The Adrenaline Zone

It Is Brain Surgery with Neurosurgeon Dr. Ralph Dacey

Neurosurgery is one of the most demanding medical fields, with practically no margin for error when operating. One small miscalculation can have profound effects on the patient. As a neurosurgeon and former chair of the Washington University Department of Neurosurgery, today’s guest, Dr. Ralph Dacey, knows all about this pressure and responsibility. He begins the episode by outlining the demanding and competitive route into neurosurgery, including the surprisingly low attrition rate and how emergency care is incorporated into training. Sandy then asks Dr. Dacey how he deals with risk, and he points out that neurosurgeons don’t risk their own lives but those of their patients, meaning that the burden must be shared by establishing a relationship built on medical ethics.

Next, Dr. Dacey discusses the discipline of neurosurgery, including the state of current knowledge on the brain, the main sub-specialties, and the conditions that cannot yet be successfully treated. He also goes into detail on what happens in the operating room, describing the process of fixing an unruptured aneurysm, how neurosurgeons navigate inside the brain, and how forceful backup has become a more prominent part of the operating process. And finally, Dr. Dacey discusses the great highs and lows of being a neurosurgeon, emphasizing that it’s ultimately a very rewarding life, with the highs definitely outnumbering the lows.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“Neurosurgeons make up about 0.4% of all the physicians in the United States. So it’s a competitive process, but mostly what we’re looking for is people who are capable of working very hard and intensely. People who are capable of absorbing and processing a lot of technical and scientific information. We also want people that have fine character, like you’re looking for in the Navy, and to be astronauts.”

“There is a difference between people like you two and neurosurgeons with regard to how we deal with risk. When you did your risky and challenging things, you were risking your lives. It’s different for us because we don’t risk our lives, the patient is at risk. And we have to share the burden of that risk with the patient.”

“There’s some evidence that by very specific paradigms of stimulation of the brain, with minimally invasive, stimulating devices, that we may be able to improve memory and treat people with refractory depression. So we are working constantly with the neurologists on trying to expand our ability to take care of all the diseases that affect the brain. But you know, there are many that we can’t successfully treat now, like progressive supranuclear palsy.”

“The forceful backup is definitely something that’s much more prominent now, in the operating room and in any kind of medical situation. So any member of the team is encouraged to speak up if they don’t think something’s going properly or there’s a problem. And if someone does that, we basically stop and try to figure out what the problem is. And that has been a great improvement in the way we do things in surgery and in medical care in general.”

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Under the Ice with Submarine Commander Sean Flanagan

Chatting with Sandra and Sandy today is Sean Flanagan, former captain of the USS Pasadena, a nuclear powered submarine that sails in the Arctic Circle. When operating military machinery under ice caps and keels, some reaching 200 feet deep, the term ‘Cold War’ takes on a new meaning. Since 2009, the U.S. has maintained a national presence in the Arctic to protect our interests throughout the region, and Flanagan’s experience doing so is just what the trio talk about today. After graduating from high school at the age 18, Flanagan joined the Navy for what would turn out to be a very long and successful career.  

On today’s episode of the Adrenaline Zone, Sean talks about life beneath the ice, the hard work that granted him such a position, underwater navigation tools, and how he and his team prepare for emergencies. Living and working on the USS Pasadena, Flanagan reckoned not only with the importance of experience, but also the lack of off duty time that accompanies the job. He closes out today’s episode with a brief story remembering a moment when things got a little hairy. So be sure to listen in to today’s special episode to learn a little bit more about life under the ice.

The Finer Details of This Episode: 

Quotes: 

“I would say operating a submarine under the ice sort of gives a new meaning to the term ‘Cold War’.”

“So that first tour for a junior officer is basically learning everything that you can about being a submarine officer.”

“By the time you get to be the captain of a sub, you've had at least three submarine tours; you probably have four because you started off as an enlisted Submariner, and then all this other training and preparation.”

“In 2009, President Bush signed the National Security Presidential Directive 66, which basically said that our role in the Arctic is to assert an active and influential national presence to protect those interests and to project sea power throughout the region.”

