Podcasts about counterintuitively

I'm no hustle culture activist. Nope. I deeply believe that productivity without recovery will leave you empty. Having said this, people regularly feel at their best when they sense they are spending their days being focused and productive around smart pursuits. Counterintuitively, when we push ourselves to do difficult things, our lives grow easier. And happier.This is what my latest book The Wealth Money Can't Buy is all about. Real wealth versus fake success. True winning versus spending your life climbing a mountain, only to find out at the end that it was the wrong one. You can order it now by clicking here.FOLLOW ROBIN SHARMA:InstagramFacebookTwitterYouTube

Ever wondered why some property investors always seem to make smart moves while others struggle? The secret lies in understanding property cycles—the fundamental rhythms that dictate real estate markets.Michael Burgio and Stevan Bubalo take listeners on a fascinating journey through the four distinct phases of property cycles: downturn, stabilisation, upturn, and boom. Rather than abstract theory, they deliver practical insights about recognising each phase and leveraging its unique advantages.Counterintuitively, downturns offer golden opportunities for upgrading properties. The mathematics is compelling—lose $100,000 selling your apartment in a down market, but save $250,000 on the larger home you're purchasing. Meanwhile, stabilisation phases provide precious breathing room for thoughtful decision-making without the pressure of rapidly moving prices.Their analysis of current market conditions reveals we're likely entering an upturn phase, with increasing buyer numbers at inspections and quicker sales reflecting growing confidence. For property owners contemplating their next move, this timing insight proves particularly valuable.The hosts share fascinating anecdotes from their frontline experience, including heartbreaking stories of sellers who misjudged cycles and found themselves priced out of the market they hoped to re-enter. They also reveal insider techniques for identifying market shifts before they become obvious—monitoring luxury car listings, tracking expired property listings, and reading media sentiment.Whether you're a first-home buyer, investor, or looking to upgrade, this episode equips you with the cycle-reading skills usually reserved for seasoned property professionals. Listen now to gain the critical market intelligence that could save you thousands on your next property transaction.

As we make progress in devotional service, it's vital to be aware of who we're tuned into, and to that degree, Prabhupāda was meticulous in instructing us about the process of hearing. And I'll just give a couple of examples, and I will stop in a moment. One was when the devotees first went to India, they came to understand that there was a bigger universe, spiritual universe, outside of ISKCON. Prabhupāda had a few books: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, The Nectar of Devotion, Teachings of Lord Caitanya, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was coming out volume by volume. Prabhupāda brought a bunch of devotees to India because he was eager to get the movement started there. So when they came there, they started to notice things. For instance, wow! there are other devotees in the world. There is Prabhupāda's own origin from the Gauḍīya Maṭh. And then there were books from the Gauḍīya Maṭh, what to speak of even then there was Gita Press. You could go get anything, if you could read Devanāgarī, that is. Of course, nowadays, there's Rāsi Bihārī Lāl's; that's a more recent thing that wasn't there in the 70s. Rāsi Bihārī Lāl is the biggest little bookstore in the world. So if you walk up the stairs, you'll notice one floor after another. I hope they have strong beams in there, because that's all they have, is books all the way to the rafters. And you can find books from anybody, because they're indiscriminate. They're not promoting Guru Paramparā and such; they're promoting the sale of books. So anybody could walk in there and pick out any stack of books they wish and go home and read it. It could have mistranslations, it could have misconceptions. It could have anything. As Śivarāma Mahārāja once commented, anybody could go buy books in the cloth market in India. He was referring to Rāsi Bihārī Lāl's, and if you're listening, Rāsi Bihārī Lāl Prabhu, no offense, I still want to buy tilakas sometimes. So a controversy came up, because devotees did find some books that they could read from the Gauḍīya Maṭh, and the temple president had understood from Prabhupāda that being exclusivistic in one's hearing is not limiting. It's the opposite. Counterintuitively, the more you refine your hearing to the Guru Paramparā specifically, and you're careful to hear from those who are authorized. And one may say, "Authorized, everybody's authorized." Well, you can take that point of view, but that it's not very refined. In fact, that goes to who can come into the circle of devotees who are cultivating a particular mood and speak? And some people would say, "Well, they're followers of Lord Caitanya, it doesn't matter," okay, but it does. Prabhupāda said it himself when Mukunda Mahārāja had wondered what would happen if Prabhupāda left, because early on, Prabhupāda had severe health problems, and he was going to go back to India. And Mukunda Mahārāja, this is in the Līlāmṛta, had brought up to him, "Well, maybe we'll bring over some senior devotee from the Gauḍīya Maṭh to take your place." Prabhupāda was quiet about it until later, and then, in a more parokṣavād, indirect way, he had indicated that that was not a sanguine idea.He mentioned at that time the famous mantra, which was, "If they say one word different, then it will cause confusion." (excerpt from the talk) Verse for discussion: https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/4/20/31/ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark

Science confirms what our grandparents instinctively knew—children who engage in risky outdoor play develop better motor skills, higher self-esteem, improved social behaviour, and greater problem-solving abilities. Counterintuitively, keeping kids at low heights doesn't prevent injuries, as most fractures occur close to the ground anyway. When we let children climb high, use sharp tools, play with dangerous elements, and occasionally disappear from adult supervision, we're not being negligent—we're helping them develop crucial life skills that no amount of supervised indoor activities can provide. Quote of the Episode: "When did injuring yourself become such a big deal? I mean, when we were kids, it was so exciting to walk in and see that somebody had a cast on their arm—the superhero in the classroom." - Justin Coulson Key Points: Risky play is different from hazardous activity—the child can assess the risk themselves and there's a clear benefit. Children who engage in risky play show improved risk detection, increased competence, higher self-esteem, and decreased conflict sensitivity. Research shows more developed motor skills, better social behaviour, greater independence, and improved conflict resolution in children with access to unsupervised outdoor play. Today's children spend less time outdoors and in unstructured play than ever before in history. Fracture frequency and severity is not related to the height of playground equipment—54% of arm fractures occur at low heights. Sharp knives are actually safer than blunt knives (they require less force and are less likely to slip). Types of risky play include activities involving heights, speed, dangerous tools, dangerous elements, rough-and-tumble play, and the possibility of getting lost. Play where children can disappear or get lost and risky play environments are positively associated with physical activity and social health. Rough and tumble play doesn't increase aggression and is associated with increased social competence. Risky play supports playtime, social interactions, creativity, and resilience. Resources Mentioned: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2015) meta-analysis on risky outdoor play Happy Families website Action Steps for Parents: Distinguish between hazardous activities (where children can't assess risk) and beneficial risky play. Allow age-appropriate risk-taking, such as climbing heights, using real tools, or playing at speed. Step back and monitor from a distance rather than constantly supervising. Provide opportunities for unstructured outdoor play where children can make their own decisions. Remember that injuries are part of childhood development and rarely as serious as our fears suggest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Purim Unveiling the Hidden Wisdom of Purim: A Feast of Fools for Modern Times   As we approach the joyous holiday of Purim, it's time to look beyond the costumes and revelry to uncover the profound lessons this ancient celebration holds for our modern world. In this eye-opening episode of Madlik, we explore the surprising connections between Purim and other global festivals of excess, revealing how these celebrations can transform our perspective on joy, tragedy, and the human experience.   The Universal Language of Celebration   Did you know that Purim shares striking similarities with Mardi Gras, Carnival, and even the Indian festival of Holi? These seemingly disparate celebrations all occur around the same time of year and share common themes: • Marking the end of winter and the arrival of spring • Indulging in excess food and drink • Wearing elaborate costumes and masks • Temporarily upending social norms and hierarchies This universal impulse to celebrate and "let loose" speaks to a fundamental human need. As Harvey Cox, the esteemed Harvard theologian, argues in his seminal work "Feast of Fools," these festivals serve a crucial purpose in our lives: "Festivity is the way we cool history without fleeing from it." In other words, celebrations like Purim allow us to step back from the intensity of our daily struggles and gain a fresh perspective. They remind us that while we are part of history, we are not solely defined by it.   Rethinking Celebration in Times of Tragedy   You might be wondering: How can we justify such exuberant celebration when there's so much pain and suffering in the world? Isn't it insensitive or even irresponsible? Here's where Cox's insights offer a powerful reframe: > "Those cultures that are closer to real tragedy, brutality, chaos, failure and death, as well as triumphant compassion, are the ones whose celebrations are deeper." Counterintuitively, it's often the communities most familiar with hardship that have the richest traditions of celebration. This isn't about ignoring pain, but rather about cultivating resilience and maintaining hope in the face of adversity. For those of us grappling with how to celebrate Purim in the wake of recent tragedies, this perspective offers a path forward. Our celebrations can be an act of defiance against despair, a way of affirming life and human connection even in dark times. The Wisdom of "Vinahapechu": Embracing Contradiction One of the central themes of Purim is "vinahapechu" – the idea of things being turned upside down. We're instructed to drink until we can't distinguish between the villain Haman and the hero Mordechai. While this might seem like mere frivolity, there's profound wisdom in this practice. Cox argues that true festivity involves "juxtaposition" – the ability to hold contradictory ideas without trying to resolve them. This mirrors the Talmudic approach of embracing multiple perspectives without forcing a single conclusion. In our polarized world, where people often retreat into echo chambers of like-minded opinions, Purim's lesson of "vinahapechu" is more relevant than ever. It challenges us to: • Question our assumptions • See beyond black-and-white thinking • Find common ground with those who hold different views   Practical Ways to Embrace the Spirit of Purim   So how can we apply these insights to make our Purim celebrations more meaningful this year? 1. Reflect on resilience: As you celebrate, take a moment to acknowledge the challenges you've overcome. Let your joy be an affirmation of your strength. 2. Reach across divides: Use the holiday as an opportunity to connect with someone you might not normally interact with. The costume tradition can be a great icebreaker! 3. Embrace playfulness: Allow yourself to be silly and let go of self-importance. This "recess from history-making" can actually make you more effective when you return to serious matters. 4. Practice perspective-taking: Try to see things from a different angle, just as the "vinahapechu" tradition encourages. This can lead to creative problem-solving in other areas of life. 5. Cultivate gratitude: In the midst of celebration, take time to appreciate the good in your life and in the world around you. What We've Learned: A Call for Balance As we navigate the complexities of our modern world, the ancient wisdom of Purim offers a powerful reminder: we need both seriousness and celebration, both engagement and respite. In the words of Harvey Cox: "There is an unnecessary gap in today's world between the world changers and the life celebrators. There is no reason why those who celebrate life cannot also be committed to fundamental social change, and world changers need not be joyless and ascetic." This Purim, I challenge you to embrace both roles. Allow yourself to fully experience the joy and revelry of the holiday, knowing that this celebration can actually fuel your ability to create positive change in the world.   As you don your costume and raise your glass, remember that you're participating in a timeless tradition that connects us across cultures and generations. In doing so, you're not just celebrating a historical event – you're affirming the resilience of the human spirit and our capacity for joy, even in the face of adversity. So go forth and celebrate with intention. May your Purim be filled with laughter, connection, and the transformative power of embracing life in all its beautiful contradictions.   Sefaria Source Sheet: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/631323 Transcript on episode web page: https://madlik.com/2025/03/12/feast-of-fools/ 

Science can be complex and difficult to grasp, yet public understanding is crucial for navigating issues like disease risk, climate change, and pandemics. Clear, engaging science communication can help prevent misinformation and conspiracy theories, offering facts in place of myths. But how can we make science more digestible and appealing? Counterintuitively, it might be less facts and more emotions that can help to make science more appealing, more impactful – both when communicating to the public and to fellow scientists. In episode 28 of We're doomed, We're saved, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow discuss strategies for scientific storytelling, drawing on principles that go back to ancient Greece and draw from modern brain science. Spoiler: It´s not as hard as it may look. Content and Editing: Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler Disclaimer: Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast. Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here: scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/ Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/ Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow Image: FUJIFILM, X100F via Unsplash Further reading: Cron, Lisa: "Wired for story, The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence" Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2012 Gallo, Carmine: "Talk like Ted" Main Market Edition, 2022

..when you give up the tendency to say, "This is mine." For instance, with intellectual property, we may hear something and then say, "Oh, that came from somebody else, but I'm going to present it as mine because I want to enjoy the fame of saying something that sounds witty." We don't admit it. Vraja Vihari Prabhu told me once, "When you give credit where credit is due, you don't lose credit." On the other hand, another Godbrother told me, "If you take credit where credit isn't due, later on, you'll be blamed for something you didn't do." You might wonder, "I didn't do anything; they blame me." It's because you claimed credit at one time. Devotees know these subtleties, that everything evens out in the world. It's okay to be who you are, which is a servant of Krishna. Counterintuitively, those who are simple servants, who want no fame, get the most fame. Madhavaendra Puri is an example. So pure of heart that when he found out that the Deity of Kṣīra-corā-gopīnātha had saved some sweet rice for him and the.... (Excerpt from the talk) To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ (USA only) https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered

Sunday Gathering September 22, 2024Ryan Kenny (1 Timothy 1:12-17)Just a little more therapy, a bit more success, the right amount of service, eventually we will become complete and whole people. But you've tried it, and yet, things still seem to be not what you sense they could be. What if, while none of these are in and of themselves bad, they may never complete us. Counterintuitively, Paul who was once skeptical of Christianity to a point of imprisoning and persecuting Christians, implores us that meaning and purpose and wholeness is not found in trying to fix and save ourselves, but to receive a savior who is all loving and merciful. Do you need rescuing?

Humans produce a lot of trash. How much trash you ask? We produce 2.3 billion tons of trash per year. That's enough to fill about 800,000 Olympic pools every year. So, what do we do with it all and how does it get managed? Some of it, depending on your municipality, can be composted, some of it gets recycled, but despite our best intentions, most of it ends up in our landfills. In an ideal world, the majority of our trash would be reused and recycled, but recycling, despite its promises, is actually a regressing industry. Counterintuitively, over the last 15 years, recycling rates in the United States have stagnated and even decreased. Recycling isn't stagnating because people don't want to recycle. In fact, people want to recycle so badly, waste management streams suffer from “wishcycling”, a phenomenon whereby people try to recycle items that not only aren't recyclable, but actually end up contaminating and ruining potential batches of recyclables. At the heart of it, recycling and waste management systems as they exist today face a major incentive problem. Because recycled material is sold in a commodity market, prices for recycled materials like aluminum, paper, plastic, and glass fluctuate a lot. An unreliable market disincentivizes the waste management industry from investing in more efficient sorting systems that could increase overall recycling. While it might not seem obvious, recycling has an important role to play in global decarbonization. When materials like aluminum and plastic get recycled, the extraction of new raw materials to replace them is averted, as are the emissions that would have gone into their production. For example, for every ton of aluminum that gets reused, the carbon that would've been emitted into the atmosphere to produce more aluminum from new raw materials is never emitted. As it stands, society is not capturing the decarbonization potential of recycling. Too much waste is wasted because of human error, a lack of incentives, and waste management systems with inefficient infrastructure. What if AI could revolutionize the way we manage our trash? Instead of exposing human lives to toxic chemicals and other dangers that inevitably find themselves in trash, what if there were technological interventions that could automate sorting, have an outsized climate impact, and make waste assets more valuable all at the same time? Our guest this month, Matanya Horowitz, CEO and founder of AMP, believes all of this is possible.  SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft's progress toward their impact commitments. This episode is also brought to you by JP Morgan.J.P. Morgan is proud to serve companies that are advancing decarbonization across the globe through innovative business and technology solutions. With J.P. Morgan's unmatched investment capacity, strong support model, and global scale, the Green Economy Banking team delivers the full suite of the firm's financial products and advisory services to help fuel the growth of green businesses and the industry at large. No matter what stage you're in, you can rely on JP Morgan's expertise and connections to back your boldest pursuits. So take the right risks, while banking with confidence. J.P. Morgan: Let's build your future together. About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Those who, by God's grace, have entered the kingdom of God (being born again) are characterised as happy, in a very countercultural way. Counterintuitively, Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:3 that the happy are humble. May God grant us grace to live a life that happily commends humility.

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.What can we learn from indigenous knowledge systems about how to navigate and transform our world?My guest, Dr Richard Hodge, points out several aspects of Aboriginal culture that can help us act effectively and with heart and wisdom in a world full of problems.To guide us in a complex world, we need touchstones of value.For many indigenous peoples, that's the function of totems and totemic beings: kangaroo, echidna, wallaby, and so on.Counterintuitively, seeing the world through a totemic perspective offers greater clarity than how we often view it, through the lens of our limited egoic state, entangled with fight-or-flight fancies that superimpose themselves over reality.Our perception colors our interpretation of the world.The Western mindset sees the world as a number of separate objects, ourselves among them. Which means our prime directive is always control and domination of the "other" — whether it be nature, or the weather, or animals, or other people.Shifting to an indigenous way of seeing creates connection and opportunities for collaboration and synergies on a systems-level.And that's the level at which transformational change at scale becomes possible.With that foundation, Dr Hodge shares his Dragonfly Model of systemic, deep change.If you can, watch rather than just listen, because there are diagrams and models that can help you follow the concepts and the conversation.Enjoy our yarning, and please let us know what you think.LinksDrRichardHodge.comThomas Berry, "The Meadow Across the Creek"Stephanie Kelton, economistMariana Mazzucato, economistBertrand Russell, "In Praise of Idleness"Click to subscribe to the Mindset Mastery Memo.Support the Show.

