Timothy Ferriss's Blog, page 29

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“You can either have success or revenge, but you can’t have both.”

— Terry Crews

Terry Crews (@terrycrews) can do it all: author, action-movie hero, sitcom star, children’s book illustrator, advertising pitchman, playable video game character, talent show host, high-end furniture designer, and human rights activist. The list goes on and on. 

Terry’s new memoir is Tough: My Journey to True Power. In it, he chronicles the story of how he went from being a six-year-old boy with a goofy, toothless smile to being utterly selfish and angry to being a man who can finally acknowledge his own weaknesses and vulnerabilities and use his experiences to help motivate those around him. 

Terry has starred as a series regular in three consecutive TV series that have surpassed the coveted 100-episode mark: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Are We There Yet?, and Everybody Hates Chris. Terry is set to star in Tales of the Walking Dead and hosts NBC’s top-rated alternative series America’s Got Talent and its spin-offs, AGT Champions and AGT Extreme.

He recently added yet another title, children’s book illustrator, to his resume for his first-of-its-kind augmented reality book, Come Find Me. Terry’s Crew is Terry’s latest children’s lit entry, a graphic novel set to be released in November 2022. Terry’s Crew provides insight into his childhood in Michigan and what it was like trying to find his place. In 2021, Terry and his wife, Rebecca King Crews, released an exclusive Audible audiobook, Stronger Together, sharing the staggering ups and downs of their relationship and how they have weathered the myriad crises that have rocked their marriage. 

Terry, a lifelong artist, released his furniture collection with Bernhardt Designs in 2017, which premiered at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York and was awarded the prestigious “Best of NeoCon 2017.”

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Brought to you by Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, Gravity weighted blankets, and Allform premium, modular furniture. More on all three below.

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This episode is brought to you by Gravity! I place sleep at the top of my list for optimizing health, energy, and performance. If good sleep is in place, it helps everything else; if not, it hurts everything else. I’ve had sleep issues almost my entire life, which is why I’m always experimenting and adding great sleep aids. One of my new favorites is the Gravity Weighted Blanket. 72% of Gravity users have reported better, more restful sleep, and 76% have reported falling asleep faster and feeling more rested in the morning.

Gravity has been named “Best Weighted Blanket” by CNN, Business Insider, Good Housekeeping, and many more. Gravity is offering my listeners a special discount: order a blanket of any size or weight and receive 15% off your order. Just go to GravityBlankets.com/Tim, and the discount will be automatically applied.

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

This episode is brought to you by Allform! If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They also launched a company called Allform that makes premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.

Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa and receive 20% off all orders, check out Allform.com/Tim.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to find out what Terry Crews and I talked about the last time he was on the show? Have a listen to our conversation in which we discussed Terry’s art background, the vow that got Terry through his teenage years, maintaining optimism through tough times, the consequences of competition on creativity and overall success, advice for new and expecting parents, letting go of relationships and old friendships that have run their course, coping with self-induced anxiety, and much more.

#287: Terry Crews — How to Have, Do, and Be All You WantSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Terry Crews:

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Tough: My Journey to True Power by Terry Crews | Amazon Come Find Me by Ken Harvey and Terry Crews | AmazonTerry’s Crew by Terry Crews and Cory Thomas | AmazonStronger Together: How Fame, Failure, and Faith Transformed Our Lives by Terry Crews and Rebecca King Crews | AudibleTerry Crews Collection | Bernhardt DesignTerry Crews — How to Have, Do, and Be All You Want | The Tim Ferriss Show #287Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Prime VideoTales of the Walking Dead Terry Crews, Parker Posey, Jillian Bell | The Hollywood ReporterIntermittent Fasting 101 — The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide | HealthlineWalter Isaacson on CRISPR, Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race | The Tim Ferriss Show #503The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson | AmazonDiscovery of DNA Double Helix: Watson and Crick | ScitableJames Watson Has a Remarkably Long History of Sexist, Racist Public Comments | VoxDNA Pioneer James Watson Loses Honorary Titles Over Racist Comments | Smithsonian MagazineThe Last Dance | NetflixMichael Jordan’s “And I Took That Personally” | Know Your MemeWhat’s Behind Self-Righteous Attitudes? | PsychCentralTerry Crews Says His Porn Addiction Almost Cost Him His Marriage | Men’s HealthThe Twelve Steps | Alcoholics AnonymousThe Serenity Prayer and Twelve Step Recovery | Hazelden Betty FordPayback – The Director’s Cut | AmazonDeath Wish | Prime VideoWrath Of Man | Prime VideoTaken | Prime VideoMan on Fire | Prime VideoWill Smith–Chris Rock Slapping Incident | WikipediaPsychological Counseling Services, Ltd.Terry Crews Says ‘I Will Not Be Shamed’ as He Shares Details of Alleged Sexual Assault | PeopleRalph Waldo Emerson: “God Will Not Have His Work Made Manifest by Cowards.” | GoodreadsMan’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl | Amazon“Competition Is the Opposite of Creativity.” | Terry Crews, TwitterTerry Crews’ Secret to Creativity | SiriusXMTerry Crews Defends His ‘Black Lives Matter’ Stance | ET CanadaInternet Is Surprised That Terry Crews Is Also a Talented Artist | Bored PandaHow Long Did Terry Crews Play in the NFL? | SportskeedaThe Cult That Inspired “Drink the Kool-Aid” Didn’t Actually Drink Kool-Aid | VoxStanding on the Shoulders of Giant Jerks (Like Nobel Prize Winners James Watson and William Shockley) | ViceThelonious Monk: Monk’s Advice (1960) | GeniusSHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Hollywood life isn’t all glamorous red carpets and spotlights. What does an average working day look like for Terry, and what supplemental duty has he had to push back against?A lot of busy people don’t get around to reading one or two books a week, but for Terry, it makes being busy all the more possible.What are some realizations about success that have come to Terry while reading Walter Isaacson’s The Code Breaker and watching the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance?What’s the biggest mistake a lot of people make — in every walk of life — that causes the most amount of unnecessary suffering?How did Terry break himself of the habit of “victimology?” What initiated the event his family now refers to as “the D-Day moment,” and why did he carry a lifelong aversion to therapy that could have possibly helped him sooner?What you should be prepared to do without if you’re intent on living life as if you’re in a revenge movie, and what Terry did to regain control of his own actions instead of defaulting to chaos.Terry shares real-life examples that demonstrated — to his family as well as himself — that he could break destructive, impulsive patterns of behavior in favor of positive, responsible ones.How endurance plays into the way Terry demonstrates strength these days compared to how he expressed it in his earlier, more bombastic iteration.Why Terry believes the world determines winners way too early — and what we should be doing instead.How can competition be the opposite of creativity if resistance is crucial to growth? Terry explains.Terry’s thoughts on protest movements that don’t begin with the aim of reconciliation.Terry illustrates why he really is a category of one — even when he sometimes lapses in the midst of trying to live his most teachable life.Genius words from a (Thelonius) Monk, Terry’s war with cynicism, and other parting thoughts.MORE TERRY CREWS QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“If I lose my focus, I could lose my career.”
— Terry Crews

“Even when you’ve succeeded, when you’ve got this thing, you’re still starting at day one. Every day.”
— Terry Crews

“When you are self-righteous, you can now do the most heinous, inhuman things to other people, because you feel right.”
— Terry Crews

“You can either have success or revenge, but you can’t have both.”
— Terry Crews

“The greatest boxers in the world took punches.”
— Terry Crews

“The world really, really determines winners way too early. … But most of these people don’t end up winning long-term.”
— Terry Crews

“Competition is the opposite of creativity.”
— Terry Crews

“Any movement that doesn’t start with reconciliation, I don’t want any part of. We have to reconcile. We have to reconcile men to women. We have to reconcile black to white. We have to reconcile Republican to Democrat. We have to reconcile. That’s the first rule. Because if we don’t, what you’re doing is postponing a war. That’s all you’re doing.”
— Terry Crews

“I’m at war with cynicism. I’ve decided to be positive and be hopeful and believe the best about every human being.”
— Terry Crews

PEOPLE MENTIONEDRebecca King CrewsYves BeharJaime HayonRoss LovegroveWalter IsaacsonJennifer DoudnaJames WatsonFrancis CrickMichael JordanTerry Crews, Sr.Chris RockWill SmithAri EmanuelRalph Waldo EmersonGeorge ForemanMuhammad AliViktor FranklThelonious MonkJohn ColtraneWilliam ShockleyJim Jones

Illustration via 99designs

Technologist, serial entrepreneur, world-class investor, self-experimenter, and all-around wild and crazy guy Kevin Rose (@KevinRose) rejoins me for another episode of The Random Show.

In this one we discuss the books that we are currently reading, outdated behaviors, healing with men’s groups, masculinity, Kevin’s new Moonbirds project (a collection of 10,000 utility-enabled PFPs), my first NFT, and much, much more.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Brought to you by Wealthfront automated investing, Ascent Protein premium protein, and Shopify global commerce platform providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business. More on all three below.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#586: The Random Show with Kevin Rose — Current Books, Men's Groups, Tuna Helper, the Latest in NFTs, Fierce Intimacy, and More

This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront! Wealthfront pioneered the automated investing movement, sometimes referred to as ‘robo-advising,’ and they currently oversee $28 billion of assets for their clients. It takes about three minutes to sign up, and then Wealthfront will build you a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs based on your risk appetite and manage it for you at an incredibly low cost. 

Smart investing should not feel like a rollercoaster ride. Let the professionals do the work for you. Go to Wealthfront.com/Tim and open a Wealthfront account today, and you’ll get your first $5,000 managed for free, for life. Wealthfront will automate your investments for the long term. Get started today at Wealthfront.com/Tim.

This episode is brought to you by Ascent Protein! Ever since I wrote The 4-Hour Body, starting my day with ~30 grams of protein has been an essential part of my routine. I’ve been using Ascent’s whey protein for the last several years, and I recently tried their new plant-based protein. I’ve experimented with many other plant-based proteins, and most compromise on taste or efficacy, but Ascent Plant Protein is delicious and provides 25 grams of protein with 4 grams of BCAAs to support muscle health.

To ensure their product tastes great, Ascent verified it with third-party consumer research, and it won on taste and texture against the market leader. What’s more, it’s made from organic, real-food sources like organic pea, pumpkin, and sunflower and contains zero artificial ingredients, artificial sweeteners, or added sugars. Visit AscentProtein.com/Tim and use the code 20TFASCENT and you’ll receive 20% off of your entire purchase. This code is valid on their website and on Amazon.com. If you want a quick dose of protein to start your day or end a workout, this is a great option and my default. Enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Shopify! Shopify is one of my favorite platforms and one of my favorite companies. Shopify is a platform designed for anyone to sell anywhere, giving entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. In no time flat, you can have a great looking online store that brings your ideas to life, and you can have the tools to manage your day-to-day and drive sales. No coding or design experience required.

More than a store, Shopify grows with you, and they never stop innovating, providing more and more tools to make your business better and your life easier. Go to Shopify.com/tim for a FREE 14-day trial and get full access to Shopify’s entire suite of features.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear another Random Show? Listen to my last conversation with Kevin Rose, in which we discussed generative art, pet biohacking, saffron highs, bad ideas for conquering COVID, good TV for anyone passing time in convalescence, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), mainstream acceptance of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, making good decisions in the face of scientific unknowns, and much more.

