Rebound Talks

Mindfulness, Self-compassion, and Memory Reconsolidation with Tim Desmond.

Tim Desmond is a psychotherapist, author, Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Antioch University New England, and student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Founder of Peer Collective, an app that allows you to find and schedule meetings with professional therapists worldwide and co-founder of Morning Sun Mindfulness Center. He specializes in teaching mindfulness and self-compassion practices to audiences around the world.

 

Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. She is also a sociology professor at NYU and a visiting professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University. She is also the author of six prize-winning books that focus on what we should eat and the politics behind the food system. 

This interview has completely changed how I look at nutrition and how food companies shape our day-to-day lives. Even if you feel like you don’t care about nutrition, we all eat, and this is something that we have to understand and use to our advantage.

Some questions I ask:

(02:16) How politicized is food production in general?

(09:50) What marketing strategies are junk food companies using that are similar to the cigarette industry?

(11:39) If these companies are always trying to skew the science, what dietary information can we trust? 

(13:37) What diet should we be following?

Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Díaz on Unprocessed Trauma, Purpose, and Art.

Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and fiction editor at Boston Review. Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience, particularly the Latino immigrant experience. Diaz received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and received a MacArthur Fellowship "Genius Grant" in 2012.

In this interview he is going to be opening up about how being a poor immigrant, rape survivor at the age of 8, and having to deal with an abusive father didn’t stop him from becoming one of the greatest writers from our time.

Peter Walsh is an expert in organizational design, television & radio personality, and author. He was a regular guest for five seasons on The Oprah Winfrey Show and is the author of six best-selling books on the subject of organizing. He aims to help people live richer happier lives with a little more organization.

Today we will be discussing how COVID-19 has changed the workplace, how you can set up your work environment from home to increase productivity, how to declutter your mind and live a less materialistic lifestyle.

Sam Richards is a sociologist and teacher of the largest race relations course in the US. Every Tuesday and Thursday he livestreams his classes on YouTube, and he has amassed a huge following. SOC 119 was the subject of an Emmy Award-winning television broadcast called, “You Can’t Say That.” Sam’s willingness to take risks and push new ideas is what led him to be named one of the “101 Most Dangerous Professors in America.” In his  Penn State University course he attacks, with humor and courage, questions most would choose to avoid.

He is also the founder of the World in Conversation project. Every year, more than 7,000 students participate in its mission is to create a conscious dialogue around the politically incorrect thoughts of the participants, bringing them out in the open for inspection.

Some question I ask:  Where do you think the future of education is going? How have you managed to get people from a certain culture and place to entertain opposing ideas? How can we tackle the problem of fake news and getting to the bottom of the truth? With social media just re confirming our existing biases, where do you see the future of society going and how can we battle against this?

Stoic Techniques for Self-Mastery with Dr. Massimo Pigliucci

Massimo Pigliucci has a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. He is currently the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. Prof. Pigliucci has published 162 technical papers in science and philosophy. He is also the author or editor of 12 books, including the best-selling How to Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books)

Today we are going to be talking about: focusing on what you can control, preparing yourself for your family’s death and your own, and what stoics techniques you can use for self-reflection and self-improvement.

Pixar's Co-founder Loren Carpenter, on entrepreneurship, problem solving, and consciousness

Loren Carpenter co-founded Pixar and revolutionized the entire film industry by inventing and modeling algorithms that create animations that most Pixar's movies use. In 2001, he and two colleagues were awarded the only Oscar statuettes ever given for computer science. In 2014, he transitioned from his position as Senior Research Scientist in Disney/Pixar's research division to that of a Scientist at IONS.

Dr. Martin Gibala on The Future of Exercise

Martin Gibala, Ph.D. (@gibalam) is a professor and chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University. His research on the physiological and health benefits of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has attracted immense scientific attention and worldwide media coverage. He is also the co-author of the book called The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter.

Today we will be talking about how you can use interval training to burn fat, increase your health span, and improve your overall fitness level.

How Stoic Philosophy Can Change Your Life with Donald Robertson.

Donald is a writer, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist, and trainer.  He’s a specialist in teaching evidence-based psychological skills, and known as an expert on the relationship between modern psychotherapy (CBT) and classical Greek and Roman philosophy. More specifically, stoicism. In his latest book, How To Think Like a Roman Emperor, he dives deeply into one of the most famous stoics of all time Marcus Aurelius. 

Today we will be talking about how to manage your anger, why people constantly confuse pleasure for happiness in our society, and the techniques that the stoics use to become their best selves.

Robert Greene on Irrationality, Death, and Fate.

Robert Greene is an American best-selling author on book about strategy, power, and seduction. He has written six International best-sellers including The 48 Laws of Power, The 50th Law co-authored with rapper 50 Cent and Mastery. The 48 Laws of Power has been widely referenced in pop culture including songs by Jay-Z, Kanye West, and is currently being adapted into a documentary series by the rapper Drake. The book is known worldwide and is also one of the most requested titles in American prison libraries. His latest book The Laws of Human Nature explore the principles that govern our behavior and how to use this knowledge for continuous self-improvement.

Some questions I ask: (03:35) You mention that you had 80 different jobs before becoming an author. Why did you decide to stay in the apprenticeship stage for so long? (06:50) Would you say that you believe in fate? (24:40) What have you done to stay true to yourself? (37:19) Why do you end your book “The Laws of human Nature” with death?