Deep Dive Episodes
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Tankespjärn (w/ Helena Roth)
In this conversation, Helena introduces us to Tankespjärn and – don’t worry – explains the meaning of it. Helena’s personal relationship with the concept started with a dramatic announcement from her ex-husband when she was 9-months pregnant with their child, and it has since then proved to be a reliable companion on her way to living well. I had a great time talking with Helena on agency, decision-making, keeping in mind what we really want, and more.
Follow Helena on Twitter: @HERO_respondi
Website: www.tankespjarn.com
Bonus Episode: Introspect (w/ Visa)
Visa is back to discuss his new book, “Introspect”, and many tangential topics, thoughts, and ideas. We spoke about boredom, addiction, healing, introspection, making peace with oneself and the world, and I pitched out my subtitle for the book.
Follow Visa on Twitter: @visakanv
Check out Introspect: gum.co/introspect
Getting Better (w/ David MacIver)
When David found himself unable to call his life good, he set out to make it better. This episode is partly a retelling of his journey in terms of emotions, practices, and insights, as well as a discussion involving depression, anxiety, wellbeing, making inner peace, and more.
Follow David:
Twitter: twitter.com/DRMacIver
Substack: Overthinking Everything
Notebook: notebook.drmaciver.com
The Unknown (w/ Patricia Hurducaș)
How to deal with the fact that any notion of knowing what tomorrow may bring is an illusion? Patricia has thought about this extensively and, more importantly, experimented with tackling The Unknown head on. I was excited to learn from her about her techniques for dealing with not knowing: Visualizations, conversations, and testing herself regularly are all part of her arsenal. Other topics we touched on are creativity, work, shifting values among young people, Stoicism, and more.
Follow Patricia on Twitter: twitter.com/phurducas
Follow her projects: flaneuseproject.com
Fear & Courage (w/ Dan Greenwald)
What is the main function of fear and how does it connect to living well – authentically and harmoniously? Dan Greenwald grew up stuttering but decided not to give in to fear and not to give up on his aspirations. In this conversation Dan shared his insights and actionable advice for people wishing to flourish. As you’ll be able to tell, I loved every moment of this conversation, which also touched on hope, ecology, storytelling, evolution, Homo sapiens, and more.
Follow Dan on Twitter: twitter.com/dagreen77
Try his Courage Muscle Training: couragemuscle.com | 50%-off with coupon: DEEPDIVE
Social Technologies (w/ Dave Crouch)
Social technologies shape the behavior of individuals that live in the culture that uses them. Dave has recently been fascinated with the topic and got me curious as well. We discussed what these technologies are and tried to make the first steps toward a technology that will fix some of today’s societal problem. We talked about the pyramids, the Great Resignation, how much is enough for living well, consumerism, hedonism, dialectic, and more.
Follow Dave on Twitter: twitter.com/gunalp_bey_
Education (w/ Tesho Akindele)
The most watched TEDtalk of all time is about schools killing creativity. Tesho and I gave our best to rival it in terms of popularity, but also went beyond it to discuss various relaed topics: Parenthood, being a role model, involving children in real life, curiosity, global trends that will shape education, and wellbeing. We also mentioned Bronnie Ware’s 5 Regrets of the Dying.
Follow Tesho:
Twitter: twitter.com/tesho13
Instagram: instagram.com/tesho13/
Thinking about the Future (w/ Indy Neogy)
What does it mean to make a good decision? How will we end world hunger? Why should you learn Texas Hold’em? How has our culture changed recently, and how will it change very soon? Are things going to get better or worse?
