Curious Humans with Jonny Miller

Dr. Christian Busch directs the CGA Global Economy Program at (NYU) and teaches on purpose-driven business, entrepreneurship, emerging markets, and (social) innovation at NYU and at the London School of Economics (LSE). Christian is also the co-founder of Sandbox Network, a leading community of young innovators, as well as of Leaders on Purpose—an organization convening leading CEOs. He has a host of impressive accolades to his name, one of the Davos 50, an RSA fellow and frequently speaks at the World Economic Forum. He's also the author of a fascinating new book called 'The Serendipity Mindset' that we really dive into in this conversation.🎙️ In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about what he learned from his near-death car accident at 17, his journey from economics lecturer to writing a book about cultivating smart luck, surefire ways of having dull conversations and some tangible suggestions for building the muscle of serendipity in one's own life.📚 You can say hi to Christian on Twitter @ChrisSerendip. And I strongly encourage you to get your mitts on a copy of Christian's new book 'The Serendipity Mindset'💌  Are you curious and also human? Signup for my monthly musings here >> jonny.life

Casper Ter Kuile is one of the most genuinely joy-filled humans that I have had the pleasure of knowing.In this conversation we do a deep dive into his new book 'The Power of Ritual' which is out the day this episode airs, it’s honestly a perspective-shifting and heart-warmingly beautiful book on discovering the sacred amidst everyday life and seeing the world through the eyes of ritual. It's a real corker of a conversation! A few of the stories + questions we dive into are:⛪   Some of his early experiences as a climate activist that unexpectedly led him to Harvard Divinity School🙏   Redefining what it means for something to be 'sacred'⏳   Why he loves the powerful idea of liturgical time🤔   What he considers to be some of the enemies of ritual 📝   How to go about designing your own rituals amidst the lockdown.❤️   Rituals that we've both created to foster meaningful connection with our respective partners amidst the quarantine📆   How he has managed to create a secular sabbath for himself (and stick to it for over 4 years)🧙‍♂️   His favourite Harry Potter scene (this is unexpectedly powerful!)🎙️   The one lesson that he's taken away from working with the OnBeing team.***Where to find Casper on the interwebsSay hi to Casper on Twitter @CaspkerTKJoin some of the virtual events Casper is leadingRead 'How We Gather' for free onlineJoin Casper's Newsletter (it's superb)📚  Finally... I strongly encourage you to get your mitts on a copy of Casper's new book 'The Power of Ritual' 💌  Are you curious and also human? Signup for my monthly musings here >> jonny.life

All I can say is that you're in for a treat with this conversation. Erick Godsey studies the myths that make us—he uses cognitive, evolutionary, and Jungian psychology to help people discover, articulate, and change the stories that rule their lives.Here is a mere smidge of the ground that we covered:💊   Erick's view on the broken system of Western medicine and why SSRIs and psychiatric drugs are no better than a placebo.🎭   His perspective on a psychological model called 'Internal Family Systems' that articulates the multitudes of characters within us all.🧙‍♂️  The Jungian book on mature masculine archetypes that changed his life and the way he shows up in relationship.😴   Why it's worth paying more attention to our dreams.📝   The journal prompt that he would prescribe to someone who is looking at the world in despair right now and feeling overwhelmed with the crises that are unfolding.🤔  Why no human is equipped with the biological apparatus to perceive the actual world, but that we create models that are useful to us.✊  The spiritual commitment he made to write morning pages for an hour every day after hitting rock bottom.❤️  His views on grief as the active process of digesting attachments to love.🖋️  The tragic beauty of the human condition—that we suffer so much more than we have to, because of the stories that we tell ourselves🐺  Why the ego is NOT the enemy, but more like a wolf (and how to join forces with it) Books & Blog Posts ReferencedKing, Warrior, Magican, Lover—the book we both read and loved on the four mature masculine archetypes.The Life-Changing Magic of Journaling—a must-read post by Erick for anyone wanting to go deeper into internal family systems, journaling practices and Jungian archetypes.Prometheus Unchained—a deep dive into how to share your highest gifts with the world.Where to find Erick G. on the interwebs📸   Instagram @erickgodsey📝   Erick's Ten Blog Posts You Should Read 💌   Signup for his Feasting Fridays newsletter 🎙️  Listen to his Myths that Make us podcast💰  Support him on Patreon📚  See the books that changed his myth👨‍🎓  Join me and take his Make Your Myth online course💌  Are you curious and also human? Signup for monthly musings here >> jonny.life 

