Our guest today is blockchain entrepreneur Lucas Geiger. While I mercilessly try to get investment advice from Lucas, on behalf of my loyal listeners of course, he resists giving me “hot tips” on what to HODL and refrains from selling me into any ponzi schemes. 

What Lucas does reveal is his vision of how blockchain-style systems can substantively contribute to our society, filling in a gap that our current institutions -- government, corporations, and non-profits -- have failed to address effectively.

Let us know what you think! Email us at [email protected], or hit us up on Twitter @10000HeroesPod.

Well, almost. Today’s guest is Brian Freeman, the author of the latest two novels in the Jason Bourne saga. We get into heroism and anti-heroism with Brian, why we’re so drawn to him, the connection between Bourne and Gandhi, and why Bourne can’t keep a steady girlfriend. Brian also shares some of the travails and joys of being a professional writer and ends with a heartfelt shout-out to the power of Authenticity. You’re gonna like this one.

After careers as an airline hostess and therapist, Lesleigh Tolin has dedicated her life to helping others uncover, process, and heal their grief. She shows Ankur how to support grieving friends, dispels six common myths about grief, puts the “stages of grief” in careful perspective, and much more…

References:

John James’ Grief Recovery Method: https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/

Lesleigh’s website: https://lesleighjtolin.com/

Pete Maynard draws inspiration from the natural world: plants, animals, and the beauty of our environment. We investigate how spending years in the wilderness has affected him, and try to understand what we can do in our daily lives to recreate that ineffable feeling of connection with “Nature.”

Folks, this is a different kind of episode. The original intent was to interview Jeffrey Fox, the author of "How to be a rainmaker," and to uncover the deep and universal lessons in what is ostensibly a book about sales.

I can safely say that I "botched" that interview and couldn't keep the conversation on topic. So today's episode is Nate interviewing Ankur on the universal lessons present in Jeffrey Fox's "How to be a rainmaker."

We get into connections between sales, empathy, deep listening, non-violent communication, interest-based negotiation, imposter syndrome, authenticity, activism, and much more.

References from the show:

Jeffrey Fox's book which sparked this conversation:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Rainmaker-Getting-Customers/dp/0786865954

Marshall Rosenberg's Center for Non-Violent Communication:

https://www.cnvc.org/

The Rainmaker's Credo (Chapter I of the book), which we think applies pretty well to friendship and human relationships in general:

Cherish customers at all times

Treat customers as you would your best friend

Listen to customers and decipher their needs

Make (or give) customers what they need

Price your product to its dollarized value

Show customers the dollarized value of what they will get

Teach customers to want what they need

Make your product the way customers want it

Get your product to your customers when they want it

Give your customers a little extra, more than they expect

Remind customers of the dollarized value they received

Thank each customers sincerely and often

Help customers pay you, so they won't be embarrassed and go elsewhere

Ask to do it again.

And then there was Nate's quote/phraser from a classical composer. We're still on the lookout for that one: let us know if you find it ;)

Ankur interviews Kory Goldberg and Michelle Decary, who started a 14-acre farm in Quebec not only to provide food or leave a positive impact on their environment, but also as an efficient means of investigating personal growth and spiritual development.

We talk about:

What’s the relationship between farming and activism?

How is farming related to spirituality and meditation?

Is there a way to be a hip/modern farmer without being totally exhausted?

How is working with your hands therapeutic?

Right Livelihood and human connection (Know Your Farmer)

The resurgence of young people going back into agriculture

Can small farming work economically?

How they envisioned the farm to build balance in from the outset.

The role of meditation and equanimity in their daily life (and parenting)

Parenting and self-compassion

How they got conned into writing a guidebook on pilgrimage

References from the show:

Kory and Michelle’s farm: www.aupetitboise.com

Kory and Michelle’s pilgrimage guide & guiding: https://pariyatti.org/Pilgrimage

The Market Gardener (Jean-Martin Fortier and Marie Bilodeau): https://www.themarketgardener.com/

Diane Leafe Christian: https://dianaleafechristian.org/

This week’s guest is comologist and science communicator Ethan Siegel. Ethan helps me understand some basic physics as we dive into:

How the universe came to be (even before the Big Bang)

The difference between the early, the late early, and the late universe (now)

Will the universe end?

Agreement, observation, and the scientific method

Why we can’t see all the stars that are out there, and why that’s a good thing.

Cosmic inflation, Dark energy, and what you should be afraid of

Why we should care about cosmology

The role of kindness in teaching

... and much more!

Ethan’s website is startswithabang.com

It’s full of links to his articles, books, podcast episodes, and recordings of his talks.

There’s even a page with pictures of Ethan in a bizarre array of costumes. No joke!

Also, as referred to in the episode, here’s a link to the Victor Wooten talk we love so much:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0

Deepak Ram grew up in South Africa, discovered music as a teenager, studied bansuri (bamboo flute) with the masters in Mumbai, and found his “thing” as a globally-recognized musician. 

As he shares his journey with us, we touch upon:

School vs. Education

Studying with the Masters

The Role of Practice and Intention

Finding Your “Thing”

Heroes and Zeroes.

We close the episode with some of Deepakji’s sublime playing.

References:

Deepak’s website: https://www.deepakram.com/

Deepak on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0IRHoIb1ZFEVrwdm0SzPh5

Musicians mentioned:

Hariprasad Chaurasia, Vijay Raghav Rao, Shivkumar Sharma

Call of the Valley (album)

https://www.allmusic.com/album/call-of-the-valley-mw0000174667

Technical information on Ragas mentioned:

Raga Lalit: http://www.tanarang.com/english/lalit_eng.htm

Raga Bhopali: http://www.tanarang.com/english/bhoopali_eng.htm

The relationship between academic qualifications and the heart,

Processing information: physically, mentally, emotionally, and through the "heart",

What happens when we're in conflict: physically and mentally,

The 5 outcomes of conflict resolution,

What can we do with conflict that is already part of history, knowing we can't change the past,

What's the difference between a domestic spat and a civil war?

A 5-step forgiveness process,

Mediators Beyond Borders,

How to set up a dialogue between dramatically opposing factions?

What requests are hidden in the stories we tell about each other?

... and much more!

Some references from the interview:

Ken Cloke: https://www.kencloke.com/

Mediators Beyond Borders: https://mediatorsbeyondborders.org/

Combatants for Peace: https://cfpeace.org/

Ken’s recent book: https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Dialogue-Evolution-Democracy-Immigration/dp/0991114892

Rick Jarow holds our feet to the fire and challenges our notion of the word hero. 

In this episode we cover:

- The Cloud of Longing, Rick’s forthcoming translation of an epic Indian poem

- Finding God in your kitchen 

- Why Aesthetic is more than accessory

- What we might be missing on our quest for success

- How we might express our individuality in community

- Creating significance by connecting to the others. 

- Finding myth in our lives through our personal sense of style 

- Discovering vocation by embracing our deepest fears

Some references from the interview:

Rick’s new book: https://amzn.to/2QCNc7i

The Mahabharata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata

The Bhagavad Gita: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita

Joseph Campbell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

The Borg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEJ4OJTgg8