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Bounce! Conversations with Larry Weeks

Larry Weeks

A podcast about the challenges of being human (and running things). Host Larry Weeks interviews thought leaders across psychology, business, science, and culture to explore resilience, emotions, mental health, and practical ways to stay grounded through change while building purpose and real happiness.

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September 4 · 1 hr
The Score Trap: C. Thi Nguyen on Goals, Metrics and Games
Scores can be useful, but they can also quietly take over—until we start serving the metric instead of the reason we played the game in the first place. Sometimes we don't choose the game. At work, for example, the scoring system just comes with the role. So how do we keep a score useful without letting it hijack our behavior? And for the games we do choose to play, how do we make sure we don't lose the sense of play that made them worth doing? C. Thi Nguyen is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Utah specializing in the philosophy of games, technology, and value. He was named to Vox's 2024 Future Perfect 50 list of thinkers working to make the world better. His first book, Games: Agency as Art, won the American Philosophical Association's Book Prize, and his newest book is The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game. Some highlights from the episode: 01:00 How metrics can replace the values they were meant to serve 04:00 Work OKRs and the problem of measuring at scale 06:00 Why organizations rely on numbers, even when the numbers are imperfect 11:00 How accountability changes what we measure 16:00 Goals, scoring systems, and when the numbers start taking over 17:00 Can you gamify your work without becoming trapped by a score 18:00 Goals and a purpose 20:00 Striving play 22:00 Games and "unnecessary obstacles" 25:00 When scoring and competition kill the joy of an activity 34:00 Why "just enjoy the process" can actually be bad advice 38:00 What to do if a goal that once motivated you stops working 42:00 Retirement and new games to play 44:00 Process beauty: why the doing can matter more 52:00 Gamifying life 56:00 AI and getting an outcome while skipping the normal effort in getting that outcome Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com
August 3 · 50 min
A Younger Brain: Dr. Tommy Wood on Dementia, Aging, and Staying Sharp
Your brain is not necessarily doomed to significant cognitive decline with age. But it does need a reason to keep adapting. That is the premise behind The Stimulated Mind, and it is why this conversation with neuroscientist Dr. Tommy Wood may change how you think about aging, retirement, frustration, and the things you normally avoid because they feel difficult. Tommy is an associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington. He studied biochemistry at Cambridge, earned his medical degree from Oxford and his PhD from Oslo. He also works with Formula 1 drivers as head scientist for motorsport at Hintsa Performance and is the author of The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age. Your brain needs meaningful challenge. Adults tend to hate feeling like beginners. We avoid unfamiliar technology, difficult skills, and situations where we might look incompetent. But Tommy explains why that frustration may be evidence that the brain is doing exactly what it needs to do. Some highlights from the episode: 06:00 The counterclockwise study 08:00 Beliefs about aging 11:00 Age limits and cognitive ability 14:00 Cognitive baseline testing 16:00 Challenge and brain adaptation 19:00 Why frustration can be beneficial 21:00 Reading versus listening 23:00 Hearing and vision loss 26:00 Alzheimer's versus dementia 30:00 The best exercise for the brain 34:00 Overstimulation versus real stimulation 37:00 Retirement and cognitive decline 39:00 Food and brain health 41:00 Dementia biomarker testing 44:00 Improving cognition after decline 46:00 Advice for caregivers 48:00 Do crossword puzzles and brain games work? Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com
July 9 · 51 min
How to Break the Stress Cycle with Andy Bernstein
Something happens. The tire goes flat, the layoff comes, test results come back. And then a sentence starts running in the back of your head. That shouldn't have happened. I should weigh less. They shouldn't have fired me. You barely register it. It plays like a radio in another room, and it produces a feeling, and the feeling produces a behavior, and the behavior produces the day you are having. The stress paradox is that the thought causing you the most pain is also the one that feels most obviously true. Of course they shouldn't have fired me. The belief feels like clear sight rather than distortion, and it feels useful, like it is the thing that will finally motivate change. It almost never is. Treating stress as a condition to be managed rather than a belief or thought to be examined leaves it running. My guest is Andy Bernstein. Andy is the creator of Active Insight and the founder of the Resilience Academy. He is the author of Breaking the Stress Cycle, and he has taught at Wharton Executive Education since 2007, where his sessions have been audience favorites for thousands of leaders. His corporate clients include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson, Google, Coca-Cola, and Genentech. Andy built a process for dealing with stress that is seven steps, done on paper. You do not lie on a couch. You do not say a word. In this conversation, he walks through all seven steps live, twice. Challenging the way other people think is something we all do constantly. Challenging your own thinking is something we rarely do. Some highlights from the episode: 03:32 Losing his father at 14 and his sister at 16 06:00 Byron Katie, The Work, and a job he never meant to leave 08:26 Active Insight 11:07 Field-testing 14:51 Where our idea of stress came from 19:25 Bears, war zones, and the adaptive exception 24:41 "Should" as the argument with reality 29:33 The seven steps, walked through live 30:43 What is negation? 