-esque’ advances in sports science, the role of podcasting in the culture wars, the importance of taking a professional pause, how my sleep habits ended up as ‘news’, and so much more. As always, my magnanimous sidecar hype-beast and co-host Adam Skolnick joins me at the round table. Adam is an activist and veteran journalist known as...
Feb 03, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Ep 659•Transcript available on Metacast What’s stopping you from living the life of your dreams? For many, it’s finances. Family obligations. Demanding careers. You get the picture. But today’s guest truly believes you can have it all. Meet Harvey Lewis. For more than 25 years, this Cincinnati-based high school teacher & plant-based running phenomenon has been competing in ultramarathons with relentless consistency, racking up 23 wins across 76 races (and counting). A 5-time member of the USA National 24-hour Team, it’s a journey that...
Jan 31, 2022•2 hr 20 min•Ep 658•Transcript available on Metacast We all want to positively change the world. But where do you start? Today’s guest—a woman who has made an extraordinary impact on improving the lives of millions of people across the developing world—has dedicated the better part of her life to answering this question with actionable, sustainable solutions. Meet Jacqueline Novogratz. A former investment banker, Jacqueline walked away from Wall Street back in 1986 to co-found Rwanda’s first microfinance institution. Today she is the founder and C...
Jan 24, 2022•2 hr 12 min•Ep 657•Transcript available on Metacast A cornerstone of this podcast is celebrating the power of a plant-based lifestyle. Today we do just that with one of the movement’s most influential founding fathers. That father is none other than the great Plantstrong pioneer himself, Rip Esselstyn—returning for his second appearance on the podcast for a continuing dissertation on all things plants. If you caught our first conversation in December of 2017 (RRP 336), you already know Rip and I go way back. As swimmers we crossed paths as teens,...
Jan 20, 2022•2 hr 17 min•Ep 656•Transcript available on Metacast As we grapple with a global pandemic, experiential climate change, mass species extinction, and many other dire calamities—it can feel like the world has lost its moral center. But every solution begins with hope—the antidote to what ails us. Famed primatologist, climate activist, and global icon Jane Goodall has devoted her life to better understanding our natural world and preserving its majesty. As one can expect, the 87-year-old has some thoughts about our enduring climate crisis—thoughts th...
Jan 17, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Ep 655•Transcript available on Metacast The many benefits to cultivating a spiritual practice are obvious to those with experience—but it’s a pursuit too long dismissed by skeptics and scientists. That is, until now. Recent research in neuroscience, genetics, and epidemiology now establish that humans are not only universally equipped with a capacity for (and inclination towards) spirituality, but that our brains, when so awakened, become more resilient and robust—and our lives more meaningful and content. Here today to discuss the em...
Jan 10, 2022•2 hr 5 min•Ep 654•Transcript available on Metacast Goals are great. But far more important is who you become in the pursuit of said goals. Focus on the inside work. Process over results. Craft over competition. Ritual over routine. Recalibration over resolution. And watch your world change. After an extended break, the ever-so-popular Coaches’ Corner edition of the podcast is back with not one Olympian, not two Olympians, but three Olympians on deck. Packed with past podcast faves, today’s panel features endurance legend and Coach’s Corner OG Ch...
Jan 06, 2022•3 hr 34 min•Ep 653•Transcript available on Metacast We all have big dreams. But are you willing to pay the price required to make them manifest? There’s a big difference between those who quit and those who commit. At the core of that difference is one’s ability to tolerate discomfort. Discomfort is the price we pay for resilience. And resilience is the foundation of growth. Few grasp and practice this truth better than Spartan Race founder and CEO Joe De Sena, returning to the podcast to usher us into the new year correct and jumpstart our new y...
Jan 03, 2022•2 hr 47 min•Ep 652•Transcript available on Metacast If there’s one thing we learned in 2021, it’s that conversation matters. Allow me to indulge this truth by introducing Part Two of my annual yearbook—a means to reflect upon the twelve months past by revisiting some of the year’s most compelling podcast guests. It’s been an honor to share my conversations with so many extraordinary people over the course of 2021. Second listens brought new insights—and more reminders that these evergreen exchanges continue to both inspire and inform. For long-ti...
Dec 27, 2021•2 hr 3 min•Ep 651•Transcript available on Metacast As the Earth embarks upon another miraculous arc around the sun, let us prepare by taking space to pause, breathe, and reflect. A blank slate represents potential energy. Let us infuse the 2022 tabula rasa with the energy of hope and inspiration to catalyze your new year ambitions into reality. This process requires taking inventory of the twelve months past. Where you were this time last year. Celebrate your victories. Deconstruct your setbacks. Imagine yourself this time next year. Set your in...