Indy Neogy thought about the future for a living. This fascinating conversation touched on many and varied topics including: Living well, the meaning crisis, intergenerational tensions, diversity, tolerance, and plurality, decision-making, rationality, humanism, success, and many more…
Follow Indy on Twitter: twitter.com/indy_neogy
Newsletter: mindatelier.co.uk/signup/
Coaching practice: indy.london
Library Ethos (w/ Visa)
Visa is an optimist who believes in the collective project that is all of us communicating with… all of the rest of us. And this all happens when we adopt a habit of procuring and curating information about things that may seem trivial, but that convey to the rest of the world an important truth: We are humans wishing to connect with others like us. Hear about Visa’s inspirations and experimentations with contributing to this “hyper-library”. We also discussed models for supporting the arts, history, human progress, and more.
Follow Visa on:
Twitter: twitter.com/visakanv
Youtube: youtube.com/c/Visakanv
Emotional Creativity (w/ Luke Butler)
Do we ever feel the same emotion twice, or does the sheer complexity of our biology and psyche prevent it from happening? Emotions are not an exact science according to science, and the best way to talk about them may very well be in metaphors. Luke has been playing with metaphorizing emotions, including in this conversation. Make your life more poetic and meaningful by applying some of the lessons within.
Follow Luke on Twitter: twitter.com/lukebutler
Lifestyle First (w/ Daniel Vassallo)
Daniel Vassallo has taken a brave plunge: He left his high-status, high-paying job to follow his heart and live the good life as he imagines it to be. In this episodes he shared many of the ideas that prompted this bold move and some of the insights he has gained during his ongoing journey. Among other things, we touched on Stoicism, productivity, serendipity, security, evolution and wellbeing. One of my favorite concepts introduced in this episode is the “inspiration generator”, so look out for it!
To follow Daniel’s ideas and work, access his Twitter bio: twitter.com/dvassallo
Vulnerability (w/ Lyle McKeaney)
You know the stuff that you just want to shut out of your mind? Lyle McKeaney doesn’t mind writing about it and showing it to the world, and for a reason. By being vulnerable we are letting others know they are not alone. We are letting others know that things we dread may materialize but not knock us down indefinitely.
Tune in to hear more about why it pays off to lead with vulnerability, and hear our takes on a variety of topics: Creativity, connection, negative visualization, resilience, and more.
Follow Lyle on Twitter: twitter.com/lylemckeaney
And Substack: lyle.substack.com
Kindness (w/ Irene JK)
Irene sat down with me and recounted her relationship with a concept so central in her life that she started a podcast about it – kindness. We discussed the nature of kindness, how to cultivate it, and the simplest and fundamental act of kindness. We mentioned some people who have been kind to us, and the Interintellect we both agreed is full of kind potential friends.
Follow Irene on Twitter: twitter.com/irenejeka
Listen to her podcast: anchor.fm/thegentleproject
Human Connection (w/ Jibran el Bazi)
In this episode, Jibran el Bazi opened up about an almost unfathomable story about life, near-death, help, love, and hope. The story of Jibran’s daughter’s difficult first months of living, along with a few processes partly aided by psychedelic substance has made Jibran acutely aware of the importance of human connection.
Jibran on Twitter: twitter.com/askjibran
Website: www.jibranelbazi.com/
Justice (Reverse Episode w/ Clo S)
When Clo offered to reverse roles and interview me, how could I have said ‘no’? The concept of Justice is close to my heart and I hope I can bring it closer to your heart, too. I connected the concept to my life as well as to Adolf Eichmann’s trial, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the teachings of St. Augustine, and more…
Follow me on:
Twitter: @eyalshay2 | @Deep_Dive_Pod
Website: eyalshay.org/
Rules (w/ Nikolaus & Reddy)
Rules. The three of us hated them growing up, but could rules prove to be fitting for living well under certain conditions? We covered a lot of ground and looked at rules from various perspectives: Education, ethics, creativity, art, and more!
Follow Reddy: twitter.com/reddy2go | www.Reddy2go.com
Follow Nikolaus: twitter.com/sissiphys | www.sabathiel.com/
Home (w/ Clo S)
Clo and I exchanged stories and ideas about what the ideal home would be for us. In retrospect, I realize Clo’s ideas are more relationship-focused, while I’m concerned with the physical environment. This conversation opened my mind as I was noting how different people can be, and are, when it comes to structuring their lives.