#549: The Random Show — Biohacking, Tim’s COVID Experience, Holiday Gift Ideas, Favorite New Apps, Bad Science, Quarantine Delights, and a Small Dose of NFTs and DAOsSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Kevin Rose:

Website | PROOF | Modern Finance | Instagram | Twitter

The Official PROOF PFP | Moonbirds Spotify Premium Duo | SpotifyCompare Models | TeslaDinty Moore Beef Stew | AmazonBetty Crocker Tuna Helper | AmazonBetty Crocker Hamburger Helper | AmazonVisions of Japan: Kawase Hasui’s Masterpieces by Kawase Hasui | AmazonHokusai: The Great Wave That Swept the World | The GuardianOf Trees, Tenderness, and the Moon: Hasui Kawase’s Stunning Japanese Woodblock Prints from the 1920s-1950s | The MarginalianAMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Lies by Derek DelGaudio | AmazonDr. Mark Plotkin on Ethnobotany, Real vs. Fake Shamans, Hallucinogens, and the Dalai Lamas of South America | The Tim Ferriss Show #469The Plants of the Gods Podcast with Mark J. PlotkinTobacco and Shamanism in South America by Johannes Wilbert | AmazonHealth Risks of Smokeless Tobacco | American Cancer SocietyComprehensive Chemical Characterization of Rapé Tobacco Products: Nicotine, Un-ionized Nicotine, Tobacco-specific N’-Nitrosamines, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, and Flavor Constituents | Food and Chemical ToxicologyHamilton Morris on Iboga, 5-MeO-DMT, the Power of Ritual, New Frontiers in Psychedelics, Excellent Problems to Solve, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #511Bufo Alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert by Ken Nelson, Expanded and Updated Edition by Hamilton Morris | Department of InformationTales of a Shaman’s Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest by Mark J. Plotkin | AmazonProtecting the Amazon in Partnership with Indigenous and Other Local Communities | Amazon Conservation TeamDerek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself | HuluKa: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley and Melody Newcomb | AmazonLittle, Big by John Crowley | AmazonFinding the One Decision That Removes 100 Decisions (or, Why I’m Reading No New Books in 2020) | Tim FerrissAegypt by John Crowley and Grzegorz Domaradzki | AmazonTerry Real: Breaking the Cycle of Shame, Anger, and Depression | The Peter Attia DriveFierce Intimacy by Terence Real | AmazonWe Are Not a Men’s Group | The Spooky Men’s ChoraleWhat Is Toxic Masculinity? | The New York Times“Current Thing” | Marc Andreessen, Twitter“Whenever You Find Yourself on the Side of the Majority, It Is Time to Reform (Or Pause and Reflect).” | Mark Twain QuotationsGrails | PROOF CollectiveHow to Make an NFT | The Motley Fool“Choose Wisely.” | Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeHow to Start a War by Tim Ferriss | Grails by PROOF CollectiveMore Than Just a JPEG: Breaking Down NFT Utility | Portion BlogBored Apes NFT Project Gets Official ‘Apecoin’ Token | TechCrunchWhat is FUD? | Coin RivetJaws | David Yarrow, FacebookWarren Buffett: “Don’t Ask the Barber Whether You Need a Haircut” | CNBCBluefin Tuna Sells for a Record $3.1M in Tokyo Auction | CBS NewsThe 30-Day Challenge: No Booze, No Masturbating (NOBNOM) | Tim FerrissHarlan EstatePromontoryMeadowood | Visit CaliforniaFive Tech Predictions for 2016 by Kevin Rose | MediumHibiki 30 Years Old | DekantāThe Random Show — Biohacking, Tim’s COVID Experience, Holiday Gift Ideas, Favorite New Apps, Bad Science, Quarantine Delights, and a Small Dose of NFTs and DAOs | The Tim Ferriss Show #549Why Software Is Eating the World | Andreessen HorowitzBurning ManThe History of SXSW | SXSW Conference & FestivalsChris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3, How to Pick the Right Hill to Climb, Finding the Right Amount of Crypto Regulation, Friends with Benefits, and the Untapped Potential of NFTs | The Tim Ferriss Show #542Apeing | AlexandriaCommission-Free Stock Trading & Investing App | RobinhoodBlockchain 101: The Simplest Guide You Will Ever Read | VelotioBoyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #571SHOW NOTESWhat are Kevin and I stupidly frugal about? [06:15]Tobacco talk, Zoom group therapy, and books we’ve been reading. [10:20]Thoughts on men’s groups, healthy venting, the demonization of masculinity, and groupthink. [37:11]How my first NFT came to be, and the story behind PROOF Collective’s Grails project. [45:45]What’s a utility NFT, and will my NFT have utility attached to it? While a great idea in theory, what problems might arise over the lifetime of a utility NFT? How is the PROOF Collective trying to alleviate such problems? [52:30]Can FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) be a good thing in the NFT world? [59:29]The difficulties presented by trying to serve a massive audience on a reasonable budget, and how PROOF Collective’s new PFP project, Moonbirds, will try to do it right. [1:03:15]Could an NFT project get me canceled? Perhaps someday we’ll see. [1:06:15]Is Harlan Estate the Moonbirds of wine, or is Moonbirds the Harlan Estate of NFTs? Kevin explains why he’s particularly excited about the possibilities of Web3 — and why Adam Gazzaley owes him a bottle of Hibiki 30. [1:08:43]“Apeing” into position while mitigating downside when opportunity seems to be knocking. [1:12:52]Why Kevin believes now is the time to get a foundational understanding of how blockchains and NFTs work even if you don’t have big money to spend in the game. [1:16:57]Don’t want to mingle with people at a conference? Tell them this. [1:17:37]Parting thoughts. [1:20:05]PEOPLE MENTIONEDHasui KawaseKatsushika HokusaiMaria PopovaMark PlotkinKenneth NelsonRichard Evans SchultesDerek DelGaudioJohn CrowleyPeter AttiaTerry RealDarya RoseMarc AndreessenMark TwainAbraham LincolnMahatma GandhiGroucho MarxMae WestBeepleXCOPYWarren BuffettBill and Will HarlanAdam GazzaleyChris DixonNaval Ravikant

Photo by Todd White

The below 37 documentaries have shaped my thinking and changed my behavior over the last several years. I revisit them often.

They were all featured in 5-Bullet Friday, my free weekly newsletter, which I send out each Friday to ~1.5–2M subscribers. Each edition describes the coolest things I’ve found or explored that week in five short bullet points. This often includes books, gadgets, tricks from experts, articles, and weird stuff from all over the world.  

I hope you enjoy the following gems as much as I have…

March 4, 2022

The River Runner (Netflix, Amazon, more options). This jumped to the top of my to-watch list, thanks to Brad Ludden of First Descents, a world-class waterman in his own right and associate producer on this film. Here’s the trailer. Kudos to director Rush Sturges (@rushsturges), writers Thayer Walker (@inkdwell), Corinna Halloran (@corinnahalloran), and the whole team. This Outside feature by Thayer and Scott Lindgren, the documentary’s protagonist, became a model for the film: “After a Hard Diagnosis, One Athlete Learns to Soften Up.”

January 7, 2022

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Amazon, Apple TV). Description: “Werner Herzog’s award-winning 2011 doc is a thrilling study of 32,000-year-old cave paintings recently discovered in Southern France.” It has 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can watch the trailer here. 

December 17, 2021

The Alpinist (Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play). If you want an incredible infusion of wonder and adrenaline, this doc delivers. It’s stunning. Description: “Marc-André Leclerc climbs alone, far from the limelight. On remote alpine faces, the free-spirited 23-year-old Canadian makes some of the boldest solo ascents in history. Yet, he draws scant attention. With no cameras, no rope, and no margin for error, Leclerc’s approach is the essence of solo adventure. Nomadic and publicity shy, he doesn’t own a phone or car and is reluctant to let a film crew in on his pure vision of climbing…” Even if you don’t watch the full doc, be sure to watch the short trailer here. Special thanks to Peter Mortimer (@SenderFilms) and (@finsterbone) for including audio from The Tim Ferriss Show in this beautiful film.

November 26, 2021

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Amazon, YouTube, Apple TV) from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville. I watched this on a flight and deeply appreciated the nuanced portrayal. The archival and outtake footage alone make it well worth watching. The official description: “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef who lived his life unabashedly became a world-renowned cultural icon.” Find the trailer here. There are certainly lessons to be learned from the light and the dark, and this film raises important questions for me. For example: How can you safely learn from—or emulate—certain characteristics of tortured outliers without also inadvertently absorbing beliefs and behaviors that contributed to their deep inner pain? Tony’s story is inspiring, incredible, and tragic, and this film does an admirable job of capturing all three.

November 5, 2021

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski. This doc is amazing and bizarre on multiple levels. Here’s the description: “Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanisław Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.” The documentary was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) and his father George DiCaprio. You can find the trailer here. Thanks to Snapping Turtle for the recommendation.

October 8, 2021

Let Things Rot from the Fungi Foundation. This is gorgeously shot, and it’s worth a five-minute break for the visuals alone. From the description: “The Fungi Foundation is proud to present ‘Let Things Rot,’ a new documentary short directed by Mateo Barrenengoa in collaboration with mycologist and foundation founder Giuliana Furci (@giulifungi). Filmed in Chile’s Araucanía Region, the short delves into fungi’s crucial role as a decomposer, inviting the viewer to reconsider rotting through a new, poetic perspective.”

September 10, 2021

Searching for Sugar Man (Amazon, iTunes/Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube). I’ve had dozens of friends recommend this over the years, and I finally watched it last night. It’s SPECTACULAR. It was exactly the feel-good pick-me-up that I needed. The film’s accolades include 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, just to mention a few. Here’s the official description: “Searching for Sugar Man tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ’70s rock icon who never was. After being discovered in a Detroit bar, Rodriguez’s sound struck two renowned producers, and they signed a recording deal. But when the album bombed, the singer disappeared into obscurity. A bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa, and over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero.” Watch the trailer here.

August 20, 2021

Bird by Bird with Annie. I’ve loved Anne Lamott (@AnneLamott) and her work for more than a decade, and ever since I had her on the podcast, I’ve gone even deeper into the Annieverse. This documentary had just the right blend of humor, humanity, and insight to help me with some difficult emotions this week. Description: “Perhaps best known for her widely celebrated book on writing, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott is one of the rare artists who can teach us not only how to write, but how to live. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock (Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision), BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE offers an intimate portrait of the writer and her craft, interweaving the story of Lamott’s life—in itself a deeply moving tale of addiction and redemption, grief and joy, intellect and faith—with a year’s worth of interviews, public lectures, and readings, and footage of the writer at work, focusing particularly on Lamott’s candid, humorous, and disarmingly straightforward advice on the struggles and joys of writing. In the end, the author’s genuine reassurance and guidance concerning the actual process of writing—which has little resemblance to its glorified image—becomes a stirring call to action that celebrates the potential of each individual, the silencing of our inner critics, and the courage to create something honest, meaningful, and real. Poignant and inspirational, BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE takes us deep into Anne Lamott’s intoxicatingly brave world, one in which writing is a means of finding out who we are, how we live, and why we’re here.” You can find the trailer here.

July 16, 2021

Kokoyakyu: High School Baseball. [Update: currently unavailable for viewing.] This documentary really brings back the memories. It tracks high school competitors and coaches in one of Japan’s deepest passions: baseball. The school uniforms, practices, buildings, customs, etc. are all nearly exactly what I experienced as a 15-year-old exchange student in Tokyo. Natsukashii naaaa! Deep bow to reader Ethan Jacobs (@ethanajacobs) for the suggestion.