Listener Brian asks: Last Monday, the ASX tumbled but there was a lot of talk about "interest sensitive stocks" falling disproportionately relative to the index. Given that interest rates have started to fall across the globe, and that the RBA's launch on that rate-cutting cycle appears (relatively) imminent, the reaction of the market seems totally counterintuitive (that stocks sensitive to rising interest rates would plummet when rates are about to fall). Why is it so? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions.If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our website, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook!Find out more: https://fearandgreed.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people assume that being a digital nomad will cost similar to what they spend on a typical vacation. That CAN be the case, but typically it's not. Counterintuitively, most digital nomads spend LESS money when they are traveling than when they were stationary. In this episode Jeff and Marisa walk you through 7 surprising ways that they and other digital nomads manage to save more money while traveling than while being stationary. Make sure you get on the email list to get access to hundreds of fully remote companies so that you can start traveling the world while working wherever you want today! beachcommute.com/email

Conleigh, Farhad, Ahlmahz, and Paul debrief on coverage of FERC Order 1920 then discuss resource adequacy, hedging tail risk, and preview business capability models.Ahlmahz Negash, Conleigh Byers, and Farhad Billimoria scan news stories after FERC's release of Order 1920, then Conleigh Byers explains Resource adequacy, and Farhad Billimoria explains Hedging & Tail Risk in Electricity Markets.You can find the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share with friends that are energy enthusiasts, like us!03:17 - Short-to-Ground (FERC Order 1920 Edition)On May 13th the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a sweeping long-term transmission planning and cost-allocation rule aimed at modernizing the gridIn the Special Transmission Reform Meeting, Chair Willie Phillips said the U.S. faces "an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society."FERC is helping to pave the way for a much-needed investment in our transmission infrastructureThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's fact sheet for Order 1920 states that the grid rule contains five major elements:Requirement to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning to anticipate future needs.Requirement to consider a broad set of benefits when planning new facilities.Requirement to identify opportunities to modify in-kind replacement of existing transmission facilities to increase their transfer capability, known as “right-sizing.”Customers pay only for projects from which they benefit.Expands states' pivotal role throughout the process of planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission facilities.“Landmark transmission reform could dramatically speed US energy transition”Large Public Power Council's president, John Di Stasio's, written statementAmericans for a Clean Energy Grid's Executive Director, Christina Hayes, applauded FERC for finalizing a, quote, “strong and comprehensive regional planning and cost allocation rule.”Spot market power in the U.S.Wholesale spot prices for the National Electricity Market (NEM)Energy Information Administration's Natural Gas Weekly Update41:03 - Hedging and Tail Risk in Electricity Markets By: Farhad Billimoria , Jacob Mays , Rahmat PoudinehAbstract: A concern persistent in scarcity-based market designs for electricity over many years has been the illiquidity of markets for long-term contracts to hedge away volatile price exposures between generators and consumers. These missing markets have been attributed to a range of factors including retailer creditworthiness, market structure and the lack of demand side interest from consumers. Using a stochastic equilibrium model and insights from insurance theory, we demonstrate the inherent challenges of hedging a legacy thermal portfolio that is dominated by volatile fat-tailed commodities with significant tail dependence. Under such conditions the price required for generators to provide such hedges can be multiples of the expected value of prices. Our key insight is that when the real-world constraints of credit and financing are considered, the volatility of thermal fuels and their co-dependence under extremes may be a key reason as to why electricity markets have been incomplete in terms of long-term hedging contracts. Counterintuitively, in the context of the energy transition, our results show that, ceteris paribus, increasing the penetration of low carbon resources like wind, solar and energy storage, can add tail-diversity and improve contractability.22:16 - The Future of Resource Adequacy in a Decarbonized Grid w/ Conleigh ByersConleigh Byers Resource Adequacy Harvard Energy Policy Seminar 25 4.93MB ∙ PDF file DownloadDownload1:02:23 - Institutions in the electric sector are evolving like the eras of Taylor Swift, but are their business models evolving with them?Public Power Underground, for electric utility enthusiasts! Public Power Underground, it's work to watch!

A reminder for new readers. That Was The Week includes a collection of my selected readings on critical issues in tech, startups, and venture capital. I selected the articles because they are of interest to me. The selections often include things I entirely disagree with. But they express common opinions, or they provoke me to think. The articles are snippets sized to convey why they are of interest. Click on the headline, contents link, or the ‘More' link at the bottom of each piece to go to the original. I express my point of view in the editorial and the weekly video below.Hat Tip to this week's creators: @reidhoffman, @dougleone, , @credistick, @rex_woodbury, @NathanLands, @ItsUrBoyEvan, @berber_jin1, @cityofthetown, @keachhagey, @pmarca, @bhorowitz, , @signalrank, @steph_palazzolo, @julipuli, @MTemkin, @geneteare, @lorakolodny, @jasminewsun, @JBFlint, @asharma, @thesimonetti, @lessinContents* Editorial: * Essays of the Week* Crossing The Series A Chasm* The Consumer Renaissance* The Creator Economy on AI Steroids* AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm* The Opaque Investment Empire Making OpenAI's Sam Altman Rich* Video of the Week* The American Dream - Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz* AI of the Week* SignalRank Version 3 Improves Performance Again* How Long Can OpenAI's First-Mover Advantage Last?* OpenAI Employees Warn of Advanced AI Dangers* A Right to Warn about Advanced Artificial Intelligence* Nvidia hits $3tn and surpasses Apple as world's second-most valuable company* VCs are selling shares of hot AI companies like Anthropic and xAI to small investors in a wild SPV market* News Of the Week* Crunchbase Monthly Recap May 2024: AI Leads Alongside An Uptick In Billion-Dollar Rounds* Elon Musk ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips reserved for Tesla to X and xAI* Introducing video to Substack Chat* Instagram's Testing Video Ads That Stop You From Scrolling Further* Startup of the Week* NBA Nears $76 Billion TV Deal, a Defining Moment for Media and Sports* X of the Week* Doug Leone - I am supporting Trump. * Reid Hoffman - I am supporting BidenEditorialI woke on Tuesday to Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital on X saying:I have become increasingly concerned about the general direction of our country, the state of our broken immigration system, the ballooning deficit, and the foreign policy missteps, among other issues. Therefore, I am supporting former President Trump in this coming election.Doug has the right to support Trump. It is also clear that the immigration system is broken, the deficit is ballooning, many things are wrong with foreign policy, and there are “other issues.” Trump as the solution is less obvious. But there it is—hot on the tails of Chamath Palihipitaya and David Sacks announcing a fund-raiser for Trump on the All-In podcast (they said they would do the same for Biden).Reid Hoffman followed up a day later with:On one level, this is a straightforward choice, but any literate attempt to analyze Leone's issues might arrive at the following conclusions:* Like many Western nations, the USA is aging rapidly and has a shrinking working-age population across all skill sets. Immigrants are needed, and pro-immigration leadership is needed, creating a path to entry for large numbers of skilled and unskilled workers to fill empty jobs as we get close to full employment.* The deficit is large, and there are many palliatives available. Selling more to China would help, but both party leaders are protectionist. Taxes to reduce the divide between the 1% and the rest would help a bit. However, what would help the most is economic growth, which requires investment in technology and productivity. Neither leader seems too focused on innovation and investment.* Foreign Policy - well, sheesh, it's a big issue. However, saber-rattling about Taiwan and provoking China seems to be a hobby shared by both parties and does not seem smart. Ukraine and the future of Europe are better in Biden's hands, but not by a lot. Europe looks very shaky. The US is increasingly isolationist. The appetite for world leadership is on the decline. Again, the solution would focus on economic growth, which seems absent.Voting for Trump is a big no-no for me. But voting for Biden is, at best, a lesser evil instinct, not a belief system. The election will not be where the future is built, but it is important. Politicians are collectively disappointing.This week's video of the week from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz is called “The American Dream” and champions their view about American Dynamism. And I must confess that this comes closer to a vision of the future than either political outfit. Their vision requires political support, massive government financial commitment, and private capital investment. I see no evidence of those happening.The real winning effort seems to be happening on the ground. This week, Nvidia hit $3 trillion, eclipsing Apple as the world's second-most valuable company. This is even though Apple has 7 times the revenue of Nvidia.This week's first essays also focus on prospects for boom time. Rex Woodbury's ‘The Consumer Renaissance' examines the impact of consumer spending on our lives. In ‘The Creator Economy on AI Steroids, ' Nathan Lands focuses on how emerging tools will transform creativity. But in ‘AI Is Transforming the Nature of the Firm, ' Evan Armstrong gets closest to a future vision.”AI is the first universally flexible technology. It can interact with our digital environments in similar ways to humans, so it can have all the flexibility that we do. In that way, it may be the last technology we ever need.This seems to be the crux of hope in a world where dreams and nightmares are strangely devoid of detail. What the world needs (not only America) is hope. And hope is born from optimism. Optimism is born from success. The most likely success of the next decades will result from specific uses of AI that improve human life.I know and like Doug Leone. I know and like Reid Hoffman. Doug's bar for success needs to be higher. Voting for Trump is not right, and even if it were, it would not be sufficient.Reid also needs a higher bar. Voting for Biden will not be sufficient even if it is right.Let's focus on where success can be found, grow optimism, and breed hope. There is a need for a broad technical revolution and the social rebirth it enables. Silicon Valley and its friends globally need to invent the next version of human existence to the benefit of all. The social rebirth requires a conscious effort; technology will not magically bring it about. More in this week's video.Essays of the WeekCrossing The Series A ChasmDan GrayDan Gray, a frequent guest author for Crunchbase News, is the head of insights at Equidam, a startup valuation platform, and a venture partner at Social Impact Capital.June 5, 2024As we get deeper into 2024, there is increasing concern about the state of Series A fundraising. The bar for investment appears much higher, and fewer startups are reaching it.This is a problem for founders, and investors like Jenny Fielding, managing partner of Everywhere Ventures, who said, “Every Seed investor's dilemma: All my Series A buddies want to meet my companies early! All my companies are too early for my Series A buddies.”To attach some data to this, we can see that the median step-up in valuation from seed to Series A has gone from $19.5 million in Q1 2022 to $28.7 million in Q1 2024. Series A firms seem to be looking for much stronger revenue performance, with targets of $2 million to $3 million in ARR, compared to $1 million to $2 million just a few years ago.The outcome is that while 31.8% of Q1 2020 seed startups closed their Series A within two years, that fell to just 12% for Q1 2022 — which should worry everyone.Why are Series A investors so much more demanding?Today's Series A investors are looking at startups that raised their seed between 2021 and 2023, which identifies the root of the problem: it spans the Q2 2022 high-tide mark for venture capital.For example, there were 1,695 seed rounds of more than $5 million in 2021, rising to 2,248 in 2022, then falling to 1,521 in 2023. As a comparison, there have been just 137 so far in 2024.The result is two categories of startups that are looking to raise their Series A today:* Pre-crunch startups that raised generous seed rounds and stretched the capital out as far as they could, to grow into inflated valuations.* Post-crunch startups that raised modest seed rounds on more reasonable terms, with shorter runways and less demonstrable growth.Strictly speaking, neither is more appealing than the other; the first group has less risk, the second offers more upside, and both are adapted to current market realities. It shouldn't cause a problem for investors, provided they can distinguish between the two.The cost of market inefficiencyVenture investors have a market-based lens on investment decisions, which means looking fairly broadly at trends in revenue performance and round pricing to determine terms, e.g. a typical Series A is within certain bounds of revenue performance and valuation. While that approach may be serviceable and efficient under ideal conditions, the past few years have been far from ideal.Without distinguishing between the two cohorts, investors are now looking at the performance of Series A candidates that spent more than $5 million on a war chest for two to three years of growth alongside the valuations of candidates that raised around $2 million to prove scalability. It just doesn't work as an average, and thus the unreasonable expectations...MoreThe Consumer RenaissanceFrom Predicting Consumer AI Applications to Analyzing Consumer SpendREX WOODBURY, JUN 05, 2024“Consumer” has become something of a bad word in venture capital circles.We see this reflected in the early-stage markets: recent data from Carta showed that just 7.1% of Seed capital raised last year went to consumer startups. That's less than half the share from 2019 (14.3%).But I think consumer is actually a great place to be building and investing. Whenever something is out of favor, that's a sign it's probably a good place to spend time: this is an industry built on being contrarian, not built on following the herd. We're entering a compelling few years for consumer entrepreneurship.First, I'd argue that consumer is too narrowly defined. When people think consumer, they often think consumer social (a tough category) or consumer brands (a tough fit for venture compared to internet and software businesses, with typically lower return profiles). But consumer is broader. Consumer encompasses businesses that sell to consumers and those that rely on consumer spending. This means the obvious names—apps on our phones like Uber, Instacart, Spotify—and the enablers: Shopify, for instance, powers online retail; Faire powers offline retail; Unity powers game development. Each of the latter three is B2B2C, in its own way, but I would categorize each is also a consumer technology business.The wins in consumer can be massive. The biggest technology businesses in history began as consumer businesses—Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon. The original companies comprising FAANG—with Microsoft conspicuously absent—were allconsumer.And some of the best returns of the last five years have stemmed from consumer tech IPOs. At Daybreak, we invest ~$1M at Pre-Seed and Seed. Here's how much a $1M investment in the Seed round of five recent consumer IPOs would yield:Big consumer wins compare favorably to big enterprise wins—relative to Snowflake's market cap, Uber is ~3x in size, Airbnb is ~2x in size, and DoorDash is roughly equal. (Snowflake is the biggest enterprise IPO of the last decade.) The last few years produced a windfall of consumer outcomes, yet investors today almost write off the category.At Daybreak, we don't focus exclusively on consumer; my view is that you need to balance more binary consumer outcomes with B2B SaaS and B2B marketplaces. But we do approach investing through the lens of the consumer—how people make decisions. The buyers of products like Figma and Ramp, after all, are people, and software companies are increasingly selling bottom-up into organizations. The line between consumer and enterprise has been blurring for years.This week's Digital Native makes the argument that consumer tech is a compelling place to build and invest. We'll look at the data to back up this argument, then delve into three categories of consumer that I'm particularly interested in right now:* Checking in on Consumer Spend* Consumer Tech: The Data Doesn't Lie* What to Watch: AI Applications* What to Watch: Shopping* What to Watch: Consumer Health* Rule of Thumb: Follow the SpendThis week we'll cover #1-3, and next week in Part II we'll tackle #4-6.Let's dive in

I am terrible.  I procrastinate about starting the assembly of my presentation.  Invariably, by holding off starting, I create time tension, which forces me to elevate the priority of the presentation and lift its urgency above all the other competing demands on my time.  I should start earlier and take some of that tension out of my life.  So, everyone do what I say, don't do what I do!  Start early. The first point of departure must be working on the clarity needed around the key message.  What is the point we want to get across?  There are always a multitude of these and it is quite challenging sometimes to pick out the one we want to work on.  Part of my problem is perfectionism immobilising me.  So let's all suspend perfectionism and just be happy to get started, knowing we can finesse what we are doing later. Once we have settled on the key message, we need to make sure that anyone would care about that message.  It might be intoxicating for us, but it may not motivate anyone else to get excited.  A reality check is in order before we move forward.  Will there be enough traction with the audience we are going to be presenting to?  We should have a fairly clear idea about who will be interested in our topic and what some of their expectations will be. After the reality check, we start to construct the talk.  Counterintuitively, we start with the end.  We settle on the actual words we need for our conclusion, because this is a succinct summary of what we will talk about.  Getting that down to a few sentences is no easy feat.  It is simple to waffle on, but it requires skill to be brief and totally on point. Next, we plan out the chapters of the talk to deliver the goods to prove what we are saying in our conclusion is true.  In a forty-minute speech, we can usually get through five or six chapters.  Here is a critical piece of the puzzle.  We need to rehearse the talk and carefully watch the time.  It is very difficult to predict accurately the required time until you run through the talk. We may find we are short on the content or too long and we need to make adjustments.  We certainly don't want to discover that on stage in front of an audience.  We all feel cheated when the presenter start rushing at the end and the slides go up and come down in seconds. You simply can't follow what they are showing to the audience and that leaves a very negative impression at the end of the talk. Now we plan our start.  This is the first impression of our talk.  Well, that is not quite true.  The audience will be making critical judgements as to how we command the stage and how we get underway.  Juggling slides on the deck is a bad look at the start. That should definitely be left to someone else, so we can get straight into our opening.  Don't thank the organisers at this point, we can do that in a moment.  We don't want to waste the opening with a bunch of generic bumf.  We need to grab hold of our audience at this point and then never let go of them. The audience may be seated in front of us, but they are a thousand miles away with their collective consciousness floating above the clouds. They are focused on everything else but us and we have to induct them into our orbit and command their complete attention.  So, we need to plan this first sentence extremely well, because it will set the tone for the rest of the event.  Remember that fear of loss is greater than greed for gain, so we hit them with how they can avoid losses. We might say something along these lines, “it is shocking how much the change in the market is going to cost us all and we are talking about serious money here”.  That start fits just about any talk subject and is a bit of a Swiss Army Knife of starters.  The market is always changing and invariably some will gain and others will lose. Our job is to point the audience in the direction of how to avoid losing money. The cadence of the talk is we need to tell a story every five minutes to keep our audience with us.  Storytelling is like superglue and will bind the listeners to us until the end of our presentation.  That means we need at least five or six good stories which make the point we are selling.  Including people they know or know of, is always good because that technique is a great equaliser and connector with the audience. We need to prepare two closes – one for our formal end to the talk and another for the final close after the Q&A has ended.  We need to brief the organisers that after the Q&A we will wrap it up and then they can bring the proceedings to a formal end.  If we don't do that, they will just end the talk before we have a chance to drive in our key message for the last time. We will know if the talk has succeeded by the faces we see in the audience.  If they are paying attention right through, that is a good sign.  If they are nodding in agreement, that is an even better sign and if they are engaged through their questions, then there is real interest.  A sea of bored faces is not what we want to be looking out at.  If that happens, we really need to raise our energy and start getting the listeners physically involved.  We can do this by getting them to raise their hands in answer to a question from us.  We can't overdo this or it quickly becomes manipulative and, it is obvious to everyone what we are doing.  But we need to raise our energy and their energy to keep them with us. So don't be like me and instead start the prep early!  