36:50 Running the process on "they shouldn't have fired me" 39:19 The showdown with yourself 43:37 Time doesn't heal wounds. Insight does. 44:34 The Grant Study and not pushing love away 47:00 Doing it in your head, and when that isn't enough 50:47 Won't I become a doormat? 51:09 Flow, not stress 53:49 The psychology of subtraction Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com/podcasts
May 26 · 59 min
Anxiety Isn't the Obstacle: Morita Therapy Explained with Gregg Krech
You know what you should do. You're just not doing it. The gym bag is by the door. The draft is open on your screen. The email's been sitting there for three days. And somewhere underneath all of it is the same quiet assumption running the show: that you have to feel like it first. That motivation comes before action. What if that's backwards? That's the premise behind Morita therapy, and it's the reason this conversation with Gregg Krech might rearrange how you think about getting things done. Gregg is the Executive Director of the ToDo Institute, a Naikan education and retreat center in Vermont.. He is also the author of several books, including: "Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection," "A Natural Approach to Mental Wellness," "The Art of Taking Action," and "Question Your Life." For nearly thirty years Gregg has been teaching an approach called Morita therapy developed a century ago by a Japanese psychiatrist to treat severe anxiety, and it offers a genuinely different way of dealing with the feelings that stop us. Here's the core of it. When we have a difficult feeling, like anxiety, depression, anger, or the urge to quit, we think we have two options: express it or suppress it. Morita therapy offers a third. Acceptance. You coexist with the feeling, and you take action anyway. In this conversation we get into how you actually build that skill, not as a concept, but as something you train like free throws or piano. We cover why motivation is optional, what the maxim "lead with the body" means, why the smartest people often get the most stuck, and how to use your attention to relieve suffering in real time. We talk about recovering from real setbacks like job loss and divorce, and end on a surprisingly freeing idea about indecision: why what you do after you decide matters far more than the decision itself. Some highlights from the episode: 02:36 Origins of Morita Therapy 06:39 The third options 10:48 Thoughts vs actions 13:31 Purpose and feelings 17:24 Practice restraint and action 21:37 Directors vs actors 24:20 Willpower 27:27 Motivation and optionality 29:09 Lead with your body 30:38 Setbacks 33:29 Attention 35:37 Meditation 41:00 Breath practice 45:31 Resistance 48:24 Exercises over maxims 55:22 Indecision and commitment Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com/podcasts/
May 7 · 1 hr 2 min
The AI Fallacy: Dr. Jerry Kane on Education, Work, and What We're Getting Wrong
The AI fallacy is thinking the transformation is only in the tool. AI is already transforming education and work; not just because of what it can do, but because of what people believe it can do. Students, workers, managers, universities, and companies are all changing their behavior around AI, sometimes rationally, sometimes badly, and often before they even fully understand it. The AI paradox is that it is both a technology and a social event. It is a technology because it is something we install, manage, govern, and use. But it is also a social event because it functions as a moment in history, one that is already altering how people learn, work, teach, hire, manage, and make decisions. Treating AI only as technology leads to the fallacy: the mistaken belief that because a challenge is technical, the solution must also be purely technical. My guest is Professor Gerald C. "Jerry" Kane. Prof. Kane is the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Chair in Business Administration and Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, he has also served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School, a Guest Editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, and a Senior Editor at MIS Quarterly. Jerry's research explores the role of digital technologies in business strategy, organizational culture, and talent development, with a particular focus on how people and organizations respond to digital disruption. He is also the author of two books on that topic: The Technology Fallacy and The Transformation Myth: Leading Your Organization Through Uncertain Times. I had Jerry on the podcast before. This time, I wanted to talk to him because he sits in both worlds: he studies how companies adapt to digital transformation, and he is also a professor watching AI hit higher education in real time, not as a theory, but in his classroom, with his students, right now. Treating AI as a software update rather than a cultural shift results in 'bolted-on' systems that people neither trust nor understand. Some highlights from the episode. 