Dec 23, 2021•2 hr 51 min•Ep 650•Transcript available on Metacast Every week, I send a show out into the ether. But it’s you, the audience, who has taken what is nothing more than an inert digital file comprised of ones and zeroes—and turned it into so much more. When I think back on the history of the show to date, it’s crystal clear what is truly important. And most beautiful. Community. No matter what your goal or aspiration—irrespective of how solitary you believe its pursuit—you simply cannot truly score on your own. Everyone needs a team. Everyone needs ...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep 649•Transcript available on Metacast At any moment, your could life could turn upside down. When tragedy strikes, what do you do? How you navigate events beyond your control reveals character. And character is something today’s guest possesses in abundance. Faced with a rare form of deadly cancer, Tommy Rivers Puzey—affectionately revered across the world as ‘Tommy Rivs’—refused pity. Instead, he doubled down on gratitude. He chose to learn from his suffering, expand his capacity to love, and more than anything, see the pain he end...
Dec 13, 2021•2 hr 19 min•Ep 648•Transcript available on Metacast Why is creativity vital? What is the nature of culture? And why is pursuing happiness futile? Today we tackle this terrain and so much more in today’s rendition of ‘Roll On,’ wherein myself and my undefeated podcast co-pilot Adam Skolnick ‘get back’ to our original old school format. Aside from serving as my magnanimous sidecar hype-beast, Adam Skolnick is an activist and veteran journalist best known as David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me, co-author. Adam writes about adventure sports, environmental i...
Dec 09, 2021•3 hr 30 min•Ep 647•Transcript available on Metacast What does it take to achieve the impossible? Don’t set limits. And never quit. Ever. The full embodiment of this ethos, today’s guest has never met an obstacle she couldn’t overcome, transcending every limit ever placed upon her. Her secret? Never give pain a voice. An extraordinary athlete and absolute force of nature, Leah Goldstein has lived one of the more interesting lives you will ever come across. After winning the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship at just 17 years old, Leah walk...
Dec 06, 2021•2 hr 3 min•Ep 646•Transcript available on Metacast The core of every hero’s journey is a desire to step into the unknown, seek adventure, and above all, embrace metamorphosis. For Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mike Posner, that meant trading the comforts of Hollywood for a Mount Everest base camp—and ditching the tour bus to instead walk across America. Let me explain. After skyrocketing to fame following the release of his debut song Cooler Than Me, Mike built a career writing infectious pop meditations (that have accrued billions of strea...
Nov 29, 2021•2 hr 20 min•Ep 645•Transcript available on Metacast Across the world, untold millions fall prey to some form of addiction. If you or someone you know suffers in silence, there is hope. Today’s episode casts a light on this epidemic of darkness and paves a solution-based path towards hope. A recovering alcoholic myself, I’ve danced with that darkness. Tasted the desperation. And felt the loneliness. Time and again I failed at arresting a disease hell-bent on killing me. Until that is, I let go of everything I thought I knew about how to live, thin...
Nov 25, 2021•2 hr 45 min•Ep 644•Transcript available on Metacast Conquering a historic feat of stratospheric proportions nobody thought possible, today’s guests will challenge every assumption you ever harbored about the outer limits of human capability. In 2010, Jason Lester and I were the first to complete EPIC5—5 consecutive iron-distance triathlons on 5 Hawaiian Islands in just over 6 days. I’m proud of that accomplishment. More proud that it has inspired others to rewrite their rulebook on personal possibility. But today’s guests James Lawerence—aka The ...
Nov 22, 2021•2 hr 28 min•Ep 643•Transcript available on Metacast Adventure begins when things start to go wrong. So stop looking for the shortcut. Embrace the difficult journey ahead. Few embody this ethos better than today’s guest Jason Caldwell. An extraordinary adventure athlete and beautiful beast of a human, Jason holds 11 world records set across 5 continents and 3 oceans, including a 320-mile unassisted traverse of the Namib desert (the longest desert trek across Namibia), captaining the fastest team to row across the Atlantic Ocean unsupported, and mo...
