Jeff Seal is a comedian, documentarian, adventurer, and undercover clown operating out of New York City.

One of my son Elan's favorite YouTube artists, Jeff points out the hilarity, absurdity, and injustices of life through art and comedy.

When Elan shared Jeff's work with me, I was particularly struck by his videos on dumpster diving and train-hopping.

Both shared a common theme: finding freedom by questioning assumptions about what is and isn't “OK” to do in a consumer society where our supposed freedoms are undermined by unthinking obedience.

I reached out to Jeff partly to learn something from his experience and skill in educating his audience through humor, vulnerability, and art.

The conversation turned into one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We covered:

* Jeff's interest in comedy from an early age

* studying mime in Paris and clowning in San Francisco

* inspiration from Charlie Chaplin movies and the script of Waiting For Godot

* “my dad could talk to anyone”

* the gifts of mild OCD and Tourette's Syndrome

* the difference between Jeff's danger-seeking and “Jackass”

* the origins and meaning of dumpster diving

* “It's like going to a flea market where everything is free”

* putting dumpster diving in context: research on food waste and climate change

* adding layers of politics and commentary to his videos

* why Jeff adds #whiteprivilege hashtag to his train hopping videos

* “clowns have to be vulnerable… the joke is on the clown, not the audience”

* creating the Guardian Angels video series and meeting original Guardian Angel founder Curt Sliwa

* going “Roger and Me” on the 100 worst landlords in New York City

* the honking video and finding other things “hidden in plain sight”

* getting more involved with democratic socialism, and Corey Robin's New York Times opinion piece “The New Socialists”

* how to eat well for health: following Anthony Bourdain's “good ingredients cooked simply”

* “Just eat real fucking food” vs the mind-bending hacks that pass for weight loss advice

* tips for sharing and advocacy (“palpable enthusiasm” and “be vulnerable, not didactic” and “don't be afraid of ambiguity in art”

* the tension between being true to his art, and employing strategies to get more subscribers and monetize his YouTube channel

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Talk Back

Links

Jeff's website

Jeff's YouTube Channel

Corey Robin's New York Times opinion piece: “The New Socialists”

The Honking Video

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Announcements

The next WellStart Coach Training begins in October. Email me – *protected email* – if you'd like to be notified when we open the doors to the 12-week program.

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Are you tired of knowing what to do, and still not doing it consistently? The Big Change Program,

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I had the great privilege of moderating a panel discussion at Engine 2's Plant-Stock event, held this year in Black Mountain, NC, over a weekend in August. The topic was, "Transformation and Recovery from Addiction."The panelists included Adam Sud, Joseph Alexander, Ken Lander, and Josh LaJaunie.They talked about what helped them on their journeys to health and authenticity; on how paying it forward played a large part in their ability to stay the course; and they answered audience questions about overcoming plateaus, dealing with setbacks, and helping others.

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I had the great privilege of moderating a panel discussion at Engine 2's Plant-Stock event, held this year in Black Mountain, NC, over a weekend in August. The topic was, “Transformation and Recovery from Addiction.”

The panelists included Adam Sud (Plant Yourself Podcast 209), Joseph Alexander (future Plant Yourself Podcast guest, if he agrees), Ken Lander (Plant Yourself Podcast 233), and Josh LaJaunie (Plant Yourself Podcast 210, 174, and 261).

They talked about what helped them on their journeys to health and authenticity; on how paying it forward played a large part in their ability to stay the course; and they answered audience questions about overcoming plateaus, dealing with setbacks, and helping others.

Enjoy, and share your comments so I can let the panelists know the impact of their words and lives.

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Talk Back

Links

Adam Sud on Instagram

JoshLaJaunie.com and WellStartHealth.com and on Instagram

Joseph Alexander’s BecomeGreater.net

Joseph Alexander's story on Engine 2

Engine 2

Plant-Stock 2019 – sign up now, spaces already filling up

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Ready to embark on your Big Change journey?

Are you tired of knowing what to do, and still not doing it consistently? The Big Change Program, led by Josh LaJaunie and myself, will help you take the steps to finally live according to your knowledge and values.