02:13 Meet Professor Jerry Kane 07:12 How fast AI hit campus 13:22 The university policy divide 14:19 Workplace tools and incentives 17:36 Young minds and the outsourcing of thinking 20:20 Teach the basics first, then add AI 24:22 Degrees vs. lifelong upskilling 29:34 Curation as the new core skill 31:50 AI pushback from artists and creators 32:47 Ethical use over refusal 33:18 What's actually happening inside companies 34:13 Building a coalition of the willing 36:13 Shadow AI and the risks of unsanctioned use 38:25 Efficiency vs. transformation 40:44 Layoffs and AI washing 42:12 Middle managers and org structure 43:27 Adoption steps and safety 47:29 Minimal viable governance 55:35 Jobs anxiety vs. reality 58:30 Bullish long-term, uncertain short-term 1:00:49 Chatbots and attention traps Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com/podcasts
April 29 · 49 min
Happy or Hidden: Sonja Lyubomirsky on the Science of Connection and Feeling Loved
Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky is one of the world's leading researchers on happiness, human flourishing, and what actually helps people feel connected. A Professor of Psychology at UC Riverside, she is the bestselling author of The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness, published in 39 countries. Her latest book, written with Harry Reis, is How to Feel Loved. Sonja's work has shaped the modern science of happiness and earned major honors, including recognition as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel, and several leading awards in personality and positive psychology. She also writes a popular newsletter on the science of happiness, and her research has been featured widely in media, documentaries, podcasts, and public conversations around the world. On the show, we cover: Self-help culture and happiness The happiness trap: doing what we think will make us happy that can backfire The counterfactual gratitude practice The "masking effect": seeking admiration and its impact on connection The vulnerability paradox Being loved vs. feeling loved Curiosity as a way of making other people feel seen Challenging the Five Love Languages Why small daily moments of connection matter so much On AI: the rise of AI companions and simulated connection The multiplicity mindset: why people are more than one trait or action For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com
March 20 · 47 min
How to Decide: Gary Klein on Expertise, Intuition, and the Limits of AI
You make hundreds of decisions a day. Most of them invisibly. A few of them under real pressure, with incomplete information and no clear right answer. So how do the people who do this for a living like firefighters, surgeons, military commanders, and get it right when the stakes are highest? That's the question Dr. Gary Klein has spent his entire career answering. Not in a lab. In the field. With people whose next call might be life or death. Gary is a cognitive psychologist, a Senior Scientist at MacroCognition LLC, and the Chief Scientist at ShadowBox LLC. He's one of the founding figures of naturalistic decision making, the study of how people actually decide in the real world, under time pressure and uncertainty. He built the Recognition-Primed Decision model, which has been incorporated into Army and Marine Corps doctrine. He created the PreMortem method of risk assessment, endorsed by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler. He's the author of several influential books, including Sources of Power, The Power of Intuition, Streetlights and Shadows, Snapshots of the Mind, and Seeing What Others Don't, a fascinating deep dive into how insight actually works. Malcolm Gladwell put it simply: "No one has taught me more about the complexities and mysteries of human decision-making than Gary Klein." In this conversation, we get into everything from how Gary personally works through a tough decision to when you should, and shouldn't, trust your gut. We cover the value of first-person expertise, the difference between knowledge and knowing, how to use a pre-mortem, and why more information doesn't necessarily mean better decisions. Then we spend time on AI: what happens when people start outsourcing their thinking, and what might get lost in the shuffle. I also ask him to audit my use of his framework for managing uncertainty because there's a lot of that going around right now. Some highlights from the episode: 02:35 The White House Situation Room (and why he can't talk about it) 05:17 Writer's block, pen and paper, and how Gary structures his thinking 07:37 Walking through a real decision: the medical scenario 10:53 Intuition: when to trust it, when to question it 13:00 Pattern matching, mental simulation, and the Recognition-Primed Decision model 18:00 The AI concern: outsourcing decisions and eroding expertise 18:42 The pre-mortem: how it works and why Nobel Prize winners endorsed it 22:35 The 80/20 of decision making: build experience and frame the problem 27:12 AI and the younger generation: old fogey worry or real risk? 31:49 Why curiosity about failure is the thing AI can't replicate 33:06 Tacit knowledge: the invisible layer AI can't scrape 39:07 Five sources of uncertainty — and tools for managing them 42:36 Wrapping up: the cognitive dimension and what makes humans indispensable We go from the mechanics of expert decision making to a surprisingly urgent question: in an age of AI, what happens to the skills you never knew you were building? Enjoy!
