Titans as Teens

We have to stop living the way we’re living. Now is a perfect time to start experimenting with living differently, living a little bit more in harmony with nature and with others. Doing more giving and less taking.

Sunniva Sorby has been on more than 100 expeditions to Antarctica. In 1993 she made history, as part of the team of the first women to reach the South Pole. She’s a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Her most recent project is called Hearts in the Ice, which she co-founded with adventurer Hilde Strøm.

When I spoke with her, in the summer of 2020, she was just back from spending a year in the Arctic, in a small cabin called Bamsebu. She and Hilde Strøm went back to Bamsebu in the fall of 2020 staying until June of 2021 – having spent a total of 18 months in the high Arctic collecting data. A new book about their time in Bamsebu will be out later this summer.

It’s not every day you get to talk with an explorer, and Sunniva was incredibly generous with her time, telling me about growing up in Canada and how she went from being an outdoor guide in California, to making history at the South Pole. And perhaps more importantly, she shares her thoughts on what we can all do to help the planet.

• Born in Norway, grew up and went to school in Montreal, Canada
• Always knew she wanted to do something different
• Being a risk taker
• Working at a store and as an outdoor guide in California
• How she ended up on the first women’s expedition to the South Pole
• Expedition behavior
• A year in Bamsebu cabin in the high arctic
• Taking action now to help the planet

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Hearts in the Ice website

Hearts in the Ice book 

Sunniva Sorby on Wikipedia

Sunniva on LinkedIn, Twitter

CBC TV story on Hearts in the Ice

Ann Bancroft – expedition

NOLS

Adventure 16

Joseph Campbell

Hero’s Journey

The 7 Habits of High Effective People by Stephen Covey

Viktor Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

Undersun Fitness Bands

James Grange fitness videos

Bamsebu Cabin

NASA sound rockets

Thales Mission Link

Polar Latitudes

Norwegian Polar Institute

Joss Stone

NASA cloud observer

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High school was definitely an experience that I do not want to relive. But I also recognize that it was quite formative in how I ended up engaging with other people, engaging with the world.

Ernest White II is a TV show host, writer, story teller and entrepreneur. As a kid, he was intrigued with exotic places, and he turned that passion into his TV show Fly Brother with Ernest White II.

I really enjoy his show, it’s fun and human. Ernest really likes to make a personal connection with people in his travels, and I experiences this first hand when I talked with him. I was surprised at how willing he was to delve into his personal life and the formative experiences that influence him today. He’s super positive and inspiring.

Ernest studied political science at Florida A&M University, and has an MFA in creative writing from the American University in Washington. He is also the CEO of Presidio Pictures, based in San Francisco and Vancouver.

There are references to bullying in this podcast.

• High school in Florida
• Always looking to do interesting things, organizing trips
• Despite being bullied, got lots of support from teachers and friends
• On being gay, labels, and how things have changed since he was in high school
• How we’re perceived in the rest of the world and our perceptions of others
• An early fascination for things foreign, prompted by a book given to him by a teacher
• Foreign exchange trip to Sweden while in high school
• The importance of engaging with people IRL
• Adding self-worth to the curriculum
• Working with others
• Next set of goals and aspirations
• It’s not all sunshine and rainbows
• People are made of strong stuff

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Flybrother.net
Fly Brother on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
Ernest White II on LinkedIn
Presidio Pictures
Jacksonville Florida
Youth for Understanding
Lola Akinmade
Here I Go Again by White Snake
Nature Boy by Nat King Cole
Body Dysmorphia disorder

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When I look at skills to stay ahead of the curve for the next 10, 20 years, I really think a lot about leadership. I think that is the one thing that if you’re really good at, you can get anywhere.

When I began my conversation with Chafic Kazoun, I was not at all prepared for what was to come.

All I knew about Chafic were the things you would put on a resume. I knew he was a very prolific and intelligent angel Investor and entrepreneur, being the co-founder and CEO of B-Line Medical, as well as a gifted coder.

I had prepared all sorts of tech questions and the like, but when we began talking, I threw them all out. Chafic’s story is far more than your basic cut-and-dry entrepreneur. His upbringing in Beirut and approach to learning made our conversation much more intriguing than I could have hoped for.

