Moonwalk

First off—it's been a thousand years. But I have a quick update—and if you liked Moonwalk, I think you'll (most likely) be into it. If you already know what it is (or just listened): here's the free system. And the update is: I talked to a guy named Andrew, because Andrew read a book. But when he read that book, it addressed a long-standing concern in his life. On this quick 2-minute update, we talk about it. For the book (the notetaking system is free, and you can read it in under 3 minutes) go here: www.mohnish.net/book Music by Kevin Macleod

The future of Moonwalk, and where I'm going next. Join the email list, where I'll post new projects, updates, and book recommendations, all at mohnish.net/insider The Facts Special thanks to Kevin Sanji, Jarrod Sport, Justine Brumm, Vysali Soundararajan, Armi Legge, Justin Sheppard, and - last but not least - you. Thanks for listening.  

"But he listened to it and he says, 'That's good shit, dad!'" - Paul Rozin There's a deep, subjective feeling inside us. And it's the feeling that you know what tastes good, you know what movies are terrible, and you know that your grandfather's esoteric opinions on classical operas are actually spot-on. But in a world filled with varying subjective preferences (as well as people who enjoy eating pickles whole), there is an idea that won't die. It's the idea that someone can have "good taste". The idea that your taste can be better than my taste. On this episode, we investigate: - Does that idea make sense? - Is is possible to improve your taste systematically? - What are the components of someone who has good taste, and someone who doesn't? - And how subjective is taste in a world with clear preferences?   The Facts Moonwalk is hosted, written, and produced by Mohnish Soundararajan.  Episode was co-hosted by Kevin Sanji. Feedback is by Jarrod Sport, Justine Brumm, and Kevin Sanji. Special thanks to Anna Leon

"Worst case scenario, the spy gets killed" - Benedetta Lerva If you hire a spy, a lot can happen. They can get caught. They can get tortured with endless roundhouse kicks to the face. And worst case scenario: they can die. So if you had to risk someone’s life to spy for your country, would you do it? And, more importantly, what does this teach us about what it means to be a better person? An economist helps us figure it out.   The Facts Moonwalk is hosted, written, and produced by Mohnish Soundararajan. Episode was co-hosted by Kevin Sanji. Feedback is by Vysali Soundararajan. Special thanks to Benedetta Lerva. The research: East-West Germany espionage paper, Rotten Kid Theorem paper, and the “Pay Not to Go to the Gym” paper. Sign up for the insider newsletter for exclusive updates and book recommendations. Music is by Podington Bear, BitBasic, and Broke for Free.  

“My parents thought they hit the jackpot with me” - Gordie Bufton There’s a woman who buys a ticket. She gets in a plane, and passes all these little cultures of hills and cars and highways, and then - 2,000 miles later - realizes that the man whom she gave birth to and bought diapers in bulk for, is actually a complete shit show. On this episode, we talk about the shit show, and dive into a question that’s older than Nietzsche himself: can disadvantages be turned into advantages? Is that completely wrong? And if it’s true, why does the research give a different picture?   The Facts Moonwalk is hosted, written, and produced by Mohnish Soundararajan. Episode was co-hosted by Kevin Sanji. Feedback is by Jarrod Sport, Kevin Sanji, Justine Brumm, Justin Sheppard, and Mary Moran. Special thanks to Gordie Bufton, Lisa Moore, and Mark Seery. To sign up for the newsletter (and for more on this episode), go to mohnish.net Music is by Podington Bear.

I'm in a bar, and I tell Kevin a story about an African village. But the story I tell is the lovely, made-for-television version of what happened. The real story is worse. Much worse.  On this episode, we uncover the secret of sharp thinkers.   ###   Moonwalk is hosted, written, and produced by Mohnish Soundararajan. Episode was co-hosted and co-written by Kevin Sanji. Feedback by Jarrod Sport and Justine Brumm. A special thanks to Christian Hempelmann. A quick note: No podcast next month. I’ll be traveling for 40 days, and we have some great material cued up. We’re off next month, but can’t wait to get back on the horse. Special thanks to Christain Hempelmann - his paper. Go to moonwalkpodcast.com and sign up for the email list.  Music is by Podington Bear.    

There's a hidden side to your first impression that you forgot. It's the secret that you forget - routinely - everyday when you slip on your carefully chosen off-color khakis, you spritz on your favorite cologne, and you spill orange soda all over your face.  Now, it's time to remember.    ###   Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji. Editing direction was by Jarrod Sport and Kevin Sanji. Feedback is by Justine Brumm. Music is by Podington Bear. Special thanks to Eliza, Mario, and Sam! Eliza is a WNYC Producer over at The Takeaway and Freakonomics Radio.  Go to moonwalkpodcast.com for more, and sign up for the email list for exclusive updates. They are awesome. 

