When you have young children, the well-meaning, unsolicited advice flows. "Enjoy the moment, be present!" “It goes by so fast, cherish everything,” but also “don’t worry so much!” It feels like trying to grab a river with your bare hands.

This short episode originated from a project I love called AudioFlux, they post open calls for audio submissions with specific prompts (1) focus on “firsts” (2) convey the idea of time passing without a ticking clock (3) keep the length to exactly three minutes.  

At the time of recording this, our daughter Lulu had just turned one. Lulu’s mother Monty and I like to say “time is a feeling.” This collection of fugues is meant to convey that - how love and fear dilate and contract time. 

They also asked  submitters to show their handwritten work.  I apologize in advance, but here it is.

CREDITS:

Lulu voiced by Louisa “Lulu” Montan-Berezin
Monty voiced by Monty Montan
Gabe voiced by Gabriel Berezin

Editing by Gabriel Berezin

Follow AudioFlux!

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For anyone unsure if a recent memory was a dream or reality - come on down! YOU’re (kind of) the next contestant on…”WAS! I! DREAMING!?”

This episode is the crossover between Waking Life (Richard Linklater), The Game (David Fincher) and The Price is Right (Bob Barker) that absolutely no one asked for.

In a post-reality world maybe it’s a good idea to test our boundaries a bit more.

Odds are you won’t remember this show, but if you do - I sincerely hope you won’t remember whether it actually happened or not.

CREDITS:

Fugues is written and produced by Gabriel Berezin.

Original music composed by Grant Zubritsky.

Voiceover for Rod Roddie and Richard Linklater by Michael Giese

Script editing and audience voiceover by Monty Montan

Logo design by Justin Montan

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

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REFERENCES:

The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness

Waking Life

The Game

Almost at the same time, my family experienced a loss I feared my whole life and a new addition I’d fantasized about for decades. And I had a dream as it unfolded that was so clear I wrote down every detail after I woke up. Actually it was more like dream theater. And this theatrical production’s imagery and characters were scripted by grief, memory, and anticipation.

I’m pretty sure this little one-act was trying to tell me something, or at least Brian Cox was (obviously he was there). A new inner character appeared in this episode to decode what it was. He demystified dreams a bit, and shared how they work.

He also helped me understand why celebrities make cameos in dreams so much. And while many think we should leave the metaphors to the artists and songwriters, he explains why dreams prove otherwise.

Most oddly and importantly he shared the power of sneezing to cope with grief.  

So, if you’re grieving the loss of someone - the end of a relationship, the end of a life - maybe this will be cathartic. Maybe it could temporarily fill in for the therapy you've been avoiding, or couldn’t afford.

(Just kidding, I am absolutely not saying that last part.)

CREDITS

Fugues is written and produced by Mr. Gabriel Berezin

Playing the role of Gabe, Inner Gabe, Food vendor, Inner Voice and Dr. Hans Bob Zimmerman is....... Mr. Gabriel Berezin

Playing the role of program announcer and script editor.......Ms. Monty Montan

Playing the role of Brian Cox is.......Mr. Tim Lappin

Playing the role of  the "sneeze paradigm" sneezer.......Ms. Lulu Montan-Berezin

In the orchestra pit, playing original compositions........Mr. Grant Zubritsky

Artwork and logo design....... Mr. Justin Montan

Special thanks to Oliver Turner for extra voiceover and  Dr. Robert Berezin for insights based on his book, “The Play of Consciousness in the Theater of the Brain”

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The age old question. Does empathy cure personal beef? Actually from a butcher’s perspective that’s no good. Curing actually preserves beef.

Nevermind, nevermind...

I had a psychedelic experience with a mosquito that reminded me of an aggressive driver. It may, or may not have, changed my life.

Do I have to anthropomorphize EVERYthing?

--

CREDITS:

Written, produced and performed by Gabriel Berezin.

Script editing and Lady Inner Mosqutio voiceover by Melissa "Monty" Montan.

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Logo design by Justin Montan

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The research behind mosquito nocebo here.

The Reveal. 

Find out how this Mediclub experience ends.

The Assholes push the outer limits of the ASS scale. (What geminis!)

They stumble on unexpected terrain, questioning the very nature of reality.

This is Part 3 of 3.

--

Credits:

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin.

Original music by Santiago Arias-Rozo.

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Script editing and voiceover by Melissa "Monty" Montan 

Logo design by Justin Montan

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References:

• Does the Multiverse Exist?
• 4-7-8 Breathing Technique
• Study about why certain people are gullible
• English to Ned Flanders translator
• Jesse Isreal
• Mediclub
• The Big Quiet

In part 2 of Assholes, the immersive story of the Mediclub experience continues with three more fugues.

The Asshole co-hosts review the similarities between meditation, marijuana and the right hemisphere of your brain.

Then you'll see if 12-step programs fit or (don't fit) into the event.

Most importantly you'll find out what Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” has to do with the most under-appreciated part of your brain.

All culminating in a new and surprising ASS score.

See how deep these assholes go!

This is part 2 of 3.