February 20 · 53 min
More Than Matter: Philip Goff on Mind, Value, and Cosmic Purpose
Prof. Philip Goff is a British philosopher, author, and professor at Durham University whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness. He was an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Central European University and the Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham. Philip is also the author of Galileo's Error: A New Science of Consciousness, Consciousness and Fundamental Reality, and his most recent, Why? The Purpose of the Universe, is the touchstone for this episode. We're covering some lofty territory today: from the hard science of physics and cosmology to the deep waters of philosophy, religion, and the question of God. Some highlights from the episode: 06:16 Framing the big questions: purpose, consciousness, and the value hypothesis 10:00 Fine-tuning theory: dark energy and the "casino" intuition 12:54 Meaning: Frankl, suffering, and why questions matter 16:52 Agency and teleology 24:18 Mystics and mystical experience across traditions 28:04 Consciousness and panpsychism 28:52 The 'Why' book tension: cosmic purpose, hope, and meaning 30:14 Returning to religion: becoming a 'heretical Christian' 31:32 Meaning as beauty, gratitude, and 'pronoia' 34:06 Scientism and other ways of knowing 37:47 Religion as social technology: community over doctrine 39:23 Orthodox mysticism + Anglican flexibility 41:19 Prayer: orientation vs. supplication 45:08 Meditation: creative energy without certainty 51:04 Reflections on affordances and enacted meaning Quick note: at the very end of this episode I tacked on a short addendum. I share how this conversation actually landed for me. Enjoy!
February 2 · 1 hr 40 min
Beliefs Behind Your Stress: Dr. Walter Matweychuk on REBT and the 'Musts' That Wreck Your Mood
My guest on this podcast asserts that a huge chunk of our psychological stress isn't caused by what's happening but by the demands one quietly places on reality. In this episode, Dr. Walter Matweychuk teaches me about Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), which focuses on identifying and disputing irrational, self-defeating beliefs to reduce emotional distress and change negative behaviors. Walter makes the case that REBT is not just a therapeutic modality but a philosophy for living based on emotional responsibility, resilience, and a way to stop rating yourself as "good" or "bad." Walter is a psychologist with the University of Pennsylvania Health System and an adjunct professor at NYU who specializes in REBT. Formally trained by pioneers Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Aaron Beck, he integrates their foundational insights into a private practice serving clients worldwide. He is the author/co-author of multiple books and writes the Intermittent Reinforcement newsletter. Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Matweychuk is widely recognized for hosting the weekly REBT Conversation Hour, a long-running public demonstration of practical cognitive-behavioral strategies available at REBTDoctor.com. In this conversation: What Walter learned training with CBT legends Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck Shame vs. healthy concern, and Walter's "shame-attack" experiments The two big engines of disturbance: "ego disturbance" vs. "discomfort disturbance" The way dogmatic "musts" turn a bad moment into an emotional spiral "Philosophical acceptance": how to stop personal scorekeeping How to catch the belief that's driving a feeling in real time The little "8 ideas" card Walter sends people Long-term hedonism: how REBT thinks about pleasure, meaning, and tradeoffs Secondary disturbance: the second layer of suffering that keeps people stuck Emotional responsibility and why it's closer to freedom than "positive thinking" If stress is often a "demand in disguise," this episode might help you spot the demand and loosen its grip. Enjoy! Show notes and more at larryweeks.com
January 7 · 1 hr 5 min
How to Slow Down Time: The Psychology of Time Perception with Steve Taylor
