The Ronan Levy Podcast

This episode touches on something that honestly scares the living daylights out of me, and that is getting cancer at a ridiculously young age.

So why would I start the first official new episode of this podcast about longevity talking about early onset cancer?

When you hear Florence Shaffer’s story about the diagnosis giving her clarity and finding direction and meaning in the impermanence of life, you’ll understand.

Florence is a technology executive who has worked all over the world in beauty, luxury fashion, automotive, film, real estate, construction, healthcare and hospitality.

Her wide ranging experiences have led her to launch a new company called Becoming (StartBecoming.co) which focuses on the intersection between humanity and technology by making the world’s experts in various holistic wellness fields accessible to the masses.

This is one you won’t want to miss!

Head over to www.instagram.com/ronandlevy to connect with me on Instagram.

After a brief hiatus, Ronan is back with a new focus for the podcast.

While being non-ordinary is fun and insightful, there is more to life to explore.

So say hello to A Good, Long Podcast: Lessons for a Good, Long Life. A podcast in which we speak with people from all walks of life about the wisdom they've received on how to live a good and long life.

Produced by Chris Van Loan II, Van Loan Film Co.

Cover Art by Walker Munro.

Music by Jahzzar.

Jon Hopkins, a highly acclaimed musician and electronic music producer, joins Ronan from across the pond to discuss the inspiration and creative process for his new record “Music for Psychedelic Therapy,” his own journey with psychedelic medicine, posthumously collaborating with Ram Dass, and more! Jon’s works have been Grammy and Mercury Prize nominated, he has done film scoring, and has collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno, Imogen Heap, Coldplay, Purity Ring, and previous Field Tripping guest East Forest. “Music for Psychedelic Therapy” (which is out now, available at https://smarturl.it/MFPT/) signifies a seeming departure from Jon’s trajectory as a more techno/club-centered act. The album’s first single, Sit Around the Fire, features the words of Ram Dass from a 1970’s recording as well as contributions from collaborator East Forest. 

As 2023 has been a year of profound changes, ups and downs and lots of confusion and uncertainty for me, I couldn't think of a better episode to send this year off with than this one with Ben "Doc" Askins.

Give a listen and you'll understand why.

Ben "Doc" Askins is a no-one. But he is also Banksy’s erudite elder brother, a Deadpool wannabe, and the Shadow of the world’s most interesting man.

When artificial intelligence has a fever dream, it dreams of being Doc.

But if you actually care about qualifications, here is what you need to know about Ben. He has degrees in Outdoor Education, Intercultural Studies, Physician Assistant Studies, and Divinity. He has nearly two decades of experience practicing and teaching wilderness, tactical, and expeditionary medicine in the military. In civilian life, he is a Psychiatric Physician Assistant with an evidence-focused and integrative approach to mental health that includes extensive experience providing ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, medicine management, and spiritual direction. He is certified with the Multidisciplinary Association on Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Ben is a member of the Wilderness Medical Society, a National Outdoor Leadership school alum, a veteran of the Global War on Terrorism, and has completed postgraduate training in Neuropsychiatry and Genomics.

I won't even attempt to put together show notes on this one because it would be a failed pursuit. But it was an awesome conversation.

If you're not nauseated by the end of this conversation, check out Ben's work here.

Danny Morel is a life coach and spiritual leader guiding millions throughout the world to awaken, heal and transform their lives. But don't tell him that. Because he doesn't like those labels, and I can understand why. There's something weird about calling yourself a spiritual leader.

But sometimes doing this work, whatever you call it, is going to mean you're going to run into people who want to get it but sometimes just...don't.

And maybe I'm one of those people. How can I say this? Even though I really want to buy into a lot of what Danny says, there's something about it that just doesn't land for me. I can't tell you why. Maybe it was just my mood that day. Maybe I just see the world differently. Or maybe there is something incomplete about what Danny is preaching. I don't know.

But I do know that, notwithstanding my ambivalence about some of the elements of this conversation, that there are some great insights shared and, that what I'm trying to do with this podcast is try to elevate truth as much as possible. And the truth is that there's something that just doesn't sit right for me in this conversation. And maybe that's all the truth that needs to be shared.

Learn more about Danny and his work here.

I can't help but love it when some people f*ck with authority, especially when they are on the right side of history. Prof. David Nutt is one of those people.

David is currently the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences.  He is also the Chair of DrugScience (formally the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD)) and President of the European Brain Council.

