Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The fella who features here has been working with different divisions of Swedish law enforcement for over 20 years and this includes over 10 years with Piketen - Sweden’s equivalent of SWAT.

Piketen says their work is ‘particularly dangerous and complex situations’ and  this includes hostage situations, high risk search warrants, etc. Only 8% of people manage to complete the various psychological and physical tests that are required to make it into Piketen and it was on one of his first jobs with this division that the guest on this episode was involved in an incident that will remain with him for the rest of his life.

This is a deeply personal podcast going from his beginning to now, the full journey of a fella from northern Sweden who wanted to be policeman ever since he he could understand what it meant.

Now, I would love to give a bit of a broader context on the current issues around law enforcement that are being discussed in Sweden, but I am afraid I would not do it justice at all, so let’s leave it at if you are Swedish, I am sure you’re already informed, and if you aren't, than many of the issues are likely mirrored in your own country.

Lower trust in police, more scepticism, lower wages, less applicants, lower standards, more mistakes, harsher critics, negative media attention, and more and more and more context which paints policing overall in a negative light… which in my opinion is a losing strategy because even though everyone of us might have our own example of bad police, imagine if they weren't around, or on average, just as unskilled and as undisciplined as the rest of us.

That's a grim picture. Everything is as nice as it is, because there are people who enforce the law.

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

✍︎: https://curiousworldview.beehiiv.com/subscribe

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/tim-marshall/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following is with friend of the show and one of the most popular guests from this podcasts history.

This is his third appearance – he is the king of geography writing, he is the great and powerful Tim Marshall.

This interview covers everything from Tim on what makes good writing, the success of prisoners of geography, a prisoners of geography observation of Sweden, the long term effects of immigration in Europe, and of course… the future of geography… space all the way down.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:35 – Tim Riding On A Tank With Tim Butcher
• 03:33 – Why Writing For TV Is A Good Discipline
• 06:25 – The Enormous Success Of Prisoners Of Geography
• 10:18 – Sweden Through A Prisoners Of Geography Lens
• 30:32 – The Geography Of Space All The Way Down
• 45:05 – The Privatisation Of Space
• 53:35 – A Prediction For Space For 2050
• 59:25 – Indonesia – A Country Tim Marshall Is Bullish On

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Tim Marshall Prisoners Of Geography
• Tim Marshall Power Of Geography

✍︎: https://curiousworldview.beehiiv.com/subscribe

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/ed-conway/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following is with Ed Conway, who has written one of the most intensely curious books, it is called Material World and looks at some of these raw ingredients that have shaped the world we live in.

Namely, these materials are sand, salt, copper, oil, iron and lithium. 

Nothing will give you a greater appreciation for globalisation and the wondrous efficiency of global trade than this book will. It is kind of a miracle that things cost as cheaply as they do, and  are as ubiquitous as they are.

Time Stamps For Ed Conway

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:22 – Appreciation For Globalisation?
• 19:02 – ASML, Sand & Microchips
• 42:54 – Waste, Oil, Demographics & Recycling
• 1:01:42 – I Bring Up A Bizarre Anecdote
• 1:06:57 – Gina Reinhardt, Robert Friedland (crazy Steve Jobs anecdote) & Copper
• 1:25:22 – Serendipity
• 1:31:36 – Country You Are Bullish On
• 1:31:56 – Conversation Between Two People Of History

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Jos Benschop
• Vince Beiser

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/chris-williamson-interview/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

This was first published in early 2021 on this podcast.

Chris Williamson is the host of the Modern Wisdom podcast, one of Europe's and quite frankly - the worlds - fastest growing and most exciting podcasts for the inquisitive mind.

Chris has created something, in Modern Wisdom, that I quietly emulate and admire from afar. The prospect of getting the opportunity to speak with whoever you want around the world who interests you most is the absolute final motivation for why I started this podcast. Chris recently had on JBP Jordan Peterson, which marked for him this high watermark and realisation of this absolute motivation. 

We spoke about much. Stereotypes, being pigeonholed, stifling ones potential, imposter syndrome and not enough about cricket. 

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/norman-ohler/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

Norman Ohler is a German screenwriter, author and journalist.

Norman is most widely known as the author of Blitzed, an incredible book that documents the role of Pervatin (methamphetamine) and drugs during Nazi Germany and WWII.

In this podcast with Norman, you can expect to hear about…

• The moment of serendipity that lead to writing blitzed in the first place.
• A bit about the crazy debauchery of Berlin pre WWII.
• A brief history on drug synthesis including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and even Aspirin.
• The prevalence of meth in the nazi army and as well Hitlers codependency on his doctor.
• Norman addresses some of the criticism of the book.
• + as well he speaks about what the overall lesson is he hopes people take away from reading the book.

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• David De Jong

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/mitchell-prothero/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

Gateway By Project Brazen - Listen Now

Mitchell Prothero is a war correspondent and two time bureau chief in Iraq for both UPI and McClathcy Newspapper’s. He is a senior writer at VICE news, has written for Buzzfeed, and is now, the host of gateway, Project Brazen’s latest series which is guns, cocaine and dirty money in Europe.

This is truly one of the most fascinating and important stories happening in northern Europe at the moment. As Europe as a continent  is set too, apparently, overtake the USA as the gross largest consumer of cocaine in the world. And along with the increase in consumption comes the requisite increase in violence, corruption, money laundering and other criminal networks that the scale and money behind cocaine enables.

