Growth Minds with Sean Kim

Cory Richards is a National Geographic Photographer Fellow, a 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and the first American to climb an 8,000-meter peak in winter. He’s the author of the memoir The Color of Everything and the photography book Bi-Polar . In this conversation, he opens up about the story behind his famous avalanche photo, living with bipolar 2, walking away from climbing,...

Dr. Matt Kaeberlein is a biologist of aging, the CEO of Optispan, and a co-founder of the Dog Aging Project. He is also the founding director of the University of Washington’s Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute and has published over 250 papers on longevity. In this conversation, he breaks down why direct-to-consumer longevity products deserve skepticism, what the data actually says ab...

Dr. Nathan Bryan is a nitric oxide biochemist and the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Bryan Therapeutics, with over 25 years of research and 100+ peer-reviewed papers on how the body makes this molecule. He's the author of The Secret of Nitric Oxide: Bringing the Science to Life. In this conversation, he explains how everyday habits like mouthwash, fluoride toothpaste, and antacids can quietly s...

Dr. Catherine Salmon is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Redlands and an evolutionary psychologist who has spent over two decades studying erotic fiction, pornography, and female sexuality. She's the co-author of Warrior Lovers: Erotic Fiction, Evolution and Female Sexuality and The Secret Power of Middle Children , and her research explores what romance novels and porn — the private...

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussions of suicide and depressionIf anyone watching is personally struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988 in the US) is always available. Dr. Lisa Firestone is a clinical psychologist and suicidologist who has spent over 35 years researching couple relationships, attachment, and self-destructive behavior. She's the Director of Research and Education...

Christopher Gardner, PhD, is a nutrition scientist and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, where he has led more than 20 large-scale randomized clinical trials comparing diets like keto, vegan, low-fat, and low-carb. He's the past chair of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee and the author of the upcoming book Food Sense , which argues there's far more scientific consens...

Dr. Neha Sangwan is an internal medicine physician turned communication and burnout expert, and the founder and CEO of Intuitive Intelligence. After burning out herself early in her medical career, she spent the next 20 years studying the physiology of stress and now coaches leaders at companies like Google, Apple, and American Express on how to have honest conversations and read their body's...

Jim Kwik is a brain coach and the founder of Kwik Learning, known worldwide as an expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, and accelerated learning. After a childhood brain injury left him labeled "the boy with the broken brain," he spent over three decades reverse-engineering how the brain works, going on to coach CEOs, celebrities, and billionaires. He's the New York Times best...

Malo Bourgon is the CEO of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), the world's oldest AI safety organization, and has testified before the US Senate and Canada's Parliament on the risks of smarter-than-human AI. In this conversation, he lays out why he believes the race to superintelligence carries a serious risk of human extinction, how today's AI is already showing early...

Dr. Rachel Goldman is a clinical psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine who spent years as a bariatric psychologist and is a leading expert in the psychology of weight, food, and behavior change. In this conversation, she explains why losing weight rarely delivers the happiness people expect, the mindset foundations that make change actually...

Dr. Robert Lustig is a neuroendocrinologist, professor emeritus of pediatrics at UCSF, and bestselling author of Fat Chance , The Hacking of the American Mind , and Metabolical who has spent 40+ years studying metabolism and the role of sugar in chronic disease. In this conversation, he breaks down the real root of modern burnout, why fructose acts as a poison without its fiber "antidote,&quo...

Dr. Robin Berzin is a Columbia-trained functional medicine physician and the founder and CEO of Parsley Health, where she's seen 80% of patients improve or resolve their chronic conditions within their first year of care. In this conversation, she explains why "normal" lab ranges aren't optimal, how your gut quietly drives everything from brain fog to acne, and the longevity metr...

Dr. Mao Shing Ni is a 38th-generation doctor of Chinese medicine, board-certified anti-aging specialist, and bestselling author of Secrets of Longevity who spent 20 years studying over 100 Chinese centenarians. In this conversation, he reveals what the world's longest-living people had in common, how your emotions silently age your organs, and the Taoist principles for living a longer, healthi...