Follow Clo and her work on Twitter: twitter.com/clo__s
Website and Newsletter: thistooshallgrow.com/
Travel (w/ Tamas Erdos)
Tamas’ travel record is extensive and impressive, but is there a dark side to getting a taste from everything? Tamas opened up about the dark side of travel, which he asserts can be an addiction like any other. As we explored the topic, tangents included the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, learning new skills, sharpening metaphorical axes, psychedelics and, of course, possible solutions and takeaways.
Follow Tamas on Twitter: Twitter.com/Tamas
Regret & Free Will (w/ Étienne Fortier-Dubois)
What is this strange emotion we call regret? Does it do anything other than making us feel bad about something we can’t go back and change? What about free will, a concept seemingly at odds with our understand of the universe as deterministic?
Étienne and I discussed these questions and related stories and episodes from our lives that touch on the subject. I dare say we came to some valuable conclusions!
Follow Étienne on Twitter: @etiennefd
Website: etiennefd.com/
Love Thyself (w/ Nat Sharpe)
In which Nat recounts his life growing up in a religious commune, and moves on to talk about love, relationships, lying, the meaning of living well, being a part of something bigger than yourself, and more.
Bonus question (which I couldn’t get right): What is the biggest sin you could commit while living in a religious commune?
Follow Nat on Twitter: @nat_sharpe_
And Youtube: Nat Sharpe
Work in Progress (w/ Helena Ng)
An episode in which Helena and I spoke about being the author of your own story, feeling OK, having confidence, experiencing quietude, and more.
Follow Helena on Twitter: @herrowna
Stories We Tell (w/ Rick Benger)
Rick opens this episode with a story about a guy who was a captive of his own story. We discussed the role stories play in creating an identity, and how this could be useful or detrimental to our wellbeing. We also discussed travel, writing, ego vs. the creative force, security vs. fulfillment.
Follow Rick on Twitter: @rickbenger
Websites: https://rickbenger.com/ | Once Upon a Pancake
Keeping a Personal Manifesto (w/ Amir H. Hajizamani)
In this conversation we discussed the practice of keeping a personal manifesto and its benefits. Amir Hajizamani shares why he created one, and how the manifesto has affected his life, including thoughts about its future. We discussed authenticity, caring for others, accepting oneself, and more.
Amir’s Manifesto can be found here.
To follow Amir: Website | Linktree
Twitter: @amirhhz
Don't Try Too Hard (w/ Nikolaus Sabathiel)
An observation led Nikolaus Sabathiel to conclude that in order to do things well, we should not try too hard. In this episode Nikolaus recounted his days as an anxious child who wasn’t sure about which action is good to take, and we went on to discuss success, dogmas, neuroscience, OCD, improv, and other topics.
Follow Nikolaus on Twitter: @sissiphys
Website: https://www.sabathiel.com/
Aloneness | Loneliness | Silence (w/ Tanya Raj)
An emotionally honest conversation on human struggles and the inherent challenges of connecting with the world and feeling OK in the face of adversity and indifference, as well as some of the solutions. Tangential topics include meditation, self-sufficiency, control, letting-go, and more.
Follow Tanya:
Website: Personal | Travelogue
Twitter: @wanderuminating
Interintellect: https://interintellect.com/tanya/
Play (w/ Reddy2Go)
Play. We all do it as children, we almost all trade it for a respectable appearance more fitting to mainstream values like success, wealth, and seriousness. But should we? Reddy2Go is devoting much of his time to playing around, including with the idea of play. His relationship with the concept is not purely positive, as you’ll hear, and his story of redemption in inspiring. Among the other topics we touched on in this conversation are addiction, hedonism, human connection, and aligning one’s own good with others’.
