MetaLearn Podcast

Deliberate practice isn't just doing something repeatedly – when done properly, it's a little more complicated. In this episode we discuss: - How to manage the tradeoff between quantity and quality of practice - How to reflect on your progress to calibrate accurately - How to build learning habits so that practicing becomes automatic So whether you're looking to play an instrument or pick up a spo...

Robert Twigger is a bestselling author who has written books on everything from accelerated learning to studying martial arts. In this conversation we discuss: - The process of using micromastery to learn new skills quickly and enjoyably - The difference between the Eastern and Western philosophies of learning - How to learn about yourself and the world through travel and adventure So whether you'...

Experts can help you plan your practice, focus on the right sub skills and accelerate your learning through feedback. In this short episode I cover: - The different types of expert and how to choose the right one for you - How to get objective feedback so that you can improve - How to balance your needs for self direction and guidance to accelerate your learning So whether you're looking for an ex...

Julian Baggini is a philosopher and author who has written almost twenty philosophical books for a general audience. In this conversation we discuss: - How to become more aware of your own thinking in the different areas of life - Julian's discussion of the question "What's the point of school?" - How to develop reasoning and critical thinking skills to make better decisions So whether you're look...

We've all probably had glimpses of great teamwork in our own lives, where every one's strengths complement each other and compensate for individual weaknesses, but these are often fleeting and temporary. But examples of these learning experiences are few and far between in most schools and universities and in the organisations that many work in after finishing their education. Collaborative learni...

Ulrich Boser is a bestselling author and senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress. In this conversation we discuss:  - The key MetaLearning principles Ulrich discovered in his research - How Ulrich has applied learning science to basketball - The importance of trust in education and how to develop it  So whether you're looking to upgrade your learning skills or understand how to leverage...

Our natural instinct to compete with others can be a powerful motivator for learning. In this short episode, we discuss: - The benefits of competition in learning and how to use it constructively - How competition can harm learning if it's not kept in check - How to compete with yourself over an extended period of time So whether you're looking to use competition to start learning a new skill or j...

Mads Holmen is the CEO of Bibblio, an API platform helping knowledge publishers and learning platforms deliver smarter content recommendation. In this episode we discuss: - How to live and learn in the attention economy - The structural problems that drive fake news - The fundamentals of AI and Machine Learning So whether you're looking to understand the structure of the attention economy or get a...

We all want to be perfect at anything we learn but these expectations are unhelpful and can leave us in a state of paralysis. In this short episode, we discuss: - Why perfectionism hurts learning, and the rare cases it helps - The difference between high general expectations and low specific expectations - Simple strategies to overcome perfectionism So whether you're looking to overcome perfection...

Kevin Kelly is the co-founder and executive editor at Wired magazine, and one of the world's leading technologists. In this episode we discuss: - How to build the learning superpowers needed to thrive in the 21st century - The technological forces shaping the future of learning and education, including AR, VR and AI - Kevin's insights on skill acquisition So if you're looking to broaden your under...

Many of us in the West have accepted the belief that productivity and efficiency are the foundations for success and happiness but that's not always true. In this episode, we discuss: - The problems with worshipping at the altar of productivity - The importance of constraints for the creative process - How to balance productivity and creativity So whether you're curious about productivity, want to...

Nelson Dellis is a 4x US Memory Champion and one of the leading memory experts in the world. In this episode we discuss: - The techniques Nelson and competitive memory athletes use to memorise everything from names and faces, to decks of cards - The importance of regular mental training for mental health - The life lessons Nelson has learned from mountain climbing So whether you're a beginner look...

"What's the point of school?" is a question that's been asked for hundreds of years but we still don't seem to have a clear answer. In this episode, we discuss: - The difference between learning and education and why it matters - The harmful mindsets that education instils in us and how to combat them - How the method of teaching has evolved in schools across history So if you want to learn more a...

Will Reynolds is a videographer and writer who has become a regular fixture on the podcast. In this episode we discuss: - How to go from novice to getting paid for new skills like videography - The importance of cultivating transferable MetaSkills - The lessons we can learn from autodidacts like Eminem and Frank Zappa  So whether you're looking to pick up hard skills and get paid for them or navig...

Technology is changing the way we learn but it's not a magic pill that will solve all our educational problems. In this short we discuss: - The best ways to filter information online to get to the good stuff quicker - The importance of working diversity into your content consumption - How to protect your precious attention in the digital economy So whether you're looking to filter content more eff...

Uri Bram is the bestselling author of Thinking Statistically and speaks about using data and statistical thinking effectively in the real world. In this episode we discuss: - The key statistical principals that everyone should be aware of - How understanding music theory makes you a better musician - How to learn complex skills from experts So whether you're math-phobic or already consider yoursel...

Anyone can learn another language but the thing that holds most people back is a series of limiting beliefs. In this episode we discuss: - Whether there is a "language learning gene" that most great polyglots have - Whether immersion is important for the language learning process - Whether children are actually better language learners than adults So if you're looking to learn a new language this...

Gabriele Oettingen is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg and a bestselling author. Her research focuses on human motivation and goal setting, exploring the impact of the way we look at the future on our emotions and behaviour. We're living in an age where positive thinking is all the rage – from pop music to political speeches thee message is the same: t...

If you're someone with multiple interests, you've probably been branded a "Jack of all Trades, Master of None" more times than you can remember. And those of us with many interests sometimes struggle because we can't be put into a box and labelled as an expert in a specific field. But during the Renaissance, a polymath was seen as a perfected individual, someone who had mastered intellectual, arti...

Ellen Langer is a Harvard psychologist widely known as the "mother of mindfulness" and is the author of eleven books and more than two hundred research articles on mindfulness over the last 35 years. Mindfulness is becoming more and more of a buzzword these days but very few people actually understand it and even fewer know how to apply it in their everyday lives. But there are few things that can...

Simon Peyton Jones is a computer scientist who currently works as a researcher for Microsoft and has built his own programming language, Haskell. He is also chair of Computing at School, which was central to the 2014 reform of the English curriculum that made computer science a foundational subject. As our lives become increasingly influenced by computers, it's surprising how few of us know anythi...

Jeff Cobb is a thought leader in the field of lifelong learning and the author of the bestselling book, Leading The Learning Revolution. He also runs a popular blog and podcast, and is the founder of Tagoras, a learning consultancy. As we move from a knowledge economy to a learning economy where we need to acquire new skills everyday just to stand still, the importance of lifelong learning is rapi...

Ed Fidoe is one of the founders of School 21, an innovative new school in Stratford, East London that's reinventing education by preparing its students, aged 4-18, for the 21st Century. For so many people, school was characterised by drudgery, rote learning and the stress of exams. But school doesn't have to be that way and there are plenty of people trying to reinvent education for the 21st centu...

Barry Schwartz is an acclaimed Professor of Psychology who recently retired after 45 years of teaching at Swarthmore College. Barry has also written three bestselling books on the Paradox of Choice, the Meaning of Work and Practical Wisdom and has done a series of popular TED talks on those subjects. Practical wisdom is something we could all do with more of. It's close to what the Ancient Greeks...

Barry Pousman is the founder of Variable Labs, a Virtual Reality company that creates immersive experiences to help people develop soft skills. Virtual Reality is likely to be a game changing technology for a number of industries but its impact on education in schools and businesses will be huge. As someone who's running a company at the cutting edge of the industry, as well as filming his own VR...