Modern Wisdom

Jim Al-Khalili is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Surrey, a broadcaster and an author. Trying to describe reality in theoretical frameworks is no small task for physicists. But it also turns out that the implications of some theories suggests that reality might be even more bizarre than it seems. The universe is a scary, confusing place to exist, if we exist at all. Expect...

Zach Bitter is an ultramarathon runner and coach who held world records for the 100-mile run and the 12-hour run. Understanding what it takes to run an ultramarathon is one thing, but doing it at a world record pace is something else. I wanted to find out what the mindset of an ultra runner can teach the rest of us about resilience, dedication and commitment. Expect to learn the biggest mistakes t...

Dr Tracy Dennis-Tiwary is a professor of psychology and neuroscience, anxiety researcher, author and founder of Wise Therapeutics. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders in 2022. Huge numbers of both adults and children are suffering, but just how natural is this? Is it normal for humans to be ambiently anxious for months on end or is our modern society causing this to occur? Ex...

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author and science communicator. Elon Musk bought Twitter and I found out about a 300 million light year across supervoid out in space within the same week. Thankfully Neil is here to help me work out what is going on in this version of the simulation. Expect to learn whether focussing on Mars as a backup planet is a smart idea, how bi...

Ben Patrick (Knees Over Toes Guy) is an athletic coach and an author. Keeping our bodies bulletproof is something everyone wants as they age. Bad knees, backs and shoulders not only stop you from doing the things you want in sport, but then begin to suck the enjoyment out of your life too. Ben has some solutions. Expect to learn the 3 most important exercises to maximise your body's robustness, wh...

Matthew Fray is a relationship coach, blogger and an author.  Matthew's marriage ended because he left a glass next to the sink. Well, not exactly, but near enough. He spent the next few years recovering, reflecting and writing about how a relationship can fall apart without anything catastrophic happening, and also working out how to stop it from happening again. Expect to learn how even good peo...

Douglas Murray is a journalist, author and associate editor of The Spectator. The last few years has seen a dramatic rise of anti-Westernism. But surprisingly, this movement hasn't come from overseas, the strongest anti-Western sentiment has come from the West itself. Whether it's demands for reparations, calls for the abolishment of white people, tearing down of statues or the rewriting of histor...

Dr. Christian Busch is the Director of the Global Economy program at New York University's Center for Global Affairs and an author. The science of creating luck seems like an oxymoron. How is it possible to create more of something which is totally random? Dr Busch's lab has spend years looking at the habits and behaviours of people who have lots of luck to distill down how everyone can replicate...

General Robert Spalding is a retired United States Air Force brigadier general after more than 25 years of service, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and an author. China has injected itself into pretty much every area of life we care about. From media to technology, energy, food, transportation and even culture. But this strategy wasn't random, it turns out that their entire plan was detailed i...

Nick Maggiulli is the Chief Operating Officer for Ritholtz Wealth Management and an expert in personal finance using data analysis. Saving money and building wealth are some of the most popular content on the internet. But what are the absolute best ways to maximise your fortune? Nick has broken down the complex world of personal finance to find out what the data says about different strategies. E...

Julien Smith is the CEO of Breathe, a startup founder, investor, and an author. Elon Musk is trying to buy Twitter so I wanted to ask someone with experience of the startup world to explain what this tells us about Silicon Valley's modern approach to business and their obsession with growth. Expect to learn what is unique about the startup mindset, why Elon might be poison pilled by Twitter's legi...

Paul Millerd is a strategy consultant, author and a podcaster. The old stories we were told about success and happiness no longer apply. We don't have to wear a suit or go to an office or have job for life. But do we even need success? Is there a simpler route to being happy? Paul has spent the last 5 years trying to find out. Expect to learn why the road between success and happiness might have a...

Jonny & Yusef from Propane Fitness join me for another Life Hacks episode. Sit back & enjoy as we run through our favourite tools, apps, websites, strategies & resources for a productive and efficient life. Expect to learn Jonny's favourite new meditation app, how to stop yourself from sneezing, Yusef's new mobile game addiction, how to bypass any article paywall, how to get free book summaries, h...

