What's the value?

Jack Kammer views himself as the “counter-feminist social worker.” He has dedicated a significant portion of his life to this issue. He is a public speaker, social worker, podcast host, and ultimately a strong voice trying to address the undervaluation of masculinity (“vitamin M”) in our current culture. When he reached out to me, I immediately was intrigued. This was my first opportunity to have...

A few disclaimers on this one. Nina spoke about some pretty terrible abuse she suffered in her life, particularly at the hands of her father. So for those uncomfortable or not wanting to hear some of those details, this might not be the episode for you. Also, before we started the show, Nina let me know she was a little nervous because she doesn't think/speak in a very linear fashion. This is even...

"What's the value?"-- it is the name of the show and I say it all the time, but I picked that name for a very specific reason. Not only is it the first question I ask each guest, but it is also a play on words because many people might believe that spending over an hour talking to an old friend about philosophy, right and wrong, and the meaning of life is a waste of time. They would ask "what's th...

One of the things I always worry about is that our minds’ number one skill is rationalizing and creating narratives that make us feel better. I worry about that because it makes me wonder if we ever accurately assess our lives and get to the truth about ourselves or if we constantly just make up stories that comfort us. This conversation with Immacula in many ways got right to the heart of this qu...

Larry is an author ("Nobody Knows, They Just Want You to Think They Do"), podcaster ("Nobody Knows Your Story") and a former member of the Mormon church. He describes himself as an "average white guy, with a not so average life." He came to the discussion with "authentic independence" as the value that mattered most to him. We spent a bit of time up front exploring what that meant and where it cam...

This is the type of thing that gets me excited. When someone comes to the discussion with a value of "kindness" and we can discuss, dissect, and debate it for 45 minutes. It seems absurd to debate whether "kindness" is a "good" thing. Why would you want to dissect that? Just assume that the kindness is always the best way. I get it, but clearly kindness doesn't seem to be the top priority for a lo...

When I first created this show, I had a (maybe naïve) hypothesis that it would work with anyone on any topic. The thought was that at its root, if you are talking to someone about what they value most and you can follow the thread and ask good questions, it will always be interesting. TBD if that is true or not, but I think this episode was a proof point that it might be true. Nancy is the CEO & C...

Beri is the Founder and CEO of IVY, a global community with a mission of accelerating human progress and unity by enabling business leaders to elevate their lives, organizations, and societies. His programs serve 10,000 CEOs and rising leaders, providing actionable learnings and transformative peer to peer connections based on guidance from world-renowned luminaries. Beri is also one of the most o...

Mckenna is an author, podcaster, DJ, personal development coach, fashion enthusiast, and overall creative. She brought some super interesting, thought provoking points to this conversation. She started with "faith" as her value, which has come up before so I was a little worried the conversation might be redundant. I was wrong. Mckenna had a very specific view of why "faith" is so valuable in her...

This is a solo session, where I talk about some relevant current events through the "what's the value" lens. In today's episode one of the bigger stories is that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was banned from Twitter for controversial comments (most notably about COVID). I think and talk through this, asking (rhetorical) questions of both sides trying to understand why they are taking the co...

Arnie works in asset management at a global investment bank, he served as an Army officer and aviator/helicopter pilot for 10 years, and he is a long time family friend. Maybe most importantly for this conversation, Arnie is someone who is willing to question his own thoughts and beliefs. He's trying to figure it out- he is trying to figure out how to live his "best life", how to be happy, how to...

Pat was a fun guest to have on. He is 15 years old, so right away that makes for an interesting conversation. Many of us listening to these types of podcasts are 30/40+ and think of life through a very narrow lens given our age and all the experiences we've had. It is hard for us to remember what it was like to be 15 and how we thought about life then. More often than not, we are dismissive of tee...