Society views time as a fixed commodity, yet modern theoretical physics and cognitive neuroscience suggest otherwise. If the linear flow of time is truly an illusion, then time isn't just a resource to be managed; it's a perception to be mastered. My guest on the podcast today, Prof. Steve Taylor, argues that time isn't experienced evenly. He suggests that where you place your attention and how you live day-to-day can change the way time unfolds, stretching or compressing your sense of it. Steve is a researcher in psychology and a senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University. He has served as the chair of the Transpersonal Psychology section of the British Psychological Society. He writes the popular blog Out of the Darkness for Psychology Today and has contributed to Scientific American, The Conversation, and The Psychologist. In his work on "Time Expansion Experiences," Steve explores why we experience time differently in different states of mind. We discuss everything from slow-motion accident stories (and why calm can show up in chaos) to meditation, flow states, and the mind-bending "eternal now" where mysticism and physics converge. Highlights from the episode: Accidents and "slow-motion" perception: Why the mind slows down in crisis. The age gap: Why children experience long summers while adults feel seasons fly by. Retrospective time theory: How we judge duration after the fact. Automatization: How your brain edits reality to remain efficient. Digital distortion: Social media's impact on your experience of time. The power of novelty: How small changes can make life feel longer. The "Block Universe" theory: Exploring Einstein and Minkowski's spacetime. NDE life reviews: Examining the spatial sequence of memory. Time cessation phenomena: What happens when time stops altogether. The discussion moves from metaphysics to real-world advice on subjectively "lengthening" your life. Enjoy! Show notes and more visit larryweeks.com
Oct 8, 2025 · 35 min
When Goals Fail: Anne-Laure Le Cunff on How Small Experiments Change Everything
We've been taught that success comes from setting goals, defining purpose, and executing a plan. But what if those very habits—the linear drive for certainty—are what keep us stuck? Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist, founder of Ness Labs, and world-leading expert on mindful productivity, has an alternative: treat your life like a series of tiny experiments. In her new book Tiny Experiments, she explores how curiosity, liminal spaces, and small-scale testing can transform how we handle uncertainty and growth. Anne-Laure argues that traditional goal-setting and the "tyranny of purpose" trap us in rigid definitions of success and failure. Instead, she offers a science-backed framework for progress through curiosity-driven experimentation, an approach that replaces pressure with play and perfectionism with learning. We discuss how to navigate the in-between spaces of life, the thresholds between who we were and who we're becoming, and why those moments of uncertainty hold the most potential for transformation. Listen as we dive into how to build an experimental mindset that turns confusion into data and uncertainty into discovery. Highlights What if the most uncertain moments are also the most meaningful? Invisible "scripts" quietly running your decisions, and how to rewrite them Why rushing to "figure it out" might be costing you your next breakthrough How to turn fear of the unknown into curiosity about what's possible The surprising neuroscience behind why smaller risks create bigger change A four-step framework that turns uncertainty into momentum Why chasing legacy might be keeping you from real impact right now How to slow time without quitting your schedule The overlooked social hack that makes personal growth exponential What happens when you start studying your own life like a scientist If you're in between, unsure, or just restless, this conversation is for you. Anne-Laure shows that uncertainty isn't a problem to solve; it's the raw material of discovery.