"...And then the dread sets in - that immeasurable depression and blackness of your future that you have no bearing of what it's going to hold" - Devyn Tammons   After you do the song and dance, put on the goofy outfit, and grab your diploma cover - graduation's over. But then the void hits. You have too much time. Boredom sets in. That excitement you had - it's gone. You start asking what the meaning of life is, and negotiate whether or not you can find it between the melted cheese of a ham sandwich. You are losing your mind. But, thankfully - as you spiral into a deep and deafening madness - there is something you can do.  On this episode, we talk about that something, how to do it, and why it's so, so important.    ###   Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji.  Feedback is by Justine Brumm. Music is by Podington Bear. Special thanks to Devyn Tammons and Alec!  New essays can be found at mohnish.net For more episodes, go to moonwalkpodcast.com

"And they say the exact same thing. They say, 'there's no way this is real...this can't be real', even though we're here and we're living it"  - Finn If you talked to other people, they’d say they made friends with the wrong person. That they did something they shouldn’t have. That, if given the chance, they should take it back, retrace their steps, and stop what they did. But they wouldn’t say that. We sit down with them - and a psychological anthropologist - to figure out why, and what it says about the human mind.  ### The Facts Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji. This episode was edited by Jarrod Sport and Kevin Sanji. Feedback is by Justine Brumm. Music is by Podington Bear. Special thanks to Jonce and Finn. Huge thanks to T.M. Luhrmann. You can find more research and fun stuff at moonwalkpodcast.com New essays can be found at mohnish.net  

This isn't a episode of Moonwalk. If you're on the email list, you already got this update. But if not - well then - here's the update: - The first is a big change: we're now releasing one podcast a month, and I'm releasing one written piece a month. In total, that's two pieces of content, but instead of both of them being podcasts, one of them will be written. - This gives us more time for better stories, better science, and better productions (content that can rival the best in the business) - This is a good strategy to save my sanity.  - Also, writing is awesome, and I'm excited to get back into it.  Get psyched every other Tuesday night (or, for people who love sleep, Wednesday morning). And of course, thanks for listening. We're pumped.  Find the essays and new content all at www.mohnish.net and www.moonwalkpodcast.com

"Mohnish is about to lose his mind" - Kevin Sanji Per Se is the 3rd most expensive restaurant in the world. Marisa Negro - a pastry chef - works at the 3-star Michelin restaurant (12 hour days are a minimum).  Ever since she could remember, she loved cooking. But when she was 19, she fell in love. And - surprisingly - that story is much different than what happened with cooking. Weirder still, it brings us to something else: the secret to falling in love with learning. On this episode, we cover: - How to fall in love with learning a skill  - Are you born to be good? - The counterintuitive secret to rapid skill acquisition - How did Marisa first fall in love? And more, all on this episode.    The Facts Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji, and this episode was edited by Jarrod Sport, Kevin Sanji, and Justine Brumm. Music is by Podington Bear and Eter Dub. Special thanks to Marisa, Airis and Lucas. Check out Airis' site here. Lucas Sin runs Junzi Kitchen.  Yo

"I don't know how to describe it...it was a traumatic experience" - Airis Johnson There's a church, right in the culinary underbelly, that no one knows about. It makes you work faster, work easier, and work better. It has no God, and it's followers wear chef whites, dice onions, and produce culinary experiences that would you make your grandfather's face explode right off.  We wanted to know more - so, we got a few chefs who've worked at Michelin star restaurants to talk:  - What is Mise en Place?  - What are the basics of organization? - How do you prep your day-to-day? - When you have no time, everything's on fire, and you have no idea what to do - what do you do?  And more all on this episode.    The Facts Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji, and this episode was edited by Jarrod Sport and Justine Brumm. Music is by Podington Bear.  Feedback is by Justine Brumm. Special thanks to Kevin MacLeod for "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and Kenzie Vaness, for

"I heard this story of this guy, and he was rushed to the emergency room because he was having heart palpitations...because he was watching too much porn" - greyrocks1  Your mind is slipping. We've been conditioned to check our phones every 20 minutes, grapple with an inability to read essays longer than two paragraphs, and then scroll through our Twitter feeds at 2AM in the morning while crying softly in our sleep.  But on the internet, there's people who are fighting back. So, a few days ago I reached out. I waited, waited, and then - two usernames responded: thunderbolt-zhu and greyrocks1. I have no idea who they are. But they said they wanted to talk.  On this episode, we cover: - Who is thunderbolt-zhu and greyrocks1? - Why our minds are slipping, and how we can stop it - The real cognitive consequences of the internet, our phones, and technology - Why was the man in the retail store bleeding?  - Strategies to rebuild your attention and focus  And more, all on this episode.    The Facts Moonwalk is produ