• Chafic does a summary of his life so far, including growing up in the US and Lebanon
• How he started computer programming at age 8 when there were very few computers where he grew up
• What changes he would make to his career if he could
• Friends and relationships are the most important thing
• Attended 4 different high schools, over 14 schools in total
• Growing up, grades were less important thank experiences
• School provides foundational knowledge and discipline
• How he’s change the education system if he could
• In high school, going to work after class while helicopters strafed a building nearby
• Setting goals and writing things down in a notebook
• Learning from your mistakes
• Defining success

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Chafic Kazoun on LinkedIn, on Twitter
O’Reilly publishing page
B-Line Medical
Laerdal Medical
BASIC; Beginners’ All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
Logo programming language
YPO
EO
Beirut
Lebanon civil war
Professor Frances X. Frei

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I’m super passionate about connecting humans with each other. Technology – that’s my life’s passion and purpose. Call it a mission if you want.

James Tamplin is an incredibly interesting person to talk and listen to. His wide array of knowledge on technology and software production is impressive, along with his ability to create new companies – four at last count.

James was the co-founder of Firebase, a set of tools that software engineers use to build iOS, Android and web apps. Firebase was acquired by Google with James’s help, and it remains one of Google’s flagship app development programs.

James left after the acquisition however and now works on a multitude of projects. Notably, during Covid, he helped create the website COVID Act Now which was paramount for both the government and everyday people in those rough times. He’s also one of the founding partners of Founder Collective, a VC fund for founders.

Just a note before you listen, we had some internet connection issues during the recording, so my apologies for the audio glitches.

• 60 second summary of who he is
• Growing up in the UK and Minnesota
• A passion for connecting people via technology
• Some speculation on where tech is going over the next few years
• Expect shifts in social media
• Key skills
• On leadership and creating a work culture
• Growing is a daunting challenge
• Letting go after selling to Google
• COVID Act Now
• Taking time off
• See the full transcript for more

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James Tamplin on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Tamplin.net
Firebase
COVID Act Now
Founder Collective
Andrew Lee
Jared Friedman
Max Henderson
Vipassanā

links here

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It’s my job to try and make the audience understand something I’m trying to express. So, it’s not the audience’s fault if they don’t like something I did. It’s not the audience’s fault if they don’t get it. It’s my fault.

If I had to name the most eccentric conversation I have had doing this podcast, I would surely pick my talk with James Gray. I could write a whole essay on James and his life, but of course, that would be far too extreme for this.

Simply, James is a screen writer and film director renowned for his work with films such as The Immigrant, Ad Astra, and The Yards. No one I’ve ever met could rival James’ extensive film knowledge, both in history and technique. As you’ll hear, James truly devotes himself fully to his work.

In our conversation we spoke about numerous things regarding his experiences growing up, as well as his thoughts about film making, his role as a writer and director, and how he thinks COVID might affect movies that come out after the pandemic.

I spoke to James from his home in Los Angeles.

• Growing up in Queens, New York
• From public school to private school
• High school film club
• Life long relationship with some teachers
• Learning about Shakespeare
• The challenges of the Superhero movie
• How films evolved
• Films as a mirror of society
• Watchmen graphic novel
• On recognition and validation
• The danger of being quoted
• Control in film making
• Working with actors
• The inspiration for newest film
• We still have hope

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James Gray on IMDB

James Gray on Wikipedia

Ad Astra

The Lost City of Z

Kew Forest School

Philoctetes

Measure for Measure

Picasso’s Guernica

Lascaux cave paintings

The Jazz Singer

Joker

The Dark Knight

Watchmen

Stanley Kubrick

Nights of Cabiria

Joaquin Phoenix

Mark Wahlberg

Charlie Hunnam

Armageddon Time the movie

Armagideon Time, the cover by The Clash

Armagideon Time, the original by Willie Williams

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Most people starting businesses find there are course corrections along the way, and some of them are pretty significant course corrections. But the ability to change course, while never losing the commitment to the end-game, is actually pretty important.

Tom Staggs is probably the most conventionally successful person I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with. Tom was born in Minnesota and received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Strangely enough, Tom started his working career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, but for reasons we discuss, decided to completely change his course.