“It turns out that when ice forms, the different flows can kind of crash into one another, and instead of fusing together they create one that will go under the other one. That will create these long, very deep ice structures that are called ice keels. And they can go down to 200 feet deep.”

“So you've got the things over you that are coming down 200 feet and you have the ground that is coming up at you–you can be very constrained, I mean to the tune of several meters above and below you.”

“One of the things that really struck me when I was in Annapolis… was the importance of experience.”

“What I will say is that in high risk, high intensity operations, a lot of their off duty time is spent preparing for their on duty time. And then we still had to do things like laundry, eat, and clean– that kind of stuff.”

“So you have to basically do a controlled sinking and the submarine, you have to make it heavier than water. And it has to go down and it has to get deeper than all these ice keels before you can start moving forward. While you're sinking the submarine deeper, deeper, and deeper, you don't have your control surfaces. Your main engines aren't warmed up as you're doing all these things in the meantime.”

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USS Pasadena

Himalayan Odyssey with Hyatt Chairman Tom Pritzker

The Himalayas are a massive mountain range in Central Asia that inspire awe and respect in anyone who visits. Humans have been living in their shadows for centuries, and the region is rich in culture and history. As well as being Chairman of Hyatt Hotels and The Pritzker Organization, Sandy and Sandra’s guest today, Tom Pritzker, is also a recognized archaeological expert on a particular section of the western Himalayas and Tibetan art and culture. He’s here today to discuss the remarkable work he’s done and continues to do in the remote areas of the Himalayas to discover and expose the traditions and heritage of this region.

Tom opens the episode by sharing how he got interested in archaeology as a subject and the Himalayas specifically. He recalls a childhood memory of tracing his future adventures on a map of the world and how he later went searching for a cultural adventure with his wife Margot, winding up living with the Tibetans in Trans-Himalaya for two months in 1978. He then describes becoming interested in Rinchen Zangpo, the priest who brought Buddhism to Tibet, and following the places named in his biography for the next forty years, including discovering a historically significant bronze commissioned by Zangpo himself. Tom also discusses how the philosophy of Buddhism has positively influenced his life, including in the business world, helping him to develop a healthy mind and an agile mindset.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“This is Trans-Himalaya, this is literally on the northern side of the Himalayas, sort of sandwiched in between the Tibetan border and the Himalayas. And it’s Tibetan community, and we lived with the Tibetans for more than two months. And this was all walking, no communication, lots of adventure, lots of discovery. We think we were in the first ten outsiders to ever penetrate this area. And so that opened up a whole window into a world that was just very, very different.”

“We go in to the temple keeper and say, ‘We need you to take the clothes off the bronze.’ This would be like, at a dinner party, saying to your dinner party, ‘Would you mind taking off all your clothes?’ Guy thought we were completely nuts, convinced him to do it, and sure enough, the ring finger on his right hand was missing. And so, we had discovered this bronze that’s written about in history.”

“The one thing all of us can control is our attitude. We get to completely own it, and nobody has any rights to it. And if you can make that malleable to a situation or to some adversity, if you can begin to look at that in a certain way and have it make sense to you, all of a sudden, you get up in the morning and say, ‘You know what? This is interesting. This is a time under assault. This is gonna be really interesting to see how they do it, how I do it, how we navigate it.’”

“In the business world, to me, the scarce resource is not IQ, it’s judgment. And I’ve always tried to figure out, how do you train for judgment? What are the correlations for judgment? And my hypothesis—I have no idea if it’s accurate or not—is that experience is the breeding ground for judgment. And I always tell my kids, if you can just have zillions of experiences, that’s going to improve your judgment.”

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On this episode of the Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra are joined by storm chaser Hank Schyma, aka Pecos Hank. Unlike most who go indoors when thunder roars, Schyma does the exact opposite. When a severe storm warning crosses his path, he packs up his car with film gear and heads off to rendezvous with the storm. Today he talks about all things Mother Nature, from hunting for hotspots and the unexpected dangers of storm chasing to TLE’s and Hollywood’s hokey interpretation of the job.