Nov 15, 2021•3 hr 39 min•Ep 642•Transcript available on Metacast Dadding. Surfing with Zuckerberg. Celebrating Ten Thousand’s glorious new FAR line with Robbie Balenger. And of course, the Adam-Brogan faceoff we’ve all been waiting for. Welcome to another hotly anticipated edition of ‘Roll On,’ wherein myself and my undefeated podcast co-pilot Adam Skolnick (and our intruding guest Brogan Graham) hone on matters of contemporaneous import, and more than anything, get a bit silly. Aside from serving as my magnanimous sidecar hype-beast, Adam Skolnick is an acti...
Nov 11, 2021•3 hr 57 min•Ep 641•Transcript available on Metacast Like many, I despair of our country’s division, which is rapidly expanding in lockstep with our inability to productively communicate alongside growing distrust in institutions and the media. Also like many, I want solutions. Much of this rests with us. But we also need leadership. Across the political landscape, most elected officials understand this problem and its gravity. However, very few proffer solutions beyond the beaten path. Even fewer demonstrate a good-faith willingness to tackle the...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep 640•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when you’re massively rich, famous, and rewarded for living a life of over-indulgence? If you’re lucky, you awake one day to realize that a life of sex, drugs, rock & roll—a life you were convinced would make you happy—only leaves you empty. You then embark on a Victor Frankl-esque search for meaning that ultimately leads to spiritual awakening and a path towards purpose, self-actualization, and service. This is a story that recurs on this show in many forms. Today’s version of that...
Nov 04, 2021•2 hr 3 min•Ep 639•Transcript available on Metacast Beyond politics and religion, few topics are more hotly debated than nutrition. But when we consider the totality of health—not just human health, but planetary, ecosystem, soil, and animal well-being—the science is irrefutable: a diet that is as plant-exclusive as possible is best. Nonetheless, misinformation fueled by emotions and ideological tribalism persists. Confusion propagates. Thus the average well-intentioned person remains stuck in unhealthy lifestyle habits that tragically lead to av...
Nov 01, 2021•3 hr 26 min•Ep 638•Transcript available on Metacast It’s time to once again transcend the mortal coil to reconnect with matters ethereal and divine, truths both big and small. Our prophetess for this spiritual trip is healer, mother, and creator Julie Piatt. Longtime listeners are well acquainted with the one who goes by SriMati—my in-house guru and better half. A human who is very good at many things, Julie is an accomplished yogi, musician, chef, and mom to our four children. She’s also the bestselling author of three vegan cookbooks. She hosts...
Oct 28, 2021•2 hr 45 min•Ep 637•Transcript available on Metacast This cultural moment bears witness to a growing distrust of institutions unprecedented in our lifetime. With it comes an unraveling of healthy communication. Tearing others down has taken priority over rising ourselves up. And binary thinking, divisiveness, and fear-based behavior have supplanted sense-making, appreciation for nuance, and mutual respect. For Ryan Holiday, the antidote is the pursuit of virtue—specifically, the virtue upon which all other virtues sit, courage: the ability to rise...
Oct 25, 2021•2 hr 8 min•Ep 636•Transcript available on Metacast I love my parents. I grew up with a world-class education. And yet, nobody actually ever taught me how to be an adult. As a result, I made a ton of avoidable mistakes. I suffered far more than necessary. And I fumbled in the dark for years until eventually, I figured a few things out. Unfortunately, my experience is all too common. Today’s guest—a woman who spent years mentoring and advising some of the brightest young people in the entire world—would agree, so she decided to do something about ...
Oct 18, 2021•2 hr 19 min•Ep 635•Transcript available on Metacast Last week we dipped our toes into sacred waters both spiritual and metaphysical. This week we are diving off the deep end. In other words, welcome to another incarnation of Guru Multiverse, the latest in my ongoing series of communions with Guru Singh, my treasured friend and favorite sparring partner when it comes to matters heart and soul. Aside from being a modern-day Gandalf, Guru Singh is a master of the Kundalini arts, a celebrated spiritual teacher, a third-generation Sikh yogi, an author...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep 634•Transcript available on Metacast Today we’re going take some of life’s biggest questions, toss them into a Vitamix, press hyperblend, and whip up a Metaphysical Milkshake. My sous chefs for this cosmic concoction are Rainn Wilson & Reza Aslan. Do I really need to introduce these two? Star of screens big and small, Rainn is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on The Office. An OG in the online high-vibe content space, Rainn is also the founder of SoulPancake, a digital platform for people from all walks of life to discuss ...
Oct 11, 2021•2 hr 54 min•Ep 633•Transcript available on Metacast