Phoenix, Arizona has seen meteoric population growth since 2010. Now the nation's fifth largest city, its population increased by around 12% over the course of a decade. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this highly-engineered metropolis has continued to expand at the second fastest rate in the nation between 2021 and 2022. Counterintuitively, the region has experienced an escalation of extreme heat and drought risk. The summer of 2023 was the hottest globally since NASA's records began in 1880 by 2.59 degrees Fahrenheit. This significantly contributed to the deadliest heat wave for Phoenix, with 579 fatalities attributed to the elevated temperatures. Since August 2021, Phoenix has been grappling with federally declared shortages on the Colorado River, which has historically accounted for 38% of its overall water supply. To keep the river stable, the city recently agreed to a 30% reduction of this allocation over three years—enough to supply 450,000 households for year— in exchange for $60 million in water infrastructure improvements. Statistics such as these are what have catapulted Phoenix to the top of many national and global climate resilience conversations. Reported figures are also what inspired our colleagues at Climate Now to seek our collaboration to reach experts on the ground in Phoenix and get at a better understanding of how the city has been able to maintain such steady population and industrial growth, despite perceived and actual risks. This special long-form episode combines conversations with climate experts and business leaders closely involved in the state's adaptation and sustainability efforts. Through their discussions, a clearer picture of why Phoenix is a coveted destination for many and how it plans to remain as one well into the future, appears. The moderators are Duke Reiter (Ten Across founder) and James Lawler's (Climate Now founder).

NOTE: Rochelle and I (Jonathan) couldn't record last week. Rather than give you nothing (or a TBOA repeat) to listen to, I decided to dig through the Ditching Hourly archives and find an episode that long time fans of TBOA would be sure to enjoy. Here's the info from the Ditching Hourly site: The “Expertise Expert” himself, David C. Baker, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about the five things that happen right after you specialize.SummaryHere is an AI summary of the key points from the episode:The episode is a discussion between Jonathan Stark and David C. Baker about positioning and specialization for consultants and professional services firms.They discuss the importance of niche positioning to stand out, attract ideal clients, see client patterns more clearly, accelerate learning, and always have things to write and talk about.They outline 5 things that happen after narrowing your business focus:You don't instantly become smarter, but your rate of learning accelerates because you start seeing more examples of your niche.Impostor syndrome kicks in because you're making expertise-based claims you didn't make before, but this fear is often unfounded because you were willing to work with those clients previously.You don't have to turn down unrelated work right away during the transition period, though over time, you'll likely feel unsatisfied with off-target projects.You immediately start narrowing your focus even further, fine-tuning your positioning through real-world conversations and testing.Counterintuitively, you'll have way more to write and talk about when focused on a niche than as a generalist.Jonathan and David emphasize that niche positioning is critical before you can effectively differentiate, charge value-based pricing, market yourself, or even decide what content to produce. It brings focus to everything that follows.About David C. Baker“The Leading Authority on Positioning, Reinventing, and Selling Firms in the Creative and Digital Space.”David C. Baker is the author of five books, three of which focus on the central elements of the business of expertise: positioning, financial management, and leadership. David speaks regularly on more than 70 topics relevant to entrepreneurial expertise, from 20 executives to 5,000 live on TV worldwide, and has worked with 900+ firms through his Total Business Review process.David's LinksDavid's WebsiteDavid's book: The Business of ExpertiseDavid's podcast (with Blair Enns)  LINKSRochelle | Email List | Soloist Women | LinkedIn | Twitter | InstagramJonathan | Daily List | Website | Ditcherville | LinkedIn | Twitter

If you love food and also consider yourself a good person, you probably care about where your food comes from, how it's grown, and whether it's part of a system that is destroying the planet. After all, if you study just about any problem related to the environment, sooner or later your study will make solid contact with our food systems. Our food is responsible for 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But not everybody who claims to care about the environment knows what they're talking about. Eating local? Eating organic? Counterintuitively, these behaviors aren't as ecologically beneficial as many people claim. These facts and more come from Hannah Ritchie, a data scientist, the deputy editor of Our World in Data, and the author of a new book 'Not the End of the World.' As Ritchie argues at length in her book, a lot of liberals assume that anything that sounds like pastoralism and natural living is better for the planet. But in fact, it is technological progress that allows for highly efficient farming, high-quality foods with less land consumed by agriculture, less water wasted, and more forests spared. Many times, our pastoralist instincts to appear virtuous when it comes to food and the planet don't actually achieve virtuous outcomes. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Hannah Ritchie Producer: Devon Baroldi Links mentioned: "Environmental Impacts of Food Production," Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the latest episode of "The Last 10%," where we delve into raw, unfiltered conversations that push the boundaries of conventional wisdom. In this episode, Dallas Burnett engages in a thought-provoking discussion with special guest Efren Delgado, a former FBI special agent and expert in human behavior. Together, they explore the tension between wisdom and altruism in leadership, the addiction to comfort, the power of humility, navigating career transitions, finding purpose, and the selfish benefits of living selflessly. Delgado shares captivating anecdotes from his experiences, offering valuable insights and actionable advice for listeners. Join us as we uncover the complexities of leadership, human behavior, and personal growth and discover the unexpected rewards of embracing discomfort and selflessness.Purchase Efren's Book:The Opposite is True: Discover Your Unexpected Enemies, Allies, and Purpose Through the Eyes of Counterintuitive PsychologyConnect with Efren:www.EfrenDelgado.comMentioned in this episode:1on1 App Informationhttps://www.thinkmovethrive.com/1on1-app/

“I want to be perfect when I speak”. No, you don't! Let me tell you a tale of two CEO presenters with different approaches to addressing their audiences.  One CEO used recent movies as his navigation for his speech.  Actually, I had watched none of them, but he added enough context for me to get the point he was making about his own journey as a CEO, in a tough industry, in tough times.  Actually, we all love a talk about hard times and woe, followed by ultimate success against the odds.  This type of speech gives us a mix of empathy for the presenter and hope for ourselves.  By the way, which version of a talk would you be more interested in – “How I made $20 million” or “How I lost $20 million”?  Most of us would probably be more interested in the latter, because our risk averse natures are always looking for clues as to what we should avoid doing.  The other CEO speaker was just perfect.  The speech flowed beautifully, it was carefully crafted and manicured. The navigation was exact and it had no delivery blemishes.  It simply failed. Part of the difference was in the storytelling aspect of the two talks. The first CEO got us hooked on his struggles, his despair, his tale of redemption.  He opened up the kimono to share his vulnerability, his imposter syndrome, his raw fears.  It was painful and real.  We had a context to gauge his ultimate success, because he took us to the bottom, to the depths. He helped us visualise, through his word pictures, his challenging ascent back into the fiscal black.  The other speaker told a tale of solid progress, a stable journey onward and upward.  It was hard to hear, because it sounded too foreign, too far removed from the reality of the last couple of years of struggle.  The delivery styles were also diametrically opposed.  The first CEO stumbled over his words at times, had a foreign accent which frankly challenged my ears to comprehend certain terms.  He used the movies selected as navigation and spoke to the point each one represented and stitched his own story into the narrative to make his points come alive.  His hands were empty for gestures. He was relaxed and concentrated on engaging his audience by looking at us throughout the talk.  He used the stage area to cover the room to the left and right, but he wasn't manic and aimlessly wandering around free range without purpose, like so many crazed speakers you see. The second CEO sent a chill through my spine when I noticed he was bringing his iPad with him to the podium. Uh oh!  Sure enough, he read that perfectly constructed speech to us all.  He was a much more fluent speaker of English, had no pronunciation flaws and the construction of the talk and the navigation was excellent.  He had clearly labored hard over the text to whip it into shape and make it as perfect as possible.  That was the problem.  It was perfect, but it lacked authenticity. He didn't feel engaging as a speaker.  It was a canned speech and by choosing to read it to us; he disconnected himself from his audience.  He looked down at the iPad to give that talk and that meant he wasn't 100% concentrated on his audience, unlike the first CEO.  We are not perfect when we speak, mispronouncing words and stumbling over cartain phrases.  We have flaws and that is why we are appealing to our listeners.  They know themselves that they are like that too. We forgive the speaker for our common flaws.  There is a limit, though. Anyone who has had the misfortune to hear a speaker um and ah their way throughout the entire talk, says to themselves, “end this torture now please”.  That is at the other extreme of flaws which surpasses the audience's ability to bear the unbearable.  By the way, if that is you, constantly uming and ahing, then please do the rest of us a favour and stop speaking in public, until you can string two words together without destroying our souls.   Counterintuitively, when the delivery is too perfect, we struggle to feel any great commonality with the speaker.  They are a different animal to the rest of us. Reading the talk guarantees perfection, but it comes at a severe cost.  It can easily become a lifeless, moribund and boring exercise.  My guess is that this second CEO speaker spent the entire preparation time working on the crafting of the text.  Effort was spent on shuffling words around and working hard on the flow of the document.  There seemed no idea in play of “how can I deliver this talk and really engage the audience when I read it?”.  Our word emphasis, phrasing, pauses, eye contact and gestures can still be employed when reading the text to bring it alive as much as possible.  We can depart from the text to tell a side story or make a key point.  Let's engage in eye contact with the crowd, so that it feels like we are talking directly to them.  We have all the tools at our disposal and we need to be drawing on them. My advice though is to avoid perfection and go for authenticity. Concentrate on your audience.  They will forgive your few flaws and will gravitate to you when you speak.  Think about it. It is exceedingly rare that someone reading a talk can hold the audience in the palm of their hand.  Have you ever witnessed that phenomenon in actuality? Our first CEO achieved that breakthrough, because he made us the centerpiece of his talk, not his carefully crafted text, like the second CEO did.  You don't need perfection – go for being truly authentic.  If you are going to read it to me, word for word, then send it by email – that would be better.  

In these dark times its difficult to find reason for making believe, this will all change once you hit play. Answering Reid for almost two hours I will do my outmost to lift you spirits to unknown heights. Counterintuitively by taking a deep dive in to Chinese secret societies, covering thousands of years, culminating in a communist community exorcism by the black and red Dao. We are talking apotropaic magic, the swallowing of protective charms, anti-fascist Kung Fu fighting, mystic mind-control and brain washing in the Tang dynasty, social tech of the Henan peasantry and the socialist Shaolin monks who would liberate Beijing from the compradors, the war and drug lords as well as imperialist invaders. God Jul to all followers, occasional listeners and foremost supportive patrons! As always if you like the thought-through homemade covers, the meticulously sampled music, the painstaking congenial research and the many hours of attempting to edit together esthetically pleasing, inspiring and educational content, then please give me a star on your app of choice, write a kind review if possible and why not — if you haven't already — become a paid member and gift me a small Christmas present on Patreon or Spotify. Once again God Jul and a happy New Year, sincerely hope you like this one!

In class 4 of our course on how to get better sleep, Cristina and sleep expert Lisa Strauss explore the concept of sleep drive. Counterintuitively, sometimes you need to increase your need for sleep, even if you're exhausted already. Lisa Strauss explains a technique called sleep compression, where you limit your sleep opportunity to a more sustainable quantity – and you just might find the sweet spot for the amount that best suits your body over the long-term. What does this have to do with pizza? You'll find out – and it will be delicious. Subscribe to The Washington Post and connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Struggling with discipline that you're needing to achieve your goals? In this episode, Adam Hill discusses the three key components to developing real discipline. From focusing on goals to maintaining self-control, this episode is your guide to unlocking your full potential. He also explains why an approach of “slow and steady wins the race” is better than “short-term bursts of willpower.” Learn how to push yourself forward, stay motivated, and take action towards your goals. Here are some power takeaways from today's conversation: Discipline vs. willpower Unlocking real discipline through purpose The illusion of 110% The power of consistency The power of 5% to achieve long-term goals The power of starting at 80% capacity The domain of discipline Episode Highlights: [06:08] The Power of Meaningful Purpose to Unlock Real Discipline Having a meaningful purpose behind your goal or pursuit is crucial for developing real discipline. For instance, Adam stayed disciplined with the cello in high school because he found meaning in potentially getting into a good college through his playing. On the other hand, when he tried different fitness programs without a deeper meaning beyond wanting six-pack abs, he struggled to stay disciplined. Adam emphasizes that the meaning should go beyond superficial desires and instead be something that brings pride, like positively impacting others. This meaningful purpose is essential for long-term discipline development and maintenance. [15:01] The Power of Consistency Consistency is the key to success. It's not just about having a plan, but also about following it with unwavering dedication. Whether it's in business, fitness, or relationships, staying consistent is crucial. We shouldn't shame ourselves for occasional lapses; instead, we course correct and keep moving forward. Consistency is an integral part of discipline, and while they are not the same, consistency plays a vital role. Many people struggle with maintaining consistency, but with a well-crafted plan, commitment, and meaningful purpose, anyone can stay on track and achieve their goals. [16:16] The Power of 5%: Achieving Long-Term Goals One Step at a Time Adam emphasizes the importance of breaking down big, long-term goals into manageable steps. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, he suggests working backwards and identifying the next smallest step that represents just a 5% increase in challenge or progress. By taking small, incremental steps, the journey remains exciting and within reach, rather than intimidating. For instance, when Adam wanted to become an Ironman triathlete, he started by learning to float in the pool as his first 5% step, slowly building up his swimming ability until he completed the full open water swim. By embracing this approach, long-term goals become achievable, preventing burnout and ensuring sustainable progress without relying solely on willpower. [20:45] The Power of Starting at 80%: Embracing Discipline and Sustainable Progress When embarking on a new endeavor, whether it's starting a business, investing, or beginning a fitness program, we are often misled by the notion that we must give 110% from the start. This is a lie perpetuated by hustle culture and influencers. The truth is, true discipline lies in starting at 80% of our capacity, not pushing ourselves to the brink. Willpower is finite and unsustainable. Counterintuitively, the key to discipline is holding back and pacing ourselves. Slowing down may be challenging, but it is an essential aspect of discipline that many people overlook. By embracing this approach, we can foster sustainable progress and achieve our goals in a way that is both effective and manageable. Resources Mentioned: Follow Adam… Sign up for my newsletter and get my free Foundations of Flow Training: Follow me and turn fear into flow! IG: @theadamchill YouTube: @adamchill  TikTok: @theadamchill

The "Just One Thing" Approach: Tell yourself that you'll do just one thing related to the task. It could be writing one sentence, reading one page, or making one phone call. This reduces the initial pressure.The "Do Nothing" Technique: Counterintuitively, tell yourself you'll sit at your workspace and do nothing related to the task for a set period, such as 5 minutes. Often, once you're there, you'll naturally transition into work mode.The "No Distraction Zone": Create a designated workspace for focused work. Only allow work-related items in that space, and make it a rule not to do any non-work activities in that area.The "Mind Dump": Before starting work, jot down all the thoughts, worries, and distractions in your mind. This clears mental clutter and makes it easier to concentrate.The "Start with Research" Approach: If your task involves research, start by reading or researching a topic related to the task. This can be a gentle entry point that eases you into the work.The "5-Second Rule": When you think about starting a task, count down from 5 to 1 and commit to taking action when you reach 1. This prevents overthinking and encourages quick action.The "Environmental Change": Sometimes, changing your physical environment can help you start. Try working in a different room, a coffee shop, or a library.The "Positive Affirmations": Practice positive self-affirmations before starting. Remind yourself of your capabilities and why the task is important to you.The "Work Sprint Challenge": Challenge yourself to work intensely for a short period, such as 15 minutes. Knowing that it's a brief commitment can make it easier to begin.The "Visual Progress Tracker": Create a visual progress tracker, like a checklist or a chart, that you can mark as you make progress. Seeing the visual representation of your work can be motivating.The "Accountability Group": Form or join an accountability group with friends or colleagues who also have work to do. Share your goals and check in on each other's progress regularly.The "Power of Choice": Give yourself a choice of tasks. If you have multiple tasks to complete, choose the one that feels most appealing at the moment. This way, you're still making progress on something.GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ongoing Nightmare Of Small Business Recruiting  There are more jobs than candidates in Japan and this situation will only worsen from the boss's viewpoint.  Those halcyon days of wading through a big pile of resumes and tossing most away, have well and truly gone.  If you get any resumes these days, you think you should go and buy a takurakuji (lottery) ticket, because your luck is obviously in.  Counterintuitively, in some of the high tech industries, whole teams of internal recruiters are being fired, because the demand for that industry is down and over hiring during Covid now requires firing people.  In most industries though, there is demand for staff, but they are hard to find in Japan.  Job mobility here is much less than in Western countries and so the people who are interested in looking for a new job, may not be the people you want to hire.  Big companies, who can pay big base salaries and add various incentives, will always be in a strong position to hire staff.  They can afford to pay the numbers required for the quality they seek.  For the rest of us, we are duking it out in the alleyway, trying to find a decreasing resource, whose availability is declining.  Recruiting companies are swamped with demand and are starved of supply, so they are in a position where they will recommend people they know are not really a fit, because they have so few alternatives.  So what do you do – compromise on quality for the sake of having a body with a pulse or wait for better people to turn up?  In the hospitality industry, these compromises are taking place a lot more than before.  A lot of people migrated away from the industry after the tumultuous upending of the economy because of Covid.  Hotels are looking down the barrel of increased tourist demand for stays and not enough staff to clean the rooms and run the Hotel services.  The release of Chinese tourists from the no-travel ban by the Xi Jinping government will just add more fuel to the fire, as the numbers ramp up even further.  I have noticed it myself, in the decline on service quality in restaurants I regularly frequent.  I was in one recently and the woman serving my table was new, untrained, obviously didn't like people and clearly hated her job.  I bumped into the restaurant owners not long after that and mentioned it to them.  I prefaced my remarks by saying I wasn't complaining and that I was sympathising that this environment is one where getting staff requires more flexibility than before and they thanked me for pointing it out.  It doesn't fix their problem though.  I have had four resumes for salespeople to look at over the last ten months, which in itself tells you a lot.  Three of them had mental health problems, some declared and some hidden.  None of those made it.  The one who was mentally healthy was so poorly presented it was a clear case of no common sense and so he can't be placed in front of clients.  Sales is all about first impressions and his job was to sell me on hiring him and he clearly had very little awareness about that or about how he presents himself.  What would you think of a salesperson who turns up for the interview with a very cheap pen hanging from the outside suit jacket pocket, like some propeller head?  In his late forties, he hasn't worked out that brown shoes shouldn't be matched with a black belt, that the shirt cuff buttons need to be closed, as does the top button of the shirt, where you make your tie knot.  You couldn't make this stuff up.  His resume was full of short term stays and a lot of moving around.  That isn't a negative for me, depending on the reason for the short stays and constant movement.  In this case, it was a bit too short and too frequent.  Today, I wouldn't take him, but who knows what I will be doing in a few month's time, if there are so few candidates or the subsequent candidates are worse?  This is the dilemma we all face in small business.  How far from our standards are we prepared to stray just to get someone on board?  I heard from a client recently about the chaos they were experiencing internally, as they hadn't been able to replace someone who left with the right level of expertise and now they are getting serious grief from one of their major clients.  The replacement is just not cutting it.  As we let standards deteriorate, we start to attack our own brand and our market pricing.  In my case, we are a training company, so I always know I can fill skill gaps with training – lots of training.  A lack of common sense though is probably not going to be something I can easily fix or would even bother to work on.  If you are in your forties and you cannot dress yourself properly, then forget it.  My impression is we are all going to take less qualified people and spend a lot more time onboarding and training them, to compensate for their deficiencies.  Is this in the plan or in the budget?  If it isn't, then I suggest now would be a good time to start working on both.  

