Voices in the Dark

More than likely, you're living in a dream world. A fabrication. A projection of how you think the world is or should be. And just as likely, the world has a habit of slapping you in the face with something quite different.

Time to change things up. Time to start seeing things clearly and fearlessly.

In this deep and wide-ranging episode, we explore how to develop the Hustler's Eye: the ability to see things and people how they actually are, rather than how we wish them to be. To do so, we first have to realise our own foibles – 'being yourself' can well be a bad thing if modern society lets us off the hook by accepting shitty character traits, after all.

What does it mean to be smart? We dismantle popular ideas of 'intelligence' to get to what really matters. The street savvy hustler often knows far more than any university professor, especially where other people are concerned. Can we trust others at all? And if we don't, how can we live a life that isn't lonely and paranoid?

This week we also reflect on the pioneer spirit of America and the increasing urge to escape things we don't like, rather than to face them and push ourselves further. We dig into how to set personal boundaries which benefit everyone, not just ourselves. And we outline Robert's strategies for how to hone and develop the Hustler's Eye in the modern world.

Needless to say there's also time to discover why Dre's mum is the 50 Cent of the family; why all jobs make you a whore; the disturbing figure of the rapey intellectual; when Jon changed his name simply to give his employer the finger; and how we must learn and grow from personal betrayals. Oh, and we still call 50 Cent by the wrong name. Sorry.

• Using the Hustler's Eye to see the world clearly
• How to practise intense realism
• Is money freedom?
• The crucial importance of Informed Trust
• Has the modern world made us soft and spineless?
• Why it's good to get punched in the face
• No-Platforming: the idiot's manoeuvre

• Jon's psychedelic adventures, including working with Robert Greene's favourite, mescaline
• Are we allowed to say 'Fiddy Cent'? The man himself breaks it down
• Chris Ryan's brilliant podcast, Tangentially Speaking
• Sun Tzu's classic, The Art of War
• Tim Ferriss's book, The 4-Hour Work Week

When the hip-hop phenomenon 50 Cent asked to meet Robert Greene after reading his phenomenal bestseller, The 48 Laws of Power, it was only a matter of time before the two collaborated on a project.

They immediately found similarities that transcended background and ethnicity – not least, the ability to truly see and analyse the power games that people constantly play and the multifarious ways they manipulate others.

50 Cent came from the violent streets of Southside Queens; he never knew his father and his mother was murdered when he was eight. He rapidly learnt to depend only on himself, and rose from small-time hustling to become a worldwide branding machine with a portfolio ranging from precious metals to platinum albums; clothing lines to videogames; boxing promotions to young adult novels.

As Robert puts it, Fifty is the 'hip-hop Napoleon Bonaparte'. What distinguishes him from everyone else is the core of The 50th Law, and which, as we explore, is also the fullest realisation of Robert's Laws of Power in action.

The 50th Law is all about fearlessness: how to cultivate it, how to embody it, and how to live a life neither afraid, nor merely being brave in spite of some fear. No, the goal is to transcend the need for bravery by becoming fearless in all things.

Historical and contemporary examples combine to illustrate deep and vital insights into social psychology and human nature. In this first episode, we dive need into why people are so scared of being themselves and spend so much of their time trying to become someone else… and the price they pay for doing so.

We tackle the toxic effects of rolling TV news and obsessing over social media; which vested interests and old business models are ripe for disruption and destruction; and we elucidate the crucial difference between cooperation and outright relying on others.

Things get personal, too. We talk about the how the fear of feeling embarrassed holds us back from becoming and expressing ourselves; how Dre overcame fear and reset his shame 'zero point' wearing only his underwear; and Jon shares a disturbing personal story of when he was assaulted in Russia.