June 4, 2021

Magical Death. [Update: currently unavailable for viewing.] It’s a common fiction that indigenous use of psychedelics is entirely focused on healing. In reality, while healing is one common and legitimate use, psychedelic plants have also been weaponized for warfare for centuries, if not millenia. Stated uses include night-vision enhancement, attempts at divination of enemy locations, and “remote attacks.” This video shows an example of the last. Whether or not you believe such things are possible, it demonstrates that human nature—warts and all—is cross-cultural. Description: “A documentary film by anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon that explores the role of the shaman within the Yanomamo culture, as well as the close relationship shamanism shares with politics within their society.” Plant medicine does not automagically mean peaceful or harmonious ever after. Humans love power.

March 9, 2021

RBG. Description: “At the age of 85, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a lengthy legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. Explore her unique and unknown personal journey of her rise to the nation’s highest court.” May she rest in peace.

February 12, 2021

“Philip Roth: Unmasked” (Amazon, iTunes, PBS). I greatly enjoyed this deep dive into the life, craft, and humor of Philip Roth. My quest to learn more about Philip was sparked by Joyce Carol Oates, one of the most decorated and prodigious American writers of the last century, who spoke about him during our podcast together. Here’s the official description of this interview-rich documentary: “American Masters explores the life and career of Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novelist Philip Roth, often referred to as the greatest living American writer. Reclusive and diffident, Roth grants very few interviews, but for the first time, allowed a journalist to spend 10 days interviewing him on camera.”

January 29, 2021

Guardians of the Amazon. “As the Amazon rainforest faces a crucial tipping point amidst the increase of illegal logging activities, Dan Harris (@danbharris) and his team embed with the Guardians, a small indigenous group taking up arms to hunt down illegal loggers and fight for their land.” For a taste of the action, see the trailer here. This is a topic I care a lot about. For another way to help preserve the ecosystems of the Amazon, which includes both the lungs of the planet and indigenous communities, take a look at the Amazon Conservation Team. For my interview with the co-founder, Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and protégé of the legendary Richard Schultes, please click here.

November 20, 2020

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. This film was just what I needed after a rough day. Short description: “A groundbreaking summer camp galvanizes a group of teens with disabilities to help build a movement, forging a new path toward greater equality.” It has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and won the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award earlier this year. You can find the trailer here.

October 23, 2020

Sour Grapes (Amazon, YouTube, iTunes). This film scores ~95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and both the story and its cinematic telling are simply fantastic. Here’s the description: “Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American wine market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling the wine world elite, in this humorous and suspenseful tale of an ingenious con on the eve of the 2008 stock market crash.” This is a hilarious and nearly unbelievable case study in factors that make humans vulnerable to deceit, hubris, and more.

September 25, 2020

Burden of Dreams (Amazon, iTunes, The Criterion Channel). This documentary was recommended to me by one of the most phenomenal artists I know, Dustin Yellin, whose wild podcast with me just got released today. Burden of Dreams is a strange and captivating film. It’s a showcase of tackling the impossible, being unrealistic, and failing above others’ successes. On so many levels, the compulsion, single-mindedness, and all-or-nothing drive of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog makes no sense. And yet… to me, parts of his journey, and parts of his worldview, make all the sense in the world. This is a bizarre one that will only appeal to a small fraction of you, but here’s the official film description, edited for length: “For nearly five years, Werner Herzog worked on one of the most ambitious and difficult films of his career, Fitzcarraldo, the story of one man’s attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle. Documentary filmmaker Les Blank captured the unfolding of this production, including a sequence requiring [the pulling of] a full-size, 320-ton steamship over a small mountain.”

September 4, 2020

The Work. This documentary tore my heart apart but simultaneously gave me tremendous hope. It strikes me as particularly important for men (or those who want to better understand men) to watch, but the intensity isn’t for everyone. It’s exhausting to watch. Check out this short trailer, and you’ll see what I mean. As one reviewer put it, “The Work is a ‘prison film’ but not as you know it, and yet it is perhaps the most emotionally draining the genre has ever seen…. Set in Folsom prison, a group of men from the outside participate in a group therapy session with convicts, many of them violent offenders. In the space of four days, prisoners and free men alike engage in a weekend of deeply intimate conversations in which they reveal their darkest fears, dangerously repressed memories, and their most complex feelings. The resulting drama is a fascinating exercise in emotional exorcism.” So you’re not caught scratching your head at my recommendation, note that the first 20–30 minutes seem somewhat slow. It picks up at around the 30–35-minute mark.

August 21, 2020

The Last Dance. After weeks of three close friends texting me repeatedly about this series, I finally bit the bullet. I was hesitant, as I’ve never followed basketball nor been drawn to it, but… this is easily one of the best television series of any type that I’ve ever seen. It’s spectacular. Here’s the official description, but it doesn’t reflect the intensity and magic of what you’ll see: “This docuseries chronicles the rise of superstar Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, with unaired footage from an unforgettable 1997–98 season.”

Huge kudos to director Jason Hehir; the executive producers, including Mike Tollin, , , Peter Guber, and Libby Geist; and everyone else who helped create this series. How they digested the overwhelming volume of footage they did to make such tight art is beyond comprehension. The Last Dance was recently nominated in three Emmy categories: Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

March 28, 2020

DOSED. Highly recommended. I first saw an advanced screener of this film last summer, after which I reached out to the filmmakers with encouragement and feedback. It’s one of the best and most beautifully shot docs I’ve ever seen about psychedelic medicine. It showcases the struggles, misfires, and successes in the concrete jungles near Vancouver instead of in an Amazonian jungle. For me, it was quite emotional, as it shows opioid/opiate addiction firsthand, and my aunt died of a Percocet and alcohol overdose roughly 1.5 years ago. I’ll say it again: highly recommended, and the ending will lift you up. Here’s the official description: “After many years of prescription medications failed her, a suicidal woman turns to underground healers to try and overcome her depression, anxiety, and opioid addiction with illegal psychedelic medicine such as magic mushrooms and iboga. Adrianne’s first dose of psilocybin mushrooms catapulted her into an unexpected world of healing where plant medicines are redefining our understanding of mental health and addiction.”

January 17, 2020

Mike Wallace Is Here. This doc found me at exactly the right time. I’m in the midst of studying many different types of interviewers (Terry Gross vs. Larry King vs. Joe Rogan vs. Charlie Rose vs. James Lipton, etc.) to improve my own game in 2020. Mike is an archetype of the Southern Tiger Claw kung-fu style of interviewing, kicks to the balls included. He can be brutal. And while I wouldn’t duplicate all aspects of his approach, I think there is much to learn. Some of the clips in this doc are tense beyond words. The footage of Mike with Ayatollah Khomeini, as but one example, will make your stomach do flips. Here’s the official description: “For over half a century, 60 Minutes’ fearsome newsman Mike Wallace went head-to-head with the world’s most influential figures. Relying exclusively on archival footage, the film interrogates the interrogator, tracking Mike’s storied career and troubled personal life while unpacking how broadcast journalism evolved to today’s precarious tipping point.” You can find the trailer here. Highly recommended.

December 7, 2019

The Rise of Jordan Peterson (Vimeo, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play; if outside the US, Vimeo is likely easiest due to geo restrictions). I did not expect to like this documentary as much as I did. Prior to watching it, I knew very little of Jordan Peterson (@jordanbpeterson). Here’s the one thing I did know: some friends are fascinated by him and feel he is a brilliant seeker of truth, while others erupt into rage at the mere mention of his name and paint him as an anti-liberal antichrist. I watched this film with a close friend who is both impressed by and skeptical of Jordan, depending on the subject matter and year in question, as Jordan (like all of us) changes over time. In the end, we felt that this documentary—which includes a lot of diehard fans and diehard detractors—pulled off something quite difficult: it painted a compelling picture of a complex, gifted, and imperfect human, complete with paradoxes and uncomfortable questions that linger. My friend and I ended up discussing specific scenes and directorial decisions for days afterward.

Here’s the official description: “A rare, intimate glimpse into the life and mind of Jordan Peterson, the academic and best-selling author who captured the world’s attention with his criticisms of political correctness and his life-changing philosophy on discovering personal meaning. Christened as the most influential public intellectual in the western world, University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson skyrocketed to fame after he published a controversial viral video series entitled ‘Professor Against Political Correctness’ in 2016. Within two years, he sold more than three million copies of his self-help book, 12 Rules For Life, and became simultaneously branded by some as an academic rockstar selling out theatres around the world, and by others as a dangerous threat to progressive society.” [Update: You can find my interview with Jordan Peterson here.]

November 16, 2019

Dealt (Amazon, Hulu, Google Play) directed by . This absolutely blew my mind, and I don’t want to spoil it with description. Trust me and watch the short trailer here. Truly amazing. I can’t remember the last time I finished a documentary, only to want to immediately watch it again. I also can’t remember a doc that made me as emotional as this did, pushing me from laughter to tears. It’s a masterful visual biography. [Update: You can find my interview with Richard Turner here.]

November 8, 2019

From Shock to Awe (Vimeo, iTunes, Amazon). If you liked Trip of Compassion, or if you have an interest in psychedelics, ayahuasca, veteran affairs, or healing, take a look at this documentary. I’ve watched it 3x already and highly recommend it. Here is the description: “An intimate and raw look at the transformational journey of two combat veterans suffering from severe trauma (PTSD) as they abandon pharmaceuticals to seek relief through the mind-expanding world of psychedelics.” Even if you don’t watch the film, the two-minute trailer is worth checking out.

July 5, 2019

SOMM (on Amazon and iTunes). I first heard about this doc in blog comments after I interviewed the brilliant and well-tattooed Richard Betts. Richard passed the infamous Court of Master Sommeliers’ Masters Exam on his first attempt, becoming the ninth person in history ever to do so. It’s a Mount Everest BITCH of a test, and only 269 people have passed—in total and globally—over the last 40 years(!). I put off watching this film because I feared it would be too highfalutin for this Long Island boy. Now, having seen it, I’m sorry I didn’t watch SOMM ages ago. It’s a wonderful, brutal, endearing, and hilarious (especially the ball-busting scenes during study sessions) story of a few young men trying to find their place in the world by tackling something incredibly difficult. The editing is spot on, and you’re really cheering for these guys by the end. I loved it.

Here’s the official description: “Four men will do anything to pass the most difficult test you’ve never heard of. The Court of Master Sommeliers is one of the world’s most exclusive organizations with an exam that covers every nuance of the world of wine, spirits and cigars. How much do you think you know about wine? SOMM will make you think again.”

June 21, 2019

The King of Kong. This doc was originally recommended to me by the world’s most interesting man, Kevin Kelly. I’ve watched it every year or two since. The movie is like a real-life Spinal Tap about becoming king of the nerds. Trust me; it’s well worth the watch. Here’s a shortened description: “In the early 1980s, legendary Billy Mitchell set a Donkey Kong record that stood for almost 25 years. This documentary follows the assault on the record by Steve Wiebe, an earnest teacher from Washington who took up the game while unemployed.”

May 24, 2019

Pressure Cooker. This is a real tearjerker, a life-affirming story of a teacher in Philadelphia who trains at-risk high school students to win full scholarships to culinary school. She epitomizes the kind of tough love that I think we need more of in this country, *especially* in these infantilizing times. Official description: “Infamously blunt, Wilma Stephenson runs a ‘boot camp’ teaching Culinary Arts at Frankford High, disciplining her students into capable chefs and responsible students. But behind her tough exterior is a teacher who cares passionately about getting the best out of her kids.”

May 17, 2019

One Strange Rock (“Gasp” episode, specifically). This series is truly incredible. Executive produced by the acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (director of Black Swan, producer of The Wrestler, and much more) and hosted by Will Smith (@willsmith), it is unlike any documentary series I’ve ever seen. If interested in digging deeper into Darren’s creative process, you can listen to my interview with him: “Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky — Exploring Creativity, Ignoring Critics, and Making Art.”