In The Gay Science, Friedrich Nietzsche tells “The Parable of the Madman.” In it, a madman lights a lantern in the early morning, runs to the marketplace, and declares, “God is dead.” Nietzsche's point was that though Enlightenment philosophers had embraced atheism, they had not yet realized the huge implications. So, Nietzsche told them, via a rant from the Madman, which ends when he bursts into church buildings and asks, “What after all are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchers of God?”  In 2023 in America, that last question feels uncomfortably relevant, even for those of us who know God is alive and well. U.S. church membership, as a percentage of the population, is now at a record low—down more than 20 points in the twenty-first century.   For years, this statistic could be attributed mostly to the decline of mainline Protestantism, a once dominant force in American life that is now a kind of hospice for graying liberal theology. However, recent news that the Southern Baptist Convention, America's largest Protestant denomination, lost half a million members last year makes clear that decline is no longer just a mainline problem.   Evangelicals, as a share of the population, have sunk to pre-1980s levels while the religiously unaffiliated have swelled to nearly a third of the population. Ryan Burge, a statistician and co-author of a forthcoming book entitled The Great Dechurching, calls the emptying of pews and the rise of the unaffiliated “the most significant shift in American society over the last thirty years.”  It is significant for reasons most Americans probably don't yet realize. Like the people in Nietzsche's parable, secular observers may shrug off or even celebrate America's “great dechurching.” But a less religiously observant society is, statistically, a much worse place to live. As Jake Meador wrote in his review of The Great Dechurching at The Atlantic, this change is “bad news” for America as a whole, because,   "Participation in a religious community generally correlates with better health outcomes and longer life, higher financial generosity, and  more stable families—all of which are desperately needed in a nation with rising rates of loneliness, mental illness, and alcohol and drug dependency."  Faith, particularly Christian faith, is an irreplaceable force for good in society. Its decline will leave America less healthy, less charitable, less connected, and less capable of dealing with major social ills without government intervention. Evidence suggests it already has.  At the same time, it is essential to remember that these benefits are byproducts of faith, not the main point. Anyone who hopes to halt and reverse church decline must remember what that main point is.   It's not to entertain people, as Carl Trueman reminded us recently in WORLD. For example, services with a Toy Story or Star Wars theme (I wish I were making these examples up) neither attract serious seekers nor make true disciples. Therapeutic appeals about how Christian principles can supplement or enrich otherwise complete lives also miss the point. Counterintuitively, part of the trend of decline may be churches that ask too little of those who darken their doors.    The authors of The Great Dechurching suggest that low expectations of those in the pews and widely embraced individualist assumptions have led to fewer and fewer Americans finding time for church. If Christianity is merely a kind of hobby or weekly pep talk designed to enhance psychological wellbeing or career success, then we can find better stuff on YouTube or Spotify. Why make time for this type of church every week?  But what if Christianity is a way of life, the thing it's all about. What if it demands our allegiance? What if following Christ restructures our priorities and pursuits, our beliefs and our behavior—including career, family, and even personal identity?  Everything else in our society directs our gaze inward, to ourselves, our feelings, our priorities, and our problems—as if every individual is the center of his or her own universe. Churches that accept and even participate in this idolatry may be leading millions away from Christianity, not by demanding everything of them but by demanding nothing.   Those who are happy or indifferent about the decline of American churches are beginning to get glimpses of what an America without Christian influence will look like. It can and will get worse. For 2,000 years, the knowledge and fear of a transcendent God, not helpful social programs, has built and filled churches. If the magnitude of that claim is forgotten or even obscured, our churches will indeed become sepulchers—but not for God, who lives and reigns forever and ever. They will become memorials of the squandered heritage of a once deeply, but no longer, Christian nation.   This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