Sep 8, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Fear, Anger, and the Plans They Hide: Angus Fletcher on the Science of Primal Intelligence
In a world increasingly dominated by AI and computational thinking, we've been taught that logic is the ultimate form of intelligence. But what if an over-reliance on pure reason is making us more fragile and less equipped to navigate uncertainty? Angus Fletcher is a professor at Ohio State's Project Narrative and the author of the best-selling book, Primal Intelligence. Angus's has had an extraordinary career path to say the least, from building mutant neurons in neuroscience labs to studying Shakespeare at Yale, and being recruited by US Army Special Operations to train their elite operators. Angus argues that the human brain is less a computational machine, and more a dynamic, narrative-based engine built for action and foresight. This "biological intelligence," often overlooked and untrained, is what allows us to operate with limited information, adapt in volatile environments, and innovate in ways no machine can. For his groundbreaking work on this very topic, Angus was awarded the Commendation Medal by the US Army in 2023. Listen as we dive into the science of your innate intelligence and how narrative thinking works, and how understanding what feelings are telling you can transform how you deal with uncertainty. Some highlights from the episode: Angus's journey from neuroscience to Shakespeare to Army Special Operations Why hard skill, soft skill distinction misses the point entirely How biological intelligence differs from computational intelligence The Army's discovery about decision-making in volatile environments A novel take on the purpose of emotions What fear and anger signals (and what to do about it) Special operators' techniques for turning anger on and off Why gratitude works best when applied to specific negative experiences The brain as a Swiss Army knife rather than calculator How to use emotions like a dashboard for better decision-making How an integrated past and branching future creates anti-fragility If you're curious about the kinds of intelligence that AI can't replicate, and how to better utilize yours, this conversation provides the science and practical tools to get started. For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com
Aug 8, 2025 · 50 min
When You're in a Hole: Tony Stubblebine on the Strategy, Psychology, and Lessons of a Business Turnaround
In this episode, I'm digging into the messy reality of business turnarounds, the kind where survival isn't guaranteed and leadership is more about doing the hard, boring things than dazzling with big ideas. My guest is Tony Stubblebine, CEO of Medium, whose recent post "Fell Into a Hole and Got Out" made the rounds for being one of the most honest and actionable stories about company rescue I've ever read. Tony's background runs deep: founder of Coach.me, architect of the Better Humans publication. This is what it's really like to take over a company bleeding millions, shrinking fast, and staring down insolvency. But it's also a story about staying steady, balancing the financial reality with the need to restore quality, purpose, and confidence to a battered team. There's no sugar-coating here, just real talk about layoffs, difficult investor negotiations, and why the business model has to come before your "next big thing." Tony walks us through the psychological and strategic ladder he and his team built, one rung at a time, to claw Medium back from the brink. He shares candid lessons for founders, hard truths about startup mythologies, and the personal practices that kept him sane when the stakes were highest. Here's what we cover: The "hole" no one talks about: what it's really like to inherit a company in crisis Brutal financial realities, cutting costs, and restoring a culture's sense of purpose Why the business model now comes before the product The Goldilocks problem of innovation and finding the "just right" middle ground How to negotiate with investors when a prior deal is dead and nobody wants to say it out loud Lessons on hiring, layoffs, and having the hard conversations with a team that's seen too many pivots The psychological "ladder" out, how to focus everyone on small wins The power of slow, steady self-improvement (meditation, journaling, therapy) for surviving big challenges Why Tony thinks each of us, just by living our lives, accumulate wisdom that can help others This is more than a highlight reel, it's a toolkit for anyone who's had to make the tough calls or wondered if they could. Enjoy the show.
May 20, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Medicine for the Mind: Donald Robertson on Ancient Therapies for Modern Stressors
There's something strangely reassuring about knowing people were wrestling with the similar issues we struggle with over 2,000 years ago — even if they wore togas and wrote with a chisel. Donald Robertson is a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist, acclaimed author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, and one of the world's leading voices on Stoicism. He's also the founder of the Plato's Academy Centre in Athens, and a founding member of the Modern Stoicism nonprofit. On this pod, we talk about the wisdom literature and how it can help with emotional distress; specifically, the idea of Stoics as ancient psychotherapists. Donald explains how Stoicism wasn't just a philosophy of life, but also a clear system of psychotherapy in ancient Greek and Roman thought. Some episode highlights: How shifting definitions shape our understanding of mental illness On the paradox of growth through adversity Struggle and transformation Experiential wisdom Fortune and the bitch goddess of success Stoicism as an ancient psychotherapy The philosophical roots of cognitive therapy On anger, and the art of self-mastery (Seneca, Galen) On Worry and rumination Marcus Aurelius Stoicism's broader vision On the "view from above" and the liberation of perspective How time expansion mitigates worry The complex relationship of thoughts and emotions The core proposition of both Stoicism and CBT How complaining signals resistance to reality Acceptance and the dichotomy of control How to reconnect with what's essential in a noisy world This isn't motivational fluff; it's a toolkit for anyone who's ever gotten tangled in their own head.