In 1990, Tom joined The Walt Disney Company, where he would be for the next two decades, climbing up the ladder. There are numerous fantastic stories about Tom’s experience in this time, but very simply, through ingenuity and hard work, Tom the Chief Finance Officer of Disney, he as chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, and was Chief Operating Officer of entire company. Although he recently resigned from his position, Tom was instrumental in the acquisition of both Marvel and Pixar.

Tom currently sits on a number of boards, including Spotify and The Forest Road Company, Weta Digital and PureForm Global Inc. He’s a strategic advisor, co-CEO and co-chair of Forest Road Acquisition Corp, he’s on the advisory board for InStirde, and advisor to Dreamscape Immersive.

• Growing up in Minnesota, going to public highs school
• Had a regular part time job all through high school
• Learned some important things as dishwasher in a hamburger joint
• Communication and socializing were completely different then
• Why working as a teen was a good experience
• Advice he’d give if asked to mentor a teen
• Thoughts on whether going to college is important
• Started out taking music in college and ended up in finance
• A failure he had early on that made him grow as a person
• Learning from and dealing with failure is important
• Tracing the route from high school to running The Walt Disney company
• On leading teams and leading people
• The funnest job in the world
• What things like look like 10 years from now

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Tom on LinkedIn and on Twitter
Tom’s entry in Wikipedia
Mark Twain quote
Frank Wells
Michael Eisner
Seven Summits (book)
Seven Summits on Wikipedia

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I would be lying if I said that I don’t go through times when I reflect on the past and think: What if what if I had done this differently? What if I had chosen that other path? But at the end of the day, that exercise is actually just a waste of energy. It’s the practice of fantasizing on a reality that doesn’t exist. And so I choose to channel that energy into the practice of creating a future that I desire. And appreciating the present that I have.

Marc Weinstein has an incredible story. He graduated from Wharton with a BSc in Economics and began investment banking.

In 2012, he left his job at Morgan Stanley to start an entrepreneurial adventure. Although his first company failed, it led him to purchase his first bitcoins in 2013. Then, through a client, he entered the live events industry and decided to start his second company, 90sFest. It was a live events platform catering to millennials that pioneered the convergence of experiential marketing with mass social media distribution.

90sFest sold to Scopus Media in 2017. It was at this time that he was hired to try to salvage the now-infamous Fyre Festival. Many who saw the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary on Fyre have called him the “voice of reason.”

Marc later started the Look Up! Podcast in order to explore our shared humanity, raise awareness for issues that are at the forefront of the current paradigm shift in society, and to inspire collective action.

• Reflections on Fyre Festival
• Biggest mistake that turned into a positive
• Pain and regret in high school
• Social proof
• A story from high school summing up who he was at that time
• Regimented high school vs. freedom of university
• How Marc would change the education system
• Hobbies
• Yoga and meditation
• What is success
• An important characteristic everyone should have
• How to teach young people compassion

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Marc’s Look Up! podcast
Marc on LinkedIn, Medium
Fyre, documentary of Netflix
Fyre Festival, Wikipedia
Go Steward
Kapil Gupta and Naval Raviakant
Marc’s article on Prescriptions, Social Proof and Covid-19
Influence, by Robert Cialdini
The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha
Vipassana meditation
Pranayama
Ahimsa
Yamas
Brahman
Atman
Thom Knoles
Ram Dass
Laozi [Lao Tzu]

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I actually didn’t really like high school very much. You know, I had friends in different places, and I wound up having a really amazing core group of friends towards the very end. For the most part, it was really taxing and like soul sucking. And I wasn’t really exploring myself, expressing myself. If could go back and do things differently, I think I would have spoken my truth more, connected with people, with classmates who didn’t look like me or didn’t think like me. Taken more risks.

Andrew Dunn is one of the most unique people I’ve talked to on this show. Andrew’s philosophy and way of living life is completely different than anyone else I’ve talked to . 

Andrew is based in San Diego and graduated from Wharton with a B.S. in Economics. Andrew describes himself as an all-win leader, bridge weaver, healer and pioneer at the intersections of technology, wellness, finance and systems change.

He is the co-founder of Siempo and Digital Wellness Collective, and he focuses his energy on the movements to align technology and business with humanity. He supports partnerships at One Nation: a new American political party devoted to full systemic change in all domains which we talked about quite a lot. Andrew’s political beliefs are very tied in with his spiritual beliefs, leading to an intriguing ideology.