Opening up the episode with brief notes on his childhood love for storms, Hank recalls the journey that led him from his boyish bedroom to Tornado Alley. As one would expect with a career like Schyma’s, making his dream a reality was no easy pursuit and certainly cost him a lot - especially in gas money - along the way. So listen in today and get swept up in Hank’s riveting analysis of the ins and outs of storm chasing, the rather unexpected dangers of the chase, and the role that adrenaline plays in this work to which he has dedicated his life.

Thanks to Culligan Water for sponsoring this episode!

The Finer Details of this Episode: 

Quotes: 

“If something doesn't interest me, it's going to be really hard for me to learn it. So cameras, documenting things, and Mother Nature has always just been so easy for me.”

“On those days, you kind of feel anxiety and adrenaline. You're feeling that on the morning you wake up, because wow, ‘Godzilla’ is coming, even though he's nine hours away.”

“The things that I'm good at, and the things that I'm not good at in life have funneled me to this trade.”

“I would take a close tornado that I'm in control of versus I-35 commute any day with the people driving on their phone; that is so dangerous. And we can joke about that, but for storm chasers, that's the big reality: the danger is the commutes.”

“People talk about the adrenaline junkie. And I've said, I'm not that guy now. I'm like, maybe I just don't understand adrenaline. But for me, I've always thought that it gets in the way of what I'm trying to do.”

“So if I'm screaming, cursing, and shaking the camera, that interferes with– even though that can be a great delivery for entertainment, I'm not ragging on that style at all. But my style is I want to go back and observe the tornado. And it's easier to observe with stable footage.”

“So there's a very high false alarm rate, which is what they've opted to do; better to warn than not warn.”

“So perhaps the green ghosts are shedding light. I think people were surprised that the oxygen was exciting at that level.”

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On today’s episode, Sandra and Sandy are joined by professional baseball catcher Yan Gomes of the Chicago Cubs. Yan is one of the best in the game, having spent ten years of his thirteen-year career in the major leagues, including as a world champion with the Washington Nationals in 2019. He kicks off the episode by sharing his journey from growing up in Brazil with a family of athletes to finding his feet in the US through baseball and finally heading to the University of Tennessee before becoming a pro and playing all around the country. Sandra then asks about life behind the plate and the risk inherent in catching, and Yan shares that he loves that risk because it makes him feel involved in the game no matter what. He thinks physical collisions are all part of the job and isn’t a huge fan of rule changes that try to eliminate them.

Of course, it’s not just physical risk that catchers endure, and Yan next discusses the mental processing he does during a game in his role as real-time game manager and leader of the infield. In particular, he talks about the relationship between pitcher and catcher, the differences when dealing with rookies and veterans, and the importance of accepting compromise instead of bullishly insisting on your way. The conversation then shifts to Yan’s time on the World Series-winning Washington Nationals team, and he gives some insight into how they recovered from a pretty miserable record by changing their mentality and learning to have fun while playing. Yan also shares how it felt when he caught the last pitch of the series, securing the win, and the memories that still give him goosebumps to this day. And, to round off the episode, Yan gives his opinion on umpires, his contributions as a hitter, and the routines (not superstitions!) he follows before a game.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“I actually just ran away from school one day. I just wasn’t adjusting very well, but then, to kind of loop back around, my sports brought us all back together. I had a really good friend of mine that we played baseball with, and they started noticing that I could play baseball. And that’s how I adjusted better and started making friends.”

“I actually came up as, like, a super-utility guy. And I just always felt like there could be a whole game where I wasn’t even a part of the game, like I’ll be hiding out in left field or hiding out at third base sometimes. So catching, to me, it was always like, man, no matter what, I’m always involved. No matter what, I can show the bruises that I got in today’s game.”

“It taught us to really just go one and oh, worry about what’s in front of us right now. What’s tomorrow is gonna come. And that really changed our mindset. And we truly started having a lot more fun, started really, truly playing for each other, and that’s the recipe for a winning ball club, really.”

“It was a moment where we had a guy like Ryan Zimmerman, who’s been with this organization, with the Nationals for as long as the Nationals have been there. Watching the look in his eyes when he’s like, I can’t believe it. Like, we’ve done it. You know, we’re all grown men, and we’re all in tears. It gives me goosebumps to even think about it because I remember those moments like it was yesterday.”