Phrost is Editor at Bullshido and a podcaster. The introduction of MMA and the UFC has been the ultimate stress test for fake martial arts. No-touch knockouts and chi-push energy blasts have been arm barred and head kicked out of existence. Yet the ability to detect and defeat BS, whether physical, martial or conceptual is no less useful. Expect to learn whether Will Smith should have swung harder...

Logan Ury is the Director of Relationship Science at Hinge, a Harvard-trained behavioural scientist and an author. Modern dating is difficult. Thankfully Logan has access to all the data from Hinge and can conduct as many studies as she wants on trends and preferences from thousands of people in and out of relationships. Expect to learn why an intentional approach to dating seems like a turn-off b...

David Robson is an award-winning science writer specialising in the extremes of the human brain, body and behaviour. Our expectations have a profound effect on the outcomes we get in life. This isn't positive vibes from The Secret, this is one of the most replicable, robust effects that impacts pretty much everything we care about to do with our lives and health. Expect to learn how people with no...

Iain McGilchrist is a psychiatrist, author and a former Oxford literary scholar. Modern society praises rationality as the pinnacle destination we should all aim for. Tradition and intuition are seen as a silly, inaccurate, hokey approach for which we have more precise solutions now. Iain has identified that neuroscience, philosophy, theology and psychology don't always agree with this though. Exp...

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is a physician, author, television presenter and a podcaster. Working out what makes us happy in life is difficult. Distinguishing between our goals and the things that other people want us to have as goals is not easy. After seeing thousands of patients in the NHS and reflecting on his own journey into the public eye, Rangan has turned his attention on happiness and what genu...

Chris Bailey is a productivity consultant, researcher and best selling author. The world of productivity is messy. Overwhelming volumes of information and contradictory advice doesn't make the world any simpler. I brought Chris on to explain the most important, core principles that research-based studies and real-world practise says contributes to better productivity. Expect to learn why time, att...

Michael Gervais is one of the world's leading high performance psychologists. The Seattle Seahawks, Gold Medalist Kerry Jennings, Microsoft, AT&T, Amazon and Felix Baumgartner the guy who jumped from the edge of space all have one thing in common - they need a high performance mindset. Michael's job for over 20 years has been coaching the world's top musicians, athletes and executives to squeeze e...

Derek Beres is an author & media expert, the Senior Editor at Eco & co-host of the Conspirituality podcast. Far left yoga mums and far right trolls aren't the most obvious pairing that you would put together, however these unlikely ideological allies have more in common than you might think. Much of the thinking within these groups has converged in recent years and Derek is here to explain how thi...

I hit 350k Subscribers on YouTube!! Technically I also hit 300k but we hit 350k before I had time to record anything so here we are. To celebrate, I asked for questions and got more than 1000 across all platforms so here's 90 minutes of me trying to answer as many as possible. There are legitimately some world-class questions here which I wish I'd come up with, including some really tough ones abo...

Thatcher Wine is professional book curator, founder of Juniper Books and an author. Multi-tasking will make you less effective, less productive, less happy and more prone to making errors in work and life. The question of why we're all so tempted to do it and how we can stop seems an obvious next step. Expect to learn whether multi-tasking is just a modern phenomenon, how monotasking can result in...

Jon Birger is an award-winning magazine writer, a contributor to Fortune, a dating expert and an author. Typically men are the sexual protagonists. They're the ones who make the first move, they're the ones who come up with cheesy chat-up lines and deal with approach anxiety and rejection. But in a world where women are struggling to find men they're attracted to, what happens if this role is reve...

Ayelet Fishbach is a Professor of Behavioural Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago and an author. The ability to motivate ourselves to do the things we want to do and stop doing the things we don't would be a superpower. Sadly, motivation tends to be fleeting if it's not outright elusive and relying on YouTube motivational speeches can only help so much.  Expect to learn why your goa...