In my conversation with Andrew we go very deep into perceived societal issues, as well as personal leadership strategies. This conversation is eye opening to those willing to consider new ideas. 

• Growing up in the New York suburbs
• Feeling out of step in high school
• What his high school self would think of him today
• Relationship to money
• Making an impact on the world
• Changing the soundtrack
• The One Nation political party
• see the full transcript for more

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Website
medium.com/@aandrewdunn
Twitter, Instagram (private), Facebook, LinkedIn
Reflections on Money in a Time of Transition
Emotional Intelligence and EQ
Resource Generation
Forrest Landry
The Effective Choice by Forrest Landry
Charles Eisenstein
Internal Family Systems
Epicurus
One Nation Party

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In 8th grade I was voted both “Most School Spirit” and “Biggest Complainer”. So, I have got this dichotomy working inside of me. I really do want to make where I am a better place. And at the same time, if something’s broken, I’m going to bitch and moan about it and tell some sarcastic jokes.

Paul Ollinger is a master of many trades as well as a generally knowledgeable person. He is a comedian, a podcast host, a businessperson, and the author of the book You Should Totally get an MBA: A Comedian’s Guide to Top US Business Schools.

Paul’s comedy prowess is not to be underestimated, his material is hilarious, and he finds creative ways to make his daily conversations humorous. Before he was a comedian, Paul worked at Facebook as the VP of sales for four years. His Podcast Crazy Money claims to exist in order to promote financial wisdom and better living through no-holds-barred conversations about the role of money in our lives. 

Paul is incredibly witty and knowledgeable; a conversation with him is never boring. When I spoke with Paul he held nothing back, being as honest as he could, revealing some incredible insights into his life and his philosophy. I spoke to him from his home in Atlanta.

• Paul summarizes his life in less than 1 minute
• Obscure/ fun fact
• One small change that would make his life better
• Paul’s high school experience
• Song from that time in his life
• On relationships
• School stereotypes and trying different things
• Disappointing the parents
• On succeeding as an adult
• From Facebook to stand-up
• Things he does to grow as a person
• What is success
• Master and making money
• An important character trait everyone should have
• If he had to teach kids how to be successful and forthright

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Paul’s website
Paul’s book You Should Totally Get an MBA: A Comedian’s Guide to Top U.S. Business Schools on Amazon
Paul’s podcast Crazy Money
Paul on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
Naval Ravikant

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I wish I could have just told my 16-year-old self – you know – chill out. Keep reading. Keep enjoying your life. Don’t stress out too much. You’re going to find your way. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to take time. It’s going to be messy, but that’s going to be the beautiful part of the journey.

Grant Sabatier is probably a name you probably unknowingly recognize if you’ve ever been down the financial reading rabbit hole.

Grant is the author of the incredible book Financial Freedom, an invaluable tome of knowledge and personal experience. The amazing thing about Grant is that he knows what he is talking about.

Grant’s story begins when he was 24 years old and had $2.24 in his bank account. Grant decided he needed to make a change in his life, and he began by reading every single book on finance he could find.

Over the course of 6 years, Grant read over 300 books on finance, meaning he read almost one a week! Using his knowledge and determination, he was able to pull himself up to becoming financially stable and then much, much, more than that. 

The best word I can find to describe him is inspiring. He’s the kind of person you could listen to for a few minutes and then want to completely change how you live your life. While speaking with him, I was so awestruck with what he was saying that I had a very hard time keeping conversation, and not just saying “wow”.

• About Grant’s podcast Millennial Money
• About voicing his own audio book
• High school in Nothern Virginia
• Deep dives in the library and the Internet
• Favorite part of a book is the bibliography
• Books are alive
• How to start thinking about what you want to become
• About taking risks and staying curious
• Putting fear in its place
• What to do with the next 34 years
• Levels of freedom
• Stop and evaluate as you move through stages in life

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Millennial Money website
Financial Freedom – book
Financial Freedom – audio book on Audible
Financial Freedom podcast
Grant’s Wikipedia entry
Grant on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Tim Ferris podcast
Napoleon Hill
Carl Jung quote about ego

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