PN Deep Dive: Happy New Year! The Magic of Stem Cells, The Emperors of Rome, Huberman on Happiness, Micky Malka, David Senra and Danny Hillis

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​5 Ways Stem Cells Will TRANSFORM What It Means To Be Healthy | The Gabby Reece Show​​ ​​

Christian Drapeau (@stemcellchristian) is a pioneer in stem cell research. And the first to propose stem cells as the body’s innate repair system. Christian Drapeau discusses the transformative potential of stem cells in health and healing. They explore the basics of stem cells, their role in the body, the evolution of stem cell research, and the impact of aging on stem cell efficacy.

​The Roman Caesars’ Guide to Ruling | Barry Strauss on The Art of Manliness with Brett McKay (#1047)​​ ​​

How often do you think about the Roman Empire? Lately, this question has gone viral, leaving many women wondering why their husband or boyfriend is reflecting on Roman history so often. The truth lies in the Empire’s enduring allure: its epic tales of power, war, ambition, innovation, and dramatic leadership. In these Premium Podcast Notes, we turn to historian Barry Strauss who gives a detailed overview of his book, Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine, unpacking the themes that make Rome’s legacy a timeless source of fascination.

​Podcast Notes Book Collection: 2024 Edition (UPDATED AND COMPLETE with 200+ Books)​

After reviewing all 400+ Podcast Notes we wrote in 2024, we selected a comprehensive reading list of over 200 books. Whether you’re a new parent, hopeful entrepreneur, tech geek, history buff, or just a general bookworm, there’s truly something for everyone!

Top Takeaways Of The Week

​5 Ways Stem Cells Will TRANSFORM What It Means To Be Healthy | The Gabby Reece Show ​​

​Stem Cells With Age: ​By age 30, you’ve lost 90% of red marrow stem cells; as stem cells disappear from the body, the loss becomes increasingly apparent over time

​Stem cell sources:​ Bone marrow, fat tissue, blood, umbilical cord

​Yamanaka factor:​ Take old cells and turn them into cells with characteristics of young cells

​Why We Lose Them:​ “Over the past 150 years, we’ve gained an extra 50 years of lifespan. I don’t think we have the biology to have an extra 50 years naturally with full blossoming health. We need to kind of hack and tap and leverage things in our body.” – Christian Drapeau

​Stem cells from blood​ (like PRP) are very potent; they’re dormant so need to be ‘awakened’. This is likely the future of stem cells and relatively new to use; the task now is to learn how to isolate and grow them for use ​Stem cells from the umbilical cord​: The most potent – but not as mainstream because of three notable concerns:

* (1) Risk of contaminated stem cells is high which can lead to sepsis;

* (2) They’re difficult to isolate cleanly;

* (3) You can obtain genetic material from a donor who may have been a carrier for a disease that you may develop in the future

​Tips to Supported Stem Cells:​

* Red lights might help with bodily repair, possibly by aiding blood circulation

* Pulsed magnetic frequency (PMF) has been well-documents to boost stem cell frequency

* Exercise releases stem cells – but this might be because if you trigger tissue damage, your body will trigger a response

* Quality sleep supports the proliferation of brain stem cells

* Meditation has a healing component – 20 minutes of meditation has been shown to encourage stem cell release

* Plants for health: Shilajit, black seed (periodically), natto, kava (hard to source)

​The Roman Caesars’ Guide to Ruling | Barry Strauss on The Art of Manliness with Brett McKay (#1047) ​​

​The Rise of Octavian/Augustus Caesar:​ Octavian, born Gaius Octavius, was Julius Caesar’s grand-nephew and was adopted posthumously as part of Caesar’s will — which was technically illegal, but law was pretty loose during civil war

​How to Win the Game of Thrones:​ Augustus simply killed off a lot of his enemies, between several civil wars and the execution of about 100 Roman senators

​Augustus' Expansion​: Octavian added Egypt, northwestern Spain, and Switzerland to the Roman Empire

​The Infamy of Nero:​ Nero was less interested in the empire itself and more interested in the celebrity of being Emperor

* He was egotistical and also very vain about his singing and chariot racing ability

* He competed in the Panhellenic Games and “won” every event

​The Truth About Nero's Fiddling While Rome Burned: ​There’s a rumor that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but the fiddle technically hadn’t been invented yet. However, he may have played a lyre, which is a harp-like instrument.

