This is your Brain on Podcasts

The Joe Rogan Experience is a audio and video conversation style podcast. It is hosted by american comedian, actor, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The podcast was launched in 2009. It now has over 1000 episodes and is one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Because of it's popularity it has been able to attract a number of high profile guests ranging from actors, comedians, scientists, athletes, journalists, intellectuals, and various other experts who have mastered their field of study. The podcast covers a wide range of subject matter and nothing is really off limits for discussion. The Joe Rogan Experience was voted best comedy podcast in 2012 and best overall podcast in 2014. In January of 2015 the podcast had been listened to by over 11 million people, by the end of that same year it had grown to acquire over 16 million downloads per month. It has now become one of the largest media platforms on the planet in terms of it's reach.  

Joe Rogan is an american stand-up comedian, martial artist, as well as a colour commentator and interviewer for the UFC. He began his comedy career in 1988 and since then has released nine comedy specials. He began working for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1997 and still does it to this day. Joe Rogan has appeared as an actor on television sitcoms such as Hardball and News Radio and has hosted T.V shows such as Fear Factor, The Man Show and Joe Rogan Questions Everything. Joe is a very strong addvicate for the legalization of marijuana and psychedelics as well as hunting, human optimization, and overall physical and mental well being. Rogan is very passionate about long-form media, such as podcasts, and in turn has been branded as a member of The Intellectual Dark Web. He has been described a number of times as the Oprah Winfrey for men.

The Making Sense Podcast is primarily a discussion based podcast that explores topics such as spirituality, morality, religion, free will, science, technology, politics and much more. It was started in September of 2013 and was formerly known as The Waking Up Podcast. It is hosted by american author and neuroscientist Sam Harris. Each podcast is primarily a conversation, and sometimes a debate, between Sam and a chosen guest (sometimes 2 guests). The podcast has received critical acclaim and was included on Business Insiders 2017 list of "8 Podcasts That Will Change How You Think About Human Behavior." The Waking Up Podcast (Re-branded as Making Sense with Sam Harris) has also received a 2017 Webby Award for peoples choice in the category of science and education.

Sam Harris is an american author who has written books such as The End of Faith, The Moral Landscape, and Waking up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. Sam is also a cognitive neuroscientist, philosopher, blogger, and hosts the Making Sense Podcast. He is a critic of religion and a famous atheist. Harris is described as one of the "Four Horsemen of Atheism", along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. He concerns himself with matters of spirituality, terrorism, ethics, and morality. He argues that science can answer moral problems and can aid in human well being. Sam Harris is a strong proponent of secular meditation practices and studied meditation with Buddhist and Hindu religious teachers in India and Nepal. Harris has a bachelor of arts in philosophy as well as a PhD in cognitive Neuroscience. In 2018 Sam launched a meditation course app called Waking Up with Sam Harris (the former name of his podcast). With it he hopes to spread the benefits of meditation to everyday people.

On this episode of the podcast Tierra sits down with the driving force behind Huntred and art enthusiast Ben Butcher. The two of them have a great conversation that covers a wide variety of subject matter including: being more honest with people when they ask you “hows it going?”, the unique ways in which different countries deal with the mental health issues of its citizens, the ways in which our society deals with an aging population, going back to school as an adult, the ever changing nature of pop culture, what its like growing up in a very religious household, the evolution of practical effects in movies, exploring your sexuality, going from a world made of black and white to a world of various shades of grey, the issues revolving around policing in our society, challenging gender norms, coming to terms with the fact that your parents are just people too, building and maintaining relationships, the impermanent nature of life, secondary schools as a business, incentivizing creativity, and much more!

On this episode of the podcast we change things up a little bit… Tierra Pennser hosts her first episode of This is Your Brain on Podcasts and she sits down to have a conversation with all around good guy Tim Ocampo. The two of them have a great conversation that covers a wide variety of diverse subject matter including: prioritizing your mental health, the stresses involved with changing career paths, the never ending pursuit of knowledge, why you should be watching Star Trek and the impacts it has had on society, the difficulties that actually being able to communicate telepathically would present, the real life technology that has been birthed from science fiction, the rapid technological change that has taken place in the last couple generations, the benifits of flexing your imagination every once in a while,exploring aspects of your personality through a game like Dungeons & Dragons, the bonds of friendship formed through paintball battles, surrounding yourself with healthy people and setting personal boundaries, holding emotional space for yourself and others, and much more.