This conversation is with a close friend of mine, Andi Cuddington—I think of her as a modern-day renaissance woman and I’ll typically turn to her for advice if I’m going through something challenging in my life.  Andi is just endlessly curious and has a totally unique lens on the world as you’ll hear in our conversation. She has had a thousand side-hustles and jobs in her non-linear career but many of the dots have connected and she has found her calling designing and facilitating workshops—more than anyone else I've encountered, she has mastered of the art + science of workshop facilitation and we do a deep dive into some of her tips and suggestions as well as:✔️  Unexpected items on her "Apoco-list"🤔  How we’re both fuelled by the fear of boredom🌎  How backpacking in Africa shaped her future career trajectory🏔️  The intriguring connection between adventure and curiosity👨‍🎓  Tips for what makes an exceptional facilitation experience👩‍🏫  Superb advice for those dipping their toes into virtual workshop creation.🔑  Unlocking the genius in the room, one workshop at a time... and much more!–– ––🙋‍♂️  Learn more about Andi's facilitation superpowers here: andicuddington.com💌 Be notified about new episodes and receive the Curious Humans newsletter here >> jonny.life

This was a wide-ranging conversation with emotional intelligence coach Emile Steenveld—previously an Australian model and actor traveling the globe for 12 years—he now works as a coach + facilitator, focusing on the inner workings of the relationship with the self and the mind.In this conversation we dive into:🇮🇳 Emile's travels in India, learning lessons of simplicity... defining joy as the happiness that doesn't depend on what happens.🦆 One of the most interesting tangents the topic of being a recovering perfectionist and what he calls duck syndrome💪  How to build the muscle of emotional intelligence🤷‍♂️  And some questions that have been running through my mind around Exploring new definitions of masculinity and how to express fully without fear of judgment.📝  Journal prompts that Emile uses when starting new projects.–– ––🔗 Find out more about Emile's work and coaching here.💌 Be notified about new episodes and receive the Curious Humans newsletter here >> jonny.life👨‍🎓 If our conversation resonates with you, I'm also running a masterclass with Studio D. in San Francisco on March 27—so if that sounds interesting check them out here: https://studiodradiodurans.com/products/emotional-resillience-masterclass

I talk with Andy Sparks, is the CEO at Holloway, they're building a new way to publish non-fiction books online (and it's gorgeous!) He's an incredibly genuine and self-aware human, it was a real pleasure spending time learning about his journey stepping into a position of leadership and forging his own path in life.Andy shares really dark moments early on in his career when he was trying to figure out where your sense of self comes from as a young person and figure out his place in the world.In this episode we also dive into:😦 What it was like making the decision to close his company (and how he navigated a deep depression that followed)🤣 The fun story behind his Calvin Hobbes tattoo👨‍🏭 Why getting an executive coach has been one of the most important things in his professional career🧰 Some powerful advice he received on how to build a support network from the founder of Masterclass👐 How he now aims to navigate conflict with his cofounder at Holloway🙋‍♂️ Taking responsibility for what we feel and why you don't have a choice about bring your kookiness and trauma to work🤓 We also nerd out on some of his leadership mental models and frameworks that he has gathered over the years of being a founder and CEO– –📚 Follow Andy's musings on Twitter @Sparkszilla // read his Medium essay on confidence or check Holloway (especially if you're a non-fiction writer).💌Be notified about new episodes and receive the Curious Humans newsletter here >> jonny.life👨‍🎓 If our conversation resonates with you, I'm also running a masterclass with Studio D. in San Francisco on March 27—so if that sounds interesting check them out here: https://studiodradiodurans.com/products/emotional-resillience-masterclass