• Diversifying your portfolio to never be beholden to others
• Identifying and resetting your 'zero point' of fear and shame
• Should you give yourself a News Diet?
• Choosing an active rather than passive mode to our lives
• The crucial limitations of a 'mind over matter' approach
• How to train the brain to be ready for the unexpected
• Avoiding the trap of using weary cynicism to hide from your fears

• The TV show, Entourage – another world of courtly intrigue
• Tim Ferriss's lifestyle design phenomenon, The Four-Hour Work Week
• Our exclusive interview with mindset and muscle coach, the former soldier Jamie Alderton
• Brené Brown's book, Daring Greatly, plus check out her TED Talks: One and Two
• Are we allowed to say 'Fiddy Cent'? The man himself breaks it down

We all know someone who's 'on the spectrum'. Someone a little weird. Not good with social cues, but passionately (perhaps disturbingly) intense in some other part of their lives.

But what do we really know about them and how they see the world?

We're all a lot more comfortable with the idea of Autism these days, but do we really understand what life is like for these people? Not so much…

Our very own Autiste, as we shall insist on calling Dre, is on hand to share his personal story, from a late diagnosis to using the excessive focus the condition gives him to study human nature and social psychology. For him the obstacle became the way, and now he's terrifyingly accurate at reading your thoughts even before you know you're having them.

In this personal but wide-ranging episode, we reflect on our friendship and the ways Autism has affected it; how the closer he feels to someone, the more he comes to forget they're not actually a part of him and can't read his mind; and how social norms and 'common sense' often shatter against his experience of them.

Dre makes a powerful challenge to anyone who claims that Autistic people just don't try hard enough to integrate into society. In fact, he argues, it's you who don't try and instead simply surround yourself with people who think much the same as you do, shielding yourself from ever needing to grapple with alternative perspectives.

This is a fascinating and deeply personal journey into Dre's mind, but also an open challenge to reflect on how we all relate to others and to ourselves.

• Just how differently do Autistic people see the world?
• What does Autism mean for relationships?
• Are we all somewhat on the spectrum, or is that lazy thinking?
• The dangers of filtering all your life experiences through a single lens, from mental health to sexuality and beyond
• Can Autism become a crutch?
• Where difference ends and loneliness begins

• Understanding the Spectrum - a comic strip explanation | The Art of Autism

Now you know the Laws, but which ones should you put into practice first? And what are the underlying themes which bind them together? How can we truly practise the Laws in order to achieve mastery?

This is a Special Episode that brings you the most important insights from our in-depth exploration of The 48 Laws of Power AND gives you exclusive access to our new companion book to Robert Greene's masterpiece.

Sensing the spirit of the times is always important and we reveal how to crest the wave of the moment and then get the hell out of the way before the saturation point in which every trend dies.

We show how to move beyond crude dualities and learn the ultimate flow-power of being able to simultaneously hold contradictory opinions. This is the next level shit that means you always have room to manoeuvre, no matter what life and other people throw your way.

We also dig into psychological tricks like 'gaslighting', how to craft charisma and dominate a room; and even how to get people to change their minds by supporting them. In complementary fashion, we untangle the tricks we play on ourselves when we over-promise (even in good faith), the power of keeping your mouth shut, plus the return of #AccidentalPower!

There's also time to beat up heavily on Ned Stark, hear some disturbing revelations about Italian cuisine, and delve into Dre's plans to defeat his arch-nemesis, Elon Musk.

• Crafting your internal world to ultimately shape the external world
• How to introduce yourself with true confidence
• Why you must set clear personal boundaries
• The Edge of Incompetence: What it is and how it's shaping everything you do
• What 'going all in' really means and how to avoid being crushed when it fucks up
• Personal Codes and why we need them
• Becoming your own source of stability in turbulent times
• Why Power and sailing are almost the same thing

• The wonderful world of Rick and Morty
• Our book, The 48 Laws of Power in Practice, available from the publisher and from Amazon
• The terrifying Grim Reaper Drone
• Terry Pratchett's Hogfather
• Our exclusive and mind-expanding interview with Cory Allen
• Ryan Holiday's takedown of speed readers – You're Doing It Wrong
• Jon's Ayahuasca vlog series
• Captain Picard's life-changing insight
• 'Everybody's dead, Dave'

CHALLENGES: Take the knowledge you've gleaned from this series and actually go and practise it in real life. Get yourself a copy of our companion book (either by signing up to our mailing list, or buying a copy from the publisher or Amazon, and take the most important steps of your life: the journey towards personal power.