Kristin was in a jet ski accident at the age of 14 that left her friend dead and her paralyzed. She was told she wouldn't survive, then that she wouldn't feel/move below her mid-torso. Since then, she's been on a long journey of self-improvement, reflection, entrepreneurship, and alternative therapies, trying to make the most of her "crummy" situation. She's written 3 books, raced 14 marathons, an...

Apparently when a couple of Italians from Long Island, who have known each other for 25 years, get together we like to talk a lot and argue with each other. So that is what me and Justin did for much of this conversation, but in a way that I think is productive. I've known Justin since middle school and he is one of the more liberal people I know, so I knew it would be an interesting conversation....

Opal was a really cool guest to have on the show. Firstly, she was one of the most prepared guests I've had on, as she brought a bunch of notes and reference material to help drive the discussion. Secondly, she had a real willingness to discuss topics that normally can be too difficult or sensitive. We touched on cancel culture, the need for acceptance, intergenerational trauma, and what it was li...

Rudy is a political author and blogger with a website, Concordia (https://concordia.blog/), where he discusses his views on politics, society, and other relevant topics. He was an interesting conversation for me because based on his work, he appeared to approach life with a lot more certainty than I do. In some ways you might look at Rudy "on paper" and think you have a pretty good handle on him....

There were so many things I enjoyed and found insightful about this conversation with Patty. The thing that stands out most is how complex life is, and in this case, how complex Patty's life is; but then getting a raw, behind the scenes look into how she tries to process it all. Patty went to UC Berkeley, is a molecular cell biologist, an executive at a company that develops virus testing (kind of...

King is a father, a son to a single mom, an artist, and an entrepreneur from the Bronx, NY. He talked about the importance of having a purpose as his key value, because it is the main thing that allows him to navigate the world and the constant ups and downs that come with it. He grew up in the streets without a dad at home and had to figure out at a young age how to get through the cycles of life...

Talissa’s tag line on her profile caught me instantly, it read: “I am a documentary photographer obsessed with experiencing and capturing the world before it disappears.” There was so much about this I found interesting and wanted to hear more about, not least of which was that “obsessed” word. There is such an emotional charge in that word that strikes right at the core of this show. It was clear...

As you will hear in this conversation, Patrick is one of the more analytical, logical people I know. He is the CEO of a company, an MBA, and someone who clearly spends a lot of time thinking about his actions and mental frameworks. Sometimes in these conversations the value comes from pressure testing, probing, and challenging views to get to a new insight, but other times the value comes more fro...

Adam is a personal trainer/weight loss "wizard", author of the book "How to Melt Body Fat Without Diets or Gyms", and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach (learn more here- https://www.instagram.com/thedietdestroyer). Maybe no surprise, but Adam's value was "personal development." He spoke in depth about his personal journey and how he got to a point where the focus of his life is about developing and improv...

Abigail is a Ghanaian, Seventh-day Adventist living in the Bronx, NY. As she says it, “give me great food, my family, and volunteer opportunity, and I am happy.” Abigail shared “faith” as her most important value and how the relationship she has with God drives her life and purpose. I didn’t know Abigail before this conversation, but she quickly became one of my favorite people. I realize that sou...

This episode was a really unique one for me in many ways.  1. I have known Chris Powers for about 30 years and he is one of my oldest friends in the world. We went to junior high together and have been friends ever since. For that reason, the comfort level and trust we have, allowed us to have a conversation that is very difficult to have with someone you don't know that well. Part of that is beca...

As I continue to progress on this podcast journey, I find myself feeling so fortunate to be able to have these types of conversations with such interesting, unique, and amazing people. Sara Im was my latest guest and we had a beautiful conversation about family, hope, love, and the importance of keeping the right mindset to overcome the difficulties life throws at us. Sara led with "family" as her...

Firstly, apologies for the background noise at times on this one, Tamy-Fee had to do the recording from a public place. I had a sense the discussion would be a good one though, so I wanted to try and get it done. Hopefully it is not too bad.  Tamy-Fee lead off with trust as her most important value and the conversation took some interesting, thought provoking turns from there. What we realized thr...