Modern Wisdom

Dr Stuart McGill is a professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo and a world expert in back pain. In the new WFH world, many people are changing their routines, desk setups and posture. Combined with limited access to gyms and less chance to move and exercise, this is a perfect storm for creating back pain. Expect to learn the number one cause of back pain Stu sees in his patients, why most...

Richard Meadows is a journalist and author. Life doesn't come with an instruction manual. How to organise our lives to be efficient but have options, to be take advantage of routine and enjoy variety is one of the hardest balancing acts we face. Expect to learn why you should earn as much money as you can when you're young, how to make life changing choices under uncertain conditions, protect agai...

Brian D. Earp is a Research Fellow at Oxford, philosopher and writer. Love is a feeling many of us yearn to feel, but the medical developments of the 21st century is moving love out of the personal and into the medical realm. Expect to learn if we can make ourselves fall in or out of love with drugs, whether we can turn a straight person gay, how anti-love drugs can help reduce domestic violence,...

Jordan Shallow is a Chiropractor, Strength & Conditioning Coach and Powerlifter. Given that we should hopefully be returning to normality this year, I wanted to ask Jordan about how he balances his desire for improvement with protecting his body and mind from becoming damaged. Expect to learn whether Jordan thinks there is a balanced way to use social media, how we can avoid injury when re enterin...

Noreena Hertz is an author and economist. Even before social distancing was a word, loneliness was a huge crisis. More people than ever before feel detached in a world that's never been so connected. Expect to learn the dramatic health impacts of loneliness, the extreme lengths some people are going to in an effort to feel connected with other humans, why 16-24 year olds are at highest risk and mu...

Andrew Steele is a scientist, writer and presenter. Ageing is a phenomenon we're all familiar with and is completely taken for granted as a fact of reality, but do we have to accept it? Expect to learn why curing ageing might be easier than curing cancer and all other diseases, the unfortunate truth of fasting for longevity, why the next decade will be the most exciting for lifespan research and m...

Joel Jamieson is a performance architect. Heart Rate Variability is everyone's favourite new health metric. Joel is one of the world's leading coaches for HRV and today he takes us through what HRV is, why it matters and his best strategies and workouts for improving yours. Sponsors: Get 2 weeks Free Access to the State App at https://apple.co/36nNALG (discount automatically applied) Extra Stuff:...

Charlotte Fox-Weber is a Psychotherapist and an author. As a therapist of many years, Charlotte saw an opportunity to turn the mic around on me for once and ask some questions about how I see myself and why I do what I do. Definitely a change of pace today but I really enjoyed opening up. There are some takeaways in here which might illuminate your own mental state and thought patterns. Sponsors:...

Chris Sparks is a Productivity Coach and a Former Top 20 Online Poker Player. Many people use the end of the year as a breakpoint to check in with how life is going and plan what they want to achieve in the following 12 months. Today Chris gives us the exact process he takes his high performance clients through to achieve maximum clarity and prepare for a year of success. Sponsors: Get a 21 Day Fr...

Jonny & Yusef join me today to talk through our biggest lessons from 2020. Expect to learn what we've learned from the weirdest year ever, how Yusef's insight on the front-lines of a hospital has changed his worldview, how Jonny has improved his personal development by removing most of the things he does, how hot a hot potato can be and much more... Sponsors: Get 2 weeks Free Access to the State A...

Diren Kartal is an online coach and speaker. As we approach the end of 2020, many people will be looking to make changes in their lives. As a coach who assists 100's of clients with their lifestyle design, Diren has a unique insight into this process. Expect to learn why your why is so important, the most common issues Diren is seeing his clients encounter, how he broke off an engagement in Austra...

Rob Lipsett is a YouTuber and Fitness Model. While I was in Dubai I managed to get hold of the loudest, friendliest and most positive Irish man in history. Expect to learn Rob's advice for anyone trying to start a YouTube channel, why he can't wait for our robot overlords, what he's learned from a decade of bodybuilding, how he deals with haters and much more... Sponsors: Get 20% discount on Reebo...

Paul Evans is an entrepreneur and author. Out of body experiences during operations are bizarre but at least semi-common, living an entire new life in an alternate reality for two years during a seven month coma is something else entirely. Expect to learn how childhood bullying can set the tone for your entire life, what it was like to live through the Arab Spring revolts in Egypt, the mind bendin...

Harold McGee is an author and food expert. Our sense of smell sits at the front of our daily experience and yet our understanding of what smells are and how they're processed is almost non existent. Expect to learn why smell may be the oldest of our senses, how our brains combine what hits our nose to create sensations, whether smell will be the new frontier for the entertainment industry, what an...

Nims Purja MBE is a mountaineer and former SBS Operative. The fastest anyone had previously climbed the 14 Death Zone mountains greater than 8000m was 8 years. Nims Purja did it in 7 months. Expect to learn what the human body is truly capable of, how purpose can overcome fatigue, the truth behind "that Everest photo", what effect Nims has noticed climate change has made to the mountains and much...

Rory Sutherland is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Advertising and an author. 2020 is the year of change. Human behaviour is far less rational and sophisticated than we might claim. Combine these two and you have the ideal breeding ground for a Rory episode. Expect to learn what Rory thinks about my new Bear or Bull game, his opinions TikTok and OnlyFans, why sticking your genitals in a Dyson AirBlade...

Cory Allen is an audio engineer, meditation coach and author. Binaural Beats have been brought into popularity over the last few years for assisting meditation, deep focus, sleep and more. But what are they and how do they work? Big thanks to Cory for his insights and for cutting some of his awesome tracks into this episode for a very unique listening experience where you'll get to hear exactly ho...

George Mack is a writer and a growth marketer. If you imagine your mind as an operating system, mental models are apps that you can install to give yourself extra functionality and improved decision making. Expect to learn about our brand new game Bear Or Bull, how you can use anchoring to get laid, why numeracy is a superpower, whether remote working is a blessing or a curse and much more... Spon...

Tom Otton is the Managing Director at Create Group and an Ultra Endurance Athlete. Everyone experiences negative self talk and doubt, how you deal with it is what makes the difference, and the choice is yours. Expect to learn what it's like to run for 50 hours without sleep, how to create the perfect company culture, why a victim mindset is the most important thing to overcome, how to lean into yo...

Colin Wright is an Evolutionary Biologist and the Managing Editor at Quillette. The debate around gender and sex differences has taken longer to work out than Jordan Peterson's rehab. We're nearly at the end of 2020 and what constitutes a man and a woman are still being discussed. Hopefully Colin can shed some light on this. Sponsor: Get 50% discount on your FitBook Membership at https://fitbook.c...

Marcus Smith is an ultra endurance athlete and gym owner. From breaking his body in a cycling accident to running 30 marathons in 30 days, Marcus embodies an Ultra Mindset, the man is an animal. Expect to learn the framework Marcus uses to overcome any obstacle, how it feels to hit a wall at 54km/h, what it's like to run for 24 hours straight, why your parents were right to tell you to relax, how...

Mike Thurston is a YouTuber and Fitness Model. Mike is one of the biggest fitness YouTubers in the UK and a good buddy of mine, given that we're both in Dubai right now, it made perfect sense to catch up for the first time in years on the show. Expect to learn Mike's thoughts on the steroid accusations, his core principles for training, where he sees the future of social media going, what he's lea...

Tim Campos is the CEO of Woven and Ex-CIO of Facebook. We live in a world with a surplus of information. How we cut through that noise and arrive at a place where we can make effective decisions quickly is the job of productivity systems. As someone who doubled the productivity of Facebook's workforce, Tim knows the limitations of high pressure, high growth, high information environments. Sponsor:...

Hamilton Souther is a Master Ayahuasca Shaman. Psychedelics are the cool kid on the block in 2020, from plant medicine holidays to recreational DMT trips. Today we get to learn from a 20 year veteran of over 4000 ceremonies. Expect to learn what it's like to learn shamanism from the greatest masters in history, why plants have a place in a medicalised modern world, what sort of life a full time sh...

Jay Morton is a Former SAS Operator and Two-time Everest Summitee. Becoming a soldier means dealing with fear, coping with pressure and performing with excellence. The SAS is the best of the best and today we learn the key lessons from Jay's 14 year career. Expect to learn how humour can help with fear, whether climbing Everest is harder than the SAS Selection Process, the coolest operation Jay wa...