Sara Jane Ho is a Harvard Business School graduate, Netflix star, and the founder of Institute Sarita — China's first high-end finishing school — who spent 12 years teaching social intelligence to some of the most powerful people in Asia before pivoting to LA to launch a TCM-based wellness brand and host the viral podcast Hot Water. She is the author of the bestselling etiquette book Mind Your...

Blaine Anderson is a professional matchmaker and dating coach who built a thriving business helping over 7,000 men transform their dating lives — starting from scratch after losing her job during the pandemic with no formal psychology degree, no industry connections, and no outside capital. She appeared on Shark Tank Season 15, received an investment offer from Mark Cuban, and walked away from it...

Kyle Cease is a transformational comedian and New York Times bestselling author who walked away from a thriving stand-up career — including two #1 Comedy Central specials and over 100 film and TV appearances — to help people break through fear, heal their inner wounds, and live in alignment with their truest selves. His books I Hope I Screw This Up and The Illusion of Money have reached millions,...

Dr. Steven Storage is a triple board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Amen Clinics, trained at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Stanford, with access to nearly 300,000 brain scans — one of the largest neuroimaging databases in the world. He specializes in using SPECT brain imaging to uncover the root causes of conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and depression rather than relying on symptom...

Dr. Jon Kanevsky is a board-certified plastic surgeon and founder of Aura Aesthetica, known for his work in minimally invasive body contouring, fat transfer, breast explant surgery, and natural-looking aesthetic results. In this episode, he breaks down the science of beauty, attraction, facial symmetry, social media’s impact on body image, looksmaxing, Botox, breast implants, fat grafting, red lig...

Barry Garapedian spent 39 years as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley — ranking in the top quarter of 1% in revenue nationally — before walking away from Wall Street entirely to spend his remaining years giving back everything he learned the hard way. He is the founder of MAG7 Consulting, a 15-year volunteer career coach at Pepperdine University, and the author of Winning the Game of Life: The...

Dr. Alan Goldhamer is one of the world’s leading experts on medically supervised water-only fasting and the founder of TrueNorth Health Center, where he has supervised more than 25,000 fasts over the past four decades. In this episode, he breaks down why fasting is not starvation, how it can help reverse the effects of dietary excess, and why a whole-plant, SOS-free diet plays such a central role...

Alison Armstrong is a researcher, author, and founder of PAX Programs who has spent over 33 years studying men and women — not from theory, but from tens of thousands of hours of direct observation, interviews, and transformational programs that have reached millions of people worldwide. She is the creator of the widely acclaimed Understanding Men and Understanding Women curriculum and the author...

UC Davis psychology professor and relationship scientist Paul Eastwick has spent two decades running studies that challenge everything we think we know about attraction — from speed dating experiments to 4,000 blind dates — and the findings will surprise you. In this episode, we break down why the traits you think you want in a partner don't actually predict who you'll be attracted to in r...

Dr. Andrew Koutnik is a metabolic scientist and researcher who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 16 — an experience that drove him to dedicate his career to understanding and optimizing human metabolism. Despite managing a chronic disease that requires calculating insulin for every meal, every day, he has turned that challenge into a professional edge, conducting research at institutions i...

Dr. William Li, physician, scientist, and president of the Angiogenesis Foundation, joins the show to explain how circulation, the gut microbiome, and inflammation shape our risk of heart disease, cancer, and brain disorders. In this conversation, he breaks down surprising discoveries about microplastics, GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, stem cells, and why the health of our blood vessels may be the hidde...

Dr. Wendy Suzuki is an American neuroscientist and a professor at the New York University Center for Neural Science. Her research centers on brain plasticity—the brain’s power to change. Renowned for revealing how memory-critical circuits create and preserve long-term memories, she now investigates how aerobic exercise boosts learning, memory, and higher cognition. She is the author of Healthy Bra...