Jonathan (Koz) Kozolchyk, General Manager for Certificate Services at AWS, joins Corey on Screaming in the Cloud to discuss the best practices he recommends around certificates. Jonathan walks through when and why he recommends private certs, and the use cases where he'd recommend longer or unusual expirations. Jonathan also highlights the importance of knowing who's using what cert and why he believes in separating expiration from rotation. Corey and Jonathan also discuss their love of smart home devices as well as their security concerns around them and how they hope these concerns are addressed moving forward. About JonathanJonathan is General Manager of Certificate Services for AWS, leading the engineering, operations, and product management of AWS certificate offerings including AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) AWS Private CA, Code Signing, and Encryption in transit. Jonathan is an experienced leader of software organizations, with a focus on high availability distributed systems and PKI. Starting as an intern, he has built his career at Amazon, and has led development teams within our Consumer and AWS businesses, spanning from Fulfillment Center Software, Identity Services, Customer Protection Systems and Cryptography. Jonathan is passionate about building high performing teams, and working together to create solutions for our customers. He holds a BS in Computer Science from University of Illinois, and multiple patents for his work inventing for customers. When not at work you'll find him with his wife and two kids or playing with hobbies that are hard to do well with limited upside, like roasting coffee.Links Referenced: AWS website: https://www.aws.com Email: mailto:koz@amazon.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/seakoz TranscriptAnnouncer: Hello, and welcome to Screaming in the Cloud with your host, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group, Corey Quinn. This weekly show features conversations with people doing interesting work in the world of cloud, thoughtful commentary on the state of the technical world, and ridiculous titles for which Corey refuses to apologize. This is Screaming in the Cloud.Corey: In the cloud, ideas turn into innovation at virtually limitless speed and scale. To secure innovation in the cloud, you need Runtime Insights to prioritize critical risks and stay ahead of unknown threats. What's Runtime Insights, you ask? Visit sysdig.com/screaming to learn more. That's S-Y-S-D-I-G.com/screaming.My thanks as well to Sysdig for sponsoring this ridiculous podcast.Corey: Welcome to Screaming in the Cloud. I'm Corey Quinn. As I record this, we are about a week and a half from re:Inforce in Anaheim, California. I am not attending, not out of any moral reason not to because I don't believe in cloud security or conferences that Amazon has that are named after subject lines, but rather because I am going to be officiating a wedding on the other side of the world because I am an ordained minister of the Church of There Is A Problem With This Website's Security Certificate. So today, my guest is going to be someone who's a contributor, in many ways, to that religion, Jonathan Kozolchyk—but, you know, we all call him Koz—is the general manager for Certificate Services at AWS. Koz, thank you for joining me.Koz: Happy to be here, Corey.Corey: So, one of the nice things about ACM historically—the managed service that handles certificates from AWS—is that for anything public-facing, it's free—which is always nice, you should not be doing upcharges for security—but you also don't let people have the private portion of the cert. You control all of the endpoints that terminate SSL. Whereas when I terminate SSL myself, it terminates on the floor because I've dropped things here and there, which means that suddenly the world of people exposing things they shouldn't or expiry concerns just largely seemed to melt away. What was the reason that Amazon looked around at the landscape and said, “Ah, we're going to launch our own certificate service, but bear with me here, we're not going to charge people money for it.” It seems a little bit out of character.Koz: Well, Amazon itself has been battling with certificates for years, long before even AWS was a thing, and we learned that you have to automate. And even that's not enough; you have to inspect and you have to audit, you need a controlled loop. And we learned that you need a closed loop to truly manage it and make sure that you don't have outages. And so, when we built ACM, we built it saying, we need to provide that same functionality to our customers, that certificates should not be the thing that makes them go out. Is that we need to keep them available and we need to minimize the sharp edges customers have to deal with.Corey: I somewhat recently caught some flack on one of the Twitter replacement social media sites for complaining about the user experience of expired SSL certs. Because on the one hand, if I go to my bank's website, and the response is that instead, the server is sneakyhackerman.com, it has the exact same alert and failure mode as, holy crap, this certificate reached its expiry period 20 minutes ago. And from my perspective, one of those is a lot more serious than the other. What also I wind up encountering is not just when I'm doing banking, but when I'm trying to read some random blog on how to solve a technical problem. I'm not exactly putting personal information into the thing. It feels like that was a missed opportunity, agree or disagree?Koz: Well, I wouldn't categorize it as a missed opportunity. I think one of the things you have to think about with security is you have to keep it simple so that everyone, whether they're a technologist or not, can abide by the rules and be safe. And so, it's much easier to say to somebody, “There's something wrong. Period. Stop.” versus saying there are degrees of wrongness. Now, that said, boy, do I wish we had originally built PKI and TLS such that you could submit multiple certificates to somebody, in a connection for example, so that you could always say, you know, my certificates can expire, but I've got two, and they're off by six months, for example. Or do something so that you don't have to close failed because the certificate expired.Corey: It feels like people don't tend to think about what failure modes are going to look like. Because, pfhh, as an expired certificate? What kind of irresponsible buffoon would do such a thing? But I've worked in enough companies where you have historically, the wildcard cert because individual certs cost money, once upon a time. So, you wound up getting the one certificate that could work on all of the stuff that ends in the same domain.And that was great, but then whenever it expired, you had to go through and find all the places that you put it and you always miss some, so things would break for a while and the corporate response was, “Ugh, that was awful. Instead of a one-year certificate, let's get a five-year or a ten-year certificate this time.” And that doesn't make the problem better; it makes it absolutely worse because now it proliferates forever. Everyone who knows where that thing lives is now long gone by the time it hits again. Counterintuitively, it seems the industry has largely been moving toward short-lived certs. Let's Encrypt, for example, winds up rotating every 90 days, by my estimation. ACM is a year, if memory serves.Koz: So, ACM certs are 13 months, and we start rotating them around the 11th month. And Let's Encrypt offers you 90-day certs, but they don't necessarily require you to rotate every 90 days; they expire in 90 days. My tip for everybody is divorce expiration from rotation. So, if your cert is a 90-day cert, rotate it at 45 days. If your cert is a year cert, give yourself a couple of months before expiration to start the rotation. And then you can alarm on it on your own timeline when something fails, and you still have time to fix it.Corey: This makes a lot of sense in—you know, the second time because then you start remembering, okay, everywhere I use this cert, I need to start having alarms and alerts. And people are bad at these things. What ACM has done super well is that it removes that entire human from the loop because you control all of the endpoints. You folks have the ability to rotate it however often you'd like. You could have picked arbitrary timelines of huge amounts of time or small amounts of time and it would have been just fine.I mean, you log into an EC2 instance role and I believe the credentials get passed out of either a 6 or a 12-hour validity window, and they're consistently rotating on the back end and it's completely invisible to the customer. Was there ever thought given to what that timeline should be,j what that experience should be? Or did you just, like, throw a dart at a wall? Like, “Yeah, 13 months feels about right. We're going to go with that.” And never revisited it. I have a guess which—Koz: [laugh].Corey: Side of that it was. Did you think at all about what you were doing at the time, or—yeah.Koz: So, I will admit, this happened just before I got there. I got to ACM after—Corey: Ah, blame the predecessor. Always a good call.Koz: —the launch. It's a God-given right to blame your predecessor.Corey: Oh, absolutely. It's their entire job.Koz: I think they did a smart job here. What they did was they took the longest lifetime cert that was then allowed, at 13 months, knowing that we were going to automate the rotation and basically giving us as much time as possible to do it, right, without having to worry about scaling issues or having to rotate overly frequently. You know, there are customers who while I don't—I strongly disagree with [pinning 00:07:35], for example, but there are customers out there who don't like certs to change very often. I don't recommend pinning at all, but I understand these cases are out there, and changing it once every year can be easier on customers than changing it every 20 minutes, for example. If I were to pick an ideal rotation time, it'd probably be under ten days because an OCSP response is good for ten days and if you rotate before, then I never have to update an OCSP response, for example. But changing that often would play havoc with many systems because of just the sheer frequency you're rotating what is otherwise a perfectly valid certificate.Corey: It is computationally expensive to generate certificates at scale, I would imagine.Koz: It starts to be a problem. You're definitely putting a lot of load on the HSMs at that point, [laugh] when you're generating. You know, when you have millions of certs out in deployment, you're generating quite a few at a time.Corey: There is an aspect of your service that used to be part of ACM and now it's its own service—which I think is probably the right move because it was confusing for a lot of customers—Amazon looks around and sees who can we compete with next, it feels like sometimes. And it seemed like you were squarely focused on competing against your most desperate of all enemies, my crappy USB key where I used to keep the private CA I used at any given job—at the time; I did not keep it after I left, to be very clear—for whatever I'm signing things for certificates for internal use. You're, like, “Ah, we can have your crappy USB key as a service.” And sure enough, you wound up rolling that out. It seems like adoption has been relatively brisk on that, just because I see it in almost every client account I work with.Koz: Yeah. So, you're talking about the private CA offering which is—Corey: I—that's right. Private CA was the new service name. Yes, it used to be a private certificate authority was an aspect of ACM, and now you're—mmm, we're just going to move that off.Koz: And we split it out because like you said customers got confused. They thought they had to only use it with ACM. They didn't understand it was a full standalone service. And it was built as a standalone service; it was not built as part of ACM. You know, before we built it, we talked to customers, and I remember meeting with people running fairly large startups, saying, “Yes, please run this for me. I don't know why, but I've got this piece of paper in my sock drawer that one of my security engineers gave me and said, ‘if something goes wrong with our CA, you and two other people have to give me this piece of paper.'” And others were like, “Oh, you have a piece of paper? I have a USB stick in my sock drawer.” And like, this is what, you know, the startup world was running their CAs from sock drawers as far as I can tell.Corey: Yeah. A piece of paper? Someone wrote out the key by hand? That sounds like hell on earth.Koz: [sigh]. It was a sharding technique where you needed, you know, three of five or something like that to—Corey: Oh, they, uh, Shamir's Secret Sharing Service.Koz: Yes.Corey: The SSSS. Yeah.Koz: Yes. You know, and we looked at it. And the other alternative was people would use open-source or free certificate authorities, but without any of the security, you'd want, like, HSM backing, for example, because that gets really expensive. And so yeah, we did what our customers wanted: we built this service. We've been very happy with the growth it's taken and, like you said, we love the places we've seen it. It's gone into all kinds of different things, from the traditional enterprise use cases to IoT use cases. At one point, there's a company that tracks sheep and every collar has one of our certs in it. And so, I am active in the sheep-tracking industry.Corey: I am certain that some wit is going to comment on this. “Oh, there's a company out there that tracks sheep. Yeah, it's called Apple,” or Facebook, or whatever crappy… whatever axe someone has to grind against any particular big company. But you're talking actual sheep as in baa, smell bad, count them when going to sleep?Koz: Yes. Actual sheep.Corey: Excellent, excellent.Koz: The certs are in drones, they're in smart homes, so they're everywhere now.Corey: That is something I want to ask you about because I found that as a competition going on between your service, ACM because you won't give me the private keys for reasons that we already talked about, and Let's Encrypt. It feels like you two are both competing to not take my money, which is, you know, an odd sort of competition. You're not actually competing, you're both working for a secure internet in different ways, but I wind up getting certificates made automatically for me for all of my internal stuff using Let's Encrypt, and with publicly resolvable domain names. Why would someone want a private CA instead of an option that, okay, yeah, we're only using it internally, but there is public validity to the certificate?Koz: Sure. And just because I have to nitpick, I wouldn't say we're competing with them. I personally love Let's Encrypt; I use them at home, too. Amazon supports them financially; we give them resources. I think they're great. I think—you know, as long as you're getting certs I'm happy. The world is encrypted and I—people use private CA because fundamentally, before you get to the encryption, you need secure identity. And a certificate provides identity. And so, Let's Encrypt is great if you have a publicly accessible DNS endpoint that you can prove you own and get a certificate for and you're willing to update it within their 90-day windows. Let's use the sheep example. The sheep don't have publicly valid DNS endpoints and so—Corey: Or to be very direct with you, they also tend to not have terrific operational practices around updating their own certificates.Koz: Right. Same with drones, same with internal corporate. You may not want your DNS exposed to the internet, your internal sites. And so, you use a private certificate where you own both sides of the connection, right, where you can say—because you can put the CA in the trust store and then that gets you out of having to be compliant with the CA browser form and the web trust rules. A lot of the CA browser form dictates what a public certificate can and can't do and the rules around that, and those are built very much around the idea of a browser connecting to a client and protecting that user.Corey: And most people are not banking on a sheep.Koz: Most people are not banking on a sheep, yes. But if you have, for example, a database that requires a restart to pick up a new cert, you're not going to want to redo that every 90 days. You're probably going to be fine with a five-year certificate on that because you want to minimize your downtime. Same goes with a lot of these IoT devices, right? You may want a thousand-year cert or a hundred-year cert or cert that doesn't expire because this is a cert that happens at—that is generated at creation for the device. And it's at birth, the machine is manufactured and it gets a certificate and you want it to live for the life of that device.Or you have super-secret-project.internal.mycompany.com and you don't want a publicly visible cert for that because you're not ready to launch it, and so you'll start with a private cert. Really, my advice to customers is, if you own both pieces of the connection, you know, if you have an API that gets called by a client you own, you're almost always better off with a private certificate and managing that trust store yourself because then you are subject not to other people's rules, but the rules that fit the security model and the threat assessment you've done.Corey: For the publication system for my newsletter, when I was building it out, I wanted to use client certificates as a way of authenticating that it was me. Because I only have a small number of devices that need to talk to this thing; other people don't, so how do I submit things into my queue and manage it? And back in those ancient days, the API Gateways didn't support TLS authentication. Now, they do. I would redo it a bunch of different ways. They did support API key as an authentication mechanism, but the documentation back then was so terrible, or I was so new to this stuff, I didn't realize what it was and introduced it myself from first principles where there's a hard-coded UUID, and as long as there's the right header with that UUID, I accept it, otherwise drop it on the floor. Which… there are probably better ways to do that.Koz: Sure. Certificates are, you know, a very popular way to handle that situation because they provide that secure identity, right? You can be assured that the thing connecting to you can prove it is who they say they are. And that's a great use of a private CA.Corey: Changing gears slightly. As we record this, we are about two weeks before re:Inforce, but I will be off doing my own thing on that day. Anything interesting and exciting coming out of your group that's going to be announced, with the proviso, of course, that this will not air until after re:Inforce.Koz: Yes. So, we are going to be pre-announcing the launch of a connector for Active Directory. So, you will be able to tie your private CA instance to your Active Directory tree and use private CA to issue certificates for use by Active Directory for all of your Windows hosts for the users in that Active Directory tree.Corey: It has been many years since I touched Windows in anger, but in 2003 or so, I was a mediocre Small Business Windows Server Admin. Doesn't Active Directory have a private CA built into it by default for whenever you're creating a new directory?Koz: It does.Corey: Is that one of the FSMO roles? I'm trying to remember offhand.Koz: What's a Fimal?Corey: FSMO. F-S-M-O. There are—I forget, it's some trivia question that people love to haze each other with in Microsoft interviews. “What are the seven FSMO roles?” At least back then. And have to be moved before you decommission a domain controller or you're going to have tears before bedtime.Koz: Ah. Yeah, so Microsoft provides a certificate authority for use with Active Directory. They've had it for years and they had to provide it because back then nobody had a certificate authority, but AD needed one. The difference here is we manage it for you. And it's backed by HSMs. We ensure that the keys are kept secure. It's a serverless connection to your Active Directory tree, you don't have to run any software of ours on your hosts. We take care of all of it.And it's been the top requests from customers for years now. It's been quite [laugh] a bit of effort to build it, but we think customers are going to love it because they're going to get all the security and best practices from private CA that they're used to and they can decommission their on-prem certificate authority and not have to go through the hassle of running it.Corey: A big area where I see a lot of private CA work has been in the realm of desktops for corporate environments because when you can pass out your custom trusted root or trusted CA to all of the various nodes you have and can control them, it becomes a lot easier. I always tended to shy away from it, just because in small businesses like the one that I own, I don't want to play corporate IT guy more than I absolutely have to.Koz: Yeah. Trust or management is always a painful part of PKI. As if there weren't enough painful things in PKI. Trust store management is yet another one. Thankfully, in the large enterprises, there are good tooling out there to help you manage it for the corporate desktops and things like that.And with private CA, you can also, if you already have an offline root that is in all of your trust stores in your enterprise, you can cross-sign the route that we give you from private CA into that hierarchy. And so, then you don't have to distribute a new trust store out if you don't want to.Corey: This is a tricky release and I'm very glad I'm taking the week off it's getting announced because there are two reactions that are going to happen to any snarking I can do about this. The first is no one knows what the hell this is and doesn't have any context for the rest, and the other folks are going to be, “Yes, shut up clown. This is going to change my workflow in amazing ways. I'll deal with your nonsense later. I want to do this.” And I feel like one of those constituencies is very much your target market and the other isn't. Which is fine. No service that AWS offers—except the bill—is for every customer, but every service is for someone.Koz: That's right. We've heard from a lot of our customers, especially as they—you know, the large international ones, right, they find themselves running separate Active Directory CAs in different countries because they have different regulatory requirements and separations that they want to do. They are chomping at the bit to get this functionality because we make it so easy to run a private CA in these different regions. There's certainly going to be that segment at re:Inforce, that's just happy certificates happen in the background and they don't think anything about where they come from and this won't resonate with them, but I assure you, for every one of them, they have a colleague somewhere else in the building that is going to do a happy dance when this launches because there's a great deal of customer heavy-lifting and just sharp edges that we're taking away from them. And we'll manage it for them, and they're going to love it.[midroll 0:21:08]Corey: One thing that I have seen the industry shift to that I love is the Let's Encrypt model, where the certificate expires after 90 days. And I love that window because it is a quarter, which means yes, you can do the crappy thing and have a calendar reminder to renew the thing. It's not something you have to do every week, so you will still do it, but you're also not going to love it. It's just enough friction to inspire people to automate these things. And that I think is the real win.There's a bunch of things like Certbot, I believe the protocol is called ACME A-C-M-E, always in caps, which usually means an acronym or someone has their caps lock key pressed—which is of course cruise control for cool. But that entire idea of being able to have a back-and-forth authentication pass and renew certificates on a schedule, it's transformative.Koz: I agree. ACM, even Amazon before ACM, we've always believed that automation is the way out of a lot of this pain. As you said earlier, moving from a one-year cert to a five-year cert doesn't buy you anything other than you lose even more institutional knowledge when your cert expires. You know, I think that the move to further automation is great. I think ACME is a great first step.One of the things we've learned is that we really do need a closed loop of monitoring to go with certificate issuance. So, at Amazon, for example, every cert that we issue, we also track and the endpoints emit metrics that tell us what cert they're using. And it's not what's on disk, it's what's actually in the endpoint and what they're serving from memory. And we know because we control every cert issued within the company, every cert that's in use, and if we see a cert in use that, for example, isn't the latest one we issued, we can send an alert to the team that's running it. Or if we've issued a cert and we don't see it in use, we see the old ones still in use, we can send them an alert, they can alarm and they can see that, oh, we need to do something because our automation failed in this case.And so, I think ACME is great. I think the push Let's Encrypt did to say, “We're going to give you a free certificate, but it's going to be short-lived so you have to automate,” that's a powerful carrot and stick combination they have going, and I think for many customers Certbot's enough. But you'll see even with ACM where we manage it for our customers, we have that closed loop internally as well to make sure that the cert when we issue a new cert to our client, you know, to the partner team, that it does get picked up and it does get loaded. Because issuing you a cert isn't enough; we have to make sure that you're actually using the new certificate.Corey: I also have learned as a result of this, for example, that AWS certificate manager—Amazon Certificate Manager, the ACM, the certificate thingy that you run, that so many names, so many acronyms. It's great—but it has a limit—by default—of 2500 certificates. And I know this because I smacked into it. Why? I wasn't sitting there clicking and adding that many certificates, but I had a delightful step function pattern called ‘The Lambda invokes itself.' And you can exhaust an awful lot of resources that way because I am bad at programming. That is why for safety, I always recommend that you iterate development-wise in an account that is not production, and preferably one that belongs to someone else.Koz: [laugh]. We do have limits on cert issuance.Corey: You have limits on everything in AWS. As it should because it turns out that whatever there's not a limit, A, free database just dropped, and B, things get hammered to death. You have to harden these things. And it's one of those things that's obvious once you've operated at a certain point of scale, but until you do, it just feels arbitrary and capricious. It's one of those things where I think Amazon is still—and all the cloud companies who do this—are misunderstood.Koz: Yeah. So, in the case of the ACM limits, we look at them fairly regularly. Right now, they're high enough that most of our customers, vast majority, never come close to hitting it. And the ones that do tend to go way over.Corey: And it's been a mistake, as in my case as well. This was not a complaint, incidentally. It was like, well, I want to wind up having more waste and more ridiculous nonsense. It was not my concern.Koz: No no no, but we do, for those customers who have not mistake use cases but actual use cases where they need more, we're happy to work with their account teams and with the customer and we can up those limits.Corey: I've always found that limit increases, with remarkably few exceptions, the process is, “Explain to you what your use case is here.” And I feel like that is a screen for, first, are you doing something horrifying for which there's a better solution? And two, it almost feels like it's a bit of a customer research approach where this is fine for most customers. What are you folks doing over there and is there a use case we haven't accounted for in how we use the service?Koz: I always find we learned something when we look at the [P100 00:26:05] accounts that they use the most certificates, and how they're operating.Corey: Every time I think I've seen it all on AWS, I just talk to one more customer, and it's back to school I go.Koz: Yep. And I thank them for that education.Corey: Oh, yeah. That is the best part of working with customers and honestly being privileged enough to work with some of these things and talk to the people who are building really neat stuff. I'm just kibitzing from the sideline most of the time.Koz: Yeah.Corey: So, one last topic I want to get into before we call it a show. You and I have been talking a fair bit, out of school, for lack of a better term, around a couple of shared interests. The one more germane to this is home automation, which is always great because especially in a married situation, at least as I am and I know you are as well, there's one partner who is really into home automation and the other partner finds himself living in a haunted house.Koz: [laugh]. I knew I had won that battle when my wife was on a work trip and she was in a hotel and she was talking to me on the phone and she realized she had to get out of bed to turn the lights off because she didn't have our Alexa Good Night routine available to her to turn all the lights off and let her go to bed. And so, she is my core customer when I do the home automation stuff. And definitely make sure my use cases and my automations work for her. But yeah, I'm… I love that space.Coincidentally, it overlaps with my work life quite a bit because identity in smart home is a challenge. We're really excited about the Matter standard. For those listening who aren't sure what that is, it's a new end-all be-all smart home standard for defining devices in a protocol-independent way that lets your hubs talk to devices without needing drivers from each company to interact with them. And one of the things I love about it is every device needs a certificate to identify it. And so, private CA has been a great partner with Matter, you know, it goes well with it.In fact, we're one of the leading certificate authorities for Matter devices. Customers love the pricing and the way they can get started without talking to anybody. So yeah, I'm excited to see, you know, as a smart home junkie and as a PKI guy, I'm excited to see Matter take off. Right now I have a huge amalgamation of smart home devices at home and seeing them all go to Matter will be wonderful.Corey: Oh, it's fantastic. I am a little worried about aspects of this, though, where you have things that get access to the internet and then act as a bridge. So suddenly, like, I have a IoT subnet with some controls on it for obvious reasons and honestly, one of the things I despise the most in this world has been the rise of smart TVs because I just want you to be a big dumb screen. “Well, how are you going to watch your movies?” “With the Apple TV I've plugged into the thing. I just want you to be a screen. That's it.” So, I live a bit in fear of the day where these things find alternate ways to talk to the internet and, you know, report on what I'm watching.Koz: Yeah, I think Matter is going to help a lot with this because it's focused on local control. And so, you'll have to trust your hub, whether that's your TV or your Echo device or what have you, but they all communicate securely amongst themselves. They use certificates for identification, and they're building into Matter a robust revocation mechanism. You know, in my case at home, my TV's not connected to the internet because I use my Fire TV to talk to it, similar to your Apple TV situation. I want a device I control not my TV, doing it. I'm happy with the big dumb screen.And I think, you know, what you're going to end up doing is saying there's a device out there you'll trust maybe more than others and say, “That's what I'm going to use as my hub for my Matter devices and that's what will speak to the internet,” and otherwise my Matter devices will talk directly to my hub.Corey: Yeah, there's very much a spectrum of trust. There's the, this is a Linux distribution on a computer that I installed myself and vetted and wound up contributing to at one point on the one end of the spectrum, and the other end of the spectrum of things you trust the absolute least in this world, which are, of course, printers. And most things fall somewhere in between.Koz: Yes, right, now, it is a Wild West of rebranded white-label applications, right? You have all kinds of companies spitting out reference designs as products and white labeling the control app for it. And so, your phone starts collecting these smart home applications to control each one of these things because you buy different switches from different people. I'm looking forward to Matter collapsing that all down to having one application and one control model for all of the smart home devices.Corey: Wemo explicitly stated that they're not going to be pursuing this because it doesn't let them differentiate the experience. Read as, cash grab. I also found out that Wemo—which is, of course, a Belkin subsidiary—had a critical vulnerability in some of the light switches it offered, including the one built into the wall in this room—until a week ago—where they're not going to be releasing a patch for it because those are end-of-life. Really? Because I log into the Wemo app and the only way I would have known this has been the fact that it's been a suspiciously long time since there was a firmware update available for it. But that's it. Like, the only way I found this out was via a security advisory, at which point that got ripped out of the wall and replaced with something that isn't, you know, horrifying. But man did that bother me.Koz: Yeah. I think this is still an open issue for the smart home world.Corey: Every company wants a moat of some sort, but I don't want 15 different apps to manage this stuff. You turned me on to Home Assistant, which is an open-source, home control automation system and, on some level, the interface is very clearly built by a bunch of open-source people—good for them; they could benefit from a graphic designer or three to—or user experience person to tie it all together, but once you wrap your head around it, it works really well, where I have automations let me do different things. They even have an Apple Watch app [without its 00:32:14] complications on it. So, I can tap the thing and turn on the lights in my office to different levels if I don't want to talk to the robot that runs my house. And because my daughter has started getting very deeply absorbed into some YouTube videos from time to time, after the third time I asked her what—I call her name, I tap a different one and the internet dies to her iPad specifically, and I wait about 30 to 45 seconds, and she'll find me immediately.Koz: That's an amazing automation. I love Home Assistant. It's certainly more technical than I could give to my parents, for example, right now. I think things like Matter are going to bring a lot of that functionality to the easier-to-use hubs. And I think Home Assistant will get better over time as well.I think the only way to deal with these devices that are going to end-of-life and stop getting support is have them be local control only and so then it's your hub that keeps getting support and that's what talks to the internet. And so, you don't—you know, if there's a vulnerability in the TCP stack, for example, in your light switch, but your light switch only talks to the hub and isn't allowed to talk to anything else, how severe is that? I don't think it's so bad. Certainly, I wall off all of my IoT devices so that they don't talk to the rest of my network, but now you're getting a fairly complicated networking… mojo that listeners to your podcast I'm sure capable of, but many people aren't.Corey: I had something that did something very similar and then I had to remove a lot of those restrictions, try to diagnose a phantom issue that it appears was an unreported bug in the wireless AP when you use its second ethernet port as a bridge, where things would intermittently not be able to cross VLANs when passing through that. As in, the initial host key exchange for SSH would work and then it would stall and resets on both sides and it was a disaster. It was, what is going on here? And the answer was it was haunted. So, a small architecture change later, and the problem has not recurred. I need to reapply those restrictions.Koz: I mean, these are the kinds of things that just make me want to live in a shack in the woods, right? Like, I don't know how you manage something like that. Like, these are just pain points all over. I think over time, they'll get better, but until then, that shack in the woods with not even running water sounds pretty appealing.Corey: Yeah, at some level, having smart lights, for example, one of the best approaches that all the manufacturers I've seen have taken, it still works exactly as you would expect when you hit the light switch on the wall because that's something that you really need to make work or it turns out for those of us who don't live alone, we will not be allowed to smart home things anymore.Koz: Exactly. I don't have any smart bulbs in my house. They're all smart switches because I don't want to have to put tape over something and say, “Don't hit that switch.” And then watch one of my family members pull the tape off and hit the switch anyways.Corey: I have floor lamps with smart bulbs in them, but I wind up treating them all as one device. And I mean, I've taken the switch out from the root because it's, like, too many things to wind up slicing and dicing. But yeah, there's a scaling problem because right now a lot of this stuff—because Matter is not quite there all winds up using either Zigbee—which is fine; I have no problem with that it feels like it's becoming Matter quickly—or WiFi. And there is an upper bound to how many devices you want or can have on some fairly limited frequency.Koz: Yeah. I think this is still something that needs to be resolved. You know, I've got hundreds of devices in my house. Thankfully, most of them are not WiFi or Zigbee. But I think we're going to see this evolve over time and I'm excited for it.Corey: I was talking to someone where I was explaining that, well, how this stuff works. Like, “Well, how many devices could you possibly have on your home network?” And at the time it was about 70 or 80. And they just stared at me for the longest time. I mean, it used to be that I could name all the computers in my house. I can no longer do that.Koz: Sure. Well, I mean, every light switch ends up being a computer.Corey: And that's the weirdest thing is that it's, I'm used to computers, being a thing that requires maintenance and care and feeding and security patches and—yes, relevant to your work—an SSL certificate. It's like, so what does all of that fancy wizardry do? Well, when it receives a signal, it completes a circuit. The end. And it's, are really better off for some of these things? There are days we wonder.Koz: Well, my light bill, my electric bill, is definitely better off having these smart switches because nobody in my house seems to know how to turn a light switch off. And so, having the house do it itself helps quite a bit.Corey: To be very clear, I would skewer you if you worked on an AWS service that actually charged money for anything for what you just said about the complaining about light bills and optimizing light bills and the rest—Koz: [laugh].Corey: —but I've never had to optimize your service's certificate bill beca—after you've spun off the one thing that charges—because you can't cost optimize free, as it turns out, and I've yet to find a way to the one optimization possible where now you start paying customers money. I'm sure there's a way to do that somewhere but damned if I can find it.Koz: Well, if you find a way to optimize free, please let me know and I'll share it with all of our customers.Corey: [laugh]. Isn't that the truth? I really want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. If people want to learn more, where's the best place for them to find you?Koz: I can give you the standard AWS answer.Corey: Yeah, www.aws.com. Yeah.Koz: Well, I would have said koz@amazon.com. I'm always happy to talk about certs and PKI. I find myself less active on social media lately. You can find me, I guess, on Twitter as @seakoz and on Bluesky as [kozolchyk.com 00:38:03].Corey: And we will put links to all of that in the [show notes 00:38:06]. Thank you so much for being so generous with your time. I appreciate it.Koz: Always happy, Corey.Corey: Jonathan Kozolchyk, or Koz as we all call him, general manager for Certificate Services at AWS. I'm Cloud Economist Corey Quinn and this is Screaming in the Cloud. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice, whereas if you've hated this podcast, please leave a five-star review on your podcast platform of choice along with an angry, insulting comment that then will fail to post because your podcast platform of choice has an expired security certificate.Corey: If your AWS bill keeps rising and your blood pressure is doing the same, then you need The Duckbill Group. We help companies fix their AWS bill by making it smaller and less horrifying. The Duckbill Group works for you, not AWS. We tailor recommendations to your business and we get to the point. Visit duckbillgroup.com to get started.