“I think as the game evolves, the beauty of baseball and baseball players is that we evolve as well. I can tell you, when I first came up, there was no chance I could hit 100 miles an hour. Now, you’re seeing that every day. So, 100 miles an hour, it’s still really fast, but we’ve been able to slow the game down and been able to slow down 100 miles an hour.”

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Today on The Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra welcome Rebecca Brock Dixon, founder of the*gameHERs, a media platform and social network for women who game. In this episode, Rebecca lets us into the world of esports, what it takes to start a business, and why what she’s doing with gamers is changing the sport. First up, Rebecca shares how she got into gaming herself, having started in the corporate professional world before moving into entrepreneurship and getting drawn into esports by the huge success of the gaming industry and the fact that half of gamers are women. Next, Rebecca explains exactly what esports is—professional, competitive video gaming—how it’s structured and monetized, and what the experience of going to a tournament is like. She also talks about the amazing fan culture and the enthusiasm fans have for their teams and favorite players.

Rebecca then focuses on the involvement of women in gaming and esports—about half of the world’s three billion gamers are women—and how, despite such numbers, women gamers are often overshadowed, especially in the media and the professional side of gaming. Rebecca suggests that much of this is down to the early marketing of games as “boys’ toys” and their reputation as being isolating but points out that women have always been part of the gaming world and are eager to share the great experiences they’ve had through it. Moreover, she highlights how games can teach valuable, transferable skills, from hand-eye coordination to teamwork, that can be used in myriad industries, including the wide variety of jobs on offer in esports. And Rebecca also discusses her company, the*gameHERs, which aims to be the go-to space for women interested in gaming, whether they’re looking for community or professional opportunities.

Thanks to Culligan Water for sponsoring this episode! With Culligan's drinking water systems, you can get the ultra-filtered water that you need to fuel your high-performance lifestyle, right on tap. Learn more at Culligan.com.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“The statistic that everyone loves to quote is that gaming is twice the size of the movie plus the music industry. So you take movie plus music times two, gaming is still bigger than that. So I thought, wow, I kind of want to learn more about that.”

“When the players arrived on stage, it was like madness. I mean, it was just complete celebrity freakout, and all the colors of each team were there, they all have cheers, it is literally like a sporting event. They all have nicknames, and they were giving the heart.”

“We are sitting in a moment in time when gaming is intersecting with quite literally everything from education to health care, to the military, to kids, adults. And so, the word gaming itself, the video game industry itself, almost needs a little bit of a rebrand and PR makeover.”

“Most of these women want to talk about all the great stuff, you know, how they met their best friends through video games, how they got their career through video games, how they had some serious mental health problems, and video games were a tool that they were able to use. And in fact, one of our strongest partners, one of our most long-term partners is the Center for Suicide Awareness. And one of their main tools that they use is gaming.”

“Kids who play on esports teams are more likely to do a lot of the stuff I just said, like the six-figure salary right out of college, but more likely to volunteer in life and be compassionate and charitable. And you know, it makes sense. I mean, you’re on a team, you’re learning responsibility and disappointment and hard work.”

Links:

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the*gameHERs

On today’s episode of The Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra welcome Captain Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to ever serve as the Executive Officer and then as the Commanding Officer of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. Amy starts the conversation by taking us all the way back to her beginnings and telling us about her journey of becoming a naval aviator. During the time she spent at the Naval Academy, Amy got a chance to go through different types of training and see many aspects of the Navy. Since being a naval aviator allows you to explore a lot of possible pathways after squadron command, one of them being entering the pipeline to become a carrier CO, Amy decided to pursue this path and become the first woman to command an aircraft carrier.

Next, Amy talks about different leadership challenges, from commanding USS San Diego as preparation before switching to USS Abraham Lincoln to studying naval aviation and getting nuclear power training. She says these experiences were challenging, but extremely beneficial to her career. Then, she opens up about the major risks that can occur when commanding an aircraft, emphasizing the importance of mutual support and understanding in a navigation team. To put it in her words, ‘it is all on the Commanding Officer's shoulders, but you're never doing any of it alone’. Finally, Amy shares her experience of being a woman in the Navy and the first woman to command an aircraft carrier. She believes that the stakes have changed for women and that she is really optimistic about where the Navy is going with women.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“One piece of advice I was given by some at the time, folks that had completed command was, 'Hey, think about what comes after that.'”

“It’s the folks above you that understand the expectations and the standards that ensure that as you grow up, and you get higher and higher qualifications, that you are getting done exactly what needs to be done for, frankly, in one of the most dangerous places in the world, which is the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, but it's also amazing.”

“Yes, it is all on the Commanding Officer's shoulders, but you're never doing any of it alone. And I do have an incredible navigation team and incredible reactor team and incredible air department team.”

“I think leadership is hard because it is people and not everyone is motivated by the same thing, not everyone responds in the same way. And when you're talking about 5000 people, it's a lot of people to try to move in a direction.”

“Come to my ship, you will see the next generation, and you will have absolutely no concerns whatsoever about where this country is going because they're incredibly amazing human beings.”

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On today’s episode of The Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra interview two-time World Champion skier and lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Chris Davenport. Widely recognized as one of the top skiers in the world, he is the first person to ski all fifty-four of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks in less than one year. Chris starts the conversation by talking about his earlier skiing experiences. As he recounts, he was exposed to all the joys of being outdoors very early on so the passion for outdoor activities was instilled in him at a young age. Then, Chris discusses the potential risks and challenges that sports like skiing involve. According to him, the trick is to get smart at handling risk.

Next, Chris talks about the "goosebump" moment that all ski athletes experience – the feeling of looking down a huge mountain, seeing a big crowd cheering you on, and observing the surroundings. Believe it or not, Chris still gets butterflies in his stomach in moments like these which is one of the many indicators of his love for skiing and ski racing. Then, Chris discusses one of his biggest accomplishments, becoming the first person to ski fifty-four mountains in one year. He even wrote a book about it, called Ski The 14ers, where he told a story about this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Finally, Chris proceeds to talk about the importance of efficient equipment for skiers. He also opens up about his current projects and activities. He’s still very much spreading his passion for skiing and teaching others to understand the language of the mountains.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“Part of the reason I loved doing this sport and continue to love being out in the big mountains is I love looking at it holistically: How do we get the best possible outcome from the thing that we're trying to do, whether it's climbing a mountain or skiing back down a mountain? And what are the things that could trip us up trying to identify those potential risks, and then figure out how we mitigate them.”

“The goal of getting to the top or skiing back down is almost secondary to the experience of just being out there. So, when I think about it that way, and I go out and just put one foot in front of the other in the mountains, I'm just always having a good time, it's sort of managing expectations is what it is. You keep those expectations low, you generally exceed them, and then that's a good thing.”

“You could be a world champion, you can be an Olympic champion, you can have all this experience. But you still get those butterflies when you're in the gate, because you care, you love it so much. You want to do your best.”

“Skiing down is so much fun. It's so free and can be intense, but in a good way.”

“I've had such a wonderful career. It's been so blessed. And I really love giving back nowadays in a number of different ways.”

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Ski The 14ers Book

On today’s episode of The Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra welcome Dr. Jess Cramp, a marine biologist and shark researcher. Jess is also the founder of Shark Pacific, which is a non-profit organization for studying and protecting sharks. Jess kicks off the episode by telling us about her exciting journey from quitting a high-paying job to beginning an adventure of her lifetime –sharks’ preservation. She also opens up about her childhood and how it helped her learn she should always listen to her gut and pursue her passions.

Jess debunks some popular shark myths and then shares the details of her day-to-day job activities, from catching and tagging sharks to tracking their movement and protecting them. She says that despite popular belief, sharks are not necessarily dangerous and won’t probably even come close to you while you’re diving, especially if you don’t have any bait on you. Then, Jess proceeds to talk about the importance of preventing overfishing, which is currently the greatest threat to sharks. Finally, Jess points out the true impact of preservation measures and why it’s important to advocate for shark protection.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“There were a bunch of grey reef sharks circling me and following me. And I wasn’t filled with terror. I thought it was the most incredible experience just to have these sharks just so curiously following me. And then, as serendipity would have it, there was a marine biologist on the boat. And we had been talking a bit about the plight of sharks, and I've learned a bit about it as well. But it, I suppose, clicked for me that, yeah, it's something that maybe I could do.”