Follow Reddy:
Twitter: @reddy2go
Website: reddy2go.com/
Tankespjärn (w/ Helena Roth)
In this conversation, Helena introduces us to Tankespjärn and – don’t worry – explains the meaning of it. Helena’s personal relationship with the concept started with a dramatic announcement from her ex-husband when she was 9-months pregnant with their child, and it has since then proved to be a reliable companion on her way to living well. I had a great time talking with Helena on agency, decision-making, keeping in mind what we really want, and more.
Follow Helena on Twitter: @HERO_respondi
Website: www.tankespjarn.com
Bonus Episode: Introspect (w/ Visa)
Visa is back to discuss his new book, “Introspect”, and many tangential topics, thoughts, and ideas. We spoke about boredom, addiction, healing, introspection, making peace with oneself and the world, and I pitched out my subtitle for the book.
Follow Visa on Twitter: @visakanv
Check out Introspect: gum.co/introspect
Getting Better (w/ David MacIver)
When David found himself unable to call his life good, he set out to make it better. This episode is partly a retelling of his journey in terms of emotions, practices, and insights, as well as a discussion involving depression, anxiety, wellbeing, making inner peace, and more.
Follow David:
Twitter: twitter.com/DRMacIver
Substack: Overthinking Everything
Notebook: notebook.drmaciver.com
The Unknown (w/ Patricia Hurducaș)
How to deal with the fact that any notion of knowing what tomorrow may bring is an illusion? Patricia has thought about this extensively and, more importantly, experimented with tackling The Unknown head on. I was excited to learn from her about her techniques for dealing with not knowing: Visualizations, conversations, and testing herself regularly are all part of her arsenal. Other topics we touched on are creativity, work, shifting values among young people, Stoicism, and more.
Follow Patricia on Twitter: twitter.com/phurducas
Follow her projects: flaneuseproject.com
Fear & Courage (w/ Dan Greenwald)
What is the main function of fear and how does it connect to living well – authentically and harmoniously? Dan Greenwald grew up stuttering but decided not to give in to fear and not to give up on his aspirations. In this conversation Dan shared his insights and actionable advice for people wishing to flourish. As you’ll be able to tell, I loved every moment of this conversation, which also touched on hope, ecology, storytelling, evolution, Homo sapiens, and more.
Follow Dan on Twitter: twitter.com/dagreen77
Try his Courage Muscle Training: couragemuscle.com
Social Technologies (w/ Dave Crouch)
Social technologies shape the behavior of individuals that live in the culture that uses them. Dave has recently been fascinated with the topic and got me curious as well. We discussed what these technologies are and tried to make the first steps toward a technology that will fix some of today’s societal problem. We talked about the pyramids, the Great Resignation, how much is enough for living well, consumerism, hedonism, dialectic, and more.
Follow Dave on Twitter: twitter.com/gunalp_bey_
Education (w/ Tesho Akindele)
The most watched TEDtalk of all time is about schools killing creativity. Tesho and I gave our best to rival it in terms of popularity, but also went beyond it to discuss various relaed topics: Parenthood, being a role model, involving children in real life, curiosity, global trends that will shape education, and wellbeing. We also mentioned Bronnie Ware’s 5 Regrets of the Dying.
Follow Tesho:
Twitter: twitter.com/tesho13
Instagram: instagram.com/tesho13/
Thinking about the Future (w/ Indy Neogy)
What does it mean to make a good decision? How will we end world hunger? Why should you learn Texas Hold’em? How has our culture changed recently, and how will it change very soon? Are things going to get better or worse?
Indy Neogy thought about the future for a living. This fascinating conversation touched on many and varied topics including: Living well, the meaning crisis, intergenerational tensions, diversity, tolerance, and plurality, decision-making, rationality, humanism, success, and many more…
Follow Indy on Twitter: twitter.com/indy_neogy
Newsletter: mindatelier.co.uk/signup/
Coaching practice: indy.london
Emotional Creativity (w/ Luke Butler)
Do we ever feel the same emotion twice, or does the sheer complexity of our biology and psyche prevent it from happening? Emotions are not an exact science according to science, and the best way to talk about may very well be in metaphors. Luke has been playing with metaphorizing emotions, including in this conversation. Make your life more poetic and meaningful by applying some of the lessons within.