May 3, 2019

Kumare. This is one of my favorite documentaries of the last five years. The tagline says it all: “The True Story of a False Prophet.” It blends reality and illusion into an amazing narrative, providing many practical philosophies along the way. Here’s the official description: “A provocative social experiment-turned-documentary, KUMARE follows American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi as he transforms himself into a wise Indian guru, hoping to prove the absurdity of blind faith.”

April 5, 2019

David Hockney: The Art of Seeing. Thanks to reader Jonathan Weitzman (@Epigenetique) for pointing me to this documentary via Twitter. Here’s the description: “David Hockney, widely considered to be Britain’s best-loved living artist, has taken over the Royal Academy [RA] in London with his exhibition A Bigger Picture, made up of recent works depicting the landscape of his native Yorkshire. In this programme, Andrew Marr, a friend of Hockney’s and an amateur painter himself, is in conversation with the artist, both at his home in Bridlington and in the galleries of the RA.”

March 15, 2019

Trip of Compassion. I first watched Trip of Compassion about six months ago, when I was sent a link to a private video. This documentary affected me so deeply (and immediately) that I flew to Tel Aviv, met the filmmakers, and offered to help launch the film digitally worldwide, which I just did this week on this page. Everything I am doing for this film is 100% pro bono, and all proceeds go to the filmmakers. Why would I do this? This quote from an actual patient in the film might give you an idea: “I felt like I went through 15 years of psychological therapy in one night.” Trip of Compassion documents one unusual approach to healing trauma that might astonish you—an innovative treatment involving the psychoactive drug MDMA (commonly known as “ecstasy”). As you will see firsthand, if the therapy is well designed, true rebirth and transformation can happen in a matter of weeks and not years. If you’ve ever felt held back, felt defective in some way, or felt that you’re not living up to your full potential, this film will give you hope. I highly, highly recommend watching and sharing this film. The world needs it.

February 1, 2019

In Search of Greatness. This brand-new doc thematically fits into a lot of the reading I’m currently doing. The official description: “Through the eyes of the greatest athletes of all time, In Search of Greatness is a cinematic journey into the secrets of genius. From award-winning filmmaker Gabe Polsky (@gabepolsky), this groundbreaking feature documentary includes original interviews with Wayne Gretzky, Pelé, and Jerry Rice. It also features Muhammad Ali, Einstein, David Bowie, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan, among others.” You can watch the trailer here. Gabe’s earlier Red Army doc is also fantastic.

January 18, 2019

Tim’s Vermeer. I first saw this film in 2014, and I decided it was worth a revisit, given my renewed interest in art. It’s absolutely marvelous. Here’s a description from Wikipedia: “Tim’s Vermeer is a documentary film, directed by Teller, produced by his stage partner Penn Jillette and Farley Ziegler, about inventor Tim Jenison’s efforts to duplicate the painting techniques of Johannes Vermeer, in order to test his theory that Vermeer painted with the help of optical devices.”

December 21, 2018

The Price of Everything, directed by . I watched this film after both my brother and a close friend raved about it. It is often hilarious, sometimes nauseating, and always entertaining. Here’s the description: “With unprecedented access to pivotal artists and the white-hot market surrounding them, The Price of Everything dives deep into the contemporary art world, holding a mirror up to our values and our times — where everything can be bought and sold.” You can stream it on HBO, and there are a few screenings coming up in early 2019 around the U.S. Personally, I hope to learn much, much more about art and the art world in 2019. If you might have lessons to share or a lot of experience, please let me know! Just direct a tweet at me (@tferriss) and include #timart so I can find you. Thanks!

December 14, 2018

Rivers and Tides. I first learned of Andy Goldsworthy through Johns Hopkins’ medical staff, who introduced me to one of his amazing books in their session room used for psilocybin studies. This classic documentary complements the book and shows his art (and the artist) in process. It won’t resonate with everyone, and it’s a bit odd, but it will strike a chord with many. This is especially true if you’ve spent some time in non-ordinary states. Before watching, I suggest seeing one of his books or at least looking at images of some of his artwork in nature.

December 7, 2018

Pick of the Litter. This feel-good documentary was recommended to me by my mom. It is a little sappy at points, but the training for avoiding automobiles and refusing to follow owner commands is incredible. Fair warning: some of you will shed a tear or two. The official description: “Pick of the Litter follows a litter of puppies from the moment they’re born and begin their quest to become guide dogs for the blind. Cameras follow these pups through an intense two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm. Along the way, these remarkable animals rely on a community of dedicated individuals who train them to do amazing, life-changing things in the service of their human. The stakes are high, and not every dog can make the cut.”

November 2, 2018

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? This was repeatedly recommended to me by my good friend Kevin Rose. I finally had a chance to watch it, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was particularly reassuring that Mister Rogers basically took the good TV playbook of the time and did the exact opposite, which helped lead to mega-success. Description: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Morgan Neville about the life and guiding philosophy of Fred Rogers, the host and creator of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The trailer for the film debuted on what would have been Rogers’ 90th birthday, March 20, 2018. It received acclaim from critics and audiences and has grossed $22 million, making it the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time.” (Wikipedia) If you don’t have time for the entire movie, at least watch this amazing clip.

October 26th, 2018

Free Solo, a new documentary in theaters now, should have been titled WHATTHEFUCKOHMYGODHOLYSHIT. I think everyone in the audience lost at least a pound through palm sweat alone. It chronicles free-solo climbing phenom Alex Honnold as he prepares for the ridiculous, the death-inviting, the absolutely impossible: climbing “El Capitan,” the legendary 3,000-foot monster in Yosemite National Park, without any ropes. Beautifully directed and produced by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, this is one movie that will not let your mind wander one iota. Go see it on the biggest screen you can find. At the very least, watch this trailer.

***

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“What is the probability that natural selection would shape sensory systems to report true properties of objective reality?”

— Professor Donald Hoffman

Donald Hoffman ( @donalddhoffman) received a PhD in computational psychology from MIT and is a Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. He is an author of over 120 scientific papers and three books, including The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Award of the American Psychological Association and the Troland Research Award of the US National Academy of Sciences.

His writing has appeared in Scientific American, New Scientist, LA Review of Books, and Edge, and his work has been featured in Wired, Quanta, The Atlantic, Ars Technica, National Public Radio, Discover Magazine, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. His TED Talk, titled “Do We See Reality as It Is?,” has almost 4M views.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Brought to you by JuneShine organic hard kombucha for a brighter buzz, FreshBooks cloud-based small business accounting software, and Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement. More on all three below.

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This episode is brought to you by JuneShine! You don’t know it yet, but JuneShine’s going to be your new go-to happy-hour drink. Consistent with their tagline, “organic hard kombucha for a brighter buzz,” I do get a nice buzz, as it sports a hefty 6% ABV (alcohol by volume), but 1–2 drinks doesn’t punish me with a nasty hangover. I enjoy grabbing a can of JuneShine in the late afternoon after a workday or when hanging with friends on the weekend. You’ve also heard me drinking JuneShine in a few Random Show episodes with Kevin Rose. Grapefruit Paloma might be my personal favorite flavor, but I usually grab a Sampler Pack and rotate.
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This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear another episode from someone who gazes at the universe through the lens of science? Listen to my conversation with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, in which we discuss childhood intellectual development through free expression of interest, communicating complex ideas to the layperson, the problem with Pulitzer Prize-driven journalism in the research frontier of science, learning from Carl Sagan, overbooking commitments, and much more.

#389: Neil deGrasse Tyson — How to Dream Big, Think Scientifically, and Get More DoneSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Donald Hoffman:

Website | Twitter

The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes by Donald D. Hoffman | AmazonDonald Hoffman: Do We See Reality as It Is? | TED 2015Of the Helmholtz Club, South-Californian Seedbed for Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience, and Its Patron Francis Crick | Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical SciencesDiscovery of DNA Double Helix: Watson and Crick | ScitableMax Planck: “I Regard Consciousness as Fundamental…’ | Big ThinkConsciousness | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyWhat Is Ostensive Definition? | AudiopediaThe Perplexing User Interface Theory of Donald Hoffman | MediumDid Humans Evolve to See Things as They Really Are? | Scientific AmericanNatural Selection and Veridical Perceptions | Journal of Theoretical BiologyFitness Beats Truth in the Evolution of Perception | Acta BiotheoreticaStructure Homomorphism | Wolfram MathWorldThe Principia: The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Sir Isaac Newton | AmazonSpacetime Is Doomed. What Replaces It? | CornellCastThe Large Hadron Collider | CERNEEG vs. MRI vs. fMRI: What are the Differences? | iMotionsWhat Is the Theory of Everything? | SpacePoincaré Group | WikipediaTurtles All the Way Down | WikipediaMarcus du Sautoy: The Paradox at the Heart of Mathematics: Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem | TED-EdEinstein’s Quantum Riddle, NOVA Season 46, Episode 2 | Apple TVSean Carroll’s Mindscape PodcastQuantum Spookiness Spans the Canary Islands | Scientific AmericanInstitute for Advanced Study | PrincetonSimulations Back up Theory That Universe Is a Hologram | NatureAdS/CFT Correspondence | Wikipediade Sitter Space | WikipediaAnti-de Sitter Space | WikipediaPhysicists Observationally Confirm Hawking’s Black Hole Theorem for the First Time | MIT NewsMaxwell’s Equations | SPIEEinstein’s Theory of Special Relativity | SpaceUS Lawmaker Orders NASA To Plan For Trip to Alpha Centauri by 100th Anniversary of Moon Landing | ScienceThe Origin of Time In Conscious Agents | CosmologyObjects of Consciousness | Frontiers in PsychologyMarkov Kernel | WikipediaAsymptotic Analysis | WikipediaDoes Consciousness Exist Outside of the Brain? | ResearchGate Discussion ForumDoes the Brain Produce Consciousness or Is It a Receiver of Consciousness? Or Both? | QuoraLocal Realism | Quantum Physics LadyContextuality — The Most Quantum Thing | Plus MagazineTwo Defining Features of Quantum Mechanics Never Appear Together | Phys.orgLocality Is Dead! Long Live Locality! | Frontiers in PhysicsRealism Is False: A Conversation with Donald D. Hoffman | EdgePhysicalism | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyLorentz Transformation | WikipediaQuantum Entanglement: Explained in REALLY SIMPLE Words | Science ABCDominic Walliman: Quantum Physics for 7-Year-Olds | TEDxEastVanPanpsychism | Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyCarlo Rovelli: Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution | Talks at GoogleConscious Realism and the Mind-Body Problem | Mind & MatterPhillip Goff: How Panpsychism Explains Consciousness | The Institute of Art and IdeasShinto | Japan GuideThe Copernican Revolution and Why It Is Important | Moments in MinutesCosmological Polytopes | PIRSAAssociahedron | Wolfram MathWorldThe Amplituhedron: A Jewel at the Heart of Quantum Physics | Quanta MagazineScattering Amplitudes | European Research CouncilQuantum Field Theory | WikipediaNima Arkani-Hamed Lectures 2019 | Harvard UniversityPsychedelics 101: Books, Documentaries, Podcasts, Science, and More | Tim FerrissHamilton Morris on Iboga, 5-MeO-DMT, the Power of Ritual, New Frontiers in Psychedelics, Excellent Problems to Solve, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #511Dennis McKenna — The Depths of Ayahuasca: 500+ Sessions, Fundamentals, Advanced Topics, Science, Churches, Learnings, Warnings, and Beyond | The Tim Ferriss Show #523Michael Levin on Morphogenetics, Regeneration, Consciousness, and Xenobots | Theories of Everything with Curt JaimungalPlants of the Gods — Dr. Mark Plotkin on Ayahuasca, Shamanic Knowledge, the Curse and Blessing of Coca, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #5085 Emerging Benefits of BioPerine and Piperine Supplements | HealthlineThus Spoke the Plant: A Remarkable Journey of Groundbreaking Scientific Discoveries and Personal Encounters with Plants by Monica Gagliano | AmazonAware: Glimpses of Consciousness | Prime VideoThe Intelligent Plant | The New YorkerGroup of Biologists Tries to Bury the Idea That Plants Are Conscious | The GuardianQBism, the Perimeter of Quantum Bayesianism | Christopher A. FuchsSteve Jurvetson — The Midas Touch and Mind-Bending Futures | The Tim Ferriss Show #317The Practical Quantum Computing Company | D-Wave SystemsEntropy, Joint Entropy, and Conditional Entropy | WIT SolapurWhy Do We Say That Irreducible Representation of Poincare Group Represents the One-Particle State? | Physics Stack ExchangeInformation Theory Part 10: What is a Markov Chain? | Art of the ProblemThe Bible | AmazonScience and Nonduality (SAND)The Upanishads | AmazonA New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle | AmazonThe Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle | AmazonEvolutionary Game Theory | WikipediaSHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.

What was the Helmholtz Club, and how did it spark a scientific exploration into the meaning of consciousness?What is consciousness?How should we understand our perceptions and their relationship to reality? David walks us through the desktop interface metaphor as presented in his 2015 TED Talk, and explains why it’s unlikely (with a probability of zero) that human beings evolved to behold the naked entirety of reality.Why does Donald, as a cognitive neuroscientist, find this era of physicists exploring consciousness and the nature of an underlying reality we haven’t evolved to see so exciting? Also: is spacetime doomed?Will science ever arrive at a theory of everything?What is the holographic model of the universe?What might things look like in the next decade or two as we begin to fundamentally revise how we think of reality, matter, and the interplay of consciousness?How does Donald scientifically explore the concept of conscious agents?Is consciousness localized, or does the brain “receive” it from elsewhere?How does Donald think about death?What are Markovian dynamics?Supplementary information that might help someone who’s struggling to understand parts of this conversation.What is panpsychism, and who are some of the most influential panpsychists?Which aspects of the way we interface with reality give us effective portals into life or consciousness?Probing the deeper reality suggested by amplituhedron, associahedron, and cosmological polytope.At which hallowed institutions are these explorations of consciousness and the nature of a deeper reality being researched, and who is leading the charge?Donald’s thoughts on the use of hallucinogenic drugs to tap into deeper reality and interact with conscious agents.Exploring a theory involving portals and morphogenesis.It’s worth considering ethnobotanical and ethnographical studies that may give us more focused insight into consciousness through a non-Western lens and even have us questioning if plants can be considered a sentient part of this consciousness.On Chris Fuchs and the outer fringes of Quantum Bayesian — aka QBism.The experiments Donald would conduct in his research with unlimited funding over the next 10 years, and with whom he would choose to work.What is Donald reading these days?Donald names some of his long-time collaborators who pair mathematics with spiritual practice, and describes how he reconciles the two in his own work.How much pushback has Donald suffered for bringing spirituality into his scientific endeavors? Has any of it been constructive?How does fitness payoff function work in evolutionary theory, and how does this support the probability of zero that humans evolved to see reality in full?Parting thoughts.MORE DONALD HOFFMAN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“If consciousness is the fundamental nature of reality, and consciousness is all there is, then mathematical structure is only about the possibilities of consciousness.”
— Donald Hoffman

“What is the probability that natural selection would shape sensory systems to report true properties of objective reality? … The probability is zero.”
— Donald Hoffman

“Very few of us know exactly how the desktop interface on our computer works. When you drag an icon to the trash can to delete a file, there’s a lot of stuff going on inside there that’s involved in deleting the file. We’re blissfully ignorant and that’s what evolution has done. It makes us blissfully ignorant about the nature of reality and gives us icons that allow us to control reality.”
— Donald Hoffman

“Physics is not fundamental. Spacetime is not fundamental. Consciousness is. What we call physical objects are merely the ways that we play with our interface to open new portals into the realm of conscious agents.”
— Donald Hoffman

“Science can never have a theory of everything.”
— Donald Hoffman

“When you can break your theory, when you find its limits, that’s when you break out the champagne because that’s when you’re going to go to the next step. Gödel’s incompleteness theory tells us that this process will never end. There is job security. Go into science.”
— Donald Hoffman

“What we thought was the final theory 130 years ago, we now look back on it; Newton was great, but we have much better theories today.”
— Donald Hoffman

“We have to take our current theories seriously. If we take evolution of a natural selection seriously, of course, as scientists, we’re going to eventually try to show its limitations.”
— Donald Hoffman

“When the physicists are saying, ‘We’re spending our careers looking for what’s beyond spacetime; spacetime is doomed,’ it’s really time for the cognitive neuroscientists who are studying consciousness to catch up with what the physicists have already said.”
— Donald Hoffman

“I want a scientific theory of consciousness that doesn’t assume a physical world as the foundation at all.”
— Donald Hoffman

PEOPLE MENTIONEDFrancis CrickTerrence SejnowskiV.S. RamachandranJames WatsonDave VannessMax PlanckBrian MarionJustin MarkChetan PrakashManish SinghRobert PrentnerIsaac NewtonNima Arkani-HamedDavid GrossJuan MaldacenaHenri PoincaréKurt GödelAlbert EinsteinSean CarrollNiels BohrRobbert DijkgraafWillem de SitterStephen HawkingJames Clerk MaxwellAndrey MarkovCarlo RovelliPhilip GoffChristof KochGiulio TononiNicolaus CopernicusRichard P. FeynmanMichael LevinMonica GaglianoChristopher A. FuchsN. David MerminRuediger SchackSteve JurvetsonThe Dalai LamaEckhart TolleRupert SpiraBruce Michael Bennett

Illustration via 99designs

Bo Shao is a co-founder and the chairman of Evolve, a philanthropic investment firm composed of a foundation, Evolve Foundation, and an impact investment firm, Evolve Ventures. With an initial capital of $100 million from the Shao family, Evolve aims to support organizations that relieve inner suffering and facilitate inner transformation. He is also the co-founder of Parent Lab, an app that helps parents meet common parenting challenges (a new version launches on April 10th).

Prior to Evolve, Bo was a founding partner of Matrix China, a leading technology venture capital firm in China, which manages more than $7 billion and has funded more than 500 companies, 50+ of which have become unicorns. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded five companies that have either gone public or become leaders in their respective industries.

Bo was born in China and was a winner of more than a dozen national mathematics competitions during high school. When he was 17, he left China for Harvard College on a full scholarship — one of the first such scholarships Harvard granted to a person from mainland China. After receiving his A.B. summa cum laude in physics and electrical engineering, he worked for Boston Consulting Group and Goldman Sachs and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Brought to you by Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement , Four Sigmatic mushroom coffee, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating. More on all three below.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#584: Bo Shao — His Path from Food Rations to Managing Billions, the Blessings and Burdens of Chasing Perfection, Building the eBay of China in 1999, Pillars of Parenting, and Pursuing the Unpopular

This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic and their delicious mushroom coffee, featuring lion’s mane and chaga. It tastes like coffee, but it has less than half the caffeine of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It’s organic and keto friendly, plus every single batch is third-party lab tested.

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This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.

And now, my dear listeners—that’s you—can get $250 off the Pod Pro Cover. Simply go to EightSleep.com/Tim or use code TIM at checkout. 

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

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SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEVentures & Foundation | EvolveThe Leading Source for Evidence-Based Parenting Education | Parent LabShanghai, China | BritannicaBicycle Standard Face Playing Cards | AmazonTesla Map vs. Waze/Google Maps | r/teslamotorsHarvard UniversityAll or Nothing: Inside China’s “Cram Schools” | Reader’s DigestNew Concept English 1 | AmazonVulcan | Memory AlphaWhat Killed Pay Phones and Phone Booths? | The AtlanticExposé Magazine | Harvard Writing ProjectRick Doblin: ‘People Should Have the Fundamental Right to Change Their Consciousness’ | ReasonWhat Was China’s Cultural Revolution? | ThoughtCo.Newly Released Documents Detail Traumas of China’s Cultural Revolution | Fresh AirWho Were China’s Red Guards? | ThoughtCo.Chinese Red Guards Apologize, Reopening a Dark Chapter | All Things ConsideredCan Trauma Be Inherited Between Generations? | The AtlanticTo Live | Prime VideoGlobal Management Consulting | BCGEachNet.com | Stanford Graduate School of BusinessWhat Was That Dial-Up Internet Sound? | Popular MechanicsHarvard President: Zuckerberg Dropped Out, but His Staff Didn’t | CNBCCapital University of Economics and Business1996 in China | WikipediaGraduate Record Examinations (GRE) | WikipediaMeditation, Mindset, and Mastery | The Tim Ferriss Show #201Why Being First Often Doesn’t Work Out: Friendster, Mt. Gox, EachNet | Tech In AsiaA Case Study on International Expansion: How eBay Failed in China by Alex Lee | MediumThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson | AmazonMatrix Partners ChinaSina Weibo | WikipediaThe Neuroscience of 20-Somethings | Scientific American Blog NetworkFrankenstein by Mary Shelley | AmazonThe Work of Byron KatieHand in Hand ParentingThe 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp | AmazonJim Dethmer — How to Shift from Victim Consciousness, Reduce Drama, Practice Candor, Be Fully Alive, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #434Diana Chapman — How to Get Unstuck, Do “The Work,” Take Radical Responsibility, and Reduce Drama in Your Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #536Who First Said ‘Long Time, No See’ and in Which Language? | Code SwitchSHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Bo shares what it was like to grow up poor in Shanghai, how his uncanny math acumen was sharpened with poker cards and rewarded with ketchup and hugs, and the lifelong lessons he absorbed from his parents.How did Bo wind up getting a full scholarship to Harvard?What did Bo do to learn and refine his English language skills, and why does he consider the pattern of behavior that compels him to excel a “burden?”How much of a culture shock did Bo experience when he moved to the United States in 1991? What were the most noticeable differences?Why is Bo committed to bringing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to China? What unique traumas have recent generations of Chinese experienced en masse that might be greatly alleviated by such treatments?Bo walks us through what it took to build his first startup during the age of dial-up modems after returning to China from a lucrative job in the US, and how his parents reacted.As someone so hardwired toward rationality, how did Bo weigh the pros and cons of beginning his own entrepreneurial venture in China instead of pursuing stable, high-paying employment for someone else in the US? Did he have a contingency plan in case things didn’t work out?Western names don’t always translate easily into Chinese. Take mine, for example.The ups and downs of startup life and the finite resources that even a math wizard can easily lose track of.How did Bo roll with cash flow problems and a major source of funding potentially drying up during a time of dire market fluctuations?It turns out Harvard is a great place to increase one’s vocabulary.What does Bo’s superpower-charging study regimen look like?Whatever happened to Bo’s first startup?How did meeting the woman who would become Bo’s wife enhance his emotional development?How old was Bo when he “retired” after selling EachNet, what motivated him to rejoin the entrepreneurial world, and what have been some of his most noteworthy accomplishments since?How did personal introspection become a priority for Bo after years of resistance to the idea, and how has his life improved — as a friend, husband, and father — as a result?What tools, perspectives, realizations, and resources have helped Bo make progress on his journey of self-discovery?What does Bo believe is missing right now from the discussion around psychedelics and related therapies?Projects with which Evolve is involved, Bo’s thoughts on the importance of inner work (particularly for people who are, as he was, overly focused on the rational), and other parting thoughts.PEOPLE MENTIONEDMao ZedongZhang YimouGong LiJohn WongMark ZuckerbergJack MaHenry JekyllEdward HydeFrankenstein’s MonsterByron KatiePatty WipflerJim DethmerDiana ChapmanGodBuddhaGuanyin

Illustration via 99designs

“What I’ve learned is that this bittersweet tradition, it’s been with us for centuries. And what it teaches us is that we are creatures who are born to transform pain into beauty.”