If you haven't already heard of Breathwork, I think it's fair to say that you that you likely will have by the end of the year. It's exploding in popularity, in the same way that yoga and meditation has over the last decade, and I think for good reason.On a basic level  breathwork is the practice of changing your breathing pattern to shift your mental, emotional and physical state... but what I deeply appreciate about Edward is his clinical approach that is backed by years of training, endocrinology research and self-experimentation mapping out the human nervous system.The aim of this conversation was to create something of a comprehensive beginners guide to breathwork and some of the areas we dive into are: 🏂 Ed's personal journey from being trapped in an avalanche and nearly dying, which led him to being a highly functioning alcoholic and depressive.😬 His experiences curing anxiety through 1-1 breathwork sessions with his clients🌬️ Why our thinking is directly influenced by our breathing🗺️ How he has been able to map certain emotions onto specific breathing patterns. 🧙‍♂️ What he learnt from living with the Canadian Tribal Elders 🙋‍♂️ Some of my personal experiences lying on Ed's breathwork table📝 Defining capacity + resiliency from the perspective of the nervous system.😲 Some of the healing that he has witnessed in his time guiding sessions: from a man who relived and processed a near-drowning experience to stories of women who have been able to process experiences of sexual abuse.Links and Further Resources:📸 Follow @edwarddangerfield and @breathworkbali 🔗 Check out BreathworkBali.comEd's Upcoming Breathwork Practitioner Trainings are a 5 Day Training in Bali (Feb 15 – 21) and a 14 Day in-depth training in BC Canada (May 15 – June 1) I will be attending both myself!

I'm speaking with Andrew J Taggart, a practical philosopher, Zen Buddhist, and entrepreneur urging us to wake up to what we have so far taken for granted. In this conversation we discuss the thesis of his Total Work Manifesto and why we use our work and productivity to fuel our sense of self-worth and create meaning in our lives, as well as his compelling ideas for how we might break out of this Total Work prison that he calls Way of Loss and the Way of Wonderment.I should also mention that about one and half hours in, I ask Andrew to imagine an all hands on deck academy, or ecology of practices designed to become whole and integrated humans. His answer is insightful but the day after our conversation he wrote up an extended reply which he has posted on his blog with the title 'A Tentative Curriculum For Psycho-technologies Of Self-transformation' (it's well worth a read!)Show Notes:👋 Say hello to Andrew on Twitter 📝Subscribe to Andrew's ongoing Total Work Manifesto on Substack 👀 Read Andrew's philosophical writing🖋️ Follow his emerging conversations over on letter.wiki💌Be notified about new episodes and receive the Curious Humans newsletter here: jonny.life

In this conversation we get into the meaty questions about his new book that's hitting the shelves this week called 'Why Are We Yelling', a whimsical and disarmingly powerful case and strategy guide for having what Buster calls productive disagreement.We cover three truths or misconceptions about arguments that you have uncovered, why he likes to eat knowledge, he coaches me through the process of engaging in a disagreement around climate change and we talk about some of the enemies of curiosity and what he calls the voice of possibility.Then towards the end we explore some fun ground around:📖 Why he's writing a 'Codex Vitae'🎈 His 100th birthday plans💀 What death-bed points are 📷 Why he took a photo at exactly 8.36pm every day for almost a decade.Check out Buster's New Book // Why Are We Yelling: The Art of Productive DisagreementBuster's Website // busterbenson.comBuster on Twitter // @buster Buster on Letter Wiki // Letter.Wiki💌Be notified about new episodes and receive the Curious Humans newsletter here >> jonny.life

This was a real honour, Mike is trained as a magician and also the CEO at 'High Existence' — a community and network of practical philosophy and for expanding human consciousness — and he's one of the most articulate and poetic people I've had the pleasure of meeting.If we can't fall in love with the privilege that we have to be alive, then anything that we try and do from this place of living, is is going to be limited." Mike and I riff on definitions of wonder, ambition, grief, the role of inviting in the unexpected, the difference between purpose and destiny, and so much more.Get in touch with Mike on Twitter // where he cultivates wisdom & wonder @highexistence