Mere Mortals Conversations

Who are the people that you have met in your life that have the most zeal? In this themed episode on 'Zeal' Juan and I discuss: the fervour and tireless devotion of someone with zeal, the religious connection with the word, whether humanity is less zealous with the decline of religion, coming across as desperate, whether we care about anything enough to die for it, my growing appreciatio...

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first week of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous month's goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series, show...

When was the last time that you were humbled in your day to day life? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: Juan's changing opinion on free will and how he has been influenced by Sam Harris, the three levels of consciousness and why they matter, Juan's theory on how emotions are the basic motivation for every action we take, how I was repeatedly humbled this week (in...

My recent experience attending a gymnastics class has convinced me that gymnasts are a different breed of people. In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: just how dangerous it is to be moving through the air without control, first-hand account of people getting hurt doing flips, the point behind using swear words, substituting swear words for silly made up things, whether we...

No-one ever talks about the downsides of being young so the Mere Mortals are here to change that! In this themed episode on 'Youth' Juan and I discuss: the ages between that someone could be called a youth, having less freedom and the turbulence of being in your teens, some things we would personally love to have again, the concept of 'The Fountain of Youth', some tips that we...

Did you know that there are specially designed shoes just for CrossFit? Matt Ward is a long-time friend of both myself and Juan, harkening back to our days on the wild prairie of the high school playground. In this conversation we chat about: Matt's conversion to the barefoot/minimalist shoe lifestyle and the benefits he has gotten from it, how someone can get into CrossFit and know whether t...

What is the experience of fasting for 5 days and how should you prepare for this? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: my recent experience of fasting, the reasons behind intermittent (and longer) fasting and the necessary preparation, the disappearance of hunger pains, potential hurdles and pitfalls that can arise, the mental fortification required to do things that are unco...

Which are the most disappointing books that you have had the displeasure to read? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: the discrimination in the children's romance section, how the Mere Mortals would keep the Earth safe from potentially hostile aliens, what are our sensory triggers for recalling memories, Juan's story of playing Monopoly with a hidden cockroach,...

What are some examples of xenophobia in Australia and is the word actually useful? In this episode on 'Xenophobia' Juan and I discuss: how rare it is to hear the word being used correctly and why that makes it kind of pointless, why it often gets confused with 'racism', the Australian immigration system and the open/closed border dilemma, the comparatively tame race riot of 200...

Sarah Newport is the Founder & Managing Director at TwentyTwo Digital, a Brisbane based digital marketing agency, offering SEO, Paid Media, Design, Web Development, App Development, Data Analysis and Holistic Marketing. Sarah is a highly motivated and driven individual, and in this conversation her passion for marketing/growth in all aspects of life were open for discussion. The convo starts o...

What is there to be learnt from putting oneself in situations that are uncomfortable or cause discomfort? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: my learnings from living the vegan lifestyle for a month, why most of the time things just appear in the mind to be harder than they actually physically are, Juan's encounter with a flying spider, my coming to the end of a 5 day f...

Are cryptocurrencies already too boring and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT's) the newest craze? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: being a wimp for eating food too much, everybody on Earth has probably tried rapping at some stage, NFT's and why they are useful for selling art or other rare items, where we want to travel to in the future, some things you could do rig...

I think this might be our best introduction yet. The flair. The passion. The costume. The belts. What more does one need? In this episode on 'Wrestling' Juan and I discuss: some of styles of wrestling across the world, the difference between the western 'grind' and eastern 'art', stories from mayhem when we were kids, watching WWE and Lucha Libre in person before endi...

Frankie Lee is an entrepreneur hailing from Peterborough in the UK. He is the owner of a business dedicated to removing harmful content from online as well as the host of 'The Frankie Lee Podcast'. I came across Frankie through his podcast and loved the energy he put out, as well as some of his fascinating character aspects, which we dived into this episode. We started off chatting about...

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first Thursday of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous month's goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series,...

Questions can't be asked forever, so when is optimal to stop inquiring? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: Juan's recent ankle rolling fiasco and being able to appreciate running, John Keats concept of negative capability, learning the ability to live in paradox, are we capable of making music if we had the drive and my gripe with the artistic mindset. As always,...

Are there any emotions that you don't allow to rise to the surface because of an internal fear of what will happen? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: stealing quotes on the internet and how to do it in an ethical way, my method of diverting the blame when being accused of something, the difference between not wanting to experience negative emotions and being unwil...

Have you noticed that bald men in movies are either the villain or extremely violent heroes? In this episode on 'Violence' Juan and I discuss: how 1.28 million people died in 2013, where it comes from in the human character and if it is necessary, the possibility of a World War III, what would happen if everybody learnt a martial art, why it is abhorrent but simultaneously entrancing and...

Glen is an experienced language teacher and fascinated with the world around him. He speaks three languages, is working on a fourth and is the Director of Teaching at Australians Teach English. He is a relaxed and fun loving teacher who enables students to relax and enjoy the learning process. Glen also has a background in science as a specialist science teacher, with a Masters of Science and mult...

What are some tell-tale signs that you need to introspect and find out if your thinking is incorrect? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: a bit about Buddhism, Dharma and testing the theories for oneself, using the podcast to figure out when I hold contradictory beliefs, directing introspection to find incorrect patterns of thought, using negative emotions as a guide to real...

Will the rise of cryptocurrencies change how the banking system operates? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: some new changes coming to the podcast, why my shoe is tastier than vegan cheese, losing your key and getting locked out, Juan's recent experiment paying with his phone, where Juan thinks online monetary transactions will take us, buying shit online, why tal...

What is the proper mental state and risk management strategy when you are confronting your fears? In this themed episode on 'Unknown' Juan and I discuss: the multiple definitions of the unknown, how Juan had to face his fear of not having a phone, lessons from explorers of the past on how to venture into unknown territory, fears that creep into the mind and how to properly judge risk, be...

Brendan is back again and this time we are talking all things Zen. We start off with a discussion on the general overview of the religion/philosophy and some of its core aspects of Zazen, the Koans & Satori. One of the things that Brendan (and I) enjoy about the Zen way of thinking is that there is relatively little dogma and that one can come into it from a Western perspective without needing...

Why is it so heart-breaking to see bullying parents in real life? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: what is the best amount of physical exercise per week to improve, how day trading promotes short term thinking in general, purposefully stopping to smell the roses, my story of seeing a Dad being an asshole to his kids, a podcast about a Brisbane woman in a terrible situatio...

With the coming wave of AI and self-driving cars, will it ever be illegal for humans to manually take the wheel? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: Juan's plans to become a rapper, why driving and traffic suck balls, the ethics surrounding the use of self-driving cars and whether anyone actually enjoys driving, the slow grind of life and repeating the same things o...