— Susan Cain

Susan Cain (@susancain) is the author of Quiet Journal: Discover Your Secret Strengths and Unleash Your Inner Power, Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, the latter of which spent eight years on the New York Times Best Sellers list and has been translated into 40 languages.

Susan’s first record-smashing TED Talk has been viewed more than 40 million times and was named by Bill Gates as one of his all-time favorite talks (and if you like that one, you should check out her most recent TED Talk with violinist Min Kym). LinkedIn named her the top sixth influencer in the world, just behind Richard Branson and Melinda Gates. Susan partners with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, and Dan Pink to curate the Next Big Idea Club. They donate all of their proceeds to children’s literacy programs.

Her new book is Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 770M+ users, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Pique premium tea crystals. More on all three below.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#583: Susan Cain on Transforming Pain, Building Your Emotional Resilience, Exploring Sufi Wisdom, Tapping into Bittersweet Songs, and Seeking the Shards of Light

This episode is brought to you by Pique! I first learned about Pique through my friends Dr. Peter Attia and Kevin Rose, and now Pique’s fermented pu’er tea crystals have become my daily go-to. I often kickstart my mornings with their Pu’er Green Tea and Pu’er Black Tea, and I alternate between the two. This rare type of naturally fermented tea is more concentrated in polyphenol antioxidants than any other tea—it supports focus and mental clarity, healthy digestion, metabolism, and a healthy immune system. Their crystals are cold extracted, using only wild-harvested leaves from 250-year-old tea trees. Plus, they triple toxin screen for heavy metals, pesticides, and toxic mold—contaminants commonly found in tea. I also use the crystals for iced tea, which saves a ton of time and hassle. 

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This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear the last time Susan Cain was on the podcast? Have a listen to our conversation here in which we discuss how she went from someone who feared public speaking to giving her own TED Talk, strategies for introverts dealing with group dinners, public speaking as a force multiplier for every other skill, terrible first drafts, writing process, the joy of bittersweet and minor key music, and much more.

#357: Susan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace CreativitySELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Susan Cain:

Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn  | Instagram

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain | Amazon Susan’s Bittersweet Playlist | SpotifySusan Cain and Min Kym: The Hidden Power of Sad Songs and Rainy Days | TED Summit 2019Quiet Journal: Discover Your Secret Strengths and Unleash Your Inner Power by Susan Cain | AmazonQuiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts by Susan Cain | AmazonQuiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain | AmazonSusan Cain: The Power of Introverts | TED 2012Curated Nonfiction Subscription Book Club | Next Big Idea ClubSusan Cain — How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Creativity | The Tim Ferriss Show #3577 Proven Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate | HealthlineAnthem (Live in London) | Leonard CohenWhat is Kabbalah? | Reform Judaism5 Teachings from the Japanese Wabi-Sabi Philosophy That Can Drastically Improve Your Life | Omar ItaniRumi: The Wound is the Place Where the Light Enters You | The Search For WisdomLove Dogs by Rumi | The MERI Center at UCSFThe Science of Music: Why Do Songs in a Minor Key Sound Sad? | NMEWhy Sad Songs Say So Much by Susan Cain | Quiet RevolutionOur Longing Back to the Garden of Eden | NIVThe Long Arm of Etymology, Or, Longing for Word Origins | OUPblogSurvival of the Fittest: Groups versus Individuals | Farnam StreetDacher Keltner on the Vagus Nerve | Greater Good Science CenterBattle of Wits Scene | The Princess BrideWhat Is Sufism? | Institute for Global ChangeSomewhere Over the Rainbow | The Wizard of Oz“…Our Hearts Are Restless…” An Analysis of One of the Greatest Sentences Ever Written | TGCBeauty in Sorrow by Balaji Ravichandran | The GuardianHow to Turn Your Grief into Creativity | Baha’i TeachingsHinach Yafah (You Are Beautiful) | Idan RaichelAmharic Alphabet, Pronunciation, and Language | OmniglotThe Troubadours and the Song of the Crusades by Haley Caroline Kaye | Bard Digital CommonsSaudade: An Untranslatable, Undeniably Potent Word | alt.latinoIs There an Equivalent of the Japanese Word ‘Natsukashii’ in Other Languages? | Japan TodayMono No Aware | The School Of LifeShinto | Japan GuideThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering by Marie Kondo | AmazonMujō | Routledge Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHow the Japanese Culture of Celebrating Cherry Blossoms Finds Beauty in Fleeting Change | WUWMPothos | LiviusThe Odyssey by Homer | Amazon7 Things My Father Taught Me by Susan Cain | LinkedInEmergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell On Earth by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson | AmazonValentine (Why There Would Be No Quiet Revolution Without My Husband) by Susan Cain | LinkedInCrazy Eddie ’80s Commercials | YouTube“This is Doma, the Perfect Jewel of a Greenwich Village Café…” | InstagramEmpathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care | Cleveland ClinicParking Lot LEARN Strategy | K20 CenterDescendants of Holocaust Survivors Have Altered Stress Hormones | Scientific AmericanCan Trauma Be Inherited Between Generations? | The AtlanticFearful Memories Passed Down to Mouse Descendants | Scientific AmericanAfter All | Dar Williams12 Signs You Are the “Wounded Healer” Personality Archetype | Thought CatalogMDMA: An Unconventional Treatment Option for PTSD | Mount Sinai New YorkArt Is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists by Phaidon Editors | AmazonThe Power Of Introverts, Animated | Fast CompanyJanna Levin on Extra Dimensions, Time Travel, and How to Overcome Boots in the Face | The Tim Ferriss Show #445“…Made for Another World.” | C.S. Lewis InstituteMere Christianity by C.S. Lewis | AmazonThe Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis | AmazonThe Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis | AmazonThe 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | AmazonMy Healing Journey After Childhood Abuse (Includes Extensive Resource List) | The Tim Ferriss Show #464Saisei FoundationSelf Unbound: Ego Dissolution in Psychedelic Experience | Neuroscience of ConsciousnessNick Norris — Navy SEAL and Athlete on Training, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Healing | The Tim Ferriss Show #378“Trip of Compassion” — The Most Compelling Movie I’ve Seen In The Last Year | Tim FerrissSHOW NOTES

Note from the editor: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Conversation around a book titled Bittersweet should always begin with dark chocolate. How did Susan arrive at the thesis for Bittersweet, and what did she learn about bittersweetness as a timeless human tradition? Where can someone curious about bittersweet music taste a sample of Susan’s favorites? Parallel wisdom for people of faith, hardcore atheists, and everyone in between from two of bittersweet art’s heaviest hitters: Leonard Cohen and Rumi. Why does minor key music often invoke melancholy? “Days of honey, days of onions.” Psychology may not (yet) distinguish between melancholy and depression, but wisdom traditions have known the difference for thousands of years. For those of us who closely associate depression and melancholy, what’s the value in seeking out the latter when we try so hard to avoid the former? Where Sufism fits in to Susan’s exploration of bittersweetness and search for a language of longing. [29:41]Creativity as a byproduct of bittersweetness. Thoughts on the song Hinach Yafah by Idan Raichel. How is mono no aware expressed in your part of the world? How can someone begin attuning their senses to the feelings that feed into bittersweetness? Susan shares the now-framed email the man who would become her husband sent after their second date. Most of us long for people, places, and things that didn’t make it through the pandemic. RIP, Doma. An empathy exercise: what captions and subtitles would accompany the people around you? Can grief be inherited? Here’s what the science says. Learning to heal others helps us heal ourselves. What’s the unexpected benefit Susan enjoys by immersing herself in the theses of her books during the lengthy writing process? Favorite quotations from Art Is the Highest Form of Hope, a book Susan gifted my way a few years ago. A point Susan feels some readers of Bittersweet might underappreciate or misinterpret. A brief bask in the warm wisdom of Jana Levin and C.S. Lewis. Susan asks what made me shift gears from being an “I’m going to teach you to be successful” author to someone in search of ways to turn pain into beauty. Susan’s advice to her 30-year-old-self (and the any-aged rest of us), moral obligation, coping with life’s crossroads, and other parting thoughts. MORE SUSAN CAIN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“What I’ve learned is that this bittersweet tradition, it’s been with us for centuries. And what it teaches us is that we are creatures who are born to transform pain into beauty.”
— Susan Cain

“I define bittersweetness as the state in which you know, you accept, and you truly inhabit the idea that life is always simultaneously joy and sorrow, it’s light and dark.”
— Susan Cain

“Right now, psychology makes no distinction between melancholy and depression. You could think of melancholy as being kind of a synonym for bittersweetness, but you won’t find it in psychology. You find it in all the wisdom traditions and the artists and the poets — they’ve been talking about it for thousands of years. But in psychology, no, it’s just depression. That’s all there is.”
— Susan Cain

“When I hear music, I’m like, ‘That’s what people are talking about when they talk about God.’ It is the same thing to me.”
— Susan Cain

“To me, the best moments in life are also when I’m reading a book or hearing music or whatever, where I feel like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that person just articulated something that I have experienced, and I never really thought about it that way, and I know exactly that person’s heart and mind.’ Maybe they lived 2,000 years ago and I still know them.”
— Susan Cain

“I’ve been a deep agnostic/atheist my whole life, and one of the biggest things I learned from the Bittersweet project is that it’s such a false dichotomy, this difference between atheists and believers. We all feel this longing, and the longing we feel is the return message for everyone.”
— Susan Cain

PEOPLE MENTIONEDBill GatesRichard BransonMelinda French GatesMalcolm GladwellAdam GrantDaniel PinkLeonard CohenJalal al-Din RumiAllahKhidrScott Barry KaufmanDavid B. YadenCharles DarwinDacher KeltnerLlewellyn Vaughan-LeeSaint AugustineAdam CohenIdan RaichelHafizMarie KondoOdysseusHomerAlexander the GreatKen CainJason KanovLaura MaddenSimcha RaphaelDar WilliamsKerry ResslerRachel YehudaMolly FerrissGerhard RichterMark RothkoJanna LevinC.S. LewisTara BrachLudwig Wittgenstein

Illustration via 99designs

“If I’m doing something that feels too well understood for too long, then I feel like I’m just being complacent.”

— Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg (FB/IG) is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta, which he originally founded as Facebook in 2004. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company. In October 2021, Facebook rebranded to Meta to reflect all of its products and services across its family of apps and a focus on developing social experiences for the metaverse—moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.

He is also the co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with his wife Priscilla, which is leveraging technology to help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges—including supporting the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of the twenty-first century.

Mark studied computer science at Harvard University before moving to Palo Alto, California, in 2004.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the video on YouTube here.

Brought to you by Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, Magic Spoon delicious low-carb cereal, and Helium 10 all-in-one software suite to sell on Amazon. More on all three below.

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#582: Mark Zuckerberg on Long-Term Strategy, Business and Parenting Principles, Personal Energy Management, Building the Metaverse, Seeking Awe, the Role of Religion, Solving Deep Technical Challenges (e.g., AR), and More

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.

And now, my dear listeners—that’s you—can get $250 off the Pod Pro Cover. Simply go to EightSleep.com/Tim or use code TIM at checkout. 

This episode is brought to you by Magic Spoon cereal! Magic Spoon is a low-carb, high-protein, and zero sugar cereal that tastes just like your favorite sugary cereal. Each serving has 13–14g of protein, 4g of net carbs, and 0g of sugar. It’s also gluten free, grain free, soy free, and keto friendly. And it’s delicious! It comes in your favorite, traditional cereal flavors like Cocoa, Frosted, Peanut Butter, and Blueberry.