* There are even rumors that claim Nero started the fire, with the intent to engage in a massive urban renewal project

​Marcus Aurelius, the Ivory Tower Emperor: ​Marcus Aurelius was a great philosopher but not a great emperor

* Marcus Aurelius had no military experience or experience outside Italy, he was completely unprepared to become empowered — a common theme in the Roman Empire system

* He let is son Commodus follow him as emperor

​Commodus, The Villain:​ The first man born to be emperor

* Commodus was arrogant, entitled, and irresponsible

* Competed as a gladiator

* He offered bread and circuses to the people but killed many senators

* Eventually, the senate carries out a plot to kill Commodus

Dr. Laurie Santos: How​ ​To Achieve True Happiness Using Science-Based Protocols | Huberman Lab

Happiness Operates on 3 Timescales: (1) The immediate timescale of happiness; (2) The intermediate timescale of happiness where we introduce a story; (3) Meaning which is the full picture

Tips to Approach Happiness on All 3 Levels:

* Engage in activities that fit with values and strengths;

* Infuse strengths into work & leisure;

* Do for others

* Ask others for help

Extrinsic rewards: A tangible, visible reward for achieving something

Intrinsic rewards: Reward comes from within, feeling progress, purpose, etc.

On the lower end of the income spectrum, money affects happiness: If you struggle to put food on the table, keep a roof over your head – more money almost has a linear relationship with happiness

Stop being a Sad Loner: One of the biggest levers you can pull to improve happiness is to get more social connection“The two things that predict whether you’re happy or not so happy are how much time you spend with friends and family members and how much you are physical around other people. The more of that you do, the happier you’re going to be.” – Laurie Santos

Dopamine Must Be Earned, Not Given: “Be wary of any dopamine hit not preceded by effort to achieve it.” – Andrew Huberman

Prediction error: Introverts predict social connection will be negative, when in actuality they get report a great experience; extroverts predict social connection will be ok, and anticipation is high

Negativity bias: We’re built to notice the risky, potentially scary stuff; our brain goes there automatically which makes sense evolutionarily

Toxic Positivity: The notion that something is wrong if you’re feeling anything but happy or ‘good vibes’; negative emotions are a cue from our body to take action in some direction to fix

Dog vs. Cat People: If you crave unconditional love, you are probably more of a dog person; cats are more independent

Hedonic adaptation: We get used to things; you can’t be happy all the time because you become sensitized

* “Every good thing in life becomes boring after some time.” – Laurie Santos

* Tip: Imagine the negative things and obstacles; use worse things as a comparison to realize how good things are – don’t ruminate on it but use your imagination to appreciate what you have

* Tip #2: Space out positive experiences to come back to them over time

Banister effect: Believe something is positive; be optimistic enough to think something is doable then ask yourself the question ‘what will get in the way?’ so you problem-solve

Arrival fallacy: The idea, “I’ll be happy when…” – the thing we arrive at doesn’t feel as good once we get there and we chase the next thing

Micky Malka – Building ​Ribbit ​| Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy Ep. 400​ ​

Life and business principles from Micky Malka:

* 1. Never forget where you came from

* 2. Fewer decisions is best

* 3. Be genuine to yourself and those around you

Lessons learned from the Robinhood saga

* Being the CEO is a very lonely existence

* Develop and craft a flexible mindset so that you can be comfortable taking risk

* When you truly understand the variables at play, you will be more comfortable with taking ‘risk’

* Mistakes made in a single day can damage a company’s brand for years to come

Technologies have their own grid complexes

* The electrical grid consists of towers, power meters, transformers, and more

* The internet is a grid of data and knowledge

* The monetary system has its own grid as well, consisting of the different financial layers and rails which include Visa, Mastercard, SWIFT, etc

Stablecoins: US dollar stablecoins are travel checks in today’s world; they are instant dollars that the individual can control and move, anytime, and for zero

* Stablecoins provided people with access to US dollars who previously did not have access to dollars and who were forced to use their local (and weaker) fiat currency

* Today, US-dollar stablecoins do a similar monthly volume to that of Visa and Mastercard

What Got You Here, Won't Get You There: Burn the bridge that got you here; whatever got you here will not get you to the next phase

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