On this episode of the podcast Cody is joined, yet again, by the always lovely and very thoughtful Tierra Penner. The two of them have a conversation revolving around the issues that are predominant in todays climate. They cover a wide variety of subject matter including: why the podcast has been on hiatus for the past couple of months, their thoughts on the mandatory mask laws that have come into effect, focusing on being the best person that you can be and not worrying about what other people are doing, death and dealing with the loss of those who are closest to you, struggling to find motivation to get things done in a pandemic, leading by example, the Black Lives Matter movement, coming to terms with and understanding our white privilege, not minimizing other peoples suffering, recognizing that evil exists in this world in all walks of life, avoiding blanket statements that isolate people who may be on your side, defunding the police and the creation of better social programs, the cultural shifts that need to take place in our society, different policing practices from around the world, the subjective experience of life, and much more.

On this episode of the podcast Cody is joined by swing dance enthusiast and artist Tierra Penner. The two of them have a great conversation that covers a wide variety of subject matter including: pandemics of past and present and the effects that they have had and are having on our lives, having gratitude for the good things in our lives, freeing up mental space by implementing solid routines into your life, establishing healthy routines, finding the balance between holding yourself accountable and cutting yourself some slack, the importance of small attainable goals, executive dysfunction, the constant battle between you and your mind, giving up short term satisfaction for long term gain, the things that make us uniquely human, the interactions that different drugs have when used in combination with one another, the chemistry of the brain and how that effects our behaviour, why people become addicted to substances and the roads to recovery, the creative process, as well as the history of the podcast and what you as the listener can expect from it going forward.

On this episode of the podcast Cody sits down with fellow Lazy Taoist and seeker of truth Ben Wojtczak. The two of them have a great conversation that delves deep into a variety of interesting subject matter including: paying attention to the way you communicate with others, the anxiety people feel towards aging, the joys of being able to see the mountains on a regular basis, being productive with your spare time, the origins of Buddhism and the effects that belief system has had on each of their lives, the benefits of having no expectations, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how that leads to deeper thoughts about existence when met, Absurdism and attributing meaning to your own life, the lessons taught to us by impermanence, balancing your ego, having constructive conversations with people, the benefits of having gratitude in your life, shower coffee, establishing healthy routines, the human tendency to lean towards the mystical, finding the truths that benefit your life and discarding the things that don’t, the perspective inducing psychedelic trip, the way that different languages effect our behaviors and the way we see the world, changing peoples minds with empathy instead of confrontation, and much more.

On this episode of the podcast Cody is joined yet again by his former co-host and business savvy extraordinaire Brendan Long. As always the two of them have a great conversation that covers a wide variety of subject matter including: the joys of of snowboarding on a pow day, their favourite mountains to ride in western Canada, the more technical sides of snowboarding, learning to snowboard and ski hill etiquette, adding things to your life that make you feel truly alive, the ever growing importance of sleep, knowing your limits and playing within those limits, the impact of your physical health on your mental health, dissecting information with a critical mind and coming to your own conclusions, the importance of face to face communication, their favourite episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, the values of approaching work with a serious attitude, the difficulties of improving yourself, earning your relaxation time, the fundamental self sabotaging nature of people, the importance of healthy critical self-talk, getting comfortable with failure, appreciating the journey, their favourite comedians, and they briefly touch on Star Wars at the end but decided they did not have enough time to fully get into it.

On this episode of the podcast Cody sits down for a chat with Calgary based artist and avid swing dancer Tierra Penner. The two of them have a great conversation that covers a wide variety of subject matter including: being comfortable with the person that you are, the ocean and the terrifying creatures that lurk within its depths, the unique ways in which they both grew up, the aquatic ape theory, the evolution of species, the alien nature of octopus and mushrooms, trees being the dominant species on this earth and not humans, when thought experiments become real experiments because of the advancements of technology, the impacts that human beings have on climate change, the interconnectedness of the world, sustainable environmental practices, happiness being the foundation for good personal practices that benefit everyone, goal setting, the importance of good self-talk, the evolutionary advantages of focusing on the negatives, karma, mental health, doing what makes you happy, and much more.