--

Credits:

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin

Original music by Santiago Arias-Rozo

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Script editing by Melissa "Monty" Montan 

Logo design by Justin Montan

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References:

• Jill Bolte Taylor TED talk - “My Stroke of Insight”
• Weed and mindfulness, being present
• Carl Sagan on THC and brain hemispheres
• The history of 12 step programs
• Synchrony creates social bonds (Scientific American)
• Your (Tiny Dancer) Cerebellum
• More on cerebellum anatomy and function
• Private Dancer (Tina Turner)
• Tiny Dancer (Elton John)
• Audience choir from Jacob Collier

Ever been to a group meditation? How did you feel? Third eye open and a blissful permagrin? Or awkward and self conscious?

Fugues is back with a new talk show that measures gullibility and skepticism using a powerful scale. This new spectrum is defined by Larry David, Woody Harrelson, Betty White, Bill Murray and cats (not the musical).

Gabe and his Inner voice co-host discuss the neurological and psychological mental phenomena activated during a Brooklyn meditation retreat.

Find out what a Burger King Whopper has to do with our experience of time, and why getting picked last on the dodgeball court explains our cultural divide.

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series.

--

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin

Original music by Santiago Arias-Rozo

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Script editing by Melissa "Monty" Montan 

Logo design by Justin Montan

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References:

• Thinking about the Future (aka prospection)
• We aren’t meant to live in the moment (NYT)
• Guru podcast
• James Arthur Ray back at it
• Oprah doesn’t have a great track record on picking gurus (just saying)
• Physical pain and social rejection study
• Mediclub

How does increased power impact human minds? It’s almost not someone’s fault if empathy wanes while power accumulates. In fact, it’s basically inevitable.  

Joe Smarro, one of the subjects of the HBO documentary, "Crisis Cops: Ernie and Joe," is an exception to the rule. Joe is a police officer and trainer who gives a Master Class in how to sidestep fate when encountering people in crisis. We hear a few fugues from Joe illustrating what it's like to be a cop in these situations. And we give it the post-fugue treatment with inner voice, helping us to understand the cognitive effects of power and how to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Join us for the third and final part of this series on fate and biology. 

--

Credits:

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin.

Original music and sound design by Grant Zubritsky. Additional music courtesy of Sami Jano.

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Editorial insight by Melissa "Monty" Montan 

Logo design by Justin Montan

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--

Relevant Fugues episodes:

• The Brain's Molotov Cocktail | Fate & Biology | 1
• Bonding, for Better or Worse | Fate & Biology | 2
• Why So Irrational

References:

• HBO’s Crisis Cops, Ernie & Joe
• Joe Smarro’s TEDx talk
• Solution Point + (Joe & Jesse’s first responder training organization)
• Follow Joe on Twitter
• Waco Drama Series Preview
• Waco Siege History
• Gary Noesner
• Digby, The De-escalating Dog (that prevented a suicide)
• Jamil Zaki on police empathy and power
• Cognitive effects of power (Adam Galinksy, Deborah H Gruenfeld, and Joe C. Magee)
• Power drains empathy (Adam Galinksy)

Why do we help strangers? And why do we love revenge stories so much?  The same thing that connects those questions connects us all - bonding.

There’s an invisible line between groups of people - it can be a thin dotted line between acquaintances, a steel girder between mother and child, or a series of chain links between millions of people in the same country.

In Part 2 of this series on fate and biology, we identify the brain chemical that plays a central role in how we bond, and explore why certain group behaviors are inevitable. 

--

Credits:

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin.

Original music and sound design by Kirk Schoenherr and additional music by Grant Zubritsky.

Opening and closing music by Monuments - featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar).

Editorial assistance by Melissa "Monty" Montan.

Logo design by Justin Montan.

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Help us out - rate and comment on iTunes!

Further reading:

• Part 1 of Fate and Biology: The Brain’s Molotov Cocktail
• Counting to Twelve (the ultimate funk on Sesame Street)
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor (Mr. Rogers Documentary)
• Philadelphia greases light posts before 2018 Superbowl
• “Are we the baddies?” Aka, an existential crisis for nazis (mentioned by Inner Voice)
• The Science of Kindness (and oxytocin)
• The Neurobiology of friendship
• Nasal spray and oxytocin increased male cooperation
• The above study debunked (in Vox)
• Book: Sapiens (by Yuval Noah Harari)
• Book: The Power of Us (by Jan Van Bavel and Dominic Packer)
• Paying Mentorship Forward (podcast episode for the NeuroLeadership Institute featuring Josh and Kendrick)
• Panel in the Vatican celebrating the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

You ever get in a fight?  I did. Once. Wearing my Red Sox hat at Yankee Stadium. Me (and two Yankees fans) were basically high on an aggressive cocktail of brain chemicals that forced our collective hand. Stupid, pointless violence with strangers that almost cost me an eye.  

This episode’s fugue will describe the experience, followed by Inner Voice and I doing a post-fugue analysis. Together we’ll review the ingredients of a lethal cocktail that drove me into a dangerous, seemingly unavoidable situation.  

This is Part 1 of a three-part series about fate and biology, sharing the experience of situations that find us “stuck in time,” unable to avoid fate.

--

Credits:

Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin.

Original music and sound design by Grant Zubritsky

Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar)) 

Editorial insight by Melissa "Monty" Montan 

Logo design by Justin Montan

Follow Fugues: Substack | X | Instagram | Threads | TikTok

References:

• Study on GABA, serotonin and dopamine and its relation to aggressive behavior
• (And another study)
• Pic of my eye post-fight
• Slaughterhouse Five (the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)
• Sneaky Spirits Social Club (website) (instagram)