Apr 15, 2025 · 1 hr 7 min
Why Joy Fades: Tali Sharot on The Power of Noticing What's Always There
People think happiness comes from getting everything you want. But the science shows, it's the absence, the novelty, and the change that bring joy back - Tali Sharot Ever wonder why lasting happiness can feel so elusive? This episode delves into the neuroscience of habituation, and why our brains, despite achieving desires, tend to filter out positive experiences. We'll explore this phenomenon and uncover practical strategies to consciously re-engage with what's already good in your life. My guest is Dr. Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at University College London, where she directs the Affective Brain Lab. Tali's research blends neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics to study how emotion and motivation shape decision-making, memory, and belief. Tali's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The BBC, and her TED Talks have been viewed over 15 million times. We talk about her research behind why we adapt so quickly to both the good and the bad—and how this helps us survive, but can also rob us of happiness, creativity, and even the desire to change. This is the crux of her book, Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, co-authored with Cass Sunstein. If you've ever wondered why joy fades faster than it should—or why we stop seeing the beauty around us—this conversation offers a fresh perspective on how to disrupt that pattern. Some highlights from the pod: Tali's research background and the Affective Brain Lab Research insights into human–AI bias feedback loops Habituation: How our brains are built to ignore what doesn't change Why the mechanism that makes us resilient also makes us take good things for granted The problem of perfection; and getting everything you want Dis-habituation —and how to apply it to relationships and daily life Happiness and the evolutionary role of novelty How to use imagination and attention to rekindle joy and gratitude Why people with depression often struggle to recover—and the role of rumination How learning and effort unlock happiness Refreshing the familiar: Savoring, small changes, and role-play This is one of those episodes that can help you feel more alive—not by adding more to your life, but by changing how you see what's already there. Enjoy!
Mar 4, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Reclaiming Experience: Christine Rosen on Being Human in a Disembodied World
Does the richness of your world expand or shrink in direct proportion to how much of your life is digitally mediated? My guest argues that by defaulting to digital mediation—where technology filters and facilitates our interactions—we are trading away the richness of real, embodied experience. And in doing so, we risk losing—without even noticing—the very moments that make us happy and resilient. Are we shrinking our capacity for a full, messy, exhilarating experience of being human? Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she explores American history, society, culture, and the impact of technology on human behavior. She is a columnist for Commentary magazine, a fellow at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and a senior editor at The New Atlantis. Previously a distinguished visiting scholar at the Library of Congress, Christine has authored several books, including The Extinction of Experience, Esquire's Best Book of 2024, which serves as the foundation for our discussion. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and many other major outlets. She holds a PhD in history from Emory University, a third-degree black belt in Aikido, and teaches martial arts where she lives in Washington, D.C. On the show, we discuss Christine's book The Extinction of Experience and a variety of topics, including: Our shared interest in Aikido and martial arts The thesis of her book How technology mediates experiences Impacts on basic social interactions The concept of "ambiguous loss" Serendipity and chance encounters How human virtue is created Public spaces and the decline of social awareness Digital voyeurism The physical resonance of IRL events Self-isolation and the "loneliness epidemic" Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com
Dec 16, 2024 · 1 hr 22 min
Ep. 83: Why Depression Exists: Jonathan Rottenberg on the Evolutionary Origins of Mood
In this episode, we explore the human mood system and the origin of depression. My guest is Dr. Jonathan Rottenberg, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Better Outcomes Laboratory at Cornell University. His work examines long-term functioning and well-being after depression and related conditions, with a particular focus on explaining why some people achieve good outcomes. He received his BA from Harvard University, an MA in History from Johns Hopkins University, and his PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. Dr. Rottenberg's research has been covered in popular outlets such as the New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He has authored two books: The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic (Basic Books) and Depression: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford). His most recent digital outreach project is Ever After, a video series about life after depression. Here are some highlights from our conversation: Jonathan's own experience with depression and how it shaped his research and mission The evolutionary origins of the mood Mood as a system The parallels between human and animal depression Depression's survival strategy and modern stressors Distinctions between ordinary sadness and depression Why depression feels permanent—and why it isn't Rumination and how it wires the brain for recurring episodes The adaptability and resilience of the mood system How mindfulness can disrupt depressive thought loops Why some achieve 'better outcomes' after struggling with their mental health than others I think this episode will help many of you see depression and overall negative moods as part of a broader human experience rather than a personal failing. It's a must-listen for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of human emotion and the complex relationship between body, mood, and environment. Enjoy!