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).

Almost two years after he first went to the Amazon rainforest to drink the most potent psychedelic known to man, and after his whole life was turned upside-down as a result, Jon's heading right back out there to do it again.

We get into the spiritual, the biological, the personal and the philosophical in this episode. There's a psychedelic 'renaissance' underway in modern culture, but what does that really mean for us as individuals?

Recorded just the day before boarding his flight to Peru, Dre quizzes Jon on why he's going back, what his expectations are, and what place he thinks psychedelics have for people trying to improve and understand themselves.

We break down what Ayahuasca is, how it works, and why people are increasingly downing draughts of this murky, foul-tasting brew, which causes projectile vomiting as well as incredibly powerful insights into our deepest psyches.

This time, Jon's also going to drink Huachuma, aka San Pedro, which is a mescaline-based psychoactive medicine drawn from a cactus which grows in the Andes. What's the difference between the two, and why take so many mind-altering substances so close together?

All this and plenty more in Part 1... We'll be recording Part 2 as soon as Jon's back from the jungle in a few weeks' time...

• Jon's personal Ayahuasca vlog series
• Jon's article on Ayahuasca and what he wished he'd known before drinking it the first time
• Aubrey Marcus's beautiful documentary on Ayahuasca (free to stream)
• SpiritQuest Sanctuary in Peru

One Law to bring them all and in the darkness bind them… Yes, it's time for the final and most crucial Law of Power: Assume Formlessness.

Law 48 is all about how to move beyond mechanical repetition of the individual Laws and become a virtuoso performer who flows effortlessly with the needs of the moment, untroubled by countervailing winds.

As Robert drives home, nothing can be relied on except the inevitability of change – if we are rigid and unprepared for it, then we will simply shatter.

All of life is a battle between order and chaos, but everything interesting happens in the tension between them. Law 48 puts that tension and those moments under the microscope.

This week we explore the deep archetypes of human nature that can be seen everywhere from ancient philosophies to comic superheroes; we explain why empires fall and what truly makes a great leader; and why bureaucrats can be so powerful while seeming to be the antithesis of this Law. We also fantasise about their deaths.

There are tools and techniques to guide you into formlessness, and we explore the ways psychedelics can remind us of and re-invigorate flow-states; the crucial difference between powerful formlessness and passive 'going with the flow'; and we reveal how to defeat someone else who's assumed formlessness.

Dre also decides to unleash his Grand Theory of Art on us (Jon disagrees with it); we fuck up trying to understand music theory; and celebrate those who can tell jokes minutes after terrorist attacks.

This episode marks the completion of the first step in a much longer journey of social and self-exploration… Tune in next week as we begin the next, even more powerful stage of our evolution.

• The Jiujitsu of Power
• Why Sparta – despite all the rippling abs – ultimately fell
• Using soft power to quietly get what you want
• How to bring guerrilla warfare into everyday life
• Surprising benefits of a bad memory
• Being formless without losing your inner compass
• Why Art dies

• Robert's other book, Mastery
• Our very own The 48 Laws in Practice, available from the publisher and from Amazon
• Our awesome Bismarck t-shirt, with him literally surfing the current of events
• The mind-bendingly brilliant Rick and Morty
• Chris Ryan's podcast, Tangentially Speaking
• The podcast phenomenon, S-Town
• The bitchy classic, Mean Girls
• Controversial comedian, Frankie Boyle
• The book and the filmof Fight Club
• STUFF ABOUT INDIAN MUSIC SCALES ETC
  • Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale

• James Carse's Finite and Infinite Games

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).

We've all done it. At certain times in our lives we've all settled for second best; accepted what we thought we could get, rather than pushing for what we really wanted.

But what about the other side of the coin? When you refuse to recognise the victory for what it is and keep on pushing until you've burnt yourself out, alienated people around you, and find yourself left with nothing at all? When the ego comes knocking, Total Victory can seem like a real goal – but is it?