“I think most folks think that my life entails shark swimming and beautiful clear water, and yes, it does do that from time to time. But the majority of my time is spent on fishing deck boats, large and small. And that is because I'm tracking the movement patterns of sharks, and in order to do that, I need to catch the animals and place the tag on them. And so that mostly happens from a boat.”

“Just to get back to your main question of how dangerous are they. My favorite answer? It depends. If you're just out diving, you're very lucky a shark could even come up to you. In fact, most of the footage that you see on nature documentaries, and in particular, with people interacting with sharks, they generally have bait. And if they come up and check you out on a dive, you're very lucky. And so, I always considered that, instead of us being afraid, we should be actually quite thankful that we do get the opportunity to see them in the wild without bait.”

“The short answer is you read the situation like you do in any job. You know when it's looking risky, and you make a call based on all available factors, such as how far do I have to swim back to shore, or is there a boat right here? Or am I alone? Is there another person? Do I have anything to poke a shark away with? You get a little space, and you make a call based on your experience and situation.”

“I'm not a huge fan of the hand feeding operation. It's just not necessary to experience that interaction. To experience a positive interaction with sharks, I don't think it's necessary to hand feed them, and when people are touching them, putting their hands all over them, I'm not a huge fan of that. They are wildlife and should be respected as such.”

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The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina

On this week’s episode of The Adrenaline Zone, Sandy and Sandra are joined by former army doctor and infectious disease physician Matt Hepburn, who led the COVID-19 vaccine development effort with Operation Warp Speed. Matt opens their conversation by sharing how his parents instilled in him a sense of service to others and his country that led him to a career in military medicine, taking him from the ROTC in college to working across the US government. He speaks in detail about his work with DARPA and its philosophy of taking risks to encourage breakthrough innovations before discussing how Operation Warp Speed also balanced risk with a commitment to safety to make COVID vaccines available as soon as possible. Matt then discusses the challenge and rewards of bringing together different cultures of expertise from medicine and the military to work on the COVID response and his role as translator between those two worlds.

Next, Matt gives insight into the logistical challenges of distributing the COVID vaccines and explains that the team’s military elements were instrumental in this respect as they have great experience and skill in operational planning. Not only that, but he points out that military leadership teaches you to make decisions in the face of uncertainty and take action where others might hesitate, something that was crucial given the unpredictable development of the pandemic. Then Matt discusses the difficulty of effectively getting the vaccine message out to the public and how fear and sensationalism can distort perceptions—but he also sees the hope in this situation and the opportunity for people to take more responsibility for their own health. He also addresses what the future might look like with COVID and how the government is dealing with the new monkeypox outbreak while fighting against the public’s pandemic fatigue. And finally, Matt reflects on the importance of risk takers in the effort against COVID and his hope that such people are encouraged to keep going against criticism because society needs those who are willing to take a leap in the face of uncertainty.

The Finer Details of this Episode:

Quotes:

“It’s been an incredibly rewarding career because the mission or the purpose is to serve those who serve us. So I think we have a solemn obligation to protect those that are in harm’s way and to take care of their families as well. And I think one of the best ways to do that is offer them world-class health care.”

“The mantra of DARPA is ‘breakthrough innovation for national security.’ The DARPA leadership had, I think, the prescience and does have the prescience to say that pandemics, outbreaks of biological threats are national security, one of our greatest national security threats and challenges. But if we truly want to be breakthrough, you have to take risks.”

“A lot of people, especially, you know, in large organizations, are very hesitant. They want, they need more information. ‘Well, we need more data. We’re not going to make this decision. We’re going to postpone this, we’re going to postpone that.’ And I think military leadership really teaches you, you’ve got to act. And you’re gonna act on limited information, you’re going to have as much at the time, but you have to act.”

“You can’t motivate people by fear. You know, a lot of people said, ‘Well, why don’t we prepare for pandemics?’ Well, people don’t want to prepare, you know, and that’s an issue that we’re dealing with now. And like, how do we prepare for the future?”

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