Magic Spoon cereal has received a lot of attention since their launch. Time magazine included it in their list of Best Inventions of 2019, and Forbes called it “the future of cereal.” My listeners—that’s you—get $5 off and a 100% happiness guarantee when you visit MagicSpoon.com/Tim and use code TIM. And some great news for Canadian listeners: Magic Spoon now also ships to Canada!

This episode is brought to you by Helium 10! Helium 10 is an all-in-one software suite designed to help entrepreneurs launch, manage, and scale a profitable e-commerce business on Amazon and Walmart.com. Whether you are an entrepreneur who wants to start a business on your own terms or you want to scale your existing e-commerce operations, Helium 10 is here to help. They process more than 2 billion data points daily, have a robust 450+ million ASIN database, and provide at-a-glance analytics like seasonal trends for products, profit estimates, and more.

Join more than 1 million Helium 10 users worldwide by signing up for a free account at Helium10.com/Tim!

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear the episode Mark referred to as “a great podcast?” Listen to my conversation with Daniel Ek, in which we discuss the meaning of eldsjäl, European versus American parenting, books that stand out among the 60–70 Daniel reads annually, dealing with tough-to-hear feedback, Spotify’s internal two-year missions, speed vs. quality of iteration, and much more.

#484: Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify — Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Top PerformanceSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Mark Zuckerberg:

Meta | Facebook | Instagram

Meta’s Ongoing Efforts Regarding Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine | Meta“I am donating 100% of my past book royalties from Russia and Ukraine to Ukrainian causes. This includes everything from The 4-Hour Workweek (2007) to Tribe of Mentors (2017)—five books in total…”Mark Fencing with Olympic Gold Medalist Lee Kiefer and World Champion Gerek Meinhardt | FacebookWhat Latin Sounded Like — And How We Know | NativLangThe Face of Facebook | The New YorkerEnder’s Game by Orson Scott Card | AmazonVirtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality vs. Mixed Reality | IntelExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang | AmazonReady Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline | AmazonSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson | AmazonRainbows End: A Novel with One Foot in the Future by Vernor Vinge | AmazonMark’s Connect 2021 Keynote Outlining the Metaverse Vision and Decision to Rebrand to Meta | MetaOnce Mocked, Facebook’s $1 Billion Acquisition of Instagram Was a Stroke of Genius | Yahoo! FinanceReady Player One | Prime VideoBreakthrough Technology for the Brain | NeuralinkHistory of VR: Timeline of Events and Tech Development | Virtual SpeechEye Contact in Virtual Reality – A Psychophysiological Study | Computers in Human BehaviorThe AR, VR Future Coming in 2022: What We Learned from CES | CNETVirtual Reality for People with Disabilities | WalkinVRTypes of Eye Movements and Their Functions | NeuroscienceHow to Reduce Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality | WiredA Digital Nation | Axie InfinityWhat Are Play-to-Earn Games? How Players Are Making a Living With NFTs | DecryptMeta’s Social VR Platform Horizon Hits 300,000 Users | The VergeMark’s Post on Meta’s New Company Values | FacebookAmazon Adds New Corporate Values as Jeff Bezos Prepares to Depart | CNETHorizon Workrooms for VR Remote Collaboration | MetaWeb1, Web2, and Web3 with Their Differences | GeeksforGeeksMark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression | MetaHow to Create Your Metaverse Avatar on Facebook | iTech PostFacebook’s Commitment to the Oversight Board | FacebookThe Facebook Oversight Board Proved It’s Not Mark Zuckerberg’s Puppet — Now It’s His Move | CNBCDaniel Ek, CEO of Spotify — Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Top Performance | The Tim Ferriss Show #484IQ vs. EQ: Which One Is More Important? | Verywell MindWay of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way: A Novel by Jocko Willink and Jon Bozak | AmazonJocko Willink on Discipline, Leadership, and Overcoming Doubt | The Tim Ferriss Show #187Shabbat 101 | My Jewish LearningThe Torah | AmazonThe Bible | AmazonFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman | AmazonZuckerberg Drops Personal Challenges in Favor of Big-Picture Plans for the Decade | The GuardianQuiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain | AmazonWatch Mark Zuckerberg Speak Mandarin | The New York TimesFacebook’s Royal Wedding | The New York TimeseFoil Electric Surfboard | Lift FoilsFoilin’ USA | InstagramSHOW NOTESHow did teenage Mark get involved in the world of competitive fencing? [07:01]What does Mark find particularly compelling about classical studies and history? [10:00]Influential and recommended science fiction related to virtual realities. [13:32]How do Mark and his team get an organization of a hundred thousand people on board with long-term project plans that can extend into the next decade and a half? [17:26]What does Mark do to get comfortable with discomfort and manage his energy for whatever the day throws his way? [23:05]How long does Mark think it will take for us to realize VR technology as immersive as presented in Ready Player One? What kind of progress can we expect to see in the not-too-distant future? [27:02]The challenges of making VR a satisfying, nausea-free experience for everyone. [33:35]Projections for the societal effects of people earning sustainable livelihoods in the metaverse. [39:00]The new values being built into Meta’s cultural operating system — and the old values being adapted — to prepare for a more distributed, more honest, and faster future. [44:16]Challenges presented by moving from a Web2 to a Web3 world. [57:35]Mark’s assessment of Meta’s oversight board. [1:03:07]To what does Mark credit the longevity of his unique partnership with Sheryl Sandberg, and in what ways has it shifted his life and business over the past 15+ years? What does he consider to be Sheryl’s superpowers? [1:07:49]How did Mark’s family dynamics growing up shape who he is today and how he parents his own children? [1:12:52]What role, if any, does religion play in Mark’s life? [1:20:40]Did Mark go through an emo phase early in life? [1:24:53]Of the annual personal challenges Mark undertook for 10 years, which were the easiest — and the most difficult? [1:26:12]Does Mark foresee navigating the metaverse on multiple mobile devices running OSes not necessarily under Meta’s control, or will there be a more efficient, unifying device in the works? [1:30:49]Parting thoughts. [1:35:15]MORE MARK ZUCKERBERG QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“If I’m doing something that feels too well understood for too long, then I feel like I’m just being complacent.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“Let’s constantly be doing something that can be doubted. Because if we’re not, then what are we doing?”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“If it’s obvious to everyone that we’re going to be able to do each of the things that we’re working on, then I don’t feel like we’re making the most of what we need to do.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“How you get an organization of a hundred thousand people through something is about managing your own psychology and about managing your team’s psychology.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“One of the things that I’ve always found is you can … get an organization and a team through almost any challenge as long as you can maintain good cohesion. When our stock price goes down, that doesn’t make me not sleep at night. When there’s a new competitor, that doesn’t make me not sleep at night. If there’s an issue on my team and there isn’t good cohesion, then I’m not sleeping well until I resolve that.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

PEOPLE MENTIONEDPriscilla ChanBruce LeeAugustusTed ChiangJon StewartStephen ColbertEye of SauronAndrew GroveAndrew BosworthSheryl SandbergDouglas HofstadterJeff BezosDan RosensweigNoah FeldmanDaniel EkWarren BuffettCharlie MungerMark’s Parents and SiblingsJocko WillinkTobi LütkeOliver Burkeman

Illustration via 99designs

“If I’m doing something that feels too well understood for too long, then I feel like I’m just being complacent.”

— Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg (FB/IG) is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta, which he originally founded as Facebook in 2004. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company. In October 2021, Facebook rebranded to Meta to reflect all of its products and services across its family of apps and a focus on developing social experiences for the metaverse—moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.

He is also the co-founder and co-CEO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with his wife Priscilla, which is leveraging technology to help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges—including supporting the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of the twenty-first century.

Mark studied computer science at Harvard University before moving to Palo Alto, California, in 2004.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the video on YouTube here.

Brought to you by Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, Magic Spoon delicious low-carb cereal, and Helium 10 all-in-one software suite to sell on Amazon. More on all three below.

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#582: Mark Zuckerberg — Founder and CEO of Meta

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.

And now, my dear listeners—that’s you—can get $250 off the Pod Pro Cover. Simply go to EightSleep.com/Tim or use code TIM at checkout. 

This episode is brought to you by Magic Spoon cereal! Magic Spoon is a low-carb, high-protein, and zero sugar cereal that tastes just like your favorite sugary cereal. Each serving has 13–14g of protein, 4g of net carbs, and 0g of sugar. It’s also gluten free, grain free, soy free, and keto friendly. And it’s delicious! It comes in your favorite, traditional cereal flavors like Cocoa, Frosted, Peanut Butter, and Blueberry.

Magic Spoon cereal has received a lot of attention since their launch. Time magazine included it in their list of Best Inventions of 2019, and Forbes called it “the future of cereal.” My listeners—that’s you—get $5 off and a 100% happiness guarantee when you visit MagicSpoon.com/Tim and use code TIM. And some great news for Canadian listeners: Magic Spoon now also ships to Canada!

This episode is brought to you by Helium 10! Helium 10 is an all-in-one software suite designed to help entrepreneurs launch, manage, and scale a profitable e-commerce business on Amazon and Walmart.com. Whether you are an entrepreneur who wants to start a business on your own terms or you want to scale your existing e-commerce operations, Helium 10 is here to help. They process more than 2 billion data points daily, have a robust 450+ million ASIN database, and provide at-a-glance analytics like seasonal trends for products, profit estimates, and more.

Join more than 1 million Helium 10 users worldwide by signing up for a free account at Helium10.com/Tim!

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear the episode Mark referred to as “a great podcast?” Listen to my conversation with Daniel Ek, in which we discuss the meaning of eldsjäl, European versus American parenting, books that stand out among the 60–70 Daniel reads annually, dealing with tough-to-hear feedback, Spotify’s internal two-year missions, speed vs. quality of iteration, and much more.