Full-text: “3000 SE Powell Boulevard” is the name of Home Forward's 6-year-old low-income housing development with a massive expenditure: $87 million, $75 million of which came from government tax credits and bond monies. Burdened by building height and design constraints, soil contamination worries, and delayed materials delivery, the expected opening date has been pushed back to next winter. But perhaps the most distressing thing about 3000 Powell is parking, which seems tragically inadequate. Just 31 parking spaces will accommodate 206 housing units. Comparatively, the 90-unit Sunshine Portland Apartments, directly behind the complex, offer 34 parking spaces. Home Forward has made improvements to its parking plan, but the lot can only be accessed through a narrow road likely to be bustling with commuters. With extra space reserved for a playground and a smoking shelter, parking is not a high priority here. Yet cars remain a crucial source of transportation for the poor. Counterintuitively, roughly 8 in 10 low-income workers have cars to drive; because they have less mobility and job stability, they must rely on them to commute. If Home Forward's “urgent” humanitarian aid includes accessible housing, shouldn't it also include a convenient spot to park a car? For their safety, the poor cannot afford to miss the latter. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coffeewithcascade/message

In this episode, Mirian Vilela talks with Dr. Lisa Miller about the role of spirituality in mental and emotional health, the importance of spirituality in education, and the connections between her work and the Earth Charter. Dr. Miller explains that while religion is completely environmentally and culturally transmitted, we are born with an innate physical capacity for spirituality. She emphasizes that religion is not a requirement to fulfill this capacity for a transcendent relationship, but that this connection to a whole can be experienced through a god, the universe, ancestors, or another higher power.  However, this innate spirituality is being socialized out of children which she believes is resulting in many of the emotional and mental health problems in today's societies. In response to this, Dr. Miller created the Collaborative for Spirituality in Education to develop spaces for spirituality in K-12 schools. She believes that the most important work for a parent, teacher, or caregiver is to strengthen children's spiritual form by modeling this behavior. To foster spiritual growth, parents must both “walk the walk” and “talk the talk” equally. In her book, The Awakened Brain, Dr. Miller discusses the need for awakened awareness. An obstacle to this is the transactional, achievement-oriented mindset that focuses on attaining more money, prestige, and material wealth. Instead, we must focus on the “deep in-and-of-itself of living”, spiritual value, and quality of life. Counterintuitively, this will lead to more outward success. Dr. Miller sees the connection between her work and that of the Earth Charter because of the focus on the interconnectedness and oneness with the environmental, spiritual, social, and political. Her work at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute identifies a need for a spiritual voice in environmental protection and education. In Principle 14, the Earth Charter emphasizes the importance of moral and spiritual education which parallels her work with the Collaborative for Spirituality in Education.  Finally, both the Earth Charter and Dr. Miller recognize the importance of a transcendent relationship through our connection to the greater whole. Learn more about Dr. Miller's work at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute and the Collaborative for Spirituality in Education at these websites: https://spiritualitymindbody.tc.columbia.edu/ https://spiritualityineducation.org/

As a seven-year-old living in Shiraz, Iran, Ari Honarvar stood on the rooftop of her home with her family one night, a "simmering terror brewing in her belly." Beholding the sky, she was aware that their electricity was just shut off, warning of an imminent attack. Missiles shot across the darkness. Sirens blared throughout the streets. Then, from a neighboring rooftop, Ari bore witness to a different kind of explosion: Even if, from the sky, poison befalls all, I'm still sweetness wrapped in sweetness wrapped in sweetness... A verse from Rumi, a burst of joy! Then, joining in from another rooftop: While others sing about love, I am the Sultan of love!" "I could feel the ecstasy of these verses in my heart, radiating to every cell of my being," Ari recalled of that moment amid the Iran-Iraq War that would last eight years and kill over a million people. "In an instant, my world not only became sane, but infinite and glorious. And what bomb could ever touch that?" When Ari's family sought to secure a visa out of Iran a few years after the war ended, it was also a poem that changed Ari's world -- this time, verses written by her mother to the Indian Embassy. After being granted passage to India, Ari would immigrate to the United States at 14 years of age. Those bombs touched neither her body nor soul, and in fact, ignited in her a joyful resilience. Currently based in San Diego, California, Ari is an award-winning writer, speaker, artist, "dance-ivist," who seamlessly integrates the arts with social justice and community building. She is the founder of Rumi with a View, an organization building bridges across war-torn and conflict-ridden borders "through the enchanted medium of poetry," and using dance, the visual arts, and other modalities. Her projects span sending musical love letters from American musicians to the people of Iran, to Dance for Freedom, an initiative to garner global support for Iranian protesters, to Musical Ambassadors of Peace, a nonprofit she collaborates with, bringing music and dance to refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border and in Europe. What does Ari-in-action look like? A few times a month, she drops off her son at school in San Diego and drives for an hour to Tijuana, Mexico, to serve as a "musical ambassador of peace." Her car is stocked with donations, food, drums, and a portable stereo. Along with two other musicians, Ari plays live music and cumbia songs on the stereo, popular among the Central American refugees. The children learn to drum and dance with partners, embodying a new rhythm by which to live -- and all of this done in time for Ari to drive back to San Diego to pick up her son when school lets out. Due to the program's success, she now offers a customized program to schools, nonprofits, and corporations committed to social justice. Ari also sparks community closer to home. In 2021, the Washington Post ran her op-ed on Arranged Friendships, describing her experiment to arrange friendships similar to how marriages in Iran are arranged: "commitment first, then let everything fall into place." Arranged does not mean forced, she clarified. "Counterintuitively, this offers more freedom because you can customize your group based on your own needs and desires." She has since been interviewed by numerous podcasts and publications on the subject, including The Atlantic's Friendship Files, and is helping to facilitate other arranged friendship groups. Ari's work has been featured in other outlets like The Guardian and New York Times. She is the author of Rumi's Gift, an oracle deck and book of Ari's original translations, meditations, stories, and the artistic collaboration with the renowned illustrator, Carmen Costello. Ari's critically acclaimed novel, A Girl Called Rumi, is based on Ari's experience growing up in post-revolution Iran. Ari also presents at conferences, universities, nonprofits, and other venues. She is a mentor at the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral studies at The University of Saskatchewan. "Joy is such a sustainable fuel. It's sustainable energy that we tap into to help us with the challenges. Seeing how people build their own resilience in difficult situations has been a tremendous inspiration." Please join Haleh Liza Gafori and Pavi Mehta in conversation with this activist-alchemist of verse and vibrations.

This week is a solo podcast episode where I explain the emasculation paradox, and tell you to own your shish! So many men are afraid of their woman's emotional reaction to things because they don't want her to leave. They placate her and do other dumb things to try to make her happy. This action is unattractive and will often times be the catalyst for her leaving eventually. Counterintuitively, owning your shish and not worrying about her emotional response is often what will keep her around. Hawaiian Libertarian said it best: "You really shouldn't worry about upsetting her. She's a woman. She gets upset as surely as the sun rises in the East. What you you have to worry about, is turning into someone she doesn't respect...and patronizing her because you are afraid of her emotional state is the fastest path to losing that respect." Read his full post here: http://hawaiianlibertarian.blogspot.com/2009/09/game-is-red-pill.html ~~COURSES~~ Get 15% off on my Practical Law of Attraction course with promo code COMEON15 (Limit 50 people) http://loa.comeonmanpod.com The Conversation Conversion Blueprint Dating App Course By Performance Potential: https://www.performancepotential.co/a/2147499861/s5RamP7C The Clarey School of Economic Philosophy: https://theclareyschoolofeconomicphilosophy.teachable.com/?affcode=636918_r5uujdh8 ~~COURSES~~ ~~COACHING AND OTHER RESOURCES~~ Join my Patreon: http://patreon.com/comeonmanpod FREE STICKERS! Join my email list: http://list.comeonmanpod.com Recommended Reading: https://sovrn.co/9fbyubt Get free shipping from Duke Cannon on orders over $25 - http://duke.comeonmanpod.com Donate to the show: https://streamelements.com/se-847333/tip ~~COACHING AND OTHER RESOURCES~~ ~~SOCIAL MEDIA~~ Follow on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@comeonmanpod Follow on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/comeonmanpodcast/ Follow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ComeOnManPOD Follow on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/comeonmanpodcast ~~SOCIAL MEDIA~~ ~~OTHER MEDIA~~ Watch on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/comeonmanpodcast ~~OTHER MEDIA~~ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/comeonman/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/comeonman/support

Have you been trying to eat less but find that you aren't able to lose weight? Counterintuitively, you may need to eat MORE to start leaning out. In this episode we explain how this works, and the solution that we offer at Southpaw. Like this episode? Learn more about Southpaw at: Follow Southpaw on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crossfit.southpaw Follow Southpaw on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crossfit.southpaw/ Learn more about memberships and programs at: https://www.crossfitsouthpaw.com

Ajahn Dhammasiha leads an introduction to Mettā Meditation, 'Loving Kindness'. Mettā is the intention of unconditional good will to all beings, without distinction, without expectations, without conditions, same to absolutely everyone. To start off, we choose one being that we like a lot, where we find it really easy to wish them well. That could even be an animal (in case we feel grumpy to all humans

• Once we can properly identify suffering for what it is and become aware of it in ourselves, we can begin to manage it better. • Suffering takes all different forms for each of us, but according to the four noble truths, there is a way to ease and reduce our suffering, by letting go of attachment. • One way to do this is to practice distinguishing between pain and suffering, first and second darts, and facts or opinions. When you feel upset, slow down and tease apart the situation until you see it as clearly and objectively as possible. • Try to avoid extremes and black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking. Watch out for clues to cognitive distortions and bias like absolute terms, catastrophizing and generalization, and instead look for a balanced path down the middle of extremes. We can achieve this merely by changing our language and how we frame things. • Counterintuitively, we reduce feelings of suffering by being willing to “sit with” and acknowledge all our feelings, without trying to escape them. We can learn to stay in the present and be aware of how we feel right now, instead of letting our minds get carried away with thoughts of the past or future. One way to keep in the present is to ground in the senses. • Finally, take care with what you consume, information-wise, since suffering is often a question of overwhelm, or being looped into people's stories and interpretations. Pay close attention to the media you take in, its effect on you, and how these distractions may be helping you avoid your feelings in the present. Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home Peter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and a dedicated student of the human condition. Visit https://bit.ly/peterhollins to pick up your FREE human nature cheat sheet: 7 surprising psychology studies that will change the way you think. #EmotionalRegulation #Hanh #NobleTruths #Suffer #Suffering #SufferWell #ThichNhatHanh #HowDoWeOvercome? #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #SufferWell

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: New cause area: bivalve aquaculture, published by Brian Lui on June 12, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Summary Bivalve aquaculture improves animal welfare as a substitute for meat, fish, and other marine food. Possibly improves economic welfare in developing countries. Can be financially risky. There is a huge opportunity to scale. Improves water quality and reduces climate change because they are a carbon sink. Second-order effects are likely to be beneficial. Bivalve aquaculture means farming oysters, mussels, scallops, and other edible molluscs. Bivalve aquaculture has multiple moderate benefits as summarized above. This means that it tends to fall between the cracks when EAs evaluate its effectiveness, because we often focus on maximizing a particular goal. Indeed, searching for “aquaculture” (not even bivalve aquaculture) returned very few “hits” on this forum. This is an initial look into this cause area; approximately 10 hours was spent mainly on looking at sources. Note: I may submit this to the Cause Exploration Prizes contest. Animal welfare Bivalves taste good (should be self-evident), and are healthy: “oysters, mussels, scallops, and clams are good for you. They're loaded with protein, healthy fats, and minerals like iron and manganese.” Eating bivalves causes less suffering than an equivalent amount of chickens, pigs, cows, and most other animals. Depending on what it substitutes for, it would also reduce crop farming and associated rodent/insect deaths, which are more sentient than bivalves. Non-EAs are receptive to a proposal to substitute bivalves for other meat. They are not receptive to proposals to go vegetarian/vegan. Bivalves are also healthier than plant-based meat. Therefore, bivalves are the most effective way to reduce overall animal suffering. Developing countries Note: Epistemic confidence is low, and requires more research. But it's quite likely that bivalve aquaculture can have an enduring positive impact on developing countries. This report claims widespread benefits in Vietnam, for example: “There exists an opportunity to rapidly advance and sophisticate oyster aquaculture in Vietnam by exploring the full economic potential that has environmental, social, and sustainability benefits.” Even if distribution isn't developed enough for export, bivalve aquaculture can still provide highly nutritious food locally, as protein is generally rarer. Financially risky Note: Epistemic confidence is low, because these are comments on a preliminary request for feedback - more research needed. Bivalve aquaculture has tail risk, e.g.: “There are a ton of tail risks that can go wrong and wipe you out. Big one is disease, and the bigger the scale the harder that problem is. A lot of unknown unknowns.” “Intensive aquaculture is tricky, diseases and anoxic conditions can wipe out entire crops.” Counterintuitively, this is great for its attractiveness as a funding cause. It means that risk capital is valuable, and also means that the optimal risk-neutral level of bivalve aquaculture should be higher than it is now. It also means that we can be creative in how we approach spending money. For example, paying for insurance policies might be more impactful than investing directly. Lots of room to scale “Across the world there is an estimated 1.5 million sq km (579,000 sq miles) of coastline suitable for growing bivalve shellfish. According to Willer, developing just 1% of this could produce enough bivalves to fulfil the protein requirements of more than one billion people.” It's possible that a lot of this coastline is located in areas with bad governance. And not all of these places would be accessible or economically viable. But this is a tractable problem (scaling/new technologies) and shows that room to scale is unlikely to be the bottleneck. Note: mo...