Join the Plant Yourself mailing list (top right of this page) to learn more, and to get notified about the next Bobsled Run of the program.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)

Connect with me

Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes

Join the Plant Yourself Facebook Page

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons

– Kim Harrison

– Lynn McLellan

– Anthony Dissen

– Brittany Porter

– Dominic Marro

– Barbara Whitney

– Tammy Black

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Bob Cafaro is a professional cellist, author, and ass-kicker of multiple sclerosis. In his latest newsletter, he revealed two MS-busting tactics that he hadn't written about in his book, When the Music Stopped: My Battle and Victory Against MS.Partly as an excuse to have another conversation with Bob (he's such a kind and passionate and awesome guy!), and partly to explore these two tactics, I reached out and managed to grab 30 minutes of his time in between the five dozen other things he has going on.

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Bob Cafaro is a professional cellist, author, and ass-kicker of multiple sclerosis. If you missed our first conversation, check it out here.

In his latest newsletter, he revealed two MS-busting tactics that he hadn't written about in his book, When the Music Stopped: My Battle and Victory Against MS.

Partly as an excuse to have another conversation with Bob (he's such a kind and passionate and awesome guy!), and partly to explore these two tactics, I reached out and managed to grab 30 minutes of his time in between the five dozen other things he has going on.

We discussed:

* beginning each day with two liters of water

* super-hydration and fasting (they go together)

* Bob's collaboration with Terry Wahls, MD

* “we don't eat when we're hungry; we eat when it's time to eat”

* cycling and running in freezing temperatures

* cold showers and ice baths

* discovering the Wim Hof method

* how our bodies lose the ability to adapt to discomfort

* your brain on music: the benefits of playing a musical instrument on brain function and integration

* the power of our placebo response

* placebo isn't about gullibility or suggestibility

* 18% of participants in the placebo group in a Rogaine trial  grew hair

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Talk Back

Links

BobCafaro.com – where you can sign up for his excellent newsletter

When the Music Stopped, by Bob Cafaro

Bob on Facebook

Bob on Instagram

Bob playing the Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor with the South Jersey Youth Orchestra

Terry Wahls, MD

The Wim Hof Method

Podcast conversation with Scott Carney, author of What Doesn't Kill Us (about Wim Hof and others like him)

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Ready to embark on your Big Change journey?

Are you tired of knowing what to do, and still not doing it consistently? The Big Change Program, led by Josh LaJaunie and myself, will help you take the steps to finally live according to your knowledge and values.

Join the Plant Yourself mailing list (top right of this page) to learn more, and to get notified about the next Bobsled Run of the program.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)

Connect with me

Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes

Join the Plant Yourself Facebook Page

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website,

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Micah Hendler is the founder and director of the YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus, and one of Forbes' magazine's "30 under 30" (global leaders and change-makers under the age of 30). He founded the chorus to promote connection and peace between the teen communities of East and West Jerusalem; that is, inaccurately but roughly speaking, Palestinians and Israelis.We met at a Seeds of Peace concert in New York City in May, and Micah graciously agreed to be on the podcast. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to "shoehorn" this theme into Plant Yourself, but the wiser part of me whispered, "Who gives a shit? Just have an inspiring and wonderful conversation!"

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Support the show

Micah Hendler is the founder and director of the YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus, and one of Forbes' magazine's “30 under 30” (global leaders and change-makers under the age of 30). He founded the chorus to promote connection and peace between the teen communities of East and West Jerusalem; that is, inaccurately but roughly speaking, Palestinians and Israelis.

We met at a Seeds of Peace concert in New York City in May, and Micah graciously agreed to be on the podcast. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to “shoehorn” this theme into Plant Yourself, but the wiser part of me whispered, “Who gives a shit? Just have an inspiring and wonderful conversation!”

So I did. And while it's not about antioxidants or inflammation or TMAO, I think you'll agree that the themes of music, peace, discovery, curiosity, and compassion are all related to human health and wellbeing. And that the plant-based community can look for models of engagement and progress outside of our own kraal.

Here's a video of their “anthem,” the song “Home” by Phillip Phillips.

Micah and I chatted about:

* growing up Jewish in the US and seeing only one side of the conflict

* discovering “Seeds of Peace” and finding his direction

* how music builds community, even in conflict areas

* how to weave together a transformational dialog process and music

* starting a non-profit in a foreign country after graduating from Yale

* “If you don't do it big, you'll be wasting your time”

* getting mentored by Ysaye Barnwell of “Sweet Honey in the Rock” on how to create instant community through choral singing

* getting the Youth Chorus off the ground

* marketing to young people: “this will be the coolest thing you'll do while you're in high school”

* selecting singers not just from the “peace camp”

* how chorus and dialog support and reinforce each other

* space for dialog on the micro (personal) and macro (political) levels

* “Home,” by Phillip Phillips: the Youth Chorus anthem

* how the participants have changed and grown – and how they've starting changing their communities

* giving the students a leadership role

* traveling the world

* the significance of appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: “our voices matter”

* the 50-year plan

* how you and I can help

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Talk Back

Links

The Jerusalem Youth Chorus

Seeds of Peace

East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem documentary – iTunes download (also available to stream on Netflix)

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Ready to embark on your Big Change journey?

