In this 13th straight solo episode, you’ll find that I’m highly opinionated. I get into human nature and how it shapes the crazy political landscape we’re in right now. I talk about my fascination with the little details in life—how watching ants go about their business or admiring the brushstrokes of an impressionist painting can reveal so much about the way we think and create. There’s something about art and creativity that AI will never replace, and I get into why that matters.
Then I shift gears and take a hard look at the Biden administration, breaking down what I think could’ve been happening behind the scenes. And who I believe was running the show the past 4 years. I also get into the latest on USAID, the Ukraine War, and what these moves say about America’s foreign policy.
I also dive into the benefits of slowing down conversations, why free speech is non-negotiable, some salary negotiation techniques to get you paid, and the value of your inner-circle of friends.
That summarizes about the first 20 minutes anyway.
Other topics covered in this episode include:
- Role of creativity & art in human nature
- The joy of laughing at your own jokes
- Speculations on who’s been running our government
- Disclosures about USAID & corruption
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Leaked 2014 Victoria Nuland phone call
- Use of social issues (abortion, identity, DEI etc) to manipulate & divide a country
- Globalism & bio-weapons
- China’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak & the global spread of the virus
- Flow-state & becoming a better conversationalist
- Attending a Nicholls State vs Valparaiso baseball game in the middle of winter
- How to get better at reading people & discerning BS
- Best way to responding to “stupid questions”
- Coming up with a “kill shot” response in dialogue
- Young people’s dislike of talking on the phone
- Examples of kill shots from my recent X/Twitter beefs
- Thomas Massie giving Jamie Raskin a masterclass on inflation
- The value of debate / sharpening your intellect
- Trump’s work ethic as an inspiration despite his age of 78
- How I used the “R word” at a party (somebody got pissed)
- Balinese Hindu belief in reincarnation and its connection to being born mentally handicapped
- Trump’s influence on bringing out harmful attitudes in society
- RFK Jr. under attack for vaccine views in Senate hearing
- Bernie Sanders’ connection to BIG Pharma
- Exposure of Bill Kristol’s funding
- Selena Gomez crying for gangbangers being deported
- The cover-up of mental illness in America by BIG Pharma
- Importance of free speech & Elon Musk’s courage
- The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel
- Parallels between communist regimes & current US politics
- Silencing of dissenting opinions on social media post-2020 election
- Political cover-ups regarding the mental health of school shooters
- Living in dangerous times, with evil around us
- Elizabeth Warren receiving campaign contributions from Purdue Pharma
- Gender reassignment surgery for minors
- The age of consent around the world
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s rise to prominence
- Advice for your salary negotiations
- The role of discomfort in achieving rewards in life
- Negotiation techniques & challenges
- Story about an adversarial negotiation with a former friend
- Importance of detaching emotions in negotiations
- Should you toot your own horn?
- Developing relationships outside of work
- My daughter’s concept of work & paying for things
- How a former co-worker who I used to take to lunch was “too busy” to meet me
- Importance of reprioritizing your own time when others deprioritize you
- Choosing deep & meaningful friendships over surface-level acquaintances
- The value of having a small but loyal inner-circle of friends
- The “Brad Pitt test” for assessing how much someone values you
- The brevity of life & cultivating a sense of urgency
- Prioritizing time with those who love and appreciate you
- Appreciating moments with people rather than mourning their departure
- The importance of expressing love & appreciation before it’s too late
- The Stoic philosophy of Memento Mori (meditating on mortality)
- Telling people how much they mean to you
- Why you should tell another man “I love you”
- Building confidence through uncomfortable conversations
- Gurwinder’s “reminiscence bump”
- The power of remembering past moments & how it bonds you to people
- Being happy for people even after they date someone you once cared about
- A conversation with my daughter about prayer & God
Books mentioned:
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Liberalism is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions by Michael Savage
- The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel
Listen here:
