Sky King's Mental Playground

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPKAYLYNN Anime is not a niche hobby and it is definitely not “for kids" it’s one of the sharpest storytelling engines on the planet. Kaylynn, aka Anime with KK, has built a career, a cosplay business, and a K-pop dance trio around proving that theory right, and today we put it to the test. We trace how a culture that got Hello Kittied after Hiroshima e...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPWET I flew a plane through a thunderstorm when I was thirteen years old. My dad was asleep in the seat next to me, and all I wanted to do was get back to my Game Boy. That story is in here, and so is the story of losing him this year and how three guys who love you show up for that. This one's with the WET crew — Marcus, Justin, and Phil — the closest...

Chris Williamson is a podcaster, YouTuber, and Ex-Professional Party Boy. I am immensely grateful that Chris is on this earth. As a creator, I believe he is doing an insane amount to help young men make sense of the world, as a friend he has been a beautiful combination of exceedingly fun and seriously helpful in how I navigate my life, and as a hero and mentor he has been a guiding light in how t...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPBEGLEY What if the thing killing creativity right now isn't talent or effort, but the simple fact that nobody has space to be bored anymore? Joe Begley and I start this one ranking the worst beers in America, what was supposed to be a loose, ridiculous beer review, turned into a real conversation about why social media has erased reflection, why "smel...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPMALONEY What if the biggest problem with AI, Ozempic, productivity hacks, and modern self improvement is that they work too well? In a culture obsessed with skipping steps, Larry Maloney argues that the struggle is the point. Larry and I explore why anime keeps teaching lessons Western media forgot, why gyms are becoming one of the last places people...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPHELDA Physical AI isn't a trend, it's the convergence of everything that came before it: computer vision, spatial computing, simulation, and now generative models building entire digital worlds to train robots that will fix the healthcare shortage, staff the manufacturing gap, and maybe lower the cost of your groceries. Evan Helda, Head of Physical AI...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPOPPENHEIMER Billy Oppenheimer has spent years inside the minds of two of the most celebrated creatives alive, Rick Rubin and Ryan Holiday. Billy is also working on his first book, and what he shares about the process, the endless hunger for more input, the terror of finishing, the paradox of detachment is something any creator will feel in their chest...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPSOLO War is the most entertaining thing humans have ever created, and that's not my opinion, that's physics. From Gilgamesh to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we have never been able to look away. But something shifted. Social media removed the last bit of friction between the attention war generates and the money it makes, and now every company is going...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPKHAN What happens when a geneticist steps into the center of Austin’s techno-cultural renaissance and starts asking the questions everyone else is too afraid to touch? In this new episode of SKMP, Razib Khan joins us for a wild, deeply intelligent conversation spanning CRISPR, evolution, AI, gene editing, open-source technology, SpaceX billionaires, A...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPJORGENSON Eric Jorgenson spent five years distilling the mind of the most consequential entrepreneur alive, and the result is The Book of Elon. This is a conversation of what it actually means to bet on the future: having kids, choosing missions, staying hungry when life gets comfortable, and why the people who've tried to do anything in the world und...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPRICARDO Ricardo grew up watching cooks in his dad's Mexican joint in LA, dropped out of school, made some choices he'd rather leave in the past, and eventually decided he wasn't ready to go out like that. What followed was 18 years of cooking across LA, New York, Atlanta, and the Michelin-starred hills of Montecito — each city refining what mattered:...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPNELIASON What if school, work, and success are all being redefined right now and most people are completely missing it? In this episode of Sky King’s Mental Playground, I sit down with entrepreneur and writer Nat Eliason to explore the future of education, AI, and opportunity, from launching a high school that aims to help students make $1M before gra...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPLEINWOHL What if the real financial markets of the future aren’t stocks or real estate but Pokémon cards, NFTs, and the IP you grew up loving? In this episode of Sky King’s Mental Playground, I sit down with Morgan Leinwohl to break down the hidden economics behind collectibles, from Logan Paul’s $16M Pokémon purchase to the rise of “financialized fan...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPKEMMERER What happens when AI, capitalism, and human creativity collide? In this episode, we sit down with David Kemmerer, an entrepreneur, musician, and co-founder of CoinLedger, to break down the real future of AI, content, and business. From building companies in emerging markets to the rise of “zero-person” businesses, this conversation explores h...

Listen to the podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPROGERS Chris Rogers almost drank himself to death. Today, he paints live in front of millions on Kill Tony and says sobriety made him a better artist than alcohol ever did. In this conversation, we go deep on addiction, suicidal ideation, and the myth that suffering fuels creativity. Chris breaks down how recovery rewired his mind, why most artists sabotag...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPLYLE Most people drink coffee without thinking. Patrick Lyle thinks about everything: the grind size, the mineral content of the water, the pressure curve of an espresso shot. But this conversation isn’t just about better coffee. It’s about craftsmanship, culture, and why founders should never hide from their customers. We break down espresso “soup,”...

Listen to the podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPRIDLEY In this episode, I sit down with Austin comedian Michael Ridley to talk about what it really means to bet on yourself in a culture that feels like it’s collapsing into content and chaos. We get into everything — modern warfare as entertainment, prediction markets vs. AI, gambling ads and moral tradeoffs in podcasting, corporate influence behind the...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPGODSEY In this episode, Erick Godsey joins me for a deep dive into visionary art, psychosis, and the collective unconscious. From Neuromancer to late-80s Japanese anime, from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Annihilation, we unpack how art sometimes predicts technological transformation before society can consciously name it. We also get into what Erick cal...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPJAMES In this episode, Abel James joins us for a deep and unfiltered conversation about recovery, resilience, and staying human in an increasingly automated world. Abel opens up about surviving a brutal car accident, navigating long-term physical and neurological recovery, and what it forced him to relearn about health, patience, and adaptive capacity...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPTELANDER In this episode, Zack Telander joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about art, music, discipline, and staying human in an algorithmic world. Zack breaks down what it really takes to build a creative career without selling out from playing empty rooms to opening for packed theaters1 and why impostor syndrome never fully disappears, even wh...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPWET What starts as a chaotic crossover episode quickly turns into a surprisingly honest exploration of art, ambition, friendship, and identity. In this episode, the WET crew and Sky sit down to make predictions for 2026, but the conversation spirals into something deeper: what it really means to create, to be seen, and to keep going when you feel misu...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPCAROLL Music isn’t just something we listen to, it’s how we process heartbreak, find meaning, and understand ourselves. In this episode, Dawson joins me for a conversation about art, identity, and what it actually means to create something that lasts in an age built for consumption. We talk about why some artists hit us on a visceral level while other...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPMAXFIELD In this episode, I sat down with renowned muralist and designer Bradford Maxfield (Bradlio1). This conversation goes far beyond art, it’s a deep dive into the psychology of creativity, the dark history of the Mexican border wars, and the dystopian reality of the modern "attention economy." Bradford opens up about growing up in El Paso next to...

Listen to the full podcast: https://bit.ly/SKMPNAULT In this episode, Justin Nault returns to explore fatherhood, identity, and the pursuit of meaning in a world built on chaos. We talk about how becoming a dad redefines purpose, what true self-love looks like, and why most people mistake productivity for peace. Justin breaks down the hidden trauma behind hustle culture, the illusion of “balance,”...

Listen to the full podcast here: https://bit.ly/SKMPGRIFFIN In this episode, Chris Griffin joins me to talk about his recent experience with cancel culture, the cost of honesty, and why so many creators from Australia and the UK are fleeing to America in search of real freedom. We explore the emotional toll of being publicly attacked, losing hundreds of thousands in sponsorships, and what it means...