Time Stamps For Mitchell Prothero

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:54 – From Covering ISIS To Cocaine
• 05:49 – Anecdotes With Christopher Hitchens
• 12:05 – Deep Diving Into The Cocaine Wars Of Europe – Mafia, Violence & Narco States?
• 36:59 – The Role Of Globalisation In All Of This + The Question Of Legalisation
• 1:00:34 – The Stigma Around Cocaine
• 1:08:08 – More On Cocaine In Europe + Who Are The Keyser Söze’s?
• 1:29:12 – Who Is Mitchell Prothero & What Is This Project (Where To Find Him)

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Bradley Hope
• Nicky Woolf
• Christopher Turner
• Justin Scheck
• Gateway By Project Brazen

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/kevin-kelly/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following podcast is with Kevin Kelly.

He’s an eclectic fella with a broad array of experiences and interests, but most notably, he is the co-founder of Wired magazine, an og futurist, the photographer behind vanishing Asia, author of many many books… but most importantly to me, he wrote of one of the most viral blog posts of all time, ‘1000 true fans’.

Plus, he just published Excellent Advice For Living – a wonderful book of aphorisms.

Kevin Kelly has done at this stage probably 100’s of podcasts, I feel like I’ve listened to most of them, but while I cannot confirm this to be 100% true, I think this podcast can exist as evergreen material Kevin has not spoken publicly about before. 

We go top to bottom the role of serendipity in Kevins life. I ask him point blank what Tim Ferriss has done for him. Kevin opens up and then digs deep on the importance of communication and I even get Kevin to react to a Norm Macdonald quote at the end.

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• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:37 – Serendipity In Kevins Life & Travel Experiences
• 24:52 – ‘Be A Good Ancestor’ – Kevin Kelly
• 28:15 – What’s It Like Being Famous In China?
• 34:02 – What Has Tim Ferriss Done For You?
• 42:32 – Kevins Favourite Aphorism From The Book
• 46:32 – Kevins Advice On Elite Communication + Behind The Scenes On The Podcast Tour
• 57:22 – Kevin Reacting To A Norm Macdonald Quote + Reflecting On Mortality

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Unsolicited Advice From Kevin Kelly
• Nassim Taleb
• Bed Of Procrustes
• Tim Ferriss
• Thomas Erikson On Communication

✍︎: https://curiousworldview.beehiiv.com/subscribe

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/david-grann/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following is with one of the great living narrative non fiction writers, David Grann.

David is a staff writer at the New Yorker and author of one of my favourite stories of all time… the incredible life and adventures of Percy Fawcett and the Lost City Of Z.

David has of course, many other credits to his name, not least of which is authoring Killers Of The Flower Moon, which is a violent and horrifically true story from Americas wild west that has actually been turned into a movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio & Martin Scorcese to be released this summer.

David Grann has also authored the unbelievably rich and incredible story from the 1700s called The Wager, this story is confirmation of the project brazen tagline, that sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction. 

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• 00:00 – Introduction
• 02:14 – David’s Mum’s Influence On Him Becoming A Writer
• 07:22 – Introducing David To Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan & Publishing + David’s Experiences In Mexico
• 14:30 – Narrative Building + Sheer Body Of Research
• 27:02 – The Wager
• 43:14 – Sheer Body Of Research
• 52:16 – Working With Leonardo DiCaprio & Martin Scorcese
• 56:31 – The Role Of Serendipity In David’s Life
• 1:02:19 – Conversation Between Any Two People Of History + Great Stories Not Being Told

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Bradley Hope
• Walt Bogdanich

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/paddy-manning/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following is with Paddy Manning an Australian journalist who has just published an unauthorised biography of Rupert Murdochs oldest son – Lachlan Murdoch

This is such a good book. The story of the Murdochs is even better and more dramatic than succession would have you believe. The drama of the deals, the personalities, the extravagances of wealth, the politics. The Murdoch empire is one of the most fascinating group of companies ever assembled and…. the subject of this podcast Lachlan Murdoch – is supposedly set to inherit it all. 

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• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:52 – Paddy Mannings Opinion Of Lachlan Murdoch As A Bloke
• 26:24 – Lachlan Murdoch The Billionaire
• 36:11 – Lachlan’s Love Affair With Australia
• 40:02 – A Sense Of The Absurd Luxury (Succession)
• 49:57 – Roman Roy Is Based Off Lachlan Murdoch & What Succession Has Gotten Right
• 56:25 – What Has The Reaction Been To The Book In Lachlan Murdoch Circles + Serendipity

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Paul Cleary
• Dick Smith

🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryanfhogg/

The following is with Alan Krell - who is one of the pioneers of deep sea, saturation diving - which from the outside, feels just like one of the most high stakes professions you've ever heard of.

We are talking about risk and danger that few lines of work would ever expose you to, and as you hear in this interview, those risks and dangers take their toll.

We try to tell a linear story of Alan's career in deep sea diving, but as well, address the dangers, the near death experiences, the lifestyle, the people, the corruption and everything else that goes with it.

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• 00:00 - Introduction
• 02:35 - Nigerian Oil Rigs In The 90s
• 19:20 - Paul Cleary & The Risks Of Diving 
• 26:56 - Explaining The Bell & The Unbelievable Living Conditions Of Saturation Diving
• 54:09 -  Alan’s Journey Into Diving 
• 1:3:11 - Timeline & Crazy Diving Story's
• 1:22:00 - Life & Death & PTSD
• 1:53:35 - 10% Of Everyone Died

🍻☕: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ryanhogg

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Paul Cleary