Are you tired of knowing what to do, and still not doing it consistently? The Big Change Program, led by Josh LaJaunie and myself, will help you take the steps to finally live according to your knowledge and values.

Visit WellStartHealth.com/program to learn more, and to get notified about the next Bobsled Run of the program.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)

Connect with me

Subscribe, rate,

Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Welcome back to Joel Kahn, MD, one of the great gentle pugilists of the plant-based, evidence-based, lifestyle medicine movement. Joel has gotten a lot of air time since our last talk three years ago - he's a regular on The Doctors, weighing in with actual science against some of the crazier nutritional theories of our time (ie vegetables are dangerous).And he's a publishing powerhouse, coming out with The Plant-Based Solution, The No B.S. Diet Book, Dead Execs Don't Get Bonuses, and Vegan Sex, with Ellen Jaffe Jones.

Click to subscribe to the Mindset Mastery Memo.

Support the show

Extra, extra, read all about it: It's time to join the August 13th run of the WellStart Big Change Program: 12 weeks of the best darn support and coaching around (if I say so myself) to help you lose weight, get fit and healthy, and eat in accordance with your values, priorities, and goals. Read more and register here. Deadline: Friday, August 10, 2018.

Welcome back to Joel Kahn, MD, one of the great gentle pugilists of the plant-based, evidence-based, lifestyle medicine movement. Joel has gotten a lot of air time since our last talk three years ago – he's a regular on The Doctors, weighing in with actual science against some of the crazier nutritional theories of our time (ie vegetables are dangerous).

And he's a publishing powerhouse, coming out with The Plant-Based Solution, The No B.S. Diet Book, Dead Execs Don't Get Bonuses, and Vegan Sex, with Ellen Jaffe Jones.

So it's no wonder that our conversation ranged all over the place. From Halle Berry's tight buttocks (no, really) to why the ketogenic diet looks so good according to short-term research that ignores underlying progression of disease.

We covered:

* The Magic Pill documentary in praise of ketogenic diets, and how smart people of good faith can still disagree on diet

* polyphenols from plants help with erectile dysfunction

* a body in ketosis is starving and in crisis

* the best study to date on the fat-burning effects of a ketogenic diet

* seven studies show early date rate from high-fat eating

* we have to consider the environment when evaluating diet

* keto proponents are ignoring CAFOs and antibiotic resistance

* “studies that show benefit to ketogenic diets are non-randomized studies with non cardiovascular endpoints”

* the “good sex” diet – one of the best barometers of cardiovascular health

* hidden sources of inflammation in vegans: deficiencies, hidden dental infections, psoriasis, belly weight

* anti-inflammatory foods: turmeric, ginger, garlic, onions, and rosemary

* the costs of chronic inflammation

* the blood test for inflammation that costs less than $50 (hsCRP) and why the US Preventive Services Task Force thinks it isn't ready for prime time (hint: it's about the training of doctors, not the test itself)

* fruits and vegetables as an antidote to eating meat

* removing McDonalds and Wendy's from children's hospitals

* sharing lifestyle and diet interventions with medical students and the future of lifestyle medicine

* encouraging patients to make small, steady changes

* what we've learned from 25 years of the Human Genome Project

* and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box or audio recording box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Talk Back

Links

The Plant-Based Solution, by Joel Kahn, MD

Everything Joel Kahn – his website

Gregg Walton's WISE interventions – Plant Yourself Podcast interview

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Last 4 Days to Join the Next WellStart Health 12-week Intensive

Learn more and sign up here.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)

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Thoughts on the episode? Let us know.

Yup, that's me, talking directly to you in this episode.I wanted to take a break from the guest-interview format because I have a lot on my mind.Yesterday was my 53rd birthday, and would have been my dad's 100th (he and my mom planned well ;).I've been thinking about him a lot around this milestone. And I'm on day 3 of a planned 7-day water fast, so my mind is doing all sorts of deep dives that I normally miss because of eating and business.

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