#484: Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify — Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Top PerformanceSELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Mark Zuckerberg:

Meta | Facebook | Instagram

Meta’s Ongoing Efforts Regarding Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine | Meta“I am donating 100% of my past book royalties from Russia and Ukraine to Ukrainian causes. This includes everything from The 4-Hour Workweek (2007) to Tribe of Mentors (2017)—five books in total…”Mark Fencing with Olympic Gold Medalist Lee Kiefer and World Champion Gerek Meinhardt | FacebookWhat Latin Sounded Like — And How We Know | NativLangThe Face of Facebook | The New YorkerEnder’s Game by Orson Scott Card | AmazonVirtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality vs. Mixed Reality | IntelExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang | AmazonReady Player One: A Novel by Ernest Cline | AmazonSnow Crash by Neal Stephenson | AmazonRainbows End: A Novel with One Foot in the Future by Vernor Vinge | AmazonMark’s Connect 2021 Keynote Outlining the Metaverse Vision and Decision to Rebrand to Meta | MetaOnce Mocked, Facebook’s $1 Billion Acquisition of Instagram Was a Stroke of Genius | Yahoo! FinanceReady Player One | Prime VideoBreakthrough Technology for the Brain | NeuralinkHistory of VR: Timeline of Events and Tech Development | Virtual SpeechEye Contact in Virtual Reality – A Psychophysiological Study | Computers in Human BehaviorThe AR, VR Future Coming in 2022: What We Learned from CES | CNETVirtual Reality for People with Disabilities | WalkinVRTypes of Eye Movements and Their Functions | NeuroscienceHow to Reduce Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality | WiredA Digital Nation | Axie InfinityWhat Are Play-to-Earn Games? How Players Are Making a Living With NFTs | DecryptMeta’s Social VR Platform Horizon Hits 300,000 Users | The VergeMark’s Post on Meta’s New Company Values | FacebookAmazon Adds New Corporate Values as Jeff Bezos Prepares to Depart | CNETHorizon Workrooms for VR Remote Collaboration | MetaWeb1, Web2, and Web3 with Their Differences | GeeksforGeeksMark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression | MetaHow to Create Your Metaverse Avatar on Facebook | iTech PostFacebook’s Commitment to the Oversight Board | FacebookThe Facebook Oversight Board Proved It’s Not Mark Zuckerberg’s Puppet — Now It’s His Move | CNBCDaniel Ek, CEO of Spotify — Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Top Performance | The Tim Ferriss Show #484IQ vs. EQ: Which One Is More Important? | Verywell MindWay of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way: A Novel by Jocko Willink and Jon Bozak | AmazonJocko Willink on Discipline, Leadership, and Overcoming Doubt | The Tim Ferriss Show #187Shabbat 101 | My Jewish LearningThe Torah | AmazonThe Bible | AmazonFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman | AmazonZuckerberg Drops Personal Challenges in Favor of Big-Picture Plans for the Decade | The GuardianQuiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain | AmazonWatch Mark Zuckerberg Speak Mandarin | The New York TimesFacebook’s Royal Wedding | The New York TimeseFoil Electric Surfboard | Lift FoilsFoilin’ USA | InstagramSHOW NOTESHow did teenage Mark get involved in the world of competitive fencing? [07:01]What does Mark find particularly compelling about classical studies and history? [10:00]Influential and recommended science fiction related to virtual realities. [13:32]How do Mark and his team get an organization of a hundred thousand people on board with long-term project plans that can extend into the next decade and a half? [17:26]What does Mark do to get comfortable with discomfort and manage his energy for whatever the day throws his way? [23:05]How long does Mark think it will take for us to realize VR technology as immersive as presented in Ready Player One? What kind of progress can we expect to see in the not-too-distant future? [27:02]The challenges of making VR a satisfying, nausea-free experience for everyone. [33:35]Projections for the societal effects of people earning sustainable livelihoods in the metaverse. [39:00]The new values being built into Meta’s cultural operating system — and the old values being adapted — to prepare for a more distributed, more honest, and faster future. [44:16]Challenges presented by moving from a Web2 to a Web3 world. [57:35]Mark’s assessment of Meta’s oversight board. [1:03:07]To what does Mark credit the longevity of his unique partnership with Sheryl Sandberg, and in what ways has it shifted his life and business over the past 15+ years? What does he consider to be Sheryl’s superpowers? [1:07:49]How did Mark’s family dynamics growing up shape who he is today and how he parents his own children? [1:12:52]What role, if any, does religion play in Mark’s life? [1:20:40]Did Mark go through an emo phase early in life? [1:24:53]Of the annual personal challenges Mark undertook for 10 years, which were the easiest — and the most difficult? [1:26:12]Does Mark foresee navigating the metaverse on multiple mobile devices running OSes not necessarily under Meta’s control, or will there be a more efficient, unifying device in the works? [1:30:49]Parting thoughts. [1:35:15]MORE MARK ZUCKERBERG QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“If I’m doing something that feels too well understood for too long, then I feel like I’m just being complacent.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“Let’s constantly be doing something that can be doubted. Because if we’re not, then what are we doing?”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“If it’s obvious to everyone that we’re going to be able to do each of the things that we’re working on, then I don’t feel like we’re making the most of what we need to do.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“How you get an organization of a hundred thousand people through something is about managing your own psychology and about managing your team’s psychology.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

“One of the things that I’ve always found is you can … get an organization and a team through almost any challenge as long as you can maintain good cohesion. When our stock price goes down, that doesn’t make me not sleep at night. When there’s a new competitor, that doesn’t make me not sleep at night. If there’s an issue on my team and there isn’t good cohesion, then I’m not sleeping well until I resolve that.”
— Mark Zuckerberg

PEOPLE MENTIONEDPriscilla ChanBruce LeeAugustusTed ChiangJon StewartStephen ColbertEye of SauronAndrew GroveAndrew BosworthSheryl SandbergDouglas HofstadterJeff BezosDan RosensweigNoah FeldmanDaniel EkWarren BuffettCharlie MungerMark’s Parents and SiblingsJocko WillinkTobi LütkeOliver Burkeman

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life. 

This is a special inbetweenisode, which serves as a recap of the episodes from last month. It features a short clip from each conversation in one place so you can easily jump around to get a feel for the episode and guest.

See it as a teaser. Something to whet your appetite. If you like what you hear, you can of course find the full episodes at tim.blog/podcast. 

Please enjoy! 

P.S. If you have any feedback, please let me know on Twitter (@tferriss) and mention me and @TeamTimFerriss, plus #experiment, so that we can easily find it.

***

Timestamps:

Cal Newport: 01:31

Margaret Atwood: 07:12

Boyd Varty: 11:48

Ayana Johnson: 19:40

Bill Rasmussen: 23:47

***

Full episode titles:

Cal Newport — The Eternal Pursuit of Craftsmanship, the Deep Life, Slow Productivity, and a 30-Day Digital Minimalism Challenge

Margaret Atwood — A Living Legend on Creative Process, The Handmaid’s Tale, Being a Mercenary Child, Resisting Labels, the Poet Rug Exchange, Liminal Beings, Burning Questions, Practical Utopias, and More

Boyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life

Marine Biologist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on How to Catalyze Change with Awe and Wonder, How to Save the Planet, Finding Your Unique Venn Diagram of Strength, and Seeking the Minimum Effective Dose

ESPN Co-Founder Bill Rasmussen — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#580: In Case You Missed It: February 2022 Recap of The Tim Ferriss Show

“Two things that cause bad decisions are anger and sex.”

— Stewart Copeland

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.

You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview with Stewart Copeland from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.

Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.

It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually you’ll be able to see all episodes for free at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.

Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.

In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Listen onApple Podcasts[image error]Listen onSpotify[image error]Listen onOvercast#581: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stewart Copeland — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss

This episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.

It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear another episode with an incredibly inspiring musician? Have a listen to my conversation with Nicholas McCarthy in which we discuss how to overcome limitations and prove doubters wrong, how to manage ego, dealing with rejection and negativity, the benefits of aromatherapy, and much more.

#174: The One-Handed Concert Pianist, Nicholas McCarthySELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with Stewart Copeland:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

Strange Things Happen: A Life with The Police, Polo, and Pygmies by Stewart Copeland | AmazonThe PoliceStewart Copeland’s Drum Solo | Late Show with David LettermanLions vs. Rhythmatist | Stewart Copeland – YouTubeRock ‘n’ Roll Drums Trailer | The Tim Ferriss ExperimentHot Blooded by Foreigner | Amazon MusicKim Philby, Spies, and the Dangers of Paranoia | The New Yorker1964 Embassy Beach Club, Beirut, Lebanon: The Black Knights Rocked the House! | Stewart Copeland, Facebook1960s Beirut: What Became of the Jet-Set Playgrounds? | CNN TravelThe Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks | Amazon MusicHouse of the Rising Sun by The Animals | Amazon MusicThe 50th Anniversary Collection by James Brown | Amazon MusicBaladi Rhythm | Druminic3 Reggae Drum Beats Every Drummer Should Know | Stephen Taylor Drum LessonPolice and Thieves by The Clash | Amazon MusicCurved AirA Game of Thrones Series by George R.R. Martin | AmazonScunthorpe Problem | TV TropesLord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien | AmazonSting Before the Police: How Gordon Sumner Got His Start | Oregon LiveI Hate People by The Anti-Nowhere League | YouTubeBorn in the ’50s by The Police | Amazon MusicThe Marquee ClubThe Who | Amazon MusicWhisky a Go GoThe Story of the Sex Pistols’ First (And Last) US Tour | UCRWhy The Beatles’ Shea Stadium Show Was Even Greater Than You Knew | Rolling StoneRock: Police Perform for 70,000 at Shea Stadium | The New York TimesAnger Management: 10 Tips to Tame Your Temper | Mayo ClinicScary ‘Mary Poppins’ Recut Trailer | Chris RulePudendal Nerve | Cleveland ClinicStavanger Symphony OrchestraKing Oscar Sardines | AmazonRumble Fish | Prime Video1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly | The TechniumThe 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout | AmazonShirley & Spinoza RadioThe Taylor Swift-Kanye West 2009 VMAs Scandal Is an American Morality Tale | VoxThe Black Eyed Peas | Amazon MusicSHOW NOTESOn Letterman and lions: Stewart details the only two drum solos he’s done in his life (and, for the sake of participation, I share mine). [05:28]The great thing about taking risks with music? It’s not paragliding. How does Stewart introduce a new musician to having fun with music without worrying about the consequences of making mistakes? [10:30]With a father who was both a jazz musician and a CIA agent, what was Stewart’s childhood like? [14:09]What initially drew Stewart to music, and how did his first gig go? How did these early forays into music abroad affect his evolution as a musician? [16:25]How Stewart became the drummer for a band he was managing and married the singer in what looks, on paper, like a series of Machiavellian, Game of Thrones-style power moves. [20:55]How did The Police come together as a band? [23:04]During the early days of The Police, what did Stewart and his bandmates imagine success might look like? What milestones inched them closer to realizing this success? [27:08]How does Stewart prepare for a gig? [29:52]Why being in The Police was often like wearing “a Prada suit made out of barbed wire.” [32:27]Circumstances that might trigger the righteous anger by which Stewart finds himself invigorated. [36:41]Examples of good things that have happened to Stewart simply by saying “Yes.” [39:37]How did Stewart wind up scoring Rumble Fish for Francis Ford Coppola? [41:13]How does Stewart define success? [43:27]Stewart’s advice for anyone from a rock and roll musical background who wants to pursue film scoring. [44:33]Stewart’s advice for a budding musician trying to get their foot in the door of today’s entertainment industry, and how the process differs from when Stewart was just getting started. [46:22]What music does Stewart find particularly interesting from today’s roster of artists? [48:42]On favorite failures as a concept. [51:47]What Stewart’s billboard would say, and parting thoughts for the audience. [52:42]MORE GUEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Some of the best things happen when you don’t know what you’re doing.”
— Stewart Copeland

“You may laugh salaciously, but it’s true that — particularly for teenagers and young adults — music is the key to sex. It is the key to body language that would be unacceptable without music playing.”
— Stewart Copeland

“So much good stuff derives from just saying ‘Yes.'”
— Stewart Copeland

“Having the best idea first—that’s a leader.”
— Stewart Copeland

“That’s the great thing about music. If you played it, it’s correct. The worst musical train wreck hurts absolutely no one. It’s all part of the show. In fact it’s how we get to the great stuff. There is no penalty for skating on the edge or throwing ourselves off the cliff. So we do.”
— Stewart Copeland

“At least my spy daddy wasn’t a double agent.”
— Stewart Copeland

“Why wait for attention when you can grab it?”
— Stewart Copeland

“Two things that cause bad decisions are anger and sex.”
— Stewart Copeland

“Don’t be fearful if your music doesn’t sound like everything else on the radio, and don’t be complacent if it does.”
— Stewart Copeland

PEOPLE MENTIONEDFrancis Ford CoppolaOliver StoneDavid LettermanAdnan KhashoggiWolfgang Amadeus MozartMiles Copeland Jr.Lorraine CopelandMiles Copeland IIIKim PhilbyIan CopelandSonja KristinaStingPhil SutcliffeAndy SummersStanley ClarkeKevin KellyBeyonceKanye WestFrank OceanKendrick LamarChuck BerryBill Haley