By Jim O'Shaughnessy
4.6
161161 ratings
The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.
I’ve always tried to encourage curiosity in my three children and now six (!) grandchildren. My kids often reminisce about my default response to their childhood questions: pointing to the bookshelf that flanked our sofa and saying, “look it up in there!”
Luckily, natural curiosity was never lacking in our household. Over the years, however, I have become increasingly frustrated when I hear about the stultifying, rote, curiosity-killing nature of our education system.
It was a pleasure, therefore, to speak to Audrey Wisch, an impressive young founder who, after witnessing first-hand how kids’ curiosity was being crushed, decided to do something about it. She left Stanford University to build Curious Cardinals, a personalized service that matches children with university mentors. What started as a pandemic project has grown into something much bigger - Audrey and her co-founder were named to the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 List in education, and Curious Cardinals has now delivered over 20,000 hours of mentorship to over 2,000 kids.
As you’ll hear in our conversation, Audrey’s approach to education is a breath of fresh air, focusing on agency and empowerment, meeting kids where their interests lie, and harnessing the benefits of technology.
I hope you enjoy our conversation! For the full transcript alongside bucketloads of other stuff designed to make you go; “Hmm, that’s interesting!” check out our Substack.
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Matthew Ball is the CEO of Epyllion, which makes angel investments, provides advisory services, and produces television, films, and video games.
He’s also a Venture Partner at Makers Fund, Senior Advisor to KKR, Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, and sits on the board of numerous start-ups.
Matthew is one of the sharpest and most original thinkers on the future of media and the Internet (i.e. The Metaverse). The fully revised and updated edition of his bestselling book "The Metaverse: Building the Spatial Internet" releases next week.
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Nat Eliason is a writer with a keen interest in writing about challenging and revealing things. His debut book, Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance (out July 9th, 2024), charts his personal odyssey into Crypto’s Get-Rich-Quick underbelly.
Nat joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of the cryptocurrency market, the lessons learned from his financial adventures, the psychological effects of bubbles, crypto’s cutting-edge developments, and MUCH more!
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Noor Siddiqui is currently building Orchid, a reproductive technology company that measures genetic predisposition to disease and provides embryo screening for couples going through IVF.
Noor joins the show to discuss the ambitious culture of the West Coast, getting into the Thiel Fellowship, her personal reasons for starting Orchid, the sacred act of reproduction and why it must be made safe, her belief in children as the future, and MUCH more!
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The Fourth Way is a pseudonymously run Youtube channel and Twitter page dedicated to the path of psychological and spiritual growth and self-improvement. Built around the philosophy of two thinkers - George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky - the ultimate aim of the Fourth Way is “to assist individuals in achieving a higher state of consciousness and self-awareness which can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful existence.”
Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about the four ways of being; how to befriend your centers; the keys to the universe; and MUCH more!
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Mona Sobhani, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and author. In 2022 she published her first book, Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe, which documents her “transformation from diehard materialist to open-minded spiritual seeker.”
Mona joins the show to discuss blowing open the box of materialism, why anecdotes are scientifically underrated, what she learned from studying decades of research into psi-phenomena, how quantum science is transforming the way we think about consciousness, and MUCH more!
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Described by David Perell as “like Rick Rubin for writing,” Ellen Fishbein is an author and writing coach and the founder of Altamira Studio, an independent publisher specializing in short-form books. She joins the show to discuss how traditional publishing disrespects intelligent readers, her advice for aspiring authors, what she’s learned from Shakespeare’s sonnets, and MUCH more!
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Professor, Mathematician and Writer John A. Paulos joins the show to discuss math education, the power of puzzles, cognitive biases, and MUCH more!
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Chris Wilcha is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and commercial director.
His latest film, Flipside, which is co-executive produced by Jim and presented in association with Infinite Films (among others), opens in select US theaters tomorrow (May 31st, 2024).
An ode to creative failure, abandoned projects, and rekindled passion, Flipside premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews. Here’s the full description:
“When filmmaker Chris Wilcha revisits the record store he worked at as a teenager in New Jersey, he finds the once-thriving bastion of music and weirdness from his youth slowly falling apart and out of touch with the times. FLIPSIDE documents his tragicomic attempt to revive the store while revisiting other documentary projects he has abandoned over the years. In the process, Wilcha captures This American Life icon Ira Glass in the midst of a creative rebirth, discovers the origin story of David Bowie’s ode to a local New Jersey cable television hero, and uncovers the unlikely connection between jazz photographer Herman Leonard and TV writer David Milch. This disparate collection of stories coheres into something strange and expansive—a moving meditation on music, work, and the sacrifices and satisfaction of trying to live a creative life.”
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“PHETASY IS a movement disguised as a company. We just want to make you laugh while the world burns.”
Bridget Phetasy is an entrepreneur, writer, podcast host, political commentator, burgeoning media mogul, and standup comedian. Over the past few years, her media company - Phetasy - has become an outlet for 100s of hours of social commentary filtered through her sharp and spiky worldview.
She joins the show to discuss the comedic temperature in America today; the role of comedy in contemporary society; humour as a weapon; and MUCH more!
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The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.
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