Follow Luke on Twitter: twitter.com/lukebutler
Vulnerability (w/ Lyle McKeaney)
You know the stuff that you just want to shut out of your mind? Lyle McKeaney doesn’t mind writing about it and showing it to the world, and for a reason. By being vulnerable we are letting others know they are not alone. We are letting others know that things we dread may materialize but not knock us down indefinitely.
Tune in to hear more about why it pays off to lead with vulnerability, and hear our takes on a variety of topics: Creativity, connection, negative visualization, resilience, and more.
Follow Lyle on Twitter: twitter.com/lylemckeaney
And Substack: lyle.substack.com
Library Ethos (w/ Visa)
Visa is an optimist who believes in the collective project that is all of us communicating with… all of the rest of us. And this all happens when we adopt a habit of procuring and curating information about things that may seem trivial, but that convey to the rest of the world an important truth: We are humans wishing to connect with others like us. Hear about Visa’s inspirations and experimentations with contributing to this “hyper-library”. We also discussed models for supporting the arts, history, human progress, and more.
Follow Visa on:
Twitter: twitter.com/visakanv
Youtube: youtube.com/c/Visakanv
Lifestyle First (w/ Daniel Vassallo)
Daniel Vassallo has taken a brave plunge: He left his high-status, high-paying job to follow his heart and live the good life as he imagines it to be. In this episodes he shared many of the ideas that prompted this bold move and some of the insights he has gained during his ongoing journey. Among other things, we touched on Stoicism, productivity, serendipity, security, evolution and wellbeing. One of my favorite concepts introduced in this episode is the “inspiration generator”, so look out for it!
To follow Daniel’s ideas and work, access his Twitter bio: twitter.com/dvassallo
Human Connection (w/ Jibran el Bazi)
In this episode, Jibran el Bazi opened up about an almost unfathomable story about life, near-death, help, love, and hope. The story of Jibran’s daughter’s difficult first months of living, along with a few processes partly aided by psychedelic substance has made Jibran acutely aware of the importance of human connection.
Jibran on Twitter: twitter.com/askjibran
Website: www.jibranelbazi.com/
Rules (w/ Nikloaus & Reddy)
Rules. The three of us hated them growing up, but could rules prove to be fitting for living well under certain conditions? We covered a lot of ground and looked at rules from various perspectives: Education, ethics, creativity, art, and more!
Follow Reddy: twitter.com/reddy2go | www.Reddy2go.com
Follow Nikolaus: twitter.com/sissiphys | www.sabathiel.com/
Kindness (w/ Irene JK)
Irene sat down with me and recounted her relationship with a concept so central in her life that she started a podcast about it – kindness. We discussed the nature of kindness, how to cultivate it, and the simplest and fundamental act of kindness. We mentioned some people who have been kind to us, and the Interintellect we both agreed is full of kind potential friends.
Follow Irene on Twitter: twitter.com/irenejeka
Listen to her podcast: anchor.fm/thegentleproject
Justice (Reverse Episode w/ Clo S.)
When Clo offered to reverse roles and interview me, how could I have said ‘no’? The concept of Justice is close to my heart and I hope I can bring it closer to your heart, too. I connected the concept to my life as well as to Adolf Eichmann’s trial, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the teachings of St. Augustine, and more…
Follow me on:
Twitter: @eyalshay2 | @Deep_Dive_Pod
Website: eyalshay.org/
Travel (w/ Tamas Erdos)
Tamas’ travel record is extensive and impressive, but is there a dark side to getting a taste from everything? Tamas opened up about the dark side of travel, which he asserts can be an addiction like any other. As we explored the topic, tangents included the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, learning new skills, sharpening metaphorical axes, psychedelics and, of course, possible solutions and takeaways.
