Occasionally Interesting

Full Episode Notes Here:

In episode 16 we speak with Jenifer Joy about the life of a professional unicorn, being joyful, inner magic, and so much more!

They're back! We return to podcasting and to Thailand after a long, overwhelming trip to America. This episode was recorded on a road trip through America, where we spend most of the time ranting about America and American politics. 

Full Episode Notes: http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-15-america/
We discuss:

• The paranoia native to America
• How awesome Thailand is
• The nature of thoughts. Are thoughts truly our own? Are they given to us from outside sources?
• Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk
• how much do the people around us influence our internal states?
• vague details of our trip to the US
• Congratulations Anna & Andrew
• Jen’s intense love of musicals and Crazy Ex Girlfriend
• Getting rid of our entire belongings and committing to digital nomad lifestyle
• shout out to Jen’s parents
• #Trevorbakespizza
• Perfectionist
• game of thrones spoiler alert
• civilization as we know it will over by 2050 according to new article
• the sexiness of notre dame burning down versus other countries experiencing tragedy 
• how do we make the conversation of global climate change palatable? How do we make the actions achievable? 
• NOW IN AMERICA
• It seems like a societal rule that it is irresponsible to not be stressed and worried
• What forces are at play in America that promote fear and  stress?
• story of stuff citizens united
• john stewart rally to restore sanity 

Full episode notes: http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-14-matt-bowden/

• Matt Bowden is known as many things: Starboy - inter dimensional traveler, Dad, and the Godfather of the legal high.
• Drug classification is based in racism and discrimination 
• Matt’s background - growing up in NZ, being something of a child prodigy
• Is there a correlation between intelligence and a fondness for psychedelics?
• What got him started in wanting to create legal highs - a cousin died and a friend stabbed himself with a samurai sword at a party
• The journey from conceiving the idea of creating a safer alternative, speaking to the government, creating the supply
• Then how other people came in and destroyed this and variations on this drug oversaturated the market and there was no controls to keep it from children
• He went to all those people who copied his drug, and said let’s work together
• Angel Care - Started teaching people about how to take care of each other and how to do drugs the best way - this worked for a while, but then people started taking advantage
• shout out AUM productions around 1 hour
• What happened when he went after the alcohol industry
• Why he had to leave New Zealand and move to Thailand, what that transition was like
• How his children have become rockstars in their own right
• How he manifested his wife and looking for signs
• safe spaces, gen z, freedom of speech
• drugs!

Full Episode Notes: http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-13-jen-james/

• In the intro, Jen tells her story of being electrocuted and her fear of crossing streets. Jen and Trevor discuss questions like: Are we raised to have the emotions that we have? How much fear should we instill into children for their own good?
• Then we get into the interview and start by talking with Jennifer about the physical changes that happen in your brain chemistry when you experience trauma
• EMDR Trauma therapy what it is and what it’s like
• a quick dose of brownie therapy
• Trevor’s hypothesis on emotional treatment – how can we give mental trauma the same respect and treatment as physical trauma?
• Over and under prescription of drugs
• the connection between how lobbyists lobby doctors and the rate of overdose deaths
• fentinol and all of its chaos
• Jen’s butt!
• Jen lied about her fur coat
• Mrs. Naylor is a bitch!
• Small talk is like foreplay
• We play interesting or not
• Michael Pollan is Jen & Trevor’s collective spirit animal
• We discuss trevor’s spirit animal
• #metoo and how commercials are exploiting it and all other social things
  • the dove beauty campaign
• out of the box thinking by james . com
• unsticking by jen . com

Full Episode Details here:
http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-12-rachel/

• This was originally a shorter episode, so we ended up recording a very feisty intro to make up for it. 
• We start the intro with a mild lover’s quarrel about podcasts and gardening, then it delves into Jen’s cooking methods, and then Trevor tricks Jen into eating something terrible and then tells about why it’s his favorite game 
• When we finally introduce Rachel we talk about cacao ceremonies - what they are, and why cacao is powerful and important. 
• We then discuss non sexual tantric exercises and why they are important for travelers and all kinds of people 
• Cacao is powerful in all sorts of ways, Trevor tells the story of when he found out that his brother was snorting cocoa loco 
• Cacao contains phenylethylamine, cannabanoids, caffeine 
• We ask Rachel about any ups and downs of co managing events with a romantic partner
• Jen and Trevor tell the story of how their former community spiraled out and collapsed, initially in an effort to maintain safespaces
• Jen’s experience with breath work and how she’s kinda annoyed that she doesn’t get to have tantrums anymore
• Emotional Freedom Technique a.k.a. Tapping - shout out to Annie
• The importance of learning to breathe