Victory can also be the moment of greatest vulnerability, as events shake out and you need quickly to set the agenda for what comes next, before someone else does it for you. In these delicate transitional moments, it's easy to start believing your own hype, which history shows is very much like penning your suicide note...

Law 47 centres around the need, above all things, to plan what you intend to do – to respond rather than simply to react in the moment, buffeted by the winds of fate. Do you know where you're trying to get to? Will you even recognise your goal once you've reached it? it's all too easy to imagine an emotional state in place of the tangible victory, and start pouting and whining when you achieve the latter without the former.

This Law – presaging the final, 48th Law – emphasises adaptability above all things. Ego must come second: do you want to be right, or do you want to be effective and successful? Most of the time, the two don't go together.

As ever, we share our own stories and difficulties with this Law. Dre explains how he's still working to overcome the habit of thinking his goal was closer than it appeared, and not to get sick of something he's working for when it simply takes too long to achieve. Jon wonders about education and whether degrees and qualifications actually matter – especially when they, like other paper goals, end up getting substituted for self esteem.

We also explore how to cultivate an awareness of how things are going, rather than falling into nameless anxiety; seeing luck as the Absence of Catastrophe; we advocate more sleep to avoid becoming Margaret Thatcher; and also define the nature of belief... Because, why aim low?

• Stamping your authority on victory, before someone else steals your thunder
• How startups fail to observe this Law... to their peril
• Why lottery winners squander their money
• Getting real: Is the goal you're aiming for actually going to mean what you hope it will?
• Bad luck and why we should love it
• Knowing when to push to the end, and when to drop things and move on
• Outstaying your welcome

• You can buy our beautiful companion book, The 48 Laws of Power in Practice, from the publisher HERE, or through Amazon
• Mark Manson's book, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck
• Our feature interview with the awesome Cory Allen
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb's, The Black Swan

Challenge: Start an argument with somebody on a particular subject... and stop as soon as you get one concession. Don't press beyond that mark and see what happens.

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).

The green demon is among us! Envy is a dangerous affliction and one which we all fall victim to at times. But being a victim is obviously not what we're aiming for here... and if envy is something everyone is susceptible to, how can we make use of it on our journey to power?

On the flipside, humility can take you a (very) long way. But in a world dominated by social media and self-promotion, have we forgotten to tone down our virtues for the sake of the long game?

Law 46 challenges the cult of the resumé and reminds us to cultivate our sensitivity to insecurities – our own, and the people around us who hold if not the keys, then the locks to our success.

This episode delivers a murder-suicide; Jon getting assaulted on the street; how to defuse other people's envy; and how Putin plays two roles at once to maintain his power.

We encourage you to affect small vices; avoid falling into hero-worship before it turns to bitter poison; and remember that everyone around you may be just one false step away from losing their shit.

In the realm of envy, 'I hate you' is simply a mask for 'your life sounds great' – but how can we avoid making life a rush to the bottom out of insecurity and self-aggrandisement? If the only way you can find to build yourself up is to pull everyone else down, you're not improving at all. You're just a dick.

The answers, as ever, lie within.

• Envy and masculinity
• The real Ten Commandments
• How to make friends and not piss everyone else off
• Luck and how to deal with it successfully
• The secrets of Machiavelli's perfect prince
• When praise conceals envy (and how to detect it)
• Getting trapped in narratives... and how to escape them

• Our companion book: The 48 Laws of Power in Practice
• The monkey test – don't shortchange the monkey!
• Louis CK on fairness
• Neil Strauss on pick-up culture and its many social-intelligence-based tools: The Game
• The scale of the universe – let's keep some perspective!

Challenge: When meeting someone new, affect an imperfection as early as possible – and note the differences compared to when you've tried to talk yourself up. Let us know what happened next!

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).

There is only one constant in life: Change. It destroys, creates, excites... but also terrifies. Most of us, however opened-minded we claim to be, instinctively resist change and prefer to cling to our familiar routines and circles. But creatures of habit are rarely powerful.

Law 45 breaks down this inertia: how can we make changes that suit us? How can we overcome the innate, tribal resistance of the people and structures which surround us?