"No - No. What the fuck is up with the texts?" - Karen Lee Poter On December 24th, we got an email:  "I'm very attractive in certain social groups, but I'm afraid of showing interest. I'm afraid of coming off as a creeper. On the bright side, I'm seen as very safe ;}" For this Q&A, we sit down with Karen Lee Poter and use everything in our toolbox from evolutionary psychology to Kevin's love life, to solve this guy's crisis.  A throwback to our earlier seasons, we strip away the bells and whistles, and cover: - How to effectively show romantic interest in someone, without coming off as the weirdest person on the planet - How to build confidence and - if you can swing it - meta-confidence - How to ask someone out, if you're terrified of doing so  - The crucial difference between narrowcasting and broadcasting   The Facts Moonwalk is produced and hosted by Mohnish Soundararajan. It's co-hosted by Kevin Sanji, and edited by Jarrod Sport.  Music is by Podington Bear.  Feedback is by Jarrod Sport, Kevin Sanji,

"It's sort of like someone else is doing an autopsy on your dead body, but you're looking at it through a TV screen and you're completely confused what's going on." - Mohnish Soundararajan Imagine a grand experiment. Two men set foot to reconstruct your past - as accurately as they can. They talked to everyone you've ever cared for, looked at, talked to, yelled at, peed on, and washed a dish for. But the story keeps changing. And in the process, they shatter everything you ever knew about your memory, your self-awareness, and - lucky you - your sense of self. And what if - we actually did this. Featuring special guest Cam Poter, this episode deconstructs not just Cam's narrative identity, but the search for self-awareness, and covers: - The most technically challenging and time-consuming podcast we've ever done - Specific, actionable steps to get a better sense of self-awareness, so you don't take the one, precious life your parents paid so much money for and absolutely screw it up  - The differences in memor

It's not just a new season or a new episode - we're getting a new name. And this time, we're not messing around.  Unless we're messing around. Then, technically, I guess we'd be messing around. Moonwalk premieres January 24th, 2017. Produced by Mohnish Soundararajan. Music is by Podington Bear.   

"People are really looking for reasons to say no, Mohnish. That's the thing." - Ted Gonder  Mohnish has done well for himself. Thanks to his mother's credit card, he hasn't managed to die of starvation. He's worked with interesting authors, fast-paced startups, and - most importantly - he has a girlfriend.  But if he stops there - he's screwed.  As of January 1st, 2017, he doesn't have a job. He's a full-time student - so he doesn't need one. But in 6 months, that'll change. And when you're 22, and time is running out - how do you answer the hardest question: what do I do with the rest of my life? More to the point: is that even the right question to ask?  On this episode, special guests Josh Indig (AI research and serial entrepreneur) and Ted Gonder (Moneythink, Obama's Advisory Council) share their insights to wrestle, untangle, and reframe why careers (as well as their own) are just so incredibly tricky. On this episode, we cover: - If you're 22 and have no skills, what should you do?  - How badly will Ted

Note: This December, we're taking a bit of a break. It's Christmas, we want to see our family's faces, and hey - we need some time to recharge and reorient the direction of this podcast.  Here's a short, rough episode - we'll be back to regular programming soon. ###  Finding the right friends is harder than trying to ice skate in the Olympics blindfolded.  But - the key word is "right". Because anyone can make friends. You can go out on the street, meet a store clerk, and become friends in 30 seconds. The key is: are the friends you have, even the right ones for you?  On this episode, we cover one thing: How do you know if the friends you have are ones you should keep? (And, should or should you not get new ones?) For more, go to www.realtalkstudio.com           

"We all have stories that we tell ourselves about what our lives are - and those stories are always wrong" - Shawn Coyle Going to high school is kind of like cutting an onion: you have to do it, but you're probably going to cry. In this audio essay, I talk about why that's true. Before we get to that though, here's the deal: We're off this week and we'll return to regular programming in 2 weeks. The bright side: this is a bonus episode. It's rough and it's a bit of an experiment...but I think you'll dig the change of pace. (If you're new to the podcast, don't start here, but if you're a fan, stick around.) The piece that I read in this episode, I wrote 2 years ago (so, basically 10,000 years ago). Here's what's covered: - What was high school really like for most people?  - What is the emotional reality of high school? - Defining the bullshit: the status, fake work, fake friends, and the stories we believed about ourselves when we were 16 and incredibly stupid - A story about me, a car, and concrete, and why

"Once you pull that handle....there's no turning back" - Dave "Bio" Baranek  In 1969, the United States established an elite school for the top one percent of it's pilots. The Navy calls it Fighter Weapons school. The flyers? They call it Top Gun. And if you don't know what Top Gun is, know that Tom Cruise just called, and he wants me to tell you he's extremely disappointed. But, here's the point: by extrapolating strategies from Top Gun, you can become amazing at what you do. And - it's backed up by research. On this episode, the guys and special guest Dave "Bio" Baranek (Top Gun Instructor, RIO, and author) cover: - Whether you're an engineer, a doctor, a computer scientist, a lawyer, a marketer, or an entrepreneur - how do you break the sound barrier in your own career and blow past your peers?  - What's it like to meet Tom Cruise?  - Is it fun to crash in an F-14 and get waterboarded? (Hint: No.) - Technically speaking, can you get on the highway to the danger zone?   For more on this episode, go to realt