Full Episode Notes Here: http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-11-nick/

In this Episode we discuss:

• what does an environmentalist look like
• the glory of nanas (grandmothers)
• what led jen to opening a bakery at age 24
• Nick went bald at 16 years old – Star Trek let him know it would be okay
• How Nick got interested in electric cars from a toy his mom gave him as a kid
• New Zealand Politics
• Politicians in NZ start from all aspects of life – like plumbers and teachers
• Georgina Beyer is a Transgender politician and former prostitute who created prostitution reform laws! Policy written for the people by the people who know what they’re talking about.
• Keeping up with Joneses
• How to remember people’s names
• How Jen hates names and thinks the concept of names is so bizarre
• The mythical creatures we are taught growing up, but then Jesus is real
• Jen believed in middle names and leprechauns until she was a teenager
• Nick wrote a book at age 10 – My Brother Owen – a children’s book which talks about growing up with a child with fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Default emotional states – Jen is joy, Nick is neutral
• Electric cars, solar panels, lithium ion batteries
• Sesame – chinese government points system
• Community episode about getting points
• Dr. Who 
• Does having the internet at easy access make us better or worse as a society?
• Khan Academy 
• MIT published lectures
• There should be a mandatory critical thinking course in all education systems
• Why New Zealand is apparently the best country ever
• A bunch of cool New Zealand Facts
• NZ tried to change the flag – laser kiwi

Full Episode Notes Here:
http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-10-wes/

In this episode we discuss:

• Small talk: the differences and nuances of the small talk between travelers, the North and South of the US, how Northern Europeans don’t do small talk, and how this podcast is making Jen warm to the overall notion of small talk. 
• Wes is one of 9! The joys of Family and having built in soulmates
• Coming home after being away for a long period of time and how even if the surroundings haven’t changed, you have 
• In 5th Grade, Trevor knew who Jen would be to him as adults, so that is why they were drawn to each other
• How we met Wes - he created the melody for our theme song!
• Putting the shades of gray back into black and white issues
• The incredible organization that Wes works for is called Conserve Natural Forests 
• Individual action for environmental change
• Carbon footprints - the intense footprint left by flying, how surprisingly easy it is to offset your footprint by planting trees or making a donation for others to plant trees
• The story of how Wes met his partner and how bioluminescent plankton did all the work for him 
• Value systems and their importance, and how they’re gonna be making a come back
• Jen and Trevor are renegades of love
• What it means to be an asshole, and is there an appropriate time and place for it
• Labels / Identity politics and how humans are a multitude of conflicting values and beliefs
• Wes’s story about drunkenly forcing a hedgehog to be his pet for a night and the consequences of that
• The most important tool you can arm yourself with in the mission to save the planet and the human race is knowledge. Do research! Learn as much as you can!

Full Episode Notes here:  http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-9-ryan

In this episode we discuss:

• What happens during anesthesia 
• Skin bleaching and beauty standards 
• Is it a good thing to be a bullshitter
• Do authenticity and bullshitting go hand in hand?
• Life as a magician and the lessons magic has taught him
• Ryan quit his job when he was 24 to live in a van, chasing summer and telling jokes and doing magic
• Is it super cool and groovy to be enthusiastic?  We think so!
• What it means to be a nerd
• How growing up with the internet enables you to find your tribe 
• The relativity of time to age
• The further now and the way back there now 
• His story of heartbreak that brought him to Pai 

Full Episode Notes: http://www.occasionallyinteresting.com/episode-8-tashi/

• Basing his life around a book - Jitterbug Perfume 
• How and why Tashi moved from a tiny mountain village in Nepal to Los Angeles and back
• TASHI FOR PRESIDENT
• Tashi’s epic love story of meeting his wife
• Buddhism 
• Tashi's future book - The Manual for how to Live
• What makes one person inspired and one person jealous from witnessing the same event
• Cultural Misappropriation 
• The concept of personal space doesn’t exist in nepal