Nov 29, 2024 · 1 hr 14 min
Ep. 82: The Divided Brain: Iain McGilchrist On How We See The World
In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of the brain's hemispheres and their profound impact on how we perceive and engage with reality. My guest is Dr. Iain McGilchrist. Iain is a true polymath—a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, philosopher, and literary scholar. He's been a Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford and an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College. He's also a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and previously served as Clinical Director at the Bethlem Royal & Maudsley Hospital in London. He's been a research fellow in neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins and was a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Stellenbosch. He is also the author of a number of groundbreaking books, but is best-known for The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World and his monumental two-volume work, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World. Iain contends that the way the two hemispheres of the brain operate is fundamentally distinct. It's not that the hemispheres handle different functions, but that they approach these functions in entirely different ways. In this episode… The Divided Brain Attention and Survival Hemispheric Differences Historical Shifts in Society Mental Health and Modern Society Black and White Thinking Mindfulness and Meditation Intuition and Emotion The Importance of Open-Mindedness Consciousness and the Brain The Role of AI and Mechanization The Purpose of Life and Evolution Ian's ability to weave neuroscience, history, philosophy, and even poetry into a compelling thesis is unparalleled. Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com
Sep 13, 2024 · 46 min
Ep. 81: The Power of Curiosity: A.J. Jacobs on Living the Constitution and Bridging Differences
A.J. Jacobs is a renowned writer and participatory journalist, best known for his immersive, experiment-driven projects that push the boundaries of immersive learning. From living according to the Ten Commandments to exploring radical honesty, A.J. dives headfirst into his experiments, bringing humor and insight into everything he does. His latest endeavor? An exploration of the U.S. Constitution, attempting to live by its original meaning. A.J. is no stranger to this podcast—this is his second appearance, and if you missed our previous conversation, I highly recommend checking out Life As Experiment: A.J. Jacobs – Lessons From Living On The Edge. It's one of my favorites, offering a deeper dive into A.J.'s life and wild approach to self-experimentation. In his latest book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning, A.J. documents his year-long quest to embody the Constitution in its original context. From carrying a musket in New York City to using a quill pen, he immerses himself in the mindset of the Founding Fathers, bringing history to life in ways you'd never expect. In this episode, A.J. and I talk about his experiences, the surprises he encountered, and why curiosity is more vital than ever. Whether you're fired up about politics or just curious about how the past continues to shape our present, you'll love this conversation. Our conversation includes: The role of curiosity in A.J.'s life and work. A.J.'s immersive journalism. Past experiments like practicing radical honesty. Acting "as if" Curiosity as key to personal and professional growth. A.J.'s latest book and his experiences living 18th-century standards. The balance between rights and responsibilities as understood by the Founding Fathers. The original intent of free speech, its historical limits on sedition, and its modern implications in the age of social media. How the office of the U.S. president has evolved beyond what the Founding Fathers envisioned. Strategies for engaging in productive conversations with opposing views. Epistemic humility—recognizing that no one is always right. The future of society and existential risks, with insights from A.J.'s participation in the Longview Conference. I hope this episode inspires you to be more open and curious, and question your assumptions. Life is one big experiment—full of choices, tests, and lessons that help us grow and adapt. Keep exploring! Enjoy! For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com
Jul 1, 2024 · 1 hr 23 min
Ep.80: Your Crypto or Your Life. Nat Eliason: Financial Frenzies and Mindful Living
In this episode, we dig into FOMO and the temptations of quick wins and the importance of psychologically sustainable, long-term work. My guest is Nat Eliason. Nat is a writer and the author of Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance. Since he started publishing his writing in 2013, his work has been read by millions of people and spun out multiple businesses ranging from a marketing agency to a tea cafe. It's a wild story. In 2021 Nat set a six-month deadline to make as much money as possible before the birth of his first child, leading him to the world of cryptocurrency. In just a year, he made millions writing code that managed hundreds of millions of other people's money, became an influencer in the space, speaking at de-fi conferences, went through a platform hack, and despite amassing a small fortune, He started to question whether his wealth was truly secure and how long he could keep risking everything on the roller coaster investments his business was actually built on. Nat's journey. Startup culture and the "white-knuckle" mentality. The challenge of productivity optimization. Enduring impact of books vs. fleeting content of social media. The power law of writing. Redefining a relationship with creative work. Giving yourself credit for creative output. Cryptocurrencies, DeFi, and the real value of blockchain technologies. On the money-happiness equation. Career shifts, burnout and recovery. Lots of great life lessons here. For show notes and more, visit www.larryweeks.com

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