The Range Project

Henry Zhu studied psychology at Harvard and is now Chief of Staff at The JED Foundation, which aims to protect the emotional health of, and prevent suicide for, teens and young adults. While the foundation advises schools on mental health policies and runs PSAs with celebrities like Billie Eilish and leagues like the NBA, Henry is especially interested in male mental health and modern masculinity overall. Basically, how the culture pushes boys and men to think and behave in a certain way that is getting in the way of guys being their healthiest selves. As you might be able to guess, that's where what we focus our conversation on today. Relationships. Vulnerability. Self worth. All the things that make us whole. And don't let Henry's soft spoken nature fool you - he is incredibly passionate, knowledgable, and ambitious about improving mental health for young people and males in particular. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net --- To support mental health resources and get yourself some gear that can start meaningful conversations, head over to nosolobrand.com and use code RANGE20 for 20% your purchase.

Dr. John R. Weisz, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard where he focuses his research on developing interventions for youth mental health problems. He is a past president of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology as well as a recipient of the James McKeen Cattell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Psychological Science. At Harvard, Dr. Weisz's Lab for Youth Mental Health focuses on developing, implementing, and testing psychological treatment interventions to help alleviate anxiety, depression, conduct problems, ADD/ADHD, and post-traumatic stress in kids. The thing is, most children present multiple problems at the same time. To best treat kids with a profile of mental health issues, Dr. Weisz and his team have worked hard to combine components of the best tested and proven interventions into one comprehensive approach. On top of explaining what that transdiagnostic approach looks like, we talk more generally about other treatments I'm trying to better understand like CBT and medication and also dive into brief digital interventions. They are 30 to 45 minutes, interactive, delivered online without any supervision needed, and most importantly proven - making them a great way to expand the accessibility of mental health care that is so desperately needed. Please enjoy.

Dusty Watten is a member of the Team USA National Volleyball Team and currently playing professionally in Lublin Poland. Off the court he is a coach, student of Stoicism, meditation advocate, and vegan athlete. While we cover a lot, this conversation is all about striving for and working towards the highest version of ourselves. That might sound lofty and a bit ridiculous. Fine. But that's what I'm aiming towards and want to talk to people about. Find Dusty @dustinwatten on Instagram and at dustywatten.com Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Today, Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton joins the show. His research covers a range of topics, but in this one we really tackle rituals - what they are, when to implement them, and why they help - and then cover his older research on money - does more money make us happier? How should we spend our money to change how we spend our time? What about buying experiences? - and a lot more. While he's no doubt an expert, that says nothing about how thoughtful and kind Mike is - an entirely different lesson I take from this conversation and from having known him. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Jake Gronsky is a former Minor League Baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals organization and has since become an author featured on ESPN, Best American Sports Writing, FOX Sports, and more. We dive deep into: why following your passion isn't the best advice and really tactical advice on what to do instead the importance of stability in a day job to give you freedom to take necessary risks in your other projects daily routine as a web-growth consultant by day and writer by night fiction, and particularly romance - recommendations and why fiction is just as important in the world to starting conversations and uncovering truths Full show notes at chrismcgrory.net

David Ogle is a cognitive behavioral coach for business leaders and professional athletes around performance. At Dose Performance Coaching, David's specialty is in creating an environment for individuals to have their own moments of insight... then helping them take action. In this episode, David blends actionable tactics with the neuroscience to back it up. We cover how to cultivate moments of insight, establish a healthy pace after graduating college, set goals - and a lot more. This conversation really centers around how we can use what we know about the brain and human behavior to get us to live more in alignment with what we learn to be true in the world and about ourselves over time. Connect with David at dosecoaching.com and on Instagram @dosecoaching Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Adam Stone is a pitcher for the Team USA Collegiate National Team, Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and Harvard Baseball. He's a top professional prospect as a starting pitcher, standing at 6 foot 6 and over 215 pounds, and getting it up to 98 miles an hour with a wipeout slider—but he won't tell you that. After listening back, I realized that Adam gives a crash course in sports psychology in this one. stress appraisal—how he re-frames his pre-game jitters as getting locked in self-talk—what he says on the mound and how he gathers confidence mental imagery—seeing a game before it happens positive mental approach—bouncing back from Tommy John surgery (a rehab process that takes a whole year) Beyond that, we talk about what he learned about preparation from playing alongside the best college guys in the country and we even dive into how he gained 40 pounds in a little over a year. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

David Havelick is a Senior Sustainability Manager at Harvard, focused on overseeing the university's climate impact. While there are a bunch of different areas for improvement, David is especially committed to Harvard's climate impact through food. He helped champion Harvard joining the Cool Food Pledge which is a commitment to reducing the school's green house gas emissions from food by 25% by 2030 - an effort we connected over. In this one we talk about how you and I can be more environmentally friendly - and the answer isn't a reusable water bottle or recycling. His answer actually might surprise you by focusing more on groups and less on individual responsibility. Then we dial in on food. Since it's a top contributor to global climate change, what can be done? How's Harvard thinking about this issue? Then we wrap up with learning more about David and especially his journey towards acting in alignment with his values - particularly with his food choices as someone who avoids animal based products for moral and environmental reasons. Full show notes at chrismcgrory.net

John Toracinta is the co-founder of NOSOLO, a brand on a mission to end the stigma of mental illness through their hats and other merchandise. NOSOLO is a symbol that represents support for those who may have felt alone at some point. Because we already know mental illness does not discriminate, the logo really says nobody goes solo in whatever battle they're fighting. While the awareness and support born out of the product is important, NOSOLO has also committed 20% of profits to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) who help individuals and families get the support they need. In this conversation John shares: the origin story of NOSOLO and inspiration to build a mission focused brand how something as simple as a hat can lead to open and honest conversation about mental health what he's learned personally over the past few years from building a company from nothing. NOSOLO's mission aligns deeply with what I care most about and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to chat with its co-founder and expand its reach. If you're interested in doing a small part in helping end the stigma surrounding mental illness, head over to @nosolobrand on Instagram and nosolobrand.com. Also check out the NOSOLO Team participating in the 2021 NAMIWalk in Rhode Island (also virtual!) on October 24th. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Michael Bervell is a Ghanaian-American angel-investor, entrepreneur, and soon to be author, working in venture capital at Microsoft. Michael graduated from Harvard in 2019 where he studied philosophy with a focus in computer science. He blogs daily on his popular website "Billion Dollar Startup Ideas" and has advanced that passion for startups into writing a book called Unlocking Unicorns, due out in August of 2021. The book is unique because it profiles 10 startup founders from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East - most of whom you've never heard of - who built billion dollar companies. In this conversation, we riff on the personal tactics of startup founders from his book that can be applied in our own lives - because not everybody has aspirations to build a billion dollar company, right - as well as dive into his own story - purposefully getting rejected everyday in high school, business lessons learned from his Ghanaian grandma, personal maxims that guide his decision making, and how he redefines time to be most productive. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

I'm on vacation for the month in Costa Rica trying to hit pause, but I just finished a book, and as I was going through it and putting my notes into my computer, I figured it could be cool to do a book summary. Main take-aways, important arguments, interesting opinions, and anything else I feel was valuable after reading. So in this one I'm going to talk about The Story of the Human Body by Harvard Professor Dan Lieberman. My roommate took his class this semester that basically went through the book and from overhearing his lectures, I was intrigued. The book first outlines the human body's evolution - how the search for food and the globe's climate change together shaped us into the bodies we have today. Then, Part II looks at how the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions greatly changed our environments - which is not good since we evolved for a very different way of life. Lastly, Part III explains how modern ailments - from diabetes to flat feet - can be understood from our evolution and what we can do to change the direction of a largely unhealthy future. So, with that said, please enjoy!

Eric Winters is a self-leadership coach and author of Swipe Right on Your Best Self which answers the question: how do we avoid the number one regret of the dying? The book is super straightforward with three hurdles we need to overcome, three ways to prepare the body, three ways to prepare the mind, and seven steps at the end to encourage behavior change towards being our authentic selves. But most importantly to me is that it is evidence-based and offers actionable tactics. In this conversation we dive into questions I had about the book and actually make a lot of connections to Stoic philosophy. We talk about how junk values from culture, that we've blindly adopted as our own, get in our way. We talk about how to use the reality of our mortality to motivate us towards action. We cover the importance of self-compassion and how it helps us achieve our goals. We strip away the hippie lingo of mindfulness and chat about why it's such an important tool to train attention. And, as you could guess, there's a whole lot more. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Dr. Jacob Rode is a post-doc in the Harvard psychology department where he researches and teaches about the intersection of psychology and environmental sustainability. Broadly speaking, he looks at why some people just do not care about the environment and how can we influence their opinion. And right now, Jacob is looking at how we can use renewable energy solutions to avoid the political polarization of climate change and environmental policy. On top of that, this past spring, I took his class called Nature Can Nurture. So, we dive into the benefits of spending time in nature and how he uses surfing for relaxation and meditation in his own life before talking about just how politicized our environmental opinions are and why that makes it hard to change others' beliefs. Please enjoy this one all about cool applications of social psychology. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Derek Schaedig is outspoken about his experiences with mental illness because he hopes that it can reduce the stigma and help someone like himself know that it's okay to not be okay. See chrismcgrory.net for full show notes. I want to first say I think this episode is the most important one to date. In this one, I sit down with Derek Schaedig and we talk all things mental health. Back in 2019, Derek was courageous enough to put pen to paper and ink an article chronicling his experience with Major Depressive Disorder - later diagnosed properly as Bipolar II - as a first year student-athlete on the Harvard Hockey team. In this conversation, Derek tells the same story he shared in that article, Down but Not Out, plus a whole lot more. Specifically, much of our conversation centers around the importance of language — both in how we describe mental illness using words like diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment plus what support networks can say to best be there for those we know who are struggling. Personally, I learned so much from Derek. Explaining mental illness in terms of having "symptoms" really clicked for me and made me realize how unfair my (close minded) judgements have been at points in the past. More generally, he taught me how mental illness does not discriminate — I mean on paper, what could be better than being a D1 athlete, playing the sport you love, at a school like Harvard? You'll quickly tell that Derek is upbeat, positive, personable, and more than just what we talk about today — but like I said, mental illness does not discriminate. Before listening, I do want to preface that we discuss some mental health episodes that may be triggering for some - so, please, use your discretion. With that said, I know there is something for everyone in this one, so please enjoy Derek Schaedig.

Matt Freese played two seasons as goalkeeper at Harvard before signing with the MLS team, Philadelphia Union. Full show notes at chrismcgrory.net Now, what's even cooler than just being in the MLS is the fact that Matt grew up going to games, rooting for the Union, and playing on their academy team before coming to Harvard. On top of playing for the Union, Matt represented the USA on the Olympic qualifying team - so as you can guess, we talk about what it's like to represent your home city and country on the field. But the majority of our conversation centers around what he's learned and how's he's changed since turning pro when he signed with the Union two years ago. What I'm going to steal and think about in my own life is the advice he got from his teammate and best goalie in the league, Andre Blake, who told Matt "Rome wasn't built in a day" ... and with that, we have fun talking about how that commitment to the longview guides how Matt goes about his business from nutrition, to recovery, to training and everything in between. Before we rock it I do want to say that the audio quality on this one is a little less than perfect... that's because Matt was on his pre-game walk around DC when we connected. So if you can get beyond the occasional background noise, I hope you have some fun listening to Matt and learning what he's learned reflecting on his two years as a professional athlete. So with that said, please enjoy, Matt Freese.

Listen to hear Stephen Turban (Harvard '17, ex-McKinsey, Harvard Business School PhD student) talk to me about what he's done and learned from his four years since graduating. By hearing his story, he got me thinking about: a career "structure" for the first few years after graduating (he went from Beijing with McKinsey to working on building a new university in Vietnam and now to starting an education company of his own) language learning (he's learned Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and now Hindi...) building a writing habit (while in college he wrote a book - yes you heard me right a literal book you can buy on Amazon called Your Relationship GPA) strategies to cultivate friendships in the real world (he built a group at Harvard, the Franklin Fellowship, that did exactly that) Let me tell you, this one left me with a dumb smile on my face... I've never met Stephen before, but within seconds we were laughing. And throughout the whole conversation he kept it light while at the same time giving the most thoughtful and insightful answers to the questions I want answers to before I head off into the next chapter of life post-graduation. I loved this one, I hope you do it. Please enjoy Stephen Turban. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Listen to hear me, Chris McGrory, synthesize the 80/20 Principle and share how I see it fit in to my own life. Hopefully, you'll learn the main ideas from Richard Koch's book, The 80/20 Principle, and start to think of how you can start identifying (and investing in) the minority of inputs in your life that are responsible for the majority of results. Together, we can try to live more simply and happily. For full show notes, visit chrismcgrory.net

Ian McClanan is a Harvard graduate, adventurer, YouTuber, and food tech startup marketer living in Berlin, Germany. Ian graduated from Harvard (albeit virtually) in the spring of 2020 with a degree in Social Studies and is now working in marketing at a cool food tech startup called Choco in Berlin, Germany. On top of that full time job, Ian is a video creator on YouTube where he posts really thoughtful and polished tutorials (some that I've utilized include his Notion page tourand Google Sheets personal finance run-down), life reflections, and video essays on everything from books, to movies, to ads. So why did I want to chat with Ian? Most simply, it's because he blends a lot of the attributes I admire. He cares about personal wellbeing and productivity. He's unafraid to take the untraditional path. He invests in a creative pursuit that is both fun and serious. And, as you'll quickly tell, Ian has a lot of positive energy that you can't help but feed off of. Not unlike other conversations, in this one I get selfish and ask questions to help me out. So at its core, this conversation is advice from someone a year post-grad to someone just about to reach that milestone and transition into the real world for himself. We cover how he thinks about big projects and ideas. The importance of having a passion outside of work. Ritualizing physical space and other daily, weekly, and monthly routines. Other real world pro-tips (I especially liked his farmers market and meal prep weekend hack) and of course, book recommendations and a whole lot more. Please enjoy this one with Ian McClanan. Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Today, I sit down with John Fish who you might know from his YouTube channel, with nearly a million subscribers, that chronicles his growth throughout college. And that's what we talk about in this episode. The channel started growing with his vlogs as a computer science and psychology student at Harvard but has transitioned into much more. John reflects deeply on his experiences, documents what he's thinking about, and then shares his insights. His videos cover everything: books, productivity tips, programming projects, and importantly general wellbeing and mental health. And this conversation really revolves around the theme of growth. John has obviously put a lot of content out there that doesn't change once it's published... but the guy behind the videos has. Today, John shares the ways he's updated and changed the way he thinks. How does he set goals? (not what you think). How does he plan his days? (it's not down to the minute). How does he take care of his mental health? (he keeps it simple). And that's just scratching the surface of what we talk about...along the way we discuss internal pressure, unrealistic expectations, and of course, books. Since John thinks about his mental frameworks and tactics more than most, I think this conversation is especially insightful with actionable takeaways for all. Please enjoy. Full show notes here on chrismcgrory.net

Tony Shu is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Harvard senior, and co-founder of the non-profit Breaktime which is on a mission to end young adult homelessness by providing a first step into the workforce and personally empowering their people. Just prior to COVID-19, Tony and his co-founder, Connor Schoen, were ready to open Breaktime Cafe - a brick and mortar cafe that would employ around 15 young adults experiencing homelessness and give them on the job training as baristas. Now, in spite of circumstances that prevented plans literally years in the making - not to mention the pressure of having financial backing from major financial institutions, Harvard, the City of Boston, and more - Tony and his team gracefully pivoted. Over the past year, Breaktime has transitioned to a double impact model - employing young adults experiencing homelessness and feeding food insecure communities around Boston. At this point, these young people have prepared and delivered well over half a million meals - all the while receiving a living wage and on-the-job skills. In this conversation, Tony provides a behind the scenes look into all that and in the back half, gives a deep dive into his daily meditation practice that lets him check in with himself and the affirmations he says every morning that guide his own life. So maybe you're a budding social entrepreneur and have a project of your own in mind. Maybe you want to learn about the realities of homelessness and the state of solutions like me. Or maybe you just want an uplifting story about a college student making a positive impact in his community. Whoever you are, I hope you take something away from this conversation. Please enjoy this one with me and Tony Shu. ----- Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net

Full show notes here at chrismcgrory.net Meet Molly Leavens. Let me tell you, Molly did Harvard right. After an injury her first year ended her downhill skiing career, she was able to dedicate even more time and energy into the major she designed called Food and the Environment. She took classes across nearly 20 disciplines, traveled the world for research, from Indonesia and Japan to Central and South America, all on Harvard's dime, and lived in both the housing system and non-traditional Coop over her four years. She is now traveling the country as she works remotely as a data consultant to help food companies work towards sustainable supply chains. Fair warning, this one is a deep dive on all things food, farming, the environment, and sustainability. And I learned a ton. Molly's obvious passion plus deep understanding of these topics made this conversation as informative as it was a pleasure. We talk how she thinks about diet (spoiler: she does not call herself vegan or vegetarian), the barriers to fighting climate change with food, and begin with a proper lesson in agriculture. We really dig into regenerative agriculture so, for context, let me explain. Regenerative agriculture is a type of farming that at its core, emphasizes soil health, and additionally, helps communities thrive. By managing how the land gets used (by not letting land go barren, minimizing the breaking up of soil from tilling, and planting diverse crops without harmful fertilizers) carbon, which we know contributes to global warming, can be captured in the ground. This was crazy to me when I first learned about it because it can literally help reverse climate change. This is important because industrial agriculture, where most of our food comes from, destroys the soil - releasing carbon into the atmosphere just like your car. While that doesn't do it justice, I think it might be helpful before you hear more from Molly. Please enjoy.

Full Show Notes Here Today we have Mike Pumiglia, a junior studying government and neuroscience at Harvard who is currently the Command Sergeant Major of the MIT Battalion in the ROTC program. And that means he is the head of operations and planning for seven Boston based schools and will serve in the US Army upon graduation. On top of that, which we get into, I really look up to how Mike prioritizes cultivating new experiences in his life - every six months or so picking up a new project that challenges him. In this conversation we dig into some of those as a way to uncover how Mike thinks about the world. You'll hear how he thinks about starting projects and his combination of setting big goals plus envisioning everything going wrong along the way to get there as he discusses how he built a farm during the pandemic... You'll hear how he thinks about success as a measure of overcoming hardships as he discusses recovering from the dozens of injuries he's sustained that regularly shift his plans... And you'll also hear an unexpected challenge that comes along with ROTC in addition to some actionable self-talk tactics he's learned from pushing his body to the limit. Along the way, Mike shares nearly a dozen books that have influenced him, his unique journaling practices for creativity and focused productivity, and a whole lot more. Please enjoy.

Full show notes on chrismcgrory.net If this is your first time to the podcast, welcome. My name is Chris McGrory and I'm currently a senior on the baseball team at Harvard studying psychology and economics. Usually, I'm talking with the amazing people around me and trying to learn what makes them tick so you and I can apply their lessons in our own lives. Today is a little different. Today I'm tackling a question I sometimes pose to my guests for myself: What's a new belief, habit, or routine that has most positively impacted your life? I think I've learned a little bit about being productive over the past almost 4 years as a student-athlete at Harvard and I want to share what productivity routines are currently working for me. Number 1: Airplane Mode and Downloaded Spotify Playlists. Number 2: Three Level Goal Setting. I hope something resonates with you in this short experimental episode of the podcast. Please enjoy.

Full show notes here on chrismcgrory.net Today we have Buddy Scott, a junior setter on the Harvard mens volleyball team from Honolulu, Hawaii. Off the court, Buddy is dedicated to all things sports analytics and the NBA. He's president of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective - a club that takes statistical tools to help answer interesting questions in the world of sports and even partners with professional teams to work on projects. On top of that and his classwork, Buddy is an intern with the NBA Players Association on the basketball related income team - a role he secured largely by showing his dedication with side projects that helped him become a quasi-subject matter expert in the NBA Salary Cap. So, that might all sound boring to you. Fair. No worries. But before you click off - I want to say this conversation was particularly enjoyable for me, who is admittedly not especially interested in sports analytics, because the tactics Buddy has used are so generalizable to other domains. Let me explain... We talk about shooting for lofty career goals like being an NBA executive - and how Buddy thinks about setting himself apart through work samples and tactics to constantly learn. So I'd challenge you to try to think of ways you might be able to tackle a project of your own to #1) learn about your interest and #2) signal that you take your interest seriously. Additionally, we talk about the mistakes and lessons learned from networking the wrong way - broadly applicable to all. And finally we talk about him - his favorite books and podcasts, the daily ritual he has with his grandmother, and advice to a younger self about how much more there is to college then your sport - which especially resonated with me. Please enjoy.

Full Show Notes Here: https://therangeproject.weebly.com/simon-rosenblum-larson.html Today we have a former teammate of mine from Harvard baseball, Simon Rosenblum-Larson. Simon is from Madison, Wisconsin and is currently a pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization after being drafted a signing a contract with them after his junior season in 2018. He was one a few guys to really invest in younger teammates like me and do everything he could to not only set an example but also just be someone you knew you could go to for advice. And that theme of helping those around him is really a constant throughout Simon's entire story. The non-profit organization he helped start and now works full time at, on top of playing - called More Than Baseball - offers holistic support for his fellow Minor League baseball players. I hope his description of life in Minor League baseball is eye opening for those who aren't familiar - put simply, players are grossly underpaid and the life is not quite as glamorous as you might think. In addition to that work, Simon is committed to not being a bystander in social justice movements and makes it a point to do what he can to empower the communities that he tries to help. This past summer in 2020, he connected with activists and figured out what he could do - oftentimes leveraging his platform to run fundraisers and making food and supply runs for those on the ground. And on the back end of this conversation you'll hear how Simon became the person he is today, the habits that keep him going, and the books that have impacted him the most. So with that said, I hope you enjoy this one with Simon Rosenblum-Larson.

Full Show Notes Here: https://therangeproject.weebly.com/joy-nesbitt.html Today we have Harvard senior, Joy Nesbitt. Joy is an especially talented musician and theatre director who uses her art to not only share her experiences, but also as an avenue to raise awareness and money for a range of pressing social causes. To check out her work, you can find her at Joy Nesbitt on any streaming platform and @joy_nes on Instagram... In this one we get a deep dive into the creative process for her music and especially lessons learned from a mentor of hers, Alicia Keys. Yes, that Alicia Keys. So all musicians out there I'd recommend listening closely to the first half of this one to hear how to think about the process that goes into the art and tangible tips she received from mentor. But with that said even I found a lot of parallels to my own work - on the podcast, sports, and school - in the wisdom she shared surrounding putting energy and excitement into every aspect of your work. In the second half, we dive into the wonderful person behind all that she does. You'll hear her self-care and meditation practice that blends music with journaling, her passion for and research in the Hip Hop archives at Harvard (where she gives her recommended listens and watches for everybody), and through it all her she shares her mindset that's particularly inquisitive about herself and the world around her that makes for great self-awareness and art. With all of that said, please enjoy this one with the talented and thoughtful Joy Nesbitt.

Full Show Notes Here. Today we have a motivating conversation with Tati Chermayeff - the person behind the popular food blog and Instagram page with a growing following of over 20 thousand, Healthful Blondie - @healthfulblondie and healthfulblondie.com. Tati, from Connecticut, is also a senior at Harvard whose instagram-page-turned-business started with a simple photography class challenge of a photo a day... and that inspired her to start posting her meals online. Previously, however, being a driven student-athlete on the crew team, and a national champion in high school at that, gave her plenty of reasons to put any creative outlets she had to the side. But when persistent injuries ultimately ended her career, Tati was forced to reassess who she was, which helped her tap into her more creative side. Really, at its core, this episode is about listening to that little voice telling you to tap into your creativity and not listen to that voice telling you all the reasons why your project won't work or is not worth it. But on top of that, Tati gives a comprehensive behind the scenes look into just how much work goes into every post and gets very tactical for anybody wanting to start a blog or Instagram page of their own. With that said, the lessons she shares from her journey over the past year were very helpful for me, and can quite easily be generalized to anybody who wants to make something and put it out there for the world. Along the way, you'll learn more about Tati too - her views on diets and exercise practices, her daily routines that allow her to create content every day, and a lot more. Please enjoy this one with Tati Chermayeff.

Full Show Notes Here. Meet Meshaal Bannerman. From Avenel, New Jersey in the Woodbridge Township, at Harvard, Meshaal studies Government and Economics and has held leadership positions as Vice President of Black Men's Forum and President of No More Names (a non-profit to raise money and awareness for social justice initiatives and activism)... And let me tell you, this one was especially insightful and inspiring. Meshaal admits he's had a lot of time to reflect deeply - thanks to the pandemic this past year - on his role amidst current events, the adversity that's brought him here today, and the vision for who he wants to be... and that definitely comes though. Now, you can think of this conversation as having two halves. In the first half, we talk about what he does - like moderating a panel with Dr. Cornel West and being at the forefront in his community - from rallies to town council meetings - during the social justice reckoning this summer, plus his take on "effective" versus "virtue signaling" activism and really tactical questions to ask and actions myself and others can take to be the best ally in this cause. In the second half, Meshaal uncovers the person behind all that he does. I appreciate Meshaal sharing a particularly vulnerable but important inflection point in his life - the loss of his father at 13 - and how that forced him to grow up a little faster than he wanted. He also shares his journaling practice that combines objective self reflection and goal setting, his morning routine, the important lessons he's learned from failure, and a lot more. Listen to hear the tactics and mental framework Meshaal uses to stay even keeled amidst all the ups and downs of life and how he stays true to himself - including serving his community - through it all. Please enjoy this one with Meshaal Bannerman.

Full Show Notes Here. In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Swathi Srinivasan, a senior at Harvard from Cleveland Ohio studying Social Studies, the History of Science, and Chemistry. And over her college career, Swathi's dedication to helping solve critically important public health equity challenges through addressing social and economic issues has earned her a Rhodes Scholarship. Now that is no joke. Considered by many to be the most prestigious post-graduate award in the world, being a Rhodes Scholar will give Swathi the unprecedented resources and platform to make the change she wishes to see in the world. And in this conversation, you'll hopefully hear why I think the selection committee made an incredible choice. In this conversation, Swathi outlines how following what she cares deeply about has led her to put a lot on her plate, but at the same time stay motivated through it all. She's worked for UN-AIDS in Geneva to understand the solutions at the international level to address HIV and AIDS. She's the head the Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government where her criminal justice and environmental policy teams were turned into classes. She's worked with Massachusetts government and travelled internationally to do field research to address the opioid epidemic and more recently, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, most recently, Swathi has been working on developing a cancer chemotherapy with reduced side effects as a second thesis (on top of her thesis on COVID-19 in Brazil for Social Studies) for the chemistry department... and this is a research question she is intimately interested in since being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and going through chemotherapy herself during the winter and spring of 2020. But Swathi is so much more than just what she's done. While she cares deeply about helping marginalized populations disproportionately impacted by public health issues, she has also recognized and reflected upon the importance of taking care of herself... and offers the mindset she sees the twists and turns of her life through plus the ways she recharges her batteries to allow her to be so impactful in the projects she takes on. This conversation not only taught me a lot, but also inspired me to think about just how much positive impact an individual can have when tackling questions we care deeply about. I hope this conversation about science, social issues, and both navigating and learning from challenges does the same for you. Please enjoy.

Full Show Notes Here. Today we have an especially thoughtful and talented guest, Brian Shi. Brian is a member of the Men's Tennis team at Harvard where he studies economics and is also the chair of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee's Student Wellness Group (with me!). And Brian's path to Harvard was anything but conventional - he was a top ten tennis player in his age in the world and had a Nike sponsorship at 14, travelled across the world for tournaments, and even attended virtual high school - which together provided him with some super high highs but also some really low lows. I was lucky enough to be able to chat with Brian about all of that. In this conversation you'll hear why he had over 100 tardies in the third grade, how a new coach helped him overcome the negative self-talk in his life and in turn improve his mental health, his tactics, often with a journal, that ensure he learns from every failure - improving him as a player and person - and a lot more. Now, we might not all have a craft in which we are elite at the international level like Brian. However, Brian's experiences really just catalyzed the process of self-improvement in areas of life that we all share. Whether you're a top athlete or not, you are engaging in self talk that affects your mental health at all times… you're going to have to wrestle with multiple identities in relationships, work, etc… and you're definitely going to face adversity and have to decide how you respond… These are the themes that Brian and I discuss and, as a result, I believe there is so much to be taken away from our conversation for everybody.

Full Show Notes Here. On the surface, this conversation is unlike those of the past where I dig into the impressive accomplishments of my guests and break down the tactics and mental frameworks that got them to Harvard and where they are today. However, this conversation offers just as much, if not more, actionable wisdom if you listen closely. So who are Rachel and Lizzie and why did I bring these two friends of mine on to talk about friendship? Well, Rachel Freed is a social studies major at Harvard, from Melrose MA, who is one of the faces of the class of 2021 as a Class Marshal and puts connecting with others at the center of everything she does - from her time as a Peer Advisor for first-years to her work on political campaigns and teaching opportunities over the summers. I'm also lucky to personally say I know she cares deeply about each and every person in her life. Lizzie Gummer, from Vancouver Island Canada, is a fellow psychology major and was a recruited track athlete who also puts her relationships at the forefront of her life - from her work as the first person you meet at Harvard's visitor center to volunteering at an athletics camp in Vietnam. And let me tell you, she has a gift of being able to brighten anybody's day with her positivity. In this conversation, I was lucky to be able to dive into how these two cultivate such a strong relationship and how they think about friendships more generally. Along the way you'll hear the role working on themselves has played in best being there for each other, the sense of duty they feel to invest in every interaction they have, and how sharing favorite books over quarantine while across the continent actually brought them closer than ever before. These two don't just recount what brings them together, no, they share how they are there for each other in all counts and the emotional skills they have to be the best friends they can be. Please enjoy.

Full Show Notes Here. From San Anselmo in the San Francisco Bay Area, Caroline is the captain of the Harvard-Radcliffe heavyweight crew team, studies human developmental and regenerative biology on the pre-med track and has used that academic interest in her volunteering in the McKinley Lab - studying how tissues in the endometrium regenerate - and her biotech consulting role last summer. More interesting than what she does though, in my opinion, is how she thinks about what she's doing. In an environment that puts pressure on doing what gets extrinsically rewarded, Caroline has recently come to not only listen to, but also follow, her intuition in a direction that is more intrinsically rewarding. For her semester off due to the COVID-19 pandemic this past fall, she followed the little voice in her head and feeling in her chest that told her working on a farm to learn regenerative agriculture might be exactly what she needed. As you can probably guess, we dig into how she made that “against the grain” decision and how that has largely shifted her perspective on feeling content. On top of that, in this conversation we talk about the role food and other daily practices played in overcoming her health setbacks, what she learned living by herself in a cabin for the entire fall, what exactly regenerative agriculture and ranching is, and so much more. But the thread through it all is following intuition. An intangible concept that we all possess and one Caroline has made me deeply reconsider and begin to listen to.

Full Show Notes Here. Edwin is a man with many identities. Which made my conversation with him an absolute pleasure. I know him best as my baseball teammate full of energy, and less so as the pre-med student studying neurobiology, and even less so as a musician. And we dive into all that and more during our conversation. He's currently a first year med-school student at Duke University, and before that he spent his gap year after graduating from Harvard (Cum Laude) in the spring of 2019 as a technician in the emergency department at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic... something he never could have seen coming before signing up for the role. We cover a lot. His study and productivity tips, self-care routines, lessons learned from working in the emergency room and from his father, his thoughts on being black in predominantly and historically white spaces, and a lot more. Notes: ​Music [3:15] How he ended up playing the National Anthem on the violin at Fenway Park and lessons learned from the craft of music Medicine [13:53] Why he chose the difficult path of medicine plus thoughts on the craft of healthcare as a blend of compassion and hard science [18:37] How he used his dad's mantra, "Life is a Battle," plus a vision of the future on those days that are particularly difficult Productivity [20:16] How he sets goals (at the beginning of new chapters in his life) and uses daily lists to stay on track (starts with checking off that he woke up!) [25:56] Efficiency, high yield vs low yield information, Pomodoro Method for studying, Pomodoro Method Spotify playlist [30:08] Self care routine to maintain his schedule Life Lessons [37:16] Dad's favorite sayings and outlook on life - "If you don't have battles in your life, then I don't think you're pushing yourself" [41:38] Deep dive in thoughts on death - lessons learned from being so close to those who don't make it in the emergency room and how that makes Edwin grateful for every day [45:59] His experience as a black man in historically and predominantly white spaces and controlling what is in his control Rapid Fire [51:37] - Morning routine - New mindset he's adopted recently - TED Talk he would like to attend and give... - Favorite quote

Few have a bigger presence on Harvard's campus than PK. This shouldn't be surprising because, as we uncover in our conversation, building a community is always top of mind wherever he is. There are some people who just have a knack for making a connection upon first meeting, and that's PK. His positivity was contagious the moment I met him our freshman year in Annenberg dining hall. On campus, PK studies Applied Math - Biology (and is headed to medical school next year!), manages the Men's Tennis Team (although some mistake him for a player - that's how involved and dedicated he is...), serves as a peer advisor for first year students, and can be found in the front row of any student section at athletic events. With that said, in our conversation, we spend less time on what PK does and more time investigating how he goes about his business. He thinks about school and his grades in a particularly interesting way - focusing on the relationships he creates along the way as much as he does as the grade. In an environment full of high-achieving individuals always striving for marginal gains in their final grade, at the expense of their well-being, PK is an example of someone who has proven you can invest in both your grades and your relationships. While he is no doubt a master connector and full of positivity, PK gets vulnerable and shares the tactics he uses to feel better on days he's feeling a little off. And you guessed it, it comes back to spending quality time with those he's closest with. PK also describes a journaling exercise he uses in moments of stress that he learned from the tennis team's mental skills coach called scripting. After writing three things he is grateful for (backed by solid scientific research), he first describes the challenge ahead of him as simply as he can and then outlines a game plan. PK has found that the roadmap to overcome his obstacle is what helps him remain grounded and less caught up in the million of variables in whatever academic or social stress he's facing. While this might sound obvious and simple, I have also found it to be incredibly powerful to see what it is you so fear down on paper. It's amazing the power my stressors lose once I objectively assess them for what they are - stripped of all the emotional reactions, fears, and rumination associated with them. And what mindset fuels him through it all? The mantra, "1% Better." At the end, PK describes how this mindset not only defends himself from feeling discouraged when things aren't perfect, but also reminds him how he has the power to positively impact the lives of those around him - even if it is just by 1%. This is a new spin on a phrase I've liked for awhile and an interpretation I'll be adopting. I've always thought of this mantra in terms of the Japanese term "kaizen," setting strong habits a la James Clear, or making marginal gains like that of the British National Cycling Team but PK's interpretation is different and, unsurprisingly, inspired by improving the lives of those around him. SHOW NOTES: https://therangeproject.weebly.com/episodes.html CONNECT: Instagram @chris_mcg12, @_pkumar

Currently with the Milwaukee Brewers organization coming off of a Pitcher of the Year Award season (2019) in the Carolina League (Class-A), Noah has also pitched for Acton-Boxboro HS in the Dual County League in Massachusetts, Harvard University in the Ivy League, the Charlestown Townies in the Yawkee League, the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod League Baseball League, and for the Seattle Mariners organization after drafting him in the 18th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Few would have looked at an 18 year old Zavolas and said, "that's a future pro-ball player." However, being a touch shorter than his teammates and not lighting up the radar gun did not discourage him. Noah never lost touch with his childhood dream of professional baseball. His story is one of a craftsman refining his craft day in and day out. It's a story of objective self-assessment and improvement. It's a story of putting your head down and doing the work, especially when obstacles arrive on the path. It's a story of making the most of the opportunities presented to you, every single day. In that way, his story on the podcast is inspiring for anyone who has a goal they are striving towards but finds those around them doubtful. But it's more than that. Noah shares another side of him, another craft he pours hours into - woodworking - and explains what that gives him in a profession that can become an all-consuming identity. Throughout it all, Noah shares his mental framework for how he approaches his craft and the habits that have most helped him along the way - helping us understand how he transformed himself from late high school recruit to Cape Cod League stardom and eventually professional baseball. SHOW NOTES: https://therangeproject.weebly.com/episodes.html CONNECT: Instagram @chris_mcg12, @noah_zavolas

Episode 1 is a conversation with Matt Thomas and Garrett Walker and covers everything from their favorite Theodore Roosevelt stories to the most impactful books they've read. Show Notes: https://therangeproject.weebly.com/episodes.html