Last time, we discussed how letting go of our sense of self can significantly impact our lives by reducing mental suffering, improving productivity, and helping us experience the benefits of awe. This week, we'll explore another question together:Can our mindsets make us healthier?Our beliefs can indeed exert surprising physiological effects. A recent randomized clinical trial discovered that educating children about the side effects of allergy immunotherapy greatly improved patient compliance and parental anxiety during treatment for peanut allergies.Oral immunotherapy is an emerging treatment for allergies in which patients are given gradually larger doses of an allergen in order to promote immune tolerance. The appearance of mild reactions to treatment like a scratchy throat or congestion can sometimes concern children and parents alike since these symptoms closely resemble those of a more severe allergic reaction like anaphylaxis. The anxiety can be so great that families may skip doses or stop treatment completely. In the study, telling children that side effects may be beneficial and even help overcome allergy in the long term allowed kids to successfully complete treatment and experience fewer side effects when exposed to actual peanuts.Why might a positive mindset change our response to something like allergens? Let's dive a little deeper to find out.Mindsets 101Our mindsets affect our perceptions of reality and are influenced by our upbringing, cultural values, and environments. Marketing, advertising, and health influencers shape our attitudes towards foods, exercise plans, and lifestyle practices.Many of our mindsets are simply the result of mimetic desire, meaning we imitate what others want. We desire what is socially desirable. Mimetic desire describes how social influences like parents, peers, teachers, media, and society impact nearly all our decisions from our career aspirations to the partners we choose.Dr. Alia Crum, Professor of Psychology at Stanford, studies how mindsets affect health and physical performance. She defines mindsets as core beliefs or assumptions about a domain. Whether we think stress is enhancing or debilitating influences the outcomes that follow. Whether we believe the nature of intelligence is fixed or malleable affects motivation and the ability to persist during academic challenges.Mindset vs. PlaceboWhile the origins of the placebo effect may have been based on insufficient evidence, science suggests that the way we feel about something does in fact impact the way it affects us. We often forget that the total effect of a medical treatment is a combination of the chemical properties of that drug plus the placebo effect, which consists of social context, beliefs or mindsets, and our body's natural physiological ability to heal.Mindset and Food MetabolismDo our beliefs change our bodies' physiological response to food?Dr. Crum conducted a well-known study, sometimes called the “milkshake study,” in which she administered identical vanilla milkshakes to the same group of people separated by a week. Participants were initially told they were drinking a calorie-rich, indulgent milkshake full of fat and sugar. The second time, volunteers were told they were drinking a healthy, sensible, nutritious meal shake.Levels of a gut hormone called ghrelin were measured before and after drinking each set of milkshakes. Sometimes called the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin signals to the hypothalamus in the brain that it's time to seek out food. After a large meal, ghrelin levels drop, telling your body that you've eaten enough.Scientists originally thought that ghrelin levels fluctuated in response to nutrient intake alone. Eat a cheeseburger, and ghrelin levels drop substantially. Eat a salad? Not so much. But Crum discovered something else entirely in her milkshake study.She found that telling people that they were drinking something indulgent caused their ghrelin levels to drop threefold more than when they thought they were drinking a low-calorie shake. In other words, simply believing that they were consuming something filling caused their bodies to respond as if they actually were.This evidence suggests that we may be able to manipulate metabolism with our mindsets. Crum argues that these findings require us to rethink our traditional metabolic model of “calories in, calories out,” which doesn't account for the influence of mindset on physiology. According to Crum,“Our beliefs matter in virtually every domain, in everything we do. How much is a mystery, but I don't think we've given enough credit to the role of our beliefs in determining our physiology, our reality.”Should we cultivate mindsets of abundance?Counterintuitively, the belief that we're eating indulgent foods rather than healthy ones seems to result in improved satiety and better health outcomes. The reason we observe this correlation may be due to the power of abundance and scarcity mindsets. Stephen Covey was the first to coin these terms in his seminal book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.The scarcity mindset is grounded in destructive competition and subscribes to the idea that opportunity is a finite pie such that if one person takes a large piece, there is less available for everyone else. Individuals with an abundance mindset, on the other hand, reject the notion of zero-sum games and believe there is more than enough to go around.An abundance mindset allows us to celebrate the successes of others and share profits, power, and recognition. According to Covey, embracing an abundance mindset allows for freedom and mental clarity, which enables us to more effectively pursue our goals. Similar mechanisms may be at play when we consume food from a mindset of indulgence.The calmness that accompanies the belief that we have more than enough to eat may lead to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, thereby preventing excessive ghrelin stimulation and the urge to overeat. In other words, operating from a mental place of abundance or indulgence may reduce chronic stress and therefore improve our metabolic health.If an indulgence mindset can promote health, can actually consuming indulgent foods also lead to health benefits? Unfortunately, the science suggests otherwise. A 2020 review article published in the journal Nutrition Research described how satiety cues that promote a sense of fulness and satisfaction typically inhibit cravings for more food.But Western diets rich in energy, sugar, and saturated fats seem to impair these inbuilt mechanisms of appetite reduction by hijacking our brain's reward pathways and inappropriately releasing dopamine to reinforce behaviors. So how can we restore normal appetite regulation and cultivate a healthier relationship with food? Intuitive eating may provide a possible answer.Can we make eating more intuitive?Stress reduction may be one of the mechanisms by which intuitive eating improves well-being. Intuitive eating relies on a skill called interoception, which describes our ability to sense internal signals from our bodies. Interoception originates in the insular cortex of the brain and can help us register the sensation of hunger or predict our approximate heart rate.Intuitive eating relies on satiety and appetite signals to guide eating habits instead of using emotional, social, or chronological cues. Interoceptive sensitivity has been associated with healthier BMIs, higher levels of self-esteem, and reduced incidence of disordered eating patterns compared to other dieting methods.Many of us may have a reduced capacity for interoception due to chronic pain or trauma, a tendency to suppress emotions, or eating to always clean our plates instead of eating until we're full. Retraining our bodies to perceive and respond to physiological signals can help reduce cravings and improve self-regulation.Dr. Kent Berridge, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan, recommends that we “allow the craving to happen; just notice it, feel it, and let it fade.” This approach is part of mindfulness-based eating awareness training (MB-EAT), which has been shown to help alleviate stress-induced cravings, improve self-control, and reduce symptoms of depression.Mindfulness-based eating awareness involves regulating emotions, consciously making food choices, developing an awareness of hunger and satiety cues, and cultivating a sense of self-acceptance. The goal is to redirect our attention to the here and now and prevent cycles of rumination. Regularly practicing mindfulness has been shown to stimulate changes in brain activity, including reduced activation of the amygdala, a brain region involved in fear and anxiety.Mindfulness can even stimulate the “relaxation response,” a term coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, founder of Harvard's Mind/Body Medical Institute. The relaxation response is the opposite of the body's adrenaline-charged “fight or flight” response and encourages our bodies to release chemicals that increase blood flow to the brain. Many different practices can elicit the relaxation response, including guided imagery, muscle relaxation, massage, prayer, meditation, tai chi, qi gong, and yoga.Mindset and Exercise MetabolismWe've already seen how mindset can impact physiological responses to food. But can mindset also affect how our bodies respond to exercise? Harvard Psychologist Ellen Langer conducted an experiment to find out. She decided to study female hotel workers who engaged in a lot of physical activity as part of their daily jobs: pushing carts, changing linens, scrubbing bathrooms, vacuuming, and climbing stairs.When surveyed about their exercise habits, one third of the women reported not getting any exercise at all. The majority of housekeepers estimated low levels of personal exercise—an average of a three on a scale of zero to ten. Even though these women were very active, they didn't perceive themselves as engaging in lots of exercise. They thought their work was just work.Researchers divided these women into two groups and told the experimental group that their work was good exercise and met the guidelines for an active lifestyle. Subjects in the control group weren't given any information. Throughout the study, Langer tracked metrics like weight, body fat, and blood pressure.Four weeks later, the group that had received positive counseling about the benefits of work-associated exercise lost two pounds on average and decreased their systolic blood pressure by about ten points. The control group didn't experience weight loss benefits and only droppped systolic blood pressure by an average of two points.Women who were informed about the benefits of exercise also exhibited improvements in body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and BMI, none of which were observed in the control group. No other detectable behavioral changes such as increased physical activity or dietary changes seemed to be at play.These findings mean that objective health benefits like cardiovascular disease risk and weight maintenance depend not only on what we're doing but also on what we think about what we're doing.To recap, mindsets have a profound impact on our metabolism by affecting our physiological responses to diet, exercise, and medication. What you believe about the nutritional content of your food considerably affects the way it impacts your brain and body. Adopting a mindset of indulgence, satisfaction, and enjoyment can help us feel more satiated after meals by manipulating levels of hormones like cortisol and ghrelin.Eating nutritious foods with an indulgent mindset may provide the best of both worlds. Retraining ourselves to eat when hungry instead of eating due to stress or boredom can help reduce cravings and prevent overeating. Intuitive eating and mindfulness practice can help you inhibit your body's stress response, identify your underlying feelings, and choose alternatives to comfort food, like a soothing cup of tea.Thinking more positively about our daily activity levels can help us more effectively leverage the benefits of work-related exercise. Mindsets may even affect the severity of immune reactions by modulating our stress response, inhibiting cortisol release, stabilizing mast cells, and preventing the formation of downstream inflammatory compounds like histamine.Listen to “Evolving with Nita Jain” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Deezer, TuneIn, RadioPublic, Stitcher, Castbox, Pocket Casts, Player FM, Podcast Index, Castro, Overcast, Listen Notes, Podchaser, Goodpods, or iHeart Radio!Music for this episode, “New Beginnings” by Joshua Kaye, was provided courtesy of Syfonix. Some links are affiliate and help support my mission to share actionable health insights with the general public. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nitajain.substack.com

Psalm 1 questions the path we're pursuing in search of the good life: the wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God. Counterintuitively, it is the Law of God -- and delighting in that Law -- that actually leads to a life of flourishing and happiness.

Industrial Society and Its Future, is otherwise known as “The Unabomber Manifesto,” written by Ted Kaczynski. Kaczynsnki is a terrorist who killed three people, and injured twenty-three others, by sending bombs through the mail, between 1978 and 1995. He used his terror campaign to exploit the negativity bias of media and pressure the Washington Post and New York Times into publishing his 35,000-word anti-technology manifesto. Obviously, what Kaczynski did was horrible, but his manifesto is a thought-provoking, albeit extreme, perspective on technology. And so here is my summary of Industrial Society and Its Future. Leftism creeps towards totalitarianism The manifesto begins with a seemingly out-of-place rant about leftism creeping toward totalitarianism: According to Kaczynski, leftists have low self-esteem, are defeatist, and hate themselves. They hate success, and feel the groups they try to protect are inferior. They are overburdened by guilt over their natural drives, and so want to turn into issues of morality things that don't have anything to do with morality, such as policing the use of words to which they themselves have applied negative connotations. Anti-left is not far-right When people hear anti-leftism, they tend to assume the person with those views is far-right. But it's worth noting that's not Kaczynski's view. A quote, for example: [Leftists] want to preserve African American culture. But in what does this preservation of African American culture consist? It can hardly consist in anything more than eating black-style food, listening to black-style music, wearing black-style clothing and going to a black- style church or mosque. In other words, it can express itself only in superficial matters. In all ESSENTIAL respects most leftists of the oversocialized type want to make the black man conform to white, middle-class ideals. In sum, Kaczynski is anti-left, because ultimately leftists still work to preserve the industrial system. This appears to come out of “left-field,” but the meat of the manifesto is more coherent, and later we'll better understand why he brought up his views on leftism. Industrial society robs us of the “Power Process” As industrial society progresses, Kaczynski says, people lose more and more freedom. This makes them miserable, because it robs them of what he calls the “power process.” The power process consists of four main elements: A goal Effort put forth toward that goal The attainment of that goal Autonomy in pursuit of that goal To be happy, a person needs goals that require effort, a reasonable rate of success in achieving those goals, and personal control throughout that process. We replace the power process with “surrogate activities” You might think we, in industrial society, have many goals we pursue and attain through effort, but Kaczynski says we merely pursue what he calls “surrogate activities.” Surrogate activities are artificial goals, because they aren't for the purposes of meeting our basic biological needs, and so aren't totally fulfilling. He says we merely think surrogate activities, such as our jobs, are fulfilling, because we have to do very little in industrial society to meet our basic biological needs – such as eating, or having shelter. So, we've never felt true fulfillment. All we do is either easy or impossible He says there are three kinds of drives we experience in the pursuit of goals: 1) minimal effort, 2) serious effort and 3) impossible. The power process, he says, is more about group two, or serious effort. Our surrogate activities require minimal effort. But at the same time, many other things are impossible in industrial society, because we don't have control over them. For example, our security depends upon decisions made by others, such as safety standards at a nuclear power plant, how much pesticide is in our foods, and how much pollution is in our air. Somebody else makes these decisions for us, and in many cases we can't even know if what we're being told is true. As technology grants freedoms, it takes them away He points out that technology seems to grant us freedoms, but it really takes them away. As each advance in technology is collectively accepted, we lose control in some new area. Cars have become so ubiquitous you can't walk in many places. So you need to get further integrated into the industrial system by getting a drivers' license, insurance, and registration. Or, you can take the bus and have even less freedom. As we're increasingly able to alter our genes, it will become harder to enforce a code of ethics. First, genetic engineering will be used to treat genetic diseases, then further alterations will be seen as “good.” The upper class will decide what's good or not, until we have a genetically-engineered upper class, and a distantly-lower class taking genetic rolls of the dice. (This is already happening, as gene splicing is being used to treat diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, meanwhile a scientist in China crossed the agreed-upon ethics line and genetically-engineered children.) We'll outsource decisions to computers, until we no longer understand ourselves the decisions the computers are making. So we'll keep them running to keep the system afloat. At that point, the machines will be in control. Kaczynski thinks mood-altering drugs are over-prescribed, often just to deal with the psychological stress of living in industrial society. If more people need, say, antidepressants to tolerate living in a depressing world, that world is then allowed to get even more depressing, until the drugs are a requirement. (This reminds me of the soma everyone in modern society takes in the dystopian science-fiction book, Brave New World. That book has also been made into a series.) My thoughts: Coronavirus and the power process I couldn't help but think about this loss of control Kaczynski describes as I watched people's behavior during the coronavirus pandemic. While I personally chose to follow protocols and get a vaccine, it was an interesting moment when industrial society clashed with individual autonomy. To sustain industrial society – which is so ubiquitous it's impossible to “opt-out” – institutions deemed it necessary to make blanket decisions on the behalf of individuals. Some people weren't cool with that. Whether their reasoning made logical sense was irrelevant – the emotional roots of their reactions were understandable. Industrial society and the gig economy One thought-provoking quote from the manifesto sounds like a prediction of the gig economy. It has been suggested, for example, that a great development of the service industries might provide work for human beings. Thus people would spent [sic] their time shining each other's shoes, driving each other around in taxicabs, making handicrafts for one another, waiting on each other's tables, etc. This seems to [me] a thoroughly contemptible way for the human race to end up, and [I] doubt that many people would find fulfilling lives in such pointless busy-work. They would seek other, dangerous outlets (drugs, crime, “cults,” hate groups) unless they were biologically or psychologically engineered to adapt them to such a way of life. Industrial society makes us fear mortality Your immediate reaction might be that industrial society is worth the lack of control. It increases average lifespan, and prevents early deaths from infant mortality, disease, or relatively easy fixes, such as an appendicitis. Kaczynski says our obsession with longevity and staying youthful is a symptom of our lack of fulfillment, due to the disruption of the power process. If we lived lives full of autonomous struggle toward goals that directly met our biological needs, we would be more at peace with aging and death. A quote: It is not the primitive man, who has used his body daily for practical purposes, who fears the deterioration of age, but the modern man, who has never had a practical use for his body beyond walking from his car to his house. Activism is a surrogate activity He then ties the disruption of the power process back to his criticism of leftism. He says leftists' surrogate activity is activism, or joining social movements. They have a goal, and struggle toward achieving that goal, but they'll never be satisfied. This, he says, is how leftism creeps toward totalitarianism. Once one goal is achieved, another will be invented. The proposed plan: let the system destroy itself His entire manifesto is written from the perspective of “we.” He poses as a group of people called “FC,” standing for “Freedom Club,” and presents a strategy for his goal of destroying industrial society, and replacing it with primitive society. Kaczynski points out that modernity separates us from our local communities. We break ties to family and move, so we can work a job, in the name of efficiency. He advocates for living in small groups, and growing his anti-technology movement by having as many children as possible. The conflict line: masses vs. power-holding elites Interestingly, he says to draw the conflict line in this movement between the masses and the power-holding elites, and cautions specifically against turning it into a conflict between those who are revolutionaries and those who are not. This is some impressive strategic thinking, as it was also mentioned in the book, Blueprint for Revolution. I interviewed the author, Srdja Popovic, on episode 179. Popovic pointed out, for example, that Occupy Wall Street was a poorly-branded movement, because it drew a conflict line between those who could participate by camping out in the financial district, and those who could not. Calling it “the 99%” would have drawn a more effective conflict line. Don't strive for political power Counterintuitively, Kaczynski advises to not try to gain political power. He says that if the “green” party were to get voted into office, it would cause massive unemployment, they would get voted out of office, and it would turn people off to the party. He supported free trade agreements such as NAFTA, because he felt it would further integrate the industrial system, making it more likely it would collapse, and causing such a collapse to be more widespread. He says to be anti-left – and this is where we start to see the motives behind his seemingly-out-of-place opening rant. He doesn't want to see leftists take over his movement, because he thinks they would replace the goal of eliminating modern technology with their own goals. He says leftists will never give up technology because ultimately they crave power. Basically, he doesn't want to work within any existing structures of industrial society. He instead wants to see living in industrial society get so bad that the hardships can only be blamed on the system. Small-scale technology is more robust than large-scale He says small-scale technology is robust to shocks – local things such as planting crops, raising livestock, or making clothes. He points out that when the Roman Empire fell, people in villages could still make a water wheel or steel. But the aqueducts were never rebuilt, their road-construction techniques were lost, and urban sanitation was forgotten. Media manipulation, aka, why the Unabomber killed people Many people these days are surprised to find out that the Unabomber Manifesto contains intelligent and coherent ideas. They merely think of Ted Kaczynski as a mentally-ill murderer. If he's so intelligent, why did he kill people? In the manifesto itself, Kaczynski explains that he felt this was the only way to get his message out. He reasons that if he had merely submitted his writings to a publisher, they would have been rejected. If they had been published, they wouldn't have attracted readers, because everyone is too distracted by entertainment. So, he says, “In order to get our message before the public with some chance of making a lasting impression, we've had to kill people.” Our obsession with violence caused violence As explained in my Trust Me, I'm Lying summary, humans have a negativity bias, and so media has a negativity bias. Ironically, this is a case where our paranoia about negative events apparently caused negative events. Newspapers and news shows covered Kaczynski's terror campaign for more than fifteen years, until he sent his manuscript, typed on a typewriter, to several newspapers, essentially saying: Publish this, and I'll stop killing people. What Kaczynski did to get coverage makes the tactics Ryan Holiday confessed to look like actions of a saint. His bombings were “pseudo-events” with very real consequences. Assuming this was truly Kaczynski's strategy – and not a backwards-rationalization he came up with after doing what he simply wanted to do – was it an effective strategy? His reputation precedes him, such that people resist taking his manifesto seriously, given what he did. While he got his words published, even nearly thirty years after his last bombing, it's hard to see his words through the dark cloud of his crimes. The manifesto helped catch the Unabomber Publishing the manifesto was an effective strategy for law enforcement in catching Kaczynski. Attorney General Janet Reno gave the okay for the Post and Times to publish the manifesto. This put it in front of enough people the FBI was finally able to identify the anonymous killer. Kaczynski's brother's wife recognized him from what he said in the manifesto. Was this the explosion before the implosion? Reading Kaczynski, I can't help but wonder, If he could have held off a little longer or been born in a different time, might he might have been able to tolerate society? Kaczynski's terror campaign spanned a peak in what Marshall McLuhan calls “mechanical technology.” As his campaign was ending, in 1995, the internet was proliferating – an “electric technology.” This was a world where having a job meant commuting to an office, following a dress code, and working within a hierarchical organization. Once you were home, your only contact with others besides your family or people you called on the phone was media fed to you through your television or radio, or through objects that had to be transported, such as paper books, magazines, records, or VHS tapes. The internet has de-mechanized our world But the internet has further de-mechanized our world. More creators, such as myself, work with near-complete autonomy, outside of traditional hierarchies. People connect with one another around interests. We communicate without borders. As Marshall McLuhan described in Understanding Media (which I summarized on episode 248), mechanical technology “explodes” our world – an unfortunate but apt metaphor in this context. Mechanical technology compromises our individuality to turn us into cogs that fit together, while electric technology “implodes,” allowing our individuality to once again blossom. In 1998, the Washington Post reported that Kaczynski nearly confessed to a psychologist, in the late 60s, that he fantasized about being a woman. He didn't confess, and later cited that as the moment he decided to become violent. Maybe if his gender dysphoria had been more acceptable, his path may have been different? Today's society may not be the small-scale society Kaczynski envisioned, and this electric implosion certainly has its problems, especially as it conflicts with the structures in place from the mechanical world. But, maybe it would be just a little less pressure, so as to prevent trying to blow up the place. About Your Host, David Kadavy David Kadavy is author of Mind Management, Not Time Management, The Heart to Start and Design for Hackers. Through the Love Your Work podcast, his Love Mondays newsletter, and self-publishing coaching David helps you make it as a creative. Follow David on: Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube Subscribe to Love Your Work Apple Podcasts Overcast Spotify Stitcher YouTube RSS Email Support the show on Patreon Put your money where your mind is. Patreon lets you support independent creators like me. Support now on Patreon »       Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/industrial-society-and-its-future-summary/