But he's probably best known for up-ending everything we were taught about drugs in high school after he authored a study published in the Lancet that showed, through a multi-criteria analysis, that things like cannabis, psilocybin and LSD weren't nearly as harmful to people as was our then (and still, frankly) vice, alcohol.

And we should all be grateful he did because in many ways that was a pivotal moment for the psychedelic renaissance and the start of a healthy reexamination of psychoactive compounds in our society.

His recent book, Psychedelics: The Revolutionary Drugs That Could Change Your Life - a Guide From the Expert, was published in June 2023 and is now available for pre-order in Canada and the US. You can get your copy here.

Hello everyone and welcome BACK to the Non-Ordinary Podcast, my sometimes serious sometimes not so serious podcast exploring the most interesting questions in life.

First non-ordinary episode landing tomorrow!

This is a reposting of a recent episode of the podcast Making Sense with Sam Harris called "The Bright Line Between Good and Evil", reshared with Sam's consent and with a brief commentary from me at off the top.

I am resharing this because it opened my eyes to things I hadn't considered, and I think it's important for these thoughts to be heard, considered and, if appropriate, responded to.

What happens when you’re building one of the most innovative companies and coolest brands in the world and a baby drops into your life at the same time? Two experiences that you can do all you want to prepare for consciously but can never really be prepared for? 

That’s what Robbie Bent, Co-founder and CEO of Othership, is going through right now. Robbie was kind enough to join me on the podcast for a second time to talk about how his life has evolved since our last recorded conversation, which happened just before he was about to embark on a psychedelic retreat at Holos to prepare for fatherhood. You can listen to that episode here.

Here are some highlights:

1:35 - living with a wild animal, otherwise known as a child

10:07 - getting hyped to create something amazing and deliver transformative experiences

13:23 - Robbie's triggers and bringing the stress of work into home life

14:57 - admiration for his wife and the role of the mother

15:40 - hard lives

22:40 - what drives Robbie to do what he does

25:00 - managing the balance

28:00 - is there a moment of "success" for Robbie?

29:45 - moving goal lines

35:17 - the sadness in success and how running Othership is already changing

40:30 - the merits of lifestyle businesses

45:18 - revisiting the psychedelic fatherhood retreat (and a shoutout to Steve Rio!)

49:39 - a spiritual moment with Onyx

52:17 - how parenthood (and the Hoffman Method) shifted his relationship with his parents

57:00 - the trials and tribulations of parenthood

1:04:24 - how your business can become part of your family

1:09:39 - the New York Othership reveal

If the conversation with Scott Galloway was the one with the frat boy turned banker turned entrepreneur going vulnerable, this one is the conversation with the thoughtful, grass-fed farmer-turned-physician. And it's equally as insightful.

Drew Ramsey, MD is a board certified psychiatrist, author, and mental health advocate. His work focuses on clinical excellence, nutritional psychiatry, male mental health and creative media. He is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and founded the Brain Food Clinic, a digital mental health clinical practice.

His work has been featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Lancet Psychiatry, The Today Show, BBC, and NPR and he has given three TEDx talks. He is co-author of the Antidepressant Food Scale and created the first e-courses on Nutritional Psychiatry education for the public and clinicians. His books Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety (Harperwave 2021), Eat Complete, 50 Shades of Kale, and The Happiness Diet explore the connections between mental health and nutrition. He is on the Advisory Board at Men’s Health, the Editorial Board at Medscape Psychiatry, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the anti-stigma nonprofit Bring Change To Mind. He lives in Jackson, Wyoming with his wife and two children.

Follow Dr. Drew on Instagram: @DrewRamseyMD

Highlights:

3:30 - how do we define success?

4:23 - a moment to fan boy over Prof G

6:47 - what's worked for Ronan since leaving Field Trip

12:07 - the brilliance of association and intuition

14:67 - the lies that Disney movies tell us

19:30 - a really good diagnosis being a good thing

22:46 - using psychedelics during periods of distress

27:00 - the beauty of not being a doctor

28:50 - what is nutritional psychiatry

38:00 - rethinking vulnerability

42:26 - what's Justin Trudeau got to do with it?

44:57 - Drew's perspectives the Barbie Movie

49:26 - how to be a good mental health clinician

55:22 - a nod to Dr. Barry Waisglass and more integrated approaches to medicine

1:00:38 - back to lentils

1:02:46 - gluten, organic, coconut oil, ketosis and artificial flavours. And GMOs and UFOs.