Acceptance can come surprisingly quickly if you know how to play the game effectively, and in this episode we reveal the tools you need to do so. From Henry VIII telling the Pope to take a hike to why contemporary America has no real left wing politics, we explore how to make change without being destroyed.

We accidentally reveal our own resistance to change when it comes to new social networking gimmicks; explain why it's best to ask for forgiveness rather than permission; and why everything mainstream gets ruined.

We get into quite a debate on how scientific and cultural progress can and should happen, and argue that the idea of a 'slippery slope' is relevant, and talk about the terrifying historical examples which continue to repeat into the present day, even as we try to ignore them.

With examples from Stalin and Mao to Zuckerberg and Jobs, this is one packed and essential step on the road to power.

• How to upgrade your workplace without alienating everyone around you
• What all progressives forget and how it neutralises their power
• Use Facebook secrets to develop your strategy and your business
• What the Holocaust and frogs in boiling water have in common
• Why eliminating dissent is always dangerous to power
• Using the past to legitimise your revolution
• Creating your own rituals to enhance your power
• Why universities are pointless

• Order our beautiful companion book: The 48 Laws of Power in Practice!
• Ryan Holiday's superb book, Ego is the Enemy
• Mazlow's Hierarchy Of Needs
• Our feature interview with Robert Colvile on The Great Acceleration in our lives
• Hilary Mantel's hugely acclaimed novels about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII: Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies
• The powerful Doctor Who clip Jon mentioned
• Mithras – the proto-Jesus!
• The Invention of Tradition, by Hobsbawm & Ranger
• George Orwell's essay on humour

Challenge: Seed the idea for change at your workplace, rather than trying to forcibly fix it yourself. Can you get someone else to do the work for you and take the flak? Let us know what happened next!

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).

Who's that in the mirror? And what are they trying to do to you? We all calibrate ourselves to the world around us, but if we're not careful we get caught in a hall of mirrors – lost in the warped and warping realities of other people, trapped in their funhouse.

The root of all power is to lower people's resistance to you, but that takes time and teaching. The Mirror Effect is the perfect teaching device; the perfect mask; and the perfect weapon when used at the right time.

But mirrors, like the Laws themselves, are tools – and we can learn how to use them. Law 44 is a difficult one to get your head around, but we untangle it in this episode and lay out the core principles you need to use it effectively and protect yourself when it's used against you.

We explore Dre's tales of when The Ugliness Mirror was used on him, and what he learnt in the process. We reveal the hidden messages in other people's body-language, and how to craft your own to convey the message you want others to react to.

Group dynamics are also a key factor when using the Mirror Effect: who can and should you be in any given context? What are 'idiocultures' and how do they underlie all our social groupings? We also explore Jon's skills in translating you back to yourself... and how you can use those same skills to get people to think how you want them to.

And Jon comes clean about his dysfunctional relationship with cake – and why it's all everybody else's fault.

• Teaching lessons to others – positive and negative – by mirroring their behaviour
• The power of the Ugliness Mirror
• Weaponising Narcissism
• Counsellors – why we should all have one, but why most are total shit
• When to accept jokes at your expense
• The serious dangers of echoing emotionally-charged examples

• Snoop Dogg's super-smooth handshake recovery
• The TV show, Suits
• Japanese theatre and the kuroku
• The castle Dre mentioned – Neuschwanstein

Challenge: Deploy the mirror effect! Use the Ugliness Mirror to reveal other people's bad behaviour to them... Did they pick up on it? What happened next? Let us know!

Join us as we continue our 48 Laws of Power review, exploring Robert Greene's provocative and compelling book, in which he lays bare the history, practice, psychology, and philosophies of power that ultimately shape all human relations. Often seen as a handbook for the 'modern Machiavelli', we take a closer look, beyond the hyperbole, and discuss how understanding and implementing these Laws can actually enrich your life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Jon and Dre aim to get to the heart of each of the Laws, grapple with their sometimes disturbingly amoral nature, and discuss what the Laws mean in everyday life (often revealing their own experiences – good and bad – when they've either observed or transgressed them).