Follow Tamas on Twitter: Twitter.com/Tamas
Home (w/ Clo S)
Clo and I exchanged stories and ideas about what the ideal home would be for us. In retrospect, I realize Clo’s ideas are more relationship-focused, while I’m concerned with the physical environment. This conversation opened my mind as I was noting how different people can be, and are, when it comes to structuring their lives.
Follow Clo and her work on Twitter: twitter.com/clo__s
Website and Newsletter: thistooshallgrow.com/
Regret & Free Will (w/ Étienne Fortier-Dubois)
What is this strange emotion we call regret? Does it do anything other than making us feel bad about something we can’t go back and change? What about free will, a concept seemingly at odds with our understand of the universe as deterministic?
Étienne and I discussed these questions and related stories and episodes from our lives that touch on the subject. I dare say we came to some valuable conclusions!
Follow Étienne on Twitter: @etiennefd
Website: etiennefd.com/
Love Thyself (w/ Nat Sharpe)
In which Nat recounts his life growing up in a religious commune, and moves on to talk about love, relationships, lying, the meaning of living well, being a part of something bigger than yourself, and more.
Bonus question (which I couldn’t get right): What is the biggest sin you could commit while living in a religious commune?
Follow Nat on Twitter: @nat_sharpe_
And Youtube: Nat Sharpe
Work in Progress (w/ Helena Ng)
An episode in which Helena and I spoke about being the author of your own story, feeling OK, having confidence, experiencing quietude, and more.
Follow Helena on Twitter: @herrowna
Stories We Tell (w/ Rick Benger)
Rick opens this episode with a story about a guy who was a captive of his own story. We discussed the role stories play in creating an identity, and how this could be useful or detrimental to our wellbeing. We also discussed travel, writing, ego vs. the creative force, security vs. fulfillment.
Follow Rick on Twitter: @rickbenger
Websites: https://rickbenger.com/ | Once Upon a Pancake
Keeping a Personal Manifesto (w/ Amir H. Hajizamani)
In this conversation we discussed the practice of keeping a personal manifesto and its benefits. Amir Hajizamani shares why he created one, and how the manifesto has affected his life, including thoughts about its future. We discussed authenticity, caring for others, accepting oneself, and more.
Amir’s Manifesto can be found here.
To follow Amir: Website | Linktree
Twitter: @amirhhz
Don't Try Too Hard (w/ Nikolaus Sabathiel)
An observation led Nikolaus Sabathiel to conclude that in order to do things well, we should not try too hard. In this episode Nikolaus recounted his days as an anxious child who wasn’t sure about which action is good to take, and we went on to discuss success, dogmas, neuroscience, OCD, improv, and other topics.
Follow Nikolaus on Twitter: @sissiphys
Website: https://www.sabathiel.com/
Aloneness | Loneliness | Silence (w/ Tanya Raj)
An emotionally honest conversation on human struggles and the inherent challenges of connecting with the world and feeling OK in the face of adversity and indifference, as well as some of the solutions. Tangential topics include meditation, self-sufficiency, control, letting-go, and more.
Follow Tanya:
Website: Personal | Travelogue
Twitter: @wanderuminating
Interintellect: https://interintellect.com/tanya/
Play (w/ Reddy2Go)
Play. We all do it as children, we almost all trade it for a respectable appearance more fitting to mainstream values like success, wealth, and seriousness. But should we? Reddy2Go is devoting much of his time to playing around, including with the idea of play. His relationship with the concept is not purely positive, as you’ll hear, and his story of redemption in inspiring. Among the other topics we touched on in this conversation are addiction, hedonism, human connection, and aligning one’s own good with others’.
Follow Reddy:
Twitter: @reddy2go
Website: reddy2go.com/