Want some free thyroid therapies that work? These 5 treatments can help improve your thyroid function and, best of all, they don't require any money. They can also be combined and used with other therapies such as thyroid medication, thyroid supplements, diet, exercise, and more. I mentioned several links in the video and you can find them below: I have a lot of people who tell me that they can't afford my thyroid supplements which can make them feel frustrated. Thyroid supplements are great and if you can afford them then I would recommend that you try them but even if you can't there are still things that you can do! Check out this list of 5 free thyroid therapies: #1. Fasting Fasting is both cheap and highly effective. It doesn't cost any money because you don't need to spend money on any expensive diets, organic foods, or anything like that! Fasting helps reduce inflammation, can help balance immune function, and may help with weight loss. #2. Cold therapy Next up is cold therapy or cold showers. Cold showers have the ability to help reduce inflammation and may help with weight loss. In addition, they may help to train your blood vessels to open wider to allow more blood flow into your extremities. Counterintuitively, it may help fix cold intolerance. Your goal should be to get into water that is cooler than 60 degrees for 2 mins each day. #3. Meditation Meditation is insanely effective and free! I've included 2 methods that I like below that you can use completely for free from youtube videos: Link to the release technique video on youtube: https://youtu.be/v2mY36Ho1Sk Link to the kirtan kriya technique on youtube: https://youtu.be/Zg9NOOM2neA #4. Getting out in nature Getting out in a nature can allow you to unplug from technology, relax, ground with the earth, and reduce stress levels. It's usually free to just get outside and go for a walk. If you can, ground with the earth and walk around with your shoes off. #5. Stretching/yoga Lastly, we have both stretching and yoga. These Download my free thyroid resources here (including hypothyroid symptoms checklist, the complete list of thyroid lab tests + optimal ranges, foods you should avoid if you have thyroid disease, and more): https://www.restartmed.com/start-here/ Disclaimer: Dr. Westin Childs received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic medicine in 2013. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Childs is no longer practicing medicine and does not hold an active medical license so he can focus on helping people through videos, blog posts, research, and supplement formulation. To read more about why he is no longer licensed please see this page: https://www.restartmed.com/what-happe... This video is for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Childs and you. You should not make any changes to your medications or health regimens without first consulting a physician. If you have any questions please consult with your current primary care provider. Restart Medical LLC and Dr. Westin Childs are not liable or responsible for any advice, course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other information, services, or product you obtain through this website or video. #thyroid #hypothyroidism #hashimoto's

Another list where Phoenix beats Tucson: top ten pot cities. Counterintuitively, we aren't competitive on that. Wake Up Tucson Sports Intern Ryan Larson joins Chris for a roundup of sports. Phoenix Suns, Cardinals, NFL draft

The Eastern Cape and Western Cape have had more property transactions than Gauteng: Hayley Ivins Downes from Lightstone Property.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)In the mid-1800s, Americans fled to the West in droves in search of gold and a better life. But according to The Emigrant's Guide to California published in 1849, it was the gold-rushers who rested most—specifically by observing the Sabbath—that reached their destination the quickest. As the guide shares, “Those who [laid] by on the Sabbath, resting themselves and their teams,” reached gold country “20 days sooner than those who traveled seven days a week.”The gold rushers' example illustrates a fascinating paradox: Oftentimes rest is the most productive thing we can do. And not just Sabbath rest! As the scientific community now understands, bi-hourly breaks throughout the workday and an eight-hour “sleep opportunity” every night are essential to doing our most exceptional work.Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus embodying these three rhythms of productive rest. He offered restorative breaks to his disciples as they worked (Mark 6:30-32), he fought for sleep (Mark 4:38), and he reaffirmed the goodness of Sabbath (Mark 2:27).Of course, because he is our creator, Jesus knew what centuries of scientific exploration have now empirically proven: That these rhythms of rest are productive as we strive towards our goals. But Jesus also undoubtedly knew something science may never be able to prove: That rest is also productive for our souls.Taking breaks throughout your workday reminds you that God doesn't need you to finish your to-do list. Getting a full night's sleep reminds you that God is the only being who neither slumbers nor sleeps and thus doesn't need you or me to keep the world spinning. Sabbath reminds you that, in the words of N.T. Wright, “all time belongs to God and stands under the renewing lordship of Jesus Christ.” These truths bring us to the sixth principle we need for redeeming our time:Principle #6EMBRACE PRODUCTIVE RESTTo redeem our time in the model of our Redeemer, we must embrace the God-designed rhythms of rest which are counterintuitively productive for our goals and our souls.How practically do we incorporate these bi-hourly, nightly, and weekly rhythms of rest into our modern lives? I answer that question at length in my book, Redeeming Your Time. If you want a preview, watch this short video which documents what Sabbath looks like for me and my young family.

The little-known history of U.S. survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings reveals captivating trans-Pacific memories of war, illness, gender, and community. The fact that there are indeed American survivors of the American nuclear attack on Hiroshima & Nagasaki is not common knowledge. Even in Hiroshima & Nagasaki the existence of American survivors is not well known. American survivors, however, number in the thousands. This number, like that of survivors in general is dwindling fast. But they have a unique and important history. And, Naoko Wake have written this book almost at the last possible moment to capture it. Counterintuitively, American Survivors: Trans-Pacific Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Cambridge UP, 2021) argues that it the very marginality of this group that make American survivors important. As she writes, “If, indeed, it is ‘not the centre that determines the periphery, but the periphery that ... determines the center,” US survivors' history is a periphery that threatens to disassemble established meanings of the bomb that have not taken notice of it.' (2). Based on oral testimonies and extensive documentation, American Survivors trace the history of American survivors from the interwar years to the present. American Survivors argues that Hiroshima, and to a lesser extent, Nagasaki (both of which were port towns) were cities of immigrants, and as such the attack on these cities was not just an attack on supposedly homogenous Japanese cities (as it is commonly understood) but on diverse communities. Wake traces the way immigration and re-migration between Hiroshima and the US, Korea, and other locations, as well as war time dislocations created the immigrant communities in Hiroshima. These trans-pacific connections, and what she terms “strengths of weak ties” in the history of immigration in the Pacific,” had an important impact on subsequent histories, which the b ook examines with great detail and deftness. Ran Zwigenberg is an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University.

https://propertyplanning.com.au/propertyplannerbuyerprofessor/In this week's episode, Dave, Cate and Pete take you through:Weekly market updates1. APRA concerned over high debt-to-income lending, but no intervention for nowOutstanding housing credit hit $1.9 trillion in June, which is 4.7% higher than 12 months ago. Compared with how the property market has moved in the last year, it doesn't seem too high. However, the June quarter saw a rise of high debt-to-income lending which is now at 21.9%, up from 15% two years ago. At the same time, lending with high loan to value ratios fell and interest only loans are the least in number they've been in the last two years. This indicates that we may be borrowing more, but not leveraging as hard and APRA doesn't believe lending standards are deteriorating.2. Latest ABS stats on capital city property pricesThe ABS has released figures for the June quarter for the Residential Property Price Index, showing price increases of 6.7% over the last quarter for the combined capitals. This is the fastest rate of growth in any quarter since 2003. Over the last 12 months, values rose by 16.8%. Interestingly, capital city figures did not match CoreLogic's analysis in all cases which highlights discrepancies between data houses and the challenges of relying on data from one source.3. The dangers of data delayEach capital city is exhibiting enormous growth runs, despite the pandemic. In Melbourne and Canberra, our ability to trade has been so restricted, that the only purchasers left in the market are those who are willing to purchase sight unseen or do video walk throughs of a property. This is a perfect illustration of data lag, as this won't flow through in the numbers until later.Location based factors that impact supply and demand1. Access to public transport and shopsAccess to public transport is a key driver for demand and is increasingly important in larger cities. Access to shops is another key driver, although retail trade analysis shows that the larger the shopping centre, the further people are willing to travel to reach there. What we see now is that the desire to be close to shopping centres has been replaced with a desire to access local shops and nice cafes. Being within walking distance to your transport hub or local shopping precinct is a major draw card.2. Quality schoolsProximity to quality schools, particularly prestigious public schools where the perception is that your child will get a private school education at public school prices, is a major driver for many parents when picking a location. This greatly increases demand for properties that are within the zone of a public school or properties within 30 minutes commute of private schools. The Property Buyer shares a tip to do a cost benefit analysis, as many parents will pay extra to get in the zone of a public school, but maybe you'd be better off paying the private school fees and saving on the elevated purchase costs?3. How close is too close?Being nearby to great amenities and services can greatly impact the desirability of a location, but being too close can be problematic. Train lines, rubbish tips, industrial areas, petrol stations and shopping precincts are just a few of the things that you need to be mindful of being too close to. Think about the noise, the people and the smells. Is the property too close for comfort?4. Proximity to the CBD, are we at the beginning of a new era?The CBD apartment market has been one of the worst hit during covid, but will we see a permanent exodus from the CBD? The trio discuss the elements which still make the CBD or living close to the CBD an attractive prospect. Although the office market may never be the same post-covid, the CBD is still a hub for transport, shopping, sports, social gatherings and a number of prestigious private schools.5. Recreation, sports, leisure and the outdoorsAccess to sporting fields, clubs, pools, parks and the outdoors play a big part in determining the desirability of a location. Arguably they are appreciated now more than ever because of covid lockdowns. When it comes to the great outdoors, the biggest impact will be proximity to the beach, where it will be more expensive but also have higher prospects for capital growth.6. Prestige of the areaA name and post code can make a lot of difference. Prestige is something that matters more to some than others, but it is a real thing. It's the same reason why some people drive a Mercedes and others are happy to drive a Nissan. The Property Professor shares the example of Angwin Avenue in Adelaide, which divides the suburbs of Prospect and Blair Athol. The Prospect side of the street is valued higher, and it's all because of the post code.7. Visual aspects, geography and climateThe Property Professor compares two regions in Adelaide, both 40km away from the city, but with very different price tags. What sets these locations apart? It comes down to the views, geography and climate. As a general rule, if your location is closer to sea level, there is greater risk of flooding, and the higher you are, the more chance you'll get a nice view.8. Looking for a beautiful streetscapeThe trio discuss the four elements that make a desirable streetscape, with the reminder that the best approach is to buy on the best street. Counterintuitively, a lot of people look for sub-division capability to drive capital growth in the future, however in a few years time, your beautiful street may not be so beautiful anymore. It could be lined with new townhouses in a higher density area.9. Conducting your reconnaissance missionsWhen scoping out whether a street is classed as A-Grade or B-Grade, one valuable hint is for buyers to get there at school pick up time or at peak hour and see what's happening. Do people park on this street because it's within walking distance of the nearest shopping precinct or train station? Is it a cut through street between two main roads that receives a lot of commuting traffic? This all goes into what makes an A-Grade street and translates into a huge difference to capital growth performance.Visit the show notes - https://propertyplanning.com.au/how-supply-and-demand-dictate-market-movements-part-2-streetscapes-schools-transport-prestige-shops-cbd-access-recreation-entertainment-and-more-ep-120/

Engineering, automation, and… chaos monkeys?  

The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and there is no doubt that this is having a profound effect on weather patterns. How is Arctic warming and amplification changing winter weather behavior? Does the data connect the dots between climate change and “weather weirding?” In this Episode: Introduction to Dr. Jennifer Francis, Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center How is the Arctic influencing winter weather? Can we expect to see fewer, yet more intense winter storms? Dr. Francis' take on what businesses should prepare for in the next 10, 20, 30 years. Overview Meteorologist Paul Douglas here with another episode of Climatrends. And no, it's not your grandfather's winters anymore either. Are the lakes freezing up later in the fall or winter, than you remember growing up? Reliable, usable snow – snow you can count on? Have you experienced fewer white Christmases in your hometown in recent years? The weather is, increasingly, playing out of tune during the winter months. I live and work in the Capitol of Cold, Minnesota, so at first blush warming winters sound like a pretty good idea to many people living up north. Bring on the winter warm fronts, Paul! But the slow-motion warming trend we are tracking has real consequences, as you're about to hear. The abrupt global warming signal scientists have been tracking for is loudest and strongest during the winter months, with more precipitation falling as ice and rain over roughly the southern half of the U.S. in recent decades. Counterintuitively, a warmer, wetter atmosphere is producing more snow for many northern cities, but the rain-snow cut-off line is shifting north over time. Winter shrinkage is real: less snow cover over time, more ice - the forecast calls for more weather weirding. North America is, in fact warming up over time, and this mostly man-made warming signal, that has accelerated since 1970, is changing the characteristics of winter precipitation type and quantity over time. As a general rule, snowfall totals are falling, with more rain and ice, less snow and fewer days with significant snow cover and cold extremes. However, a consistently warmer, wetter atmosphere is priming the pump for larger, more extreme snowstorms for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern USA, fueled by higher water content from the Atlantic Ocean. The result in recent years there has been a statistically significant uptick in mega-snows impacting major East Coast cities from Washington D.C. to New York and Boston, a surge in debilitating storms with nicknames like “Snowmageddon” and “Snowzilla”, especially during midwinter months, when conditions are sufficiently cold for all-snow. Continued warming means less ice on the Great Lakes, more open water and more moisture available for lake-effect snows downwind, resulting in heavier snows for lakefront cities like Buffalo and Cleveland. The transition to more rain than snow events is most pronounced from the southern Mid-Atlantic region into the southern Ohio Valley, southern Midwest region and central Plains, where warming has been sufficient to nudge many storms over from snow to rain, or a sloppy mix. The irony, some of these cities are now spending more money on salt to keep icy roads passable during the winter months.  The Arctic is warming 3 times faster than the rest of the planet and that's already affecting the jet stream, the high-speed river of air that guides storms across the planet. “Arctic Amplification” due to rapid warming at high latitudes, is increasing volatility and the potential for outbreaks of bitter air and more coastal storms during midwinter, especially over the East Coast. We aren't seeing more storms, but the storms that do spin up near the coast are often bigger, wetter and snowier – in areas still cold enough to support snow. Winters are increasingly erratic, with less predictable snow cover. If you doubt that just ask anyone who owns a snowmobile or cross-country skis. The “shoulder seasons” of fall and spring are experiencing “winter shrinkage”, with significantly less snow falling during spring, in fact NASA confirms that spring routinely comes a few weeks earlier than it did a generation ago. Ice storms are becoming more prevalent, especially across Mid-Atlantic states and portions of the Midwest. America's $11 billion winter sports industry is being impacted, and winter-weather-whiplash is a challenge for agriculture and fruit production. Cherry, apple, and peach trees require a minimum number of winter chill hours before they can develop fruit during the following spring and summer months. Old Man Winter is flailing, weather often gyrating from extended thaws… to brief and bitter displays of the Polar Vortex. Less cold air in general, but when it does trend colder these spasms of subzero air are often breath-taking. Literally. What are the implications of warming winters for business? We tracked down an expert to set our expectations for what comes next. About Climatrends Climatrends is a collaboration of sustainability, meteorology, business & climate science experts, leveraging innovative approaches to better understand, analyze and communicate future physical and transitional climate risks and opportunities for businesses and communities. https://climatrends.com/ 

I'm happy to release this new studio mix for you. I've been releasing mixes much less frequently these days - I used to be on a monthly cadence, but I started working on this mix in July. Counterintuitively, it gets increasingly harder for me to finish studio mixes, even though I think I'm a better mix-maker now. Sure, the newly added demands of touring, music production, event production, running a label, and home life all pull away from the time needed to complete a studio mix. But beyond that, I think there's a bit of an artist/curator's dilemma: the more resolute and refined I evolve in my taste, the harder it is to achieve satisfaction. Every track selection carries an increasingly large weight, every transition is held to a higher standard of detail, and more broadly, I constantly feel compelled to try to say something I haven't sonically said before. Otherwise, what's the point? I worked to build tension in the first half of this mix, much like stacking weights on a fragile plate of glass. Inevitably the glass breaks, and in this case, the ‘break' is a literal one with the 2nd half of the mix inspired by 2-step, drum n bass, and experimental broken beats spiraling out of control. I had a lot of fun with this one, especially after the glass breaks. Hope you enjoy listening, I hope you hear something from me here that you haven't heard before. Tracklist: http://bit.ly/2nPpB4Q Sign up for my mailer: bit.ly/atishmusic Support me on patreon: patreon.com/atishmusic
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Today is our very first 'Great Question' episode. These are small skill-based episode sprinkled in every now and then. They dive deeper into one powerful question, how and why it works and it what context we can use it. This time we ask the question "What will make this conversation useful to you?". It is a simple, yet powerful way to help to direct and to sharpen the focus of the conversation we are about to have. It is also a great way to hand over ownership and trust to the other person to tell us what they have in mind. Counterintuitively maybe, asking this question becomes more useful, the less time we have for a conversation. Value is in the